Good Quality Jumper Cable Recommendations

[LawnBoy-5247]

Where I am living It has been -20 at night for the past several days and I have had to jump start multiple people. I currently have a cheap light duty set of cables and they have worked OK but it would be nice to have a good quality preferably USA made set with clamps that are not absolute junk. What do you guys recommend?

 

[The Tool Tyrant]

http://www.quickcable.com/products.php?pageId=182

 

[mudflap]

We just got new ones for the service trucks from NAPA. They are 10ft long, heavy guage cable, and really good clamps. I dont know what they cost.

 

[yrly]

If you don’t mind spending the cash Spartan cables are made in the USA.

If you’re near an Ollie’s they were selling Popular Mechanics Chinese 2 gauge ones for $19.99 which isn’t bad. I’m sure most places near a cold blast are probably sold out by now of the better ones. They also had some 4 gauge Craftsman Platinum sets for the same price.

I have 7 cars so it’s cost prohibitive to carry a lot of expensive sets around.

 

[Tallpilot]

Might I recommend a JNC 660 so you don’t have to share your electrical system with strangers?

 

[tube_guy]

The best approach, like with most things, is to make your own. Buy some nice, flexible, copper welding cable of the length and gauge you want. Many of the wire/cable suppliers on eBay have some really decent prices. Buy some clamps and combine and you'd have a really nice set of jumper cables that will last a lifetime.

 

[LB-1911]

Where I am living It has been -20 at night for the past several days and I have had to jump start multiple people. I currently have a cheap light duty set of cables and they have worked OK but it would be nice to have a good quality preferably USA made set with clamps that are not absolute junk. What do you guys recommend?

East Penn - Deka 2 Gauge 20 Foot Booster Cables
DEK-00186

 

[Blt2Lst]

The best approach, like with most things, is to make your own. Buy some nice, flexible, copper welding cable of the length and gauge you want. Many of the wire/cable suppliers on eBay have some really decent prices. Buy some clamps and combine and you'd have a really nice set of jumper cables that will last a lifetime.

That's just what I did in the late 70's, got some heavy stranded welding cable and made them 12 ft long, remember bitching about the cost of the clamps back then, probably around $10 ea and you needed 4 of them.

Still have the cables today some 40 years later, never used a better set in all these years. Glad I held onto them and the $40 was well spent since I got the cable for free.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

I recently made a set... including Grote 900A clamps 84-9630 and 2 AWG welding cable. Probably set me back ~$130 for 20' cables.

 

[pbon]

Probably any 8 or 6 or 4 gauge cables are fine and you can find them cheap. If money is no object buy some fancy 2 or 4 with high strand count wire like you find in welding cable. A jumper pack may also be sufficient but buy a strong one since the lead acid ones will be weaker if left in the vehicle and its -20F our and some of the mini Lithium packs might not even work.

 

[Bert_]

Probably any 8 or 6 or 4 gauge cables are fine and you can find them cheap. If money is no object buy some fancy 2 or 4 with high strand count wire like you find in welding cable. A jumper pack may also be sufficient but buy a strong one since the lead acid ones will be weaker if left in the vehicle and its -20F our and some of the mini Lithium packs might not even work.

8 or 6 gauge jumper cables are close to useless. #4 minimum.

The problem with a lot of cables is the cheap PVC insulation they use. Makes the wire stiff and I've had some that the insulation cracked when unrolling them in cold weather.

 

[Here2Learn]

Be sure to check your clamp end needs before buying. I have normal top mount clamps. My jumper cables have the long skinny connector instead of just fat wide jaws. I really hate them sometimes.

 

[Lucid Moments]

Check out Polar Wire. All copper cables with serious clamps. One option they have that I really like is that you can get them with ring terminals on one end and clamps on the other with a quick connector in between.

https://store.polarwire.com/jumper-booster-cables/booster-cables/

 

[engineer2]

I used my Jump-N-Carry 4 times today in below zero weather. Worked every time, but I kept it indoors between uses. The battery fairies are visiting me.

 

[tym]

East Penn - Deka 2 Gauge 20 Foot Booster Cables
DEK-00186

I bought a few of these for a couple of vehicles. Real copper is better than the copper-clad aluminum of the cheapo cables.

