How to Use a Portable Car Battery Charger

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If your car battery is dead, your can safely connect it to a charger and get your car running again.

Step 1: Protect yourself
Wear protective clothing and eye protection. Remove any jewelry, never put your face near the battery, and keep the charger as far away from the battery as the cables permit.

Step 2: Determine battery voltage
Consult your owner's manual to determine your battery's voltage and make sure it matches the charger's DC output voltage.

Step 3: Identify the battery posts
Identify the positive and negative terminals on your car's battery. The positive terminal with be marked with a plus sign, the letter P, or the abbreviation POS. The negative terminal will be marked with a minus sign, N, or NEG.

Step 4: Connect positive clip
Make sure the charger is unplugged and turned off. If the car has a negative ground, as most do, connect the positive charger clip to the positive battery post. Consult your owner's manual to determine whether your car has a remote positive terminal located away from the battery -- if it does, use the remote terminal for charging.

Tip
The positive charger clip will be red and the negative charger clip will be black. Be sure to connect the positive clip first.

Step 5: Connect the negative clip
Connect the negative charger clip to the car's frame or engine block as far away from battery as the clip's cable will allow. Always connect the negative clip to a heavy-gauge metal part of the frame or engine block -- never the carburetor, fuel lines, or sheet-metal body parts.

Step 6: Connect to a positive ground
Connect the negative charger clip to the negative, ungrounded battery post in the unlikely event that your car has a positive ground. Then connect the positive clip to the car's frame or engine block as far away from the battery as the clip's cable will allow.

Step 7: Charge a battery outside of the car
Charge a battery outside of a car by determining the post polarities. Attach a jumper cable or a 6-gauge, insulated battery cable that is at least 2 feet long to the negative battery post. Connect the positive clip to the positive post. Connect the negative clip to the free end of the cable.

Tip
Do not face the battery when you make the final connection.

Step 8: Turn the charger on
Set the voltage switch to 6 or 12 volts, depending on the battery. Then set the rate switch to your desired charge rate, either 2, 6, 12, or 30 amps. If your charger is equipped with an automatic/manual charge mode switch, set it to accommodate your battery and set the timer. Then plug the cord into a grounded outlet and turn it on.

Tip
Do not touch the charger clips while the charger is turned on.

Step 9: Turn the charger off
Turn the charger off when your battery's done charging by unplugging the AC cord, switching the unit off, and removing the charger clip connected to your car's frame. Then remove the clip connected to battery post, put the charger away, and start your car.

Did You Know?
During his 2008 presidential campaign, Arizona Senator John McCain proposed offering a national prize of $300 million for anyone who could develop a better, more efficient car battery.

[AaronGoSoFast]

Don't forget to put on your hazmat suit. Make sure you have 11 fire extinguishers within arms reach. Have some paramedics on sight. Don't pee on any power outlets, tempting as it may be. And ALWAYS stay at least 100 ft away from your car battery at all times.

[endrightwinglunacy]

Six clips, two batteries, a huge industrial sized charger that virtually no one has in their garage, and a small charger - this is by far the most confusing video on this subject, especially for people unfamiliar with it (which will be most people coming here)

As someone else pointed out - THESE AREN'T STEPS, THEY'RE OPTIONS, especially "step 7".

[verity]

I just watched this three times thinking I must be losing my mind because it is so confusing, until I realized that it's the video, and NOT my brain. This video is actually a public DISservice.

[diannetipton]

You forgot the part where the neighbors make fun of you for putting on all that “protective gear”

[kellinepickett]

Um....did you guys notice that your model is not wearing his gloves in all the connectivity scenes? hahahaha That's step #1 guys!!! You already broke your own rule.

[halag]

That was totally confusing. Do I connect the negative clip to the battery or not? LOL Never mind. I'll look for another vid

[Jari_Kuusisto]

1:53: Connect positive terminal to the engine (ground) WTF ?

[debbiedebbie]

THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST *INCORRECT* VIDEOS EVER PRODUCED

[doggiesarus]

I still do not know how to do charge my car battery after watching this. Thanks for wasting my time, Howcast.

[annies]

Protective gear? Bloody hell I've just spent half an hour in my pj's unscrewing and banging everything with a hammer to get the screws off.

[mikeschafer]

How many different damn battery's you charging?? Such a confusing video

[royalsteel]

THOSE AREN'T STEPS! THOSE ARE OPTIONS!!

[VitorDias]

Correct way to explain:
Step 1: Turn on you charger machine
Step 2 :Connect the red cable to the red color on the cars battery and connect the black cable to the black color on the car battery.
Step 3: If your battery is 12v turn the button on your machine to 12v if your battery is 24v turn the button to 24v.
Step 4: whait till your battery have energy again.
The End

[AdonisAmarante]

how many cables do we need to keep up with these instructions?!?!

[MikeLuc]

Y’all made an easy task difficult. Good job

[randalllafevre]

What a confusing video for such a simple operation. Please give more and better thought to your video before filming.

[EricCrissen]

Ok this video is correct. They were telling you what to do in both cases. The first way showed you where to connect them if your negative is grounded. Connect the positives together and the negative to a metal part. The next part showed if you have a positive grounded, and you connect the negatives and put the positive elsewhere. If you have one of these you would understand what he was doing.

[wonderingtimesllc]

Here's a version, "Hook up your charger and turn it on".

[Rockman]

in a nut shell positive to positive
negative to heavy gauge part of your engine (for negatively grounded vehicles wich i believe most are)
set the correct settings on the jumper (youll have to look that up yourself)
and to turn it on theres gonna be either an on button or a timer wich you have to set

[electradavis]

wait. so first (1) try it the negative off way. then, if that doesn't work, (2) try it the positive off way. is this right?