How to Charge Car Battery with Another Car [ 10 Things You Must Know ]

If you have been driving cars for long enough, this might happen to you before. On a busy day, you get in your vehicle, turn the key, and there is no response. In most cases, the reason behind this is dead batteries. You can fix this issue and jump back again, but that should probably be enough to ruin your busy schedule. So, what do you do in this scenario?

A very useful and straightforward way of getting rid of this issue is to start your car. Without any special mechanical knowledge or expertise, you can be on your way within five to ten minutes only. In this article, I’ll show you how to charge car battery with another car alongside related information on this matter. So, without further ado, let’s start.

How to Charge a Battery Car to Car

Charging one car’s battery with another car works with a jumper cable. You’ll have to buy a set of jumper cable from the market for the process. When you connect the dead car battery with the charged battery for a few minutes, it’ll draw enough charge to start the car all by itself.

What to Do Before Charging a Battery?

Sooner or later, you’ll face the death of your car battery. It’s pretty much inevitable. But do you know the good part? You don’t need to be an expert to fix that issue by jumpstart. So, before you get to the charging part, here are some things to do.

• While you are charging your battery with a charger or jumpstarting it, don’t forget to park the vehicle in a safe place.
• Determine whether your car’s battery needs removal to charge. Apart from the old ones, most modern vehicles require you to remove the battery to charge.
• Before charging, don’t forget to turn off the engine. The same goes for all the electronics, as their power draw won’t let the battery charge.
• Remove the jumper cable clamps carefully. Most of the time, accidents happen due to faulty terminal connections.
• Before connecting the charger cable, don’t forget to clean the battery terminals. It prevents any sort of malfunction while charging.

Requirements to Charge Car Battery with another Car

You need to have the following materials to start your car from another car battery.

• A jumper cable
• Rubber gloves
• A car with a fully charged battery

10 Things You Must Know About How to Charge Car Battery with another Car

Now that you know the whole process of how to charge car battery with another car, you should be able to charge your car pretty easily. However, for your convenience, here is a quick recap of some facts about charging a car battery with another car.

1. Your car battery is never actually “Dead” dead. Sometimes, whether it’s because of the cold or for sitting idle, the battery might not work.
2. Typically jumpstarting is used to charge one car battery with another car. However, it cannot and should not be used to recharge the other battery fully.
3. Don’t forget to turn off the engine and electronics before you start charging. Otherwise, those components will keep drawing power, and the battery won’t be able to charge.
4. Be very careful when you are connecting and removing the jumper cable. Any mistake can result in a fatal accident.
5. Before the jump, determine the reason behind battery death. Sometimes the battery can die because of leakage. In that condition, a jumpstart can have a dangerous outcome.
6. Though jump starting is easy and safe, the best practice is to inquire about jumpstarting your battery particularly. There can be some extra considerations you are unaware of.
7. If your car isn’t responding, it’s not always the battery. There can be issues with other components too. Before you get to jumpstart, consider that too.
8. To save yourself from battery death, proper maintenance is the key. Make sure you always check your battery health and don’t keep the car idle for too long.
9. When you are setting up the jump start, don’t forget to wear safety gloves and safety goggles. Batteries are made of toxic materials, and they can contaminate you easily without safety precautions.
10. Don’t cheap out on the jumper cable you are purchasing. These low-quality cables can be both dangerous and have poor performance.

Jump Starting a Dead Car Battery

Here we are at the main discussion of the article. Though the jump start process is pretty straightforward, proper guidance is necessary for successful execution. So, here I have brought you a detailed step-by-step guide to this whole process.

The jumper cables are a must for the whole process. Most of the time, what happens is people have another car around, but they don’t have a jumper cable. So, get a cable today and always carry it with your car. After you get the jumper cable, here is how to charge car battery with another car:

• Step#1: The first thing you need to do is park your car as close as possible to the fully charged car. Most of the time, the jumper cables are not very long, so keep this in mind. Just leave enough room so that you can attach the cables.
• Step#2: After parking, turn the ignition off of both vehicles. Keep both vehicles in neutral mode. Then, open the hood of both cars and determine the positive and negative terminals of the batteries. Any mistake in figuring out the battery terminals and lead to fatal accidents.
• Step#3: Now comes the connection part. Take the positive jumper cable and connect the positive ends of both batteries. The positive clamp is usually marked red.
• Step#4: As for the negative cable, connect one end with the good battery’s negative terminal and the other end to any dead car’s metal component or metal surface. Make sure the metallic part is not rusted or painted. The negative clamp is usually marked black.
• Step#5: After the connection is complete, turn the ignition on of the car with a functional battery. Keep the car running for 5-10 minutes. This should suffice to generate enough charge to start your vehicle. Don’t try to recharge as that you’ll take a long time fully. For that purpose, a battery charger will be more suitable. Here are some top battery charger you can check out.
• Step#6: At this point, try to fire up your car’s engine; the car should start. If it doesn’t, you probably need to replace the battery or see a technician. To remove the jumper cable, disconnect the cables in REVERSE order only. Otherwise, it can cause a short circuit.
• Step#7: After the charging is complete, finish by driving your car around for another 15 to 20 minutes. This will allow the alternator to charge the battery.

