I've really let myself down, driver only wanted a jump

Picture the scene, I’m doing my walk round checks this morning at a truckstop of let’s say dubious repute, then another driver approaches me wearing thick rubber gloves (the ones used for disposal of bodies in acid baths) with a lost and sheepish look on his face.

So being a friendly chap I said morning fella everything OK, well it turned out he had flat batteries and needed a jump start. Now it’s been a while since I’ve done this and my last attempt nearly blew the truck up so I declined and said I couldn’t help and to ask someone else.

FFS I felt bad, so bad in fact that I deceided bollox to it I will try and help this bloke out if no one else does. Luckily for me one of Downtons finest had took up the mantle and helped him out.

So I would just like to confess my massive fo par and thank the Downton driver who stepped up to the plate.

Normally there’s no limits to how much I will bend over backwards for a fellow sister of the road but today I failed miserably.

*faux pas :wink:

It wont be long before some old hand comes on to say “Oh how I yearn for the days when drivers helped each other out”

Serious question from a retired old lorry driver. I’ve done plenty of jump starting over the years, and as long as you followed a few common sense rules, it always worked out ok. Is it not frowned on nowadays ? Can you not do £1000s worth of damage by frying all the new fangled electronics ? Or is it ok but you really must know " the right way " to go about it , i.e. is it different to the old school way ?
Regards. John.

i just wish that someone else had started this post so that we could see dippers doube entendre reply… :slight_smile:

faux lorry driver… :slight_smile:

Never seem to be in the right place :grimacing:

Dig the self anaylitical stuff though !

“Oh how I yearn for the days when drivers helped each other out” sorry mate…couldnt resist

But, while we`re on the subject, maybe someone else can confirm whether you can mess up the electronics…ok i will answer my own question; My truck wouldnt start one monday morning…so boss turns up 5 hours later in his masserati, with 2 brand new batteries in the boot…decides to give me a jump start…that didnt work…so changed the batteries…that didnt work, so called Man aid or whatever theyre called…reset something uner the bonnet…and she fired up…only problem was it blew my fridge…but i took it back to the shop and told them it packed up…gave me a new one under warranty…lol

I would like to know the ifs and buts and wherefores of giving a jump start…i have done it over the years but we didnt have the gadgetry we have now days…normally put the earth on first, then the live…have done it with just the live and a bar between two wheels, that was in the old days though.

Lots of tractor units about with ‘‘do not jump start’’ writ large on the back of the cabs.

No, i won’t be helping out either, these modern lorries are temperamental and too fragile and precious for industrial use, but these modern toys are what we get issued with now and unless we want to risk a P45 and/or a bill for £thousands then it’s mechanic time.

I’ve done before by connecting the does of the Anderson leads together on a Daf, Warbies were always going flat when parked on bays getting loaded. Wouldn’t have clue with a set of jump leads to the battery.

sent using smoke signals

Dunno if it’s the same as a car but here goes…

The battery died on my car last month and i couldn’t get it started using jump leads on to another car so called out green flag, when the recovery guy came out i explained what I’d done and he said never put jump leads directly from battery terminal to battery terminal as it directly doubles the volts/amps and that’s what fries the electrics, he told me to put live on live but the negative lead needs earthing to the body, he then showed me there was an earthing point near the battery for jump starting. lesson learned and luckily enough no harm done.

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So where does the earth lead from the battery connect?

Trucker-Si:
Dunno if it’s the same as a car but here goes…

The battery died on my car last month and i couldn’t get it started using jump leads on to another car so called out green flag, when the recovery guy came out i explained what I’d done and he said never put jump leads directly from battery terminal to battery terminal as it directly doubles the volts/amps and that’s what fries the electrics, he told me to put live on live but the negative lead needs earthing to the body, he then showed me there was an earthing point near the battery for jump starting. lesson learned and luckily enough no harm done.

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When you jump start anything you only double the amps not the volts.

Simple way & this will not cause any problems.
1.Turn off the vehicle you are using to supply battery power
2. Connect the jump leads in the correct order ensuring you connect Negative to Negative & Positive to Positive, This the important Bit, you must not connect to the terminals that connect the two batteries together
3.Turn on headlights of the vehicle that is being jump started, if it starts allow to idle for a few minutes & then disconnect leads, if it does not start go to step 4 after turning off head lights

  1. Start slave vehicle & allow to run for a few minutes at about 1000rpm, allow to idle, turn on headlights of stranded vehicle & start, allow vehicle to idle for a few minutes & remove leads

  2. Drive normally for about 10 minutes & then turn head lights off if in daylight.

Hope that helps Dave.

I just put the positive to the starter motor and the negative to the chassis. Starts my old motor no problem but I wouldn’t recommend it with any thing that has any sort of computer fuel management.

Oh how I yearn for the days when drivers helped each other out.

old 67:
Serious question from a retired old lorry driver. I’ve done plenty of jump starting over the years, and as long as you followed a few common sense rules, it always worked out ok. Is it not frowned on nowadays ? Can you not do £1000s worth of damage by frying all the new fangled electronics ? Or is it ok but you really must know " the right way " to go about it , i.e. is it different to the old school way ?
Regards. John.

I think Dipper did right. Nowadays, helping someone out can leave you wishing you hadn’t bothered.

Jump starting needs to be avoided on anything with modern electrics. Cars/bikes/trucks/buses etc. It can shove a spike up the system and make a burning smell. Mind you it’s not all bad news,I know of a Transit that a recovery company jump started and it blew the tracker to bits.
Ideally you should:

Use a jump pack
Change the battery(s) for new and/or fully charged
Tow start (unless it’s got a girl’s gearbox).

If jump starting is unavoidable, for gawd’s sake don’t connect any leads until you’ve put a small load on the dead motors battery (usually, turn on the sidelights),which helps to absorb a spike.

Just thought I’d mention it

I am Spartacus …

No I’m Spartacus !

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