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Saskatchewan

Jumper cables 101: a refresher course for a cold morning

Got a battery that won't start? If you want to boost it yourself, first, you'll want to find a friend.

Safe booster cable use is an important Prairie skill

It's another cold morning and some people will be using jumper cables to get their cars started. (Tory Gillis/CBC)

Got a battery that won't start? If you want to boost it yourself, first, you're going to want to find a friend.

Once you've done that, and the two vehicles are facing each other, you can proceed to use the jumper cables.

Here's how...

  1. Take out your jumper cables, make sure the clamps aren't touching.
  2. Connect one end of the positive cable (red) to the positive (+) post of the dead battery.
  3. Connect the other end of the positive cable to the positive post of the good battery.
  4. Connect one end of the negative cable (black) to the negative (-) post of the good battery.
  5. Connect the other end of the negative cable to a ground post on the car that needs the boost. The ground should be a piece of bare metal away from the battery.
  6. Start the vehicle with the dead battery.
  7. After it's been running for a few minutes, take off the jumper cables in reverse order.
  8. You're good to go!
Connecting the black cable (-) to the donor battery's ground terminal. (Tory Gillis/CBC)