We were pleased to receive so much feedback on our last Ask CATS post, How to Safely Boost Your Car Battery, where we talked about some of the unknown dangers of self-boosting. By far, the most common question asked was, “how should you safely self-boost a car battery?”
We approached our in-house experts (CATS) with this question, who were a little hesitant in providing a one-size-fits-all answer due to the many makes and models of vehicles on the road today. For instance, a car battery can be located in an unconventional place, like under the driver’s seat in a Porsche Cayenne, which means that boosting procedures vary.
With this in mind, CATS advises motorists to check their car manuals and consult a professional before boosting to ensure that their vehicle is protected.
If you choose to self-boost your battery, here is a safe way to do it:
- Hook the positive (+) red booster cable end to the dead battery’s positive lead. Connect the other red booster clamp to the positive lead of the good battery.
- Hook the negative (-) booster cable end to the negative battery terminal on the good battery. On the vehicle with the dead battery, hook the negative cable end to a clean, non-painted metal part of the engine block, somewhere away from the actual battery. This will help to prevent sparks that could cause the battery to explode if gases are present.
- Make sure to wear eye protection when boosting.
However, when it comes to boosting, we recommend calling a professional to avoid the possibility of injury such as current spikes or damage to your car’s internal computer.
If you have any technical questions, we encourage you to contact CATS directly. They can be reached at 1-866-464-6448 or you can email them at cats@caasco.ca.
