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Discuss (3) -
Posted at 7:30 AM on Tuesday 11/6/12 by
TheKenChan
Hotness UNHOT
Ends 11/12. Newegg has the Fine Life 31-Piece Roadside Emergency Tool & Auto Kit (NV-01116) for $13 with free shipping. Includes jumper cables, screwdrivers, 10pc nut driver set, pliers, work gloves, electrical tape, and more.
  • 1
    awestun - Posted 11:40 am PST 11/6/12 (989 Posts)  Report Spam

    dont be trying to jump any big trucks with that weak jumper cable else it will over heat, melt, and catch fire.

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  • 2
    CompWiz17 - Posted 2:08 pm PST 11/6/12 (5001 Posts)  Report Spam

    I doubt that it will catch fire. The amps that this wire is able to carry are limited by the voltage difference and the resistance of the wire.

    So, more likely, the car being jumped just won't start, unless you leave them connected for a long while and wait for the battery to recharge.

    Of course, that's not particularly convenient. If you'd like some better jumper cables, but don't want to pay too much, stop by your local harbor freight and pick up some of their 8-gauge jumpers. Or, if you'd like to be able to jump your car without another vehicle helping, they also have some portable jump-start batteries. That's what I have, and I've used it to start my car on several occasions.

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    dave_c - Posted 5:29 pm PST 11/6/12 (20871 Posts)  Report Spam

    The wire looks like 6 ga., maybe 8 ga. at the most but not 10 ga so it's going to be close. If you kept trying to start the vehicle the wire would get hot and eventually melt the insulation, but if it takes that long most people would've already given up as you're not supposed to keep running the starter that long without letting it cool down for a while before trying again, so while the starter is cooling down the wire would be too.

    The wire is 7'9" so if it were 8 ga that's 0.005 ohms resistance, but probably more resistance than that is coming from the battery clamp to battery terminal connections. The result is you could see over 100W dissipated across the length of the cable but it should be ok for long enough to make a few attempts to start a vehicle unless the dead car's battery is REALLY low.

    Definitely something to consider but to me the 7'9" length could be more of a problem, most people don't park having the thought that they should do so with good access to the battery in case it won't start next time.

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