How to properly smoke a car?

The expression "light up" a car means connecting high-voltage cables from a discharged battery to a working battery of another car. In this way, the battery is charged, after which the car engine can start.

At first glance, the topic is simple - you just need to connect the cables and you're done. However, most drivers do not know how to light the car correctly. Therefore, today we will talk about important nuances and provide detailed instructions on this topic.

The main function of the battery

Batteryis a power source for the machine's electrical devices when the engine is turned off. It supplies energy to the clock, tape recorder, lighting, etc. However, its most important mission is to ensure the operation of the starter so that it starts the engine.

As soon as the engine starts to work, the role of the current source passes to the generator. The latter takes energy from the engine through a belt transmission. Now the battery turns into a consumer, replenishing the energy spent on starting the motor. During ignition with the engine of the donor car turned on, the start is performed by a generator that is not intended for this (this information will be needed to explain the material below).

How to properly light a car?

A donor car with a serviceable charged battery is connected to the car, which needs to start the engine. This is done using cables with alligator clips on both ends of the wires. As a rule, they come in two colors: black (-) and red (+).

Step-by-step instructions:

1. To begin, place the machines so that they do not touch each other, but the length of the cables is enough for the cigarette lighter.
2. First, you need to turn off both cars and turn off all electrical equipment. After all, there is a risk of damaging the electronic parts of the machines.
3. Next, attach the crocodile from the red cable to the terminal with the “+” sign of the recipient car, and its other end to the donor battery (also the positive terminal).
4. Repeat the same with the black wire, only to the terminal marked "-". But there is one nuance: in the recipient car, the other end must be attached not to the battery, but to bare metal, such as a nut or an unpainted threaded connection. The distance from the positive terminal should be as large as possible. If you simply connect the cable to the negative terminal, the battery will simply charge slowly. And we need energy specifically for starting, not for charging.
5. Then start only the engine of the recipient. In an ideal scenario, the motor should start. If not - charge the battery from the donor with both cars turned off (10-15 minutes), disconnect the cables and try to start the engine again.
6. Finally, proper disconnection. To reduce the load on the network at the time of disconnection, the driver of the auto-donor can turn on the glass heating or air conditioning. After that, remove the clamps in the reverse order, that is, first the minus, then the plus. It is important not to allow the terminals to touch each other to prevent short circuits.

There is another extreme way. If the car does not start with a discharged battery, you can turn off the car and try again after a few minutes with the donor engine running. In case of failure, the driver of the donor car can raise the revolutions to 3 thousand for the maximum efficiency of the generator and try again. If the recipient's engine does not start, immediately disconnect the cables from both cars.

WARNING! This method (when the role of starting is taken over by the generator with the donor motor turned on) should be used when all other options have not given a positive result. After all, it can be dangerous for the proper operation of the generator in the donor car.

Car cigarette lighter compatibility

In order to properly ignite a car running on diesel fuel, it is worth using a donor also on diesel. Because the battery of a gasoline car has a lower starting current threshold. Therefore, the parameters of the battery for a gasoline engine may not be enough.

Also note that older carbureted cars are not compatible for ignition with modern injection cars. It will only do harm, not good. The following rule must be observed during lighting: a gasoline car with a small engine volume should be lit from a gasoline minivan, a truck from a truck, etc.

Recommendation from Vnedorognik

We advise owners of simple models of older generations and modern budget cars to smoke their cars. After all, complex on-board electronics of modern expensive cars may have problems in the form of errors in control units after such a procedure. This applies to both the donor and the recipient. If you are the owner of a modern expensive autowith a large number of electronic systems, it is better to use direct current battery charging from the mains.