Smart Car Battery Charger

**dr. d** · May 11th, 2020 09:04 PM

Originally Posted by Archerfish

Gauge 10 or thicker like gauge 8? Perhaps buying a welding cable is the safest!

we shall see.
the cables should be roll-up-able, kasi.
also, too heavy and they tend to scratch the car's finish.
selamat po.

**12vdc** · May 11th, 2020 09:47 PM

Originally Posted by dr. d

i should really assemble my own, using stranded cable wire.
what would be the minimum gauge, kaya? i still have to roll it up into a small-ish bundle.

25mm^2 welding/DC/Solar cable or AWG#4 to 3. The 35mm^2 welding cable is too thick and heavy for ordinary use. Panther HD clamps are available at Raon/Deeco

**Archerfish** · May 11th, 2020 11:00 PM

Originally Posted by 12vdc

25mm^2 welding/DC/Solar cable or AWG#4 to 3. The 35mm^2 welding cable is too thick and heavy for ordinary use. Panther HD clamps are available at Raon/Deeco

I believe that is similar to what I had before. Thank you for that description.

**Walter** · May 12th, 2020 06:25 AM

Originally Posted by sean-archer

A smart charger would let me plug in and charge my battery using a wall outlet (hopefully available) and wait for some time to get my battery enough juice to start the car. However, A portable jump starter would start the car conveniently, as long as I regularly charge it and make sure it has enough juice to do its job. Tama ba intindi ko?

Get the smart charger ... if you're just going to make the effort the charge a portable battery, might as well charge the car battery ... smart chargers can detect when a car battery is about to lose charging capacity ...

**oj88** · May 12th, 2020 12:07 PM

Originally Posted by dr. d

those jumper wires from ace or handyman.
they all heat up when used.
the insulation is very thick.
you can just imagine, if the insulation is very thick, and yet they feel hot after using,
the very thin wire inside must be glowing-hot!

when i jump-started my innova, the jumper wires got really hot.
jump-starting the sedan or hatch, the wires did not get as hot.

i should really assemble my own, using stranded cable wire.
what would be the minimum gauge, kaya? i still have to roll it up into a small-ish bundle.

It's been a while since I've purchased jumper cables. The set I have now have been through two cars in over a decade. But I do remember seeing different cables for use on gasoline and a chunkier option for Diesel engines. Since I was driving a 1.8L gasoline car then, I bought the cheaper, "for gasoline cars" cable.

Fast-forward to now, driving a 2.5L Diesel Innova, I am still using the same cable. I've used it to start another Diesel Innova without issues. It WILL get a little warm to the touch but not burning hot, even with sustained cranking.

You probably got really low quality ones. But then again, as long as it doesn't get too hot and you don't get into the habit of jumping your car everyday, that should suffice for emergency use. My jumper cable was used maybe a max of 5 times throughout its life.

If you jump cars for a living, however (professional mechanic, tow truck operator, etc.), then it's a good idea to use the necessary wire gauge for the application.

**dr. d** · May 12th, 2020 12:14 PM

from cold engine, we jump-cranked the dead innova several times, before it caught on.
that probably is the reason why the cables got uncomfortably hot.

**12vdc** · May 12th, 2020 01:59 PM

Unlike the older direct injection desel engines, Innova has glowplugs which require more battery juice to turn the starter and solenoid of fuel pump.

**yapoy86** · May 12th, 2020 03:23 PM

Originally Posted by 12vdc

Unlike the older direct injection desel engines, Innova has glowplugs which require more battery juice to turn the starter and solenoid of fuel pump.

Afaik.. innova with d4d engines are already direct injection.. electronic fuel pump only primes the system but the high pressure pump is driven by the engine.. also glow plugs turn on only for a few seconds..

What makes diesel engines hard to start is due to their high compression ratio.. and heavy internals compared to a gas engine

**oj88** · May 12th, 2020 03:37 PM

Originally Posted by yapoy86

Afaik.. innova with d4d engines are already direct injection.. electronic fuel pump only primes the system but the high pressure pump is driven by the engine.. also glow plugs turn on only for a few seconds..

What makes diesel engines hard to start is due to their high compression ratio.. and heavy internals compared to a gas engine

Correct. Couldn't have said it better myself.

As for the jumper cables heating up, I would like to add that the current flowing through the cable depends a lot on the state of charge of the installed battery relative to the donor battery. The lower the SoC of the main battery, the higher the current will flow from the donor battery. That what makes the cable go warm or hot.

It's not advisable to use run-of-the-mill jumper cables to start a vehicle without a battery. The jumper cable might not be able to handle the full current the starter requires.

**ninjababez** · May 12th, 2020 04:03 PM

experience ko sa diy 12 awg *2 wires total* (black for negative, white for positive) with panther clamps
pag may konting juice pa, like 8v reading yun auto; kayang kaya. pero yun totally deads na 2sm (mine is ns40), di nag start yun mazda 3 nun boss ko. baka doblehin ko yun white (positive), para maging 4 yun total. or dapat pati yun negative doblehin ko rin?

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