My Jumpstarting rant!

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

I've jump started a lot of cars in my life, and I know that you are supposed to gound out the battery of the car your starting by attaching black to the frame or some other metal part of the car. The trouble is Its never worked that way. Tell me if Im being impatient, but the only way I have ever been able to jump a car is ++/--

anyhow my wifes car died last night while she was visiting her parents, and I had to come jumpstart her car, because my wife likes to park dead center in the driveway so no one can get out.  I tried to ground out black and surprise suprise, nothing. complete the circuit and everythings good.

hows that for wierd.
I know it puts me at risk for an exploding or flaming battery, but it doesn't seem to work any other way.

[Spriggan]

My car recently had some battery problems and I had to jumpstart it a few times in a short period.  Anyway I asked my dad and the AAA guy that came buy to Jump my car and both said it dosen't make a differnce which way you do it.  You won't blow your battery by not "grounding" the cables.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

From what I've heard it can, but its not as much of a problem as it used to be thanks to new maintainance free batteries.
The reasoning goes like this; lead-acid batteries;the type used to start cars;produce electricity through a chemical reaction. Lead plates are submerged in an electrolyte (water and sulfuric acid) inside the battery's cells. These components react chemically to generate direct-current electricity.

The hazard is in the byproduct of this reaction: hydrogen gas. It's so flammable that this gas is used to fuel rocket engines. The Catch-22 in car batteries is that a spark can easily ignite hydrogen gas, and batteries themselves are capable of producing sparks. If the lead plates inside the battery touch, arcing and sparking can convert the battery into a bomb. The resulting gunshot-like explosion disperses the caustic acid, where it can eat through underhood components as well as human parts.

Maintenance
The best way to prevent battery explosions is through routine maintenance. On removable-cap batteries, keep the water level up so that the lead plates' tops are less likely to emerge above the electrolyte, warp and contact each other. Also, keep battery terminals clean so that the power isn't inclined to arc in search of a path of least resistance.

The two most likely explosion times are during start-up and improper jump-starting. Power demands are greatest when the battery must get the starter motor spinning, and the resulting heat increases the amount of hydrogen gas. Hot weather compounds the problem.

Concerning jump-starting, the last cable connection usually produces a spark. To minimize the danger, keep the spark as far away from the dead battery as possible. Always make the final connection on the good battery, and connect the negative jumper cable to an unpainted metal surface of the dead car (such as an alternator bracket), not to the drained battery's negative post. In extreme cold weather, the battery can basically become a chunk of ice. Jump-starting can cause hydrogen gas to blow apart a battery in its attempt to escape

[Lieutenant Kije]

If it's a stick you can jump it by pushing it.  We did that a lot in Argentina.  'Course, you gotta have some willing labor handy to do that.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

most folks dont have stick in DC anymore, its a liability with the traffic.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

also, they make you look really stupid when you keep putting the thing in first instead of reverse. NOt that this has ever happened to me.. .. Hey. Shut up.