tried to jump my car and the jumper cables melted! WHAT does it mean?!?!?!

My car is a P.O.S. that doesn't start when it gets wet (yeah I've been shopping for a new one).

I thought I might be in the clear since it's November now, but no we had to have the RANIEST NOVEMBER EVER in long island so my car is constantly in a state of being an asshole.

Anyway I just tried to jump my car (had AAA do it last time)... my friend started his car and then my cables melted!

I know the battery isn't "dead" now because I can still run the radio/CD player/headlights/etc fine. I just can't start the car. The last three times this happened, it just took a jumpstart to get everything working again, but now I'm a little gun shy after that whole melting incident.

Think the whole problem was just a crappy set of cables? I don't even remember when or where I got them. The inner wiring looked pretty thin after all the rubber melted off. Like I said, the electronic stuff in the car still works, so I'm hoping that means there wasn't any collateral damage.

I am thinking of trying a jump start again, using someone else's cables. Think this is a dangerous idea??

I can't believe slidecage isn't the OP. :lol:

its been raining on and off the past week here in wantagh/levittown

[quote name='Maklershed']I can't believe slidecage isn't the OP. :lol:[/QUOTE]lol, actually my erratic use of caps had me thinking of slidecage while I wrote it, hahahaha

It was a combination of that and a bizarre problem.

The problem is user error.

Jumping the car with someone elses cars and cables means there's no harm to you since your car doesn't work as is so it's all profit with nothing to lose!

What colors did you put to what?

[quote name='btw1217']What colors did you put to what?[/QUOTE]good red to dead red, good black to some metal thing under my hood (not sure what it was but everything i read said to avoid putting the black clamp on the dead battery itself). My friend did the connections on his car so, technically I guess I don't KNOW that they were connected right on his end.

[quote name='Magehart']The problem is user error.

Jumping the car with someone elses cars and cables means there's no harm to you since your car doesn't work as is so it's all profit with nothing to lose![/QUOTE]hey I'd gladly use my own but I can't exactly go out and buy some right now ya know!

[quote name='LilPaintballer']its been raining on and off the past week here in wantagh/levittown[/QUOTE]yeeeah man what's up with that! I actually like this weather in and of itself, but I really need it NOT to rain for a while! Come on, start acting like NOVEMBER.


actually over the last couple of weeks I've been babying my car when it rains... like I'll just go out every couple of hours, start the car, let it run for a bit and then go inside. It seems like "training" the engine helped it to start up in the rain. Like it kept the engine "fresh" or something. But if it just sat outside for a full day with no activity, I'd be ed.

I would have done some intermittent starts today but I didn't realize it was raining (it was a light, misty rainfall and I was home all day). #-o

[quote name='BustaUppa']good red to dead red, good black to some metal thing under my hood (not sure what it was but everything i read said to avoid putting the black clamp on the dead battery itself). My friend did the connections on his car so, technically I guess I don't KNOW that they were connected right on his end.[/quote]

Ooo man, some metal thing under the hood? I dunno... someone probably didn't connect theirs correctly. That's the only way. Red to positive, black to negative?
Someone might have caused a short, such as accidentally allowing the postive to touch the frame while connected to the battery. You may be able to chalk it up to cheap cables, but I don't know if that's the answer.

[quote name='Maklershed']I can't believe slidecage isn't the OP. :lol:[/QUOTE]

Exactly what I thought.

OP, you had cheap cables. Stop being a cheap-ass and go get yourself some heavy-duty jumper cables and try again. Been there, done that.

[quote name='btw1217']Ooo man, some metal thing under the hood? I dunno... someone probably didn't connect theirs correctly. That's the only way. Red to positive, black to negative?
Someone might have caused a short, such as accidentally allowing the postive to touch the frame while connected to the battery. You may be able to chalk it up to cheap cables, but I don't know if that's the answer.[/QUOTE]Hmm, either way do you think it's risky to try jumping it again later (with different cables obviously)?

Again, the battery isn't DEAD because I can still run the radio and stuff. Right now the car's doing the same stuff it always does when the rain messes it up.[quote name='keithp']Exactly what I thought.

OP, you had cheap cables. Stop being a cheap-ass and go get yourself some heavy-duty jumper cables and try again. Been there, done that.[/QUOTE]hahaha... honestly I want this to be case. It's the most easily-solved interpretation of this problem so I hope you are right! I will gladly invest in quality cables rather than sink more money into the shit-on-wheels I've been driving for way too long.

