Is jump-starting vehicles safe?

Usually, our immediate response to cars having dead batteries is to grab the cables and jump-start it with a running vehicle.

While it would instantaneously address the problem most of the time, CTEK Philippines said that it could probably do more damage to vehicles — most especially the new ones.

In a statement, the company explained that jump-starting may ruin a vehicle’s sensitive electronics and could cause lasting damage to the battery — which in turn, would lead to more unnecessary expenses to owners.

“Today’s modern vehicles have more than 200 minicomputers, or ECU (engine control units), performing a range of tasks from engine management to controlling air conditioning, lights, and parking sensors. These computer systems have a sensitive level of around 16 volts, but jump-starting the lead- acid battery on your car causes a surge of power of up to 20 volts — like hitting your car’s electrical system with a lightning bolt - and this sudden spike in voltage can quite easily blow one of these ECUs,” CTEK Philippines noted.

Also, the company shared that when a car gets jump-started, the battery booster pack — or the battery on the connected vehicle if it is using jump leads — acts as a power reservoir to get the engine started, bypassing the drained battery.

Once the engine is running and the booster pack or jump leads gets disconnected, the alternator immediately sees the empty battery, and suddenly reacts to it by instantly charging it up. The rise in current creates a spike in voltage, which could cause possible damage, CTEK Philippines elaborated.

In addition, the firm added that the alternator is delivering current at a higher rate than the battery can handle when jump-starting a vehicle. Such action causes the battery to heat up that could bend battery plates, which leads to the shedding of active material (lead dioxide) and causes a build-up of debris at the bottom of the battery.

To safely address the problem, CTEK Philippines said that vehicle owners should opt for an equipment that would assess the battery’s health then intelligently apply a gradual charge that would help keep the vehicle in good condition.

Per CTEK Philippines, the fully-portable CS Free is a safer alternative to juice up one’s vehicle battery as it utilizes a patented adaptive boost technology that gently refills the battery with charge and will even notify the car user that it is safe to start the car again.

Further, aside from being an adaptive booster the CS FREE also acts as a battery charger, a smart maintainer and high-tech power bank. “And if you use the CS FREE to charge your battery on a regular basis, you can actually extend battery life by up to three times,” the company added.

Moreover, CTEK Philippines assured that the aforementioned product is compatible with all types of 12-volt lead-acid battery as well as lithium (12V LiFePO4) batteries.

Photos from CTEK Philippines

Also read:

CTEK MXS 5.0 can keep vehicle batteries in top condition

CTEK PH launches two state-of-the-art battery chargers

CTEK keeps your rides fully juiced while at home