What gauge are jumper cables generally used for cars?
1 Answers
Small cars use 16 square millimeter copper cables, trucks use 25 square millimeter copper cables, and heavy trucks use 35 square millimeter copper cables. Since starting the engine requires high current and the battery voltage is low (resulting in even higher current), jumper cables should have as little resistance as possible. Below are the steps for using car jumper cables: 1. Clamp the red cable to the red positive terminal of the "dead vehicle's" battery. 2. Clamp the other end of the red cable to the red positive terminal of the "rescue vehicle's" battery. 3. Clamp the black cable to the black negative terminal of the "dead vehicle's" battery. 4. Then clamp the black cable to the black negative terminal of the "rescue vehicle's" battery. (If the negative terminal of the rescue vehicle's battery is connected first, the dead vehicle's negative terminal must not be connected to the battery's negative terminal but should instead be connected to the car body or grounded). 5. Start the engine of the "rescue vehicle" first, then start the engine of the "dead vehicle." If the dead vehicle still fails to start, check if there is poor contact in the metal connections. After successfully starting the engine, remove the jumper cables in the correct order to avoid potential short circuits.
