Most of us consider jumping a car during a pouring rain stupidity. But people don’t know how often a car’s under-hood gets splashed with water when one drives during rain or on wet roads. That doesn’t cause anything harmful to the batteries or shoot a spark. So, the answer to “is it safe to jumpstart a car in the pouring rain?” Yes, it’s certainly safe to jumpstart a car in the rain, if done correctly.
However, it doesn’t mean anyone can try their hand at jumping without any prior experience. Jumpstart a car in the rain doesn’t have an immediate danger but can expose the battery to rain or moisture that can cause corrosion and, as a result, reduce the life of the battery. You wouldn’t want to jumpstart a frozen or leaking battery as it could lead to an explosion.
Winters have an adverse effect on the car battery health and are 51 percent more likely to have problems. When your car battery gives up, you might be wondering who to call for quick help? To get a clear picture of the dangers and how to safely jump start service a car in the rain, follow the comprehensive jumpstart a car guide below.
How safe is it to jump a car in the rain?
As we all know, water is a good conductor of heat and electricity. That makes it a bad idea to jumpstart a car during rain, right? Wrong, the case is a bit different. Most car’s electric system runs on DC 12 volts or in case of big trucks at 24 volts and 5v. At the same time, the amperage of a car battery is around 48 to 50 Ah. This voltage and current range are pretty safe to work with, and there’s no chance for you to get hurt while trying to jumpstart a car in the rain.
Technically humans can resist up to 10,000 ohms of resistance, and if you do the math for a 12-volt car battery, it’ll be 0.012 amps. That is way less and can’t affect the human body. However, you need to prevent the rain droplets from dripping on the jumper wire open terminals and keep a close eye when connecting them.
Also Read: Ran out of gas or something else, No worries Call Flag Towing for help
Preventive measures for jumpstart during rain
- Prevent rain droplets from falling on the battery terminals
- Make sure the battery is not frozen before attempting to jump start
- Connecting incompatible vehicles such as 6-volt and 12-volt batteries
- Black is negative, and red is positive
- Make tight connections
- The red terminal clamp needs to be connected first, and then the black clip
- In any case, don’t let the two cables touch each other
- Disconnect them safely
Dangers of jump-starting your car yourself
Jumpstarting your car without any experience can be risky. A faulty battery might start a fire or fry the entire car’s electrical system. The batteries contain sulfuric acid that evaporates and is highly flammable. While the jumper cables often create sparks that can result in fire or even explosion if not done correctly. It is highly recommended to have a professional take care of the jumping process for you.
Jumping one’s car in the rain can also be harmful. The process might not affect humans but can potentially cause damage to the vehicle. Modern vehicles have complex electronic systems inside that are quite expensive at times. Short-circuiting them damages the parts beyond repair, causing you a lot of money.
Also, it is even possible to cause damage to the other car with a good battery. This can be the very last thing anyone would want to ruin the day of a helping driver.
Steps to jump-start a car in the rain
- Before you begin the jumping process, make sure that all the electrical systems or devices are switched off and disconnected. Such as the lights, sat-nav, radio, etc., and lower the driver window.
- Park the other vehicle as close to the dead car as possible to make sure the jumper cables comfortably reach the terminals on both sides. And keep a short distance between the two vehicles as they won’t touch each other and cause damage.
- Use a drape or some water-resistant material over the open hoods. That will ensure more safety from the rain and moisture.
- Make sure both the car’s engines are switched off and ignition keys removed.
- Attach the jumper cable’s red end to the positive (+) terminal on the flat battery by pulling the cover back to access the terminal. And the other end of the red jumper cable to the positive terminal of the good health battery.
- Now connect the black end of the jumper lead to the negative terminal on the healthy vehicle battery. And the other end of the black jumper cable to an earth point on the dead battery vehicle. This usually is the engine block or any other metal surface away from the battery. Be cautious not to touch both ends of the cable together.
- Then start the rescue car to provide the electricity and leave for a few minutes.
- Attempt to start the car with the weak battery. In case it doesn’t start, check the connections and tighten or clean as required.
- Once the car with the weak battery starts, leave it for at least 20 minutes to recharge the battery before shutting it off.
- However, if the casualty vehicle still doesn’t start, there might be some other problem that needs to be addressed. Call a reliable local towing service for quick help.
- Disconnect the jumper cables in the reverse order.
Sometimes, it’s not convenient or easy to get help from other vehicles to jump your car battery. Should that situation arise, you need to rely on a professional roadside assistance company nearby that can come to your aid as quickly as possible. Flag Towing offers emergency jump start service throughout the greater Texas region. On a few occasions, the battery might be completely drained or dead. In any such case, you will not be able to jumpstart and need to tow the car to the nearest mechanic shop. Flag Towing can efficiently and swiftly get you towed to the automotive technician of your choice in no time.