Quote:
Originally Posted by ATLAS
Brian/Vstech,
This is a bit of a digression from the OP question but if you have a dead battery, and assuming you have some decent cables (1 or 2 gauge with 600A clamps), why not just disconnect the cables from the dead battery and hook them directly to the starting cables? Wouldn't this "bypass" the dead battery and provide you the large amount of current needed to get the starter turning? It seems to me that this would eliminate the time spent waiting around for a severely dead battery to recharge.
Although, come to think of it, maybe there would be an issue in supplying that amount if, for example, the battery doing the jumping is from a Honda Civic and therefore the only way your going to get a big enough current would be to charge the large diesel battery first?
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When you connect the cables to the weak battery, what you are actually doing is "bypassing" it at that moment. The OE battery clamps attach to the posts of the battery and the cables from the jump start attach to those OE battery clamps. Most of the juice goes right on by the dead battery to the starter. Of course, you might argue that some of your precious starting voltage is also attempting to charge the dead battery, and, therefore, disconnecting it would assist in the start. I've never bothered to test this theory but have my doubts whether it would provide significant benefits.
The reason folks wait around for a dead battery to recharge is the limitation in the cables and the clamps. If they provided no resistance, you will get the full cranking amps available from the jumper battery. Even a Honda Accord battery can start a diesel in warm weather if its battery is fully charged (provided the diesel does NOT need more than, say, 10 seconds of crank time. Since they do offer significant resistance, the partial charge of the dead battery is necessary, combined with whatever comes across the jumper cables, to start the engine.