Don't use jumper cables, not only could you fry your battery, but the other person's too. (Computers can be fried too.) I melted the terminals off of my battery once. Nearly blinded me. Anyway, use one of those jump start kits. They're like $30 at Wal-Mart, and it's a rechargeable battery pack that jumps your car for you.

Also, you probably just need a new battery. It's just not putting out enough power. Enough to do simple things like run the radio, but not turn the engine over. You can try jumping it again if you want though. Can't hurt, as the battery is probably dead anyway. Just wear glasses whenever you jump start a car.

Oh, and make sure that your battery is grounded to the actual ground, and not to the ground on your friend's battery.

EDIT: One last thing. The last time I fcuked up my battery trying to jump it, I also blew the battery fuse. Check under your hood for a fusebox. It's probably like a 75w - 100w fuse. Your car won't start without it. (But man is it helpful, I would have fried my CPU without it.)

[quote name='BustaUppa']Hmm, either way do you think it's risky to try jumping it again later (with different cables obviously)?[/QUOTE]

Nah, it'll be fine, as long as everything is connected correctly. If the problem persists, I, too, would recommend a new battery.

[quote name='Access_Denied']Don't use jumper cables, not only could you fry your battery, but the other person's too. (Computers can be fried too.) I melted the terminals off of my battery once. Nearly blinded me. Anyway, use one of those jump start kits. They're like $30 at Wal-Mart, and it's a rechargeable battery pack that jumps your car for you.

Also, you probably just need a new battery. It's just not putting out enough power. Enough to do simple things like run the radio, but not turn the engine over. You can try jumping it again if you want though. Can't hurt, as the battery is probably dead anyway. Just wear glasses whenever you jump start a car.

Oh, and make sure that your battery is grounded to the actual ground, and not to the ground on your friend's battery.

EDIT: One last thing. The last time I fcuked up my battery trying to jump it, I also blew the battery fuse. Check under your hood for a fusebox. It's probably like a 75w - 100w fuse. Your car won't start without it. (But man is it helpful, I would have fried my CPU without it.)[/QUOTE]ooh there's a thought, I always assumed those portable charger kits were crazy expensive. That would definitely be a worthwhile investment! Also what does "grounded to the actual ground" mean? I really don't know anything about cars.

[quote name='btw1217']Nah, it'll be fine, as long as everything is connected correctly. If the problem persists, I, too, would recommend a new battery.[/QUOTE]cool cool. I'm trying to ride my current battery out for as long as I can, simply because I'm shopping for a new car right now. So that's a desperation, last-resort step that I hope won't be necessary!

To all you car-savvy folk... what's the deal with the negative jumper cable? Is it really THAT dangerous to plug it into the negative terminal on the bad battery? Also are we supposed to be clamping these things on the somewhat round, bolt-like things on the battery? or the straighter pieces leading up to those things? i'm not sure which part is the "terminal." (Believe it or not, i HAVE successfully jump started a car before... it's just that after this wacky incident I'm second-guessing everything!)

OK, I know that when you put the wrong color cable in the wrong color terminal the terminal melts but I have never heard of melting cables. Maybe you put the wrong color cables in the wrong terminal.

neg cable goes to frame in order to act as ground. this prevents you from wiping out computer in some cars.

Some serious misinformation in here.

Jumper cables are perfectly fine IF used correctly.

OP, you did not use them correctly. The part connected to "some metal thing" should have been connected to the negative terminal on your battery, nowhere else, whoever says different has no idea what they're doing.

Sounds like because of the way you connected them it caused the cables to melt and you blew a fuse (probably under the hood, called a fusible link on older Hondas, not sure on other cars). That would explain why you get power to accessories but can't get the car to crank. It's also possible that your battery didn't get enough of a charge to crank the engine since the cables were connected wrong.

[quote name='BustaUppa']ooh there's a thought, I always assumed those portable charger kits were crazy expensive. That would definitely be a worthwhile investment! Also what does "grounded to the actual ground" mean? I really don't know anything about cars.

cool cool. I'm trying to ride my current battery out for as long as I can, simply because I'm shopping for a new car right now. So that's a desperation, last-resort step that I hope won't be necessary!

To all you car-savvy folk... what's the deal with the negative jumper cable? Is it really THAT dangerous to plug it into the negative terminal on the bad battery? Also are we supposed to be clamping these things on the somewhat round, bolt-like things on the battery? or the straighter pieces leading up to those things? i'm not sure which part is the "terminal." (Believe it or not, i HAVE successfully jump started a car before... it's just that after this wacky incident I'm second-guessing everything!)[/QUOTE]

Just look at this picture:



The dead battery on the left if still grounded to your car, while the good battery on the rights should be grounded to the ground. In other words, you can stick it on the car if you need to(the dead car), but maybe try to stick it on a pole in the ground or something. Just don't connect it to the other battery.

