how to jumpstart a car battery without another car

How to jump start a car battery without another car

There is no bigger nightmare when it comes to your car than when you turn the key only to find that the battery is dead. All of us at one point or another have had this experience so understand just what a nightmare it can be, especially if there is no other car nearby for you to connect your jumper cables to.

Well, we have some great news for you today! Now there is a way to start your car without needing to jump it from another vehicle. Portable jump start batteries are the perfect addition to your car and will help you out whenever you get stuck with a dead battery. The great thing is that they are small, lightweight, easy and safe to use, and don’t cost that much either. They are available in most reputable auto shops and online stores such as Amazon as well.

Using a portable jump start battery to jump start a car

1- Buy a good quality car battery jumper

Before you even start, you will need to make sure you have a jump start battery that is up to the task. Though this is a piece of equipment that you may never use, it is definitely worth spending the extra cash to make sure that you get a good quality unit. Not only this mean that it does what it is supposed to if you ever need to use it, but good quality battery jumpers also have in-built safety features that could save you from disaster.

Battery booster

2- Get the car ready to be jump started

jump start you car with battery banks

Before you begin, you should get the car ready by turning the ignition off, putting the car in neutral or park, while making sure the parking brake is activated. Turn off all electronics like the lights and radio too. Pop the hood so you can get at the battery and you will be ready to begin.

3- Connect the jump starting battery to the car

jump start you car step 1

Once you have the hood up, grab your jump start battery and place it safely next to the car battery. Take hold of the jumper cables and start by connecting the red positive jumper cable to the car battery’s red positive terminal. After you have done this, connect the black negative jumper cable to the car battery’s black negative terminal. Attaching jumper cables with good quality clips will be nice and easy, so don’t be afraid of doing it. Provided you follow these steps, you will be safe.

4- Switch on the jump starting battery and give it 5 minutes to charge

jump start you car step 2

After turning on the jumper battery, you will need to give it 5 minutes to charge your car’s battery in order to make sure sufficient charge is available to start your engine when you try to start it. Turning over an engine takes a lot of energy, so you will need plenty of power from both your car battery and the jumper battery at the same time.

5- Time to start your vehicle

jump start you car step 3

Jump in your car, and after making sure it is in neutral, turn the key and start it like normal. As long as you have enough charge in your jumper battery, you should hear the engine roar to life straight away.

6- After your car is running

Once you get your car started, you will need to disconnect the jump start battery. To do this, simply reverse the steps you took to connect it. Remove the black negative jump start cable from the black negative terminal before removing the red positive jump start cable from the red positive terminal. Remember to leave the car running while you do this, as if you turn it off, the car’s battery might not have enough charge to start the car again.

What can go wrong?

Depending on the type of equipment you are using, there are a number of things that could throw a few spanners in the work when trying to jump start your vehicle. If you are using a jump start battery that doesn’t have good safety features, then you definitely don’t want to make the mistake of connecting the jumper cables to the wrong terminal. If you accidentally connect the positive to negative and negative to positive, you are likely to end up with a firework show on your hands and a screwed battery at the end of it.

Another really important thing is to make sure your vehicle is in neutral when you try to start it because if you don’t, you will end up hurtling down the driveway screaming your head off as you go.

Recommended Equipment

We strongly recommend the Genius Boost G40 and DBPower jump starter as our top choice car jump start battery. for more information check our full detailed review for best jump starter for cars.

The video

Scotty Kilmer is a mechanic with more than 47 years of experience, so it’s safe to say he really knows his stuff. He presents a car talk show live every Saturday morning at 10 AM CST, via his YouTube channel. In this video, he shows how to jump start a dead car battery just using the Genius Boost G30 car jumper battery.

Our Final Thought

Using a good quality jumpstart battery to start a car with a dead battery is easy when you know how. By following our 6 easy steps, you should be able to start your vehicle with no problems at all. The demonstration by Scotty Kilmer shows just how easy it really is. What’s really great is that if you have any questions you can contact Scotty directly and tap into his years of experience to get the best answers. Don’t forget, you really can save yourself all the trouble of having a dead battery if you remember to turn off your lights when you leave the car and to charge it using a car battery charger when it is low.

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