What Does a Car Battery Do?

As the car runs by the engine and the engine runs by the gas, then what does the car battery is for? Well, that’s just a great question. As we now know how to charge car battery with another car, knowing the batteries job will give us a better understanding of the matter. Behind the curtain, the car battery does a lot of essential tasks crucial for the proper functionality of your car. Here are some of the functions of a car battery.

1. Ignite the Engine
   This is the first and most important task of the car battery. To start the engine, certain chemical reactions need to happen. The signal for this reaction is powered by the battery when you turn the key. In short, without the battery, you can’t even start the engine.
2. Power All the Car Electronics
   While controlling the interior temperature of your car, have you ever wondered what’s powering the car’s temperature management, i.e., the heater or the AC? As a power source, the battery provides the necessary energy to run them. The same goes for the lights, sound system, horn, or other electronics installed in your cars.
3. Works with the Alternator
   The primary purpose of the alternator is to turn the mechanical energy of the rotation of the engine into electric energy. The alternator provides the power for all the electronics installed in your vehicle while driving. But when the alternator is overwhelmed by the demand or the car is standing still, the battery helps the alternator issue to meet the demand.

How to Recharge a Dead Car Battery Safely & Quickly

Until now, I was only discussing how to charge car battery with another car. Though that’s a convenient instant solution, that’s not the way of recharging the battery fully, safely, and quickly. For that, you’ll need a car charger, and here is how to use it.

• Step#1: The first thing that recharges your battery is getting a car charger. A car charge can come in different specifications, so make sure the charger you are buying is compatible with your car.
• Step#2: The next step is connecting the battery with the charger. The charger has two cables, and the drill is the same as before. Just connect the positive and negative clamps to the positive and negative post of the battery.
• Step#3: At this point, you’ll have to set the charging speed for the battery. Depending on your necessity, set the amperage rate. Usually, a slower speed will give you a better charging result.
• Step#4: After setting the charging speed, plug in the charger and start charging. Most chargers offer a timer system and auto shut off too. Turn the charger off and remove it from the power socket when charging is complete.

Do’s and Don’ts of Car to Car Battery Charging

Even after knowing how to charge car battery with another car, you might not be able to execute car-to-car battery charging successfully, and that’s totally okay. For those of you, here is a list of do’s and don’ts. Let’s check them out.

For more details on how to charge car battery with another car, watch the video below.

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

Q1. Can You Charge One Car Battery from Another?

A) Yes, you absolutely can charge one car battery from another. All you'll need is a quality jumper cable, a simple guide like mentioned above, and about ten minutes of your time.

Q2. How Long Does It Take to Charge a Car Battery with Another Car?

A) If you are asking about a full recharge with a charger, that might take anywhere between six to twelve hours, depending on the battery size and amperage rate you set on the charger. As for charging through jumpstart, it'll only take about five to ten minutes.

Q3. How Do You Jump a Dead Car Battery with Another Car?

A) The jumping procedure is pretty simple. All you do is connect the jumper cables with both batteries and transfer just enough power so that the engine can start.

Q4. Can You Fully Charge a Car Battery with Jumper Cables?

A) Theoretically, it's possible to charge a car battery with a jumper cable fully. However, you should never do it as it'll take a very long time and damage the battery health of the charged battery.

Q5. Does Giving Another Car a Jump Hurt Your Battery?

A) As long as proper procedures are followed and the jump start is successful, there is no actual risk here. All you'll lose is some charge from your battery. You can recover that easily by using your car.

Q6. How to Charge a 6-Volt Battery with a 12-Volt Car?

A) The procedure is all the same, no matter the voltage. However, charging a lower voltage battery with a higher voltage battery is not recommended as it damages your battery. The standard practice is using the same voltage.

Q7. Can I Use My Car to Jump Start Another Car?

A) Yes, you can use your car to jump start another car. Make sure your battery has the optimum health to execute the jump start. Moreover, reading the owner manual about how to jump start a car is a good practice.

Final Words

That’s a wrap for today. In this era of modern engineering technologies, how a simple method like jump starting is changing our lives is phenomenal. On top of that, there is almost zero cost, no expertise needed, and it is completely safe to execute. For decades, this simple technique has made millions of drivers’ lives easier around the world.

Even after this technique, I would say that keeping the battery from dying should be the ideal practice. Charging car batteries from other cars should be used only in contingencies. I hope after today, you don’t have to worry about how to charge car battery with another car.