[quote name='Access_Denied']. Just don't connect it to the other battery.[/quote]

I suppose every time i've successfully jump started a car over the past 7 years i've been doing it wrong because i connected positive to positive and negative to negative.

Connecting negative terminals together isn't the end of the world and beats the crap out of frying cables/car parts.

[quote name='JDN169']I suppose every time i've successfully jump started a car over the past 7 years i've been doing it wrong because i connected positive to positive and negative to negative.

Connecting negative terminals together isn't the end of the world and beats the crap out of frying cables/car parts.[/QUOTE]

Actually, yes, you were doing it wrong. It works, but that doesn't mean it's not wrong. The way I showed is the correct way to do it, whether you do it that way or not. I used to hook the batteries together too, but I've since learned this is the right way.

And by connecting the terminals together, you're more likely to fry the CPU or even melt off the terminals.

I have always connected the batterys together to, ive known about attaching it to the frame part somewhere but ive never been able to find a good spot so I just do the battery thing.

As for your car, my guess would be the battery doesnt have enough power to jump the car, you can take it to an autozone and have them test it for you and tell you if its your alternator or your battery.

I just went to a harbor freight dunno if you got those up there, but I bought a cheap lil 5 dollar tool thats like a meter with lights and I touch it to my battery and it will tell me if its good or bad with a number of lights 3 good, 2 good 1 is bad. And it also has a way to test the alternator as well.

It's recommended that you connect the negative to the frame of the dead car because a spark could ignite the hydrogen gas that is vented by car batteries. In my experience I can never get enough juice to the dead car that way, so I always connect directly to the battery. There's no risk to the car itself, but the battery could blow up in your face, so...

Whoever said that you're supposed to connect negative to negative is wrong. The dead battery side should be connected to the frame like it's been mentioned a few times. Also OP, as someone said, it sounds like your battery is the problem, even though it has enough power for the radio, lights, etc., it sounds like it doesn't have enough to turn over the engine. Also, if it only happens when it gets wet, you might have an exposed cable somewhere between the battery and the starter that is shorting out.

my old car used to just not start sometimes when it was wet out.
It was nothing to do with the battery charge - if i came back the next day it would start.

One time the same thing happened at a friends house. I brought the car in the garage, put a fan/heater in there and it started a few hours later.

Shortly after i traded it in for a new car =]

It means the battery exploded in your face and you died in indescribable agony as the flesh melted from your skull. You are dead but have yet to confront this fact and continue to walk the earth in a state of denial, believing you are interacting with the world but really being ignored by it.

Don't be fooled by the responses to this thread. Lots of CAGs are dead. Dead people have a lot of time on their hands but limited earning potential, so they need to save money on their copious gaming purchases.

aw damn!

ok it is now clear that I had actually hooked the positive clamp to my negative battery post.

I figured this out last night when my car-savvy friend hooked up the cables, and pointed out that the RED terminal on my battery was actually the negative terminal. Before I had blindly acted on the assumption that the red and black terminals on my battery would match the polarity of the like-colored clamps. I have no idea why one would mark a battery in such a counterintuitive fashion, but it is obviously my fault for not being more careful!

So at least I know exactly what the problem was. And the car did get successfully jumped this time, although it stalled again shortly afterwards. We didn't charge the car for that long though, so that's probably why (it was late and the guy had to put his kids to bed, so he had already left). I'll just jump it again today and let it charge for longer and I think thing will be alright! Once I'm up and running I'll take some cheap preventative steps to make my car more rain-proof...

[quote name='BustaUppa']aw damn!

ok it is now clear that I had actually hooked the positive clamp to my negative battery post.

I figured this out last night when my car-savvy friend hooked up the cables, and pointed out that the RED terminal on my battery was actually the negative terminal. Before I had blindly acted on the assumption that the red and black terminals on my battery would match the polarity of the like-colored clamps. I have no idea why one would mark a battery in such a counterintuitive fashion, but it is obviously my fault for not being more careful!

So at least I know exactly what the problem was. And the car did get successfully jumped this time, although it stalled again shortly afterwards. We didn't charge the car for that long though, so that's probably why (it was late and the guy had to put his kids to bed, so he had already left). I'll just jump it again today and let it charge for longer and I think thing will be alright! Once I'm up and running I'll take some cheap preventative steps to make my car more rain-proof...[/QUOTE]

That'll do it. At least you know from now on. I would take it by a dealer to get the post-rain startup problem looked at. Could be a distributer cap, a short, battery, etc.