 

[jrobb316]

East Penn - Deka 2 Gauge 20 Foot Booster Cables
DEK-00186

This. Pure copper, never let me down.

 

[Showkey]

I would switch to a jump pack and ditch the cable.

The problems with jumper cable and modern car and trucks are very well known and have been discussed on this forum and 100’s of others. Yes many are user errors and polarity problems. But the modern ECU control alternator and B CAN modules on both vehicles can be very sensitive and be damaged even when things are done correctly. Damage to the donor and dead vehicle are very common and can be costly.

 

[nh_yota]

You don't always need to spend big bucks to get a decent set. I bought some jumper cables from Walmart maybe 10 years ago and they work just fine every time I use them. I think they cost me $30-40 and came with a storage bag. I keep them behind the back seat of my truck and the only thing I don't like is the clamps, but I manage.

 

[Tallpilot]

I would switch to a jump pack and ditch the cable.

The problems with jumper cable and modern car and trucks are very well known and have been discussed on this forum and 100’s of others. Yes many are user errors and polarity problems. But the modern ECU control alternator and B CAN modules on both vehicles can be very sensitive and be damaged even when things are done correctly. Damage to the donor and dead vehicle are very common and can be costly.

 

[dakota9498]

You don't always need to spend big bucks to get a decent set. I bought some jumper cables from Walmart maybe 10 years ago and they work just fine every time I use them. I think they cost me $30-40 and came with a storage bag. I keep them behind the back seat of my truck and the only thing I don't like is the clamps, but I manage.

I just bought one of the Viking jump packs from Harbor Freight, mainly for the motorcycle, but it seems to be a pretty good unit for the price (with a coupon of course).

 

[unslow1]

Jump pack and don't risk the damage.

 

[Lucid Moments]

I would switch to a jump pack and ditch the cable.

The problems with jumper cable and modern car and trucks are very well known and have been discussed on this forum and 100’s of others. Yes many are user errors and polarity problems. But the modern ECU control alternator and B CAN modules on both vehicles can be very sensitive and be damaged even when things are done correctly. Damage to the donor and dead vehicle are very common and can be costly.

So a question. I have a Dodge diesel truck (among others) that takes some juice to start particularly when it is cold. Will one of the jump packs start it if it is dead?

It died on my a couple of weeks ago (one of the glove box's didn't quite close all the way and stayed that way for a couple of weeks) and was a ******* to get started with my other truck running with a full sized battery.

 

[unslow1]

Yes, they make jump packs that will start diesels. They just cost more than the ones that start 4 cylinders.

 

[KDoug]

For those that have made their own jumper cables, who makes some decent heavy duty clamps for 1-2 gauge wire? I looked at the Deka ones and I also found some made by Associated Equipment but the price is a bit steep considering I need 4.

https://www.tooldiscounter.com/Item...11GCv4xL7PQIsGvUMMnXYNE7sW95wZvYaAklfEALw_wcB

 

[FTG-05]

IMO, jump cables are obsolete.

Far easier to use:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015TKUPIC/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[garandman]

Might I recommend a JNC 660 so you don’t have to share your electrical system with strangers?

They’re awesome.

We also have some small Lithium jump packs from AntiGravity but the JNC stands up to cold weather better.

We have two NOCO chargers so I’d be good with their jump pack as well.

 

[CJM8515]

Thickest wire you can possibly find, and the clamps shouldnt be huge and bulky as they will be hard to get onto certain batteries. I have a very nice set I bought from walmart like 10 years go. 20ft long, thick cables.

 

[CaptDan]

If you have a commercial battery (forklift and other big batteries) place nearby talk with them. I had them make me a set 22 feet long. This is the length I like.

 

[ChrisLS8]

IMO, jump cables are obsolete.

Far easier to use:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015TKUPIC/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I just ordered the Schumacher one from advance. I got the 800amp one and with the coupon and my speedperks I paid less than 60 bucks

 

[pbon]

The JNC318 is a good small lithium jump pack that is cheaper than noco.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

For those that have made their own jumper cables, who makes some decent heavy duty clamps for 1-2 gauge wire? I looked at the Deka ones and I also found some made by Associated Equipment but the price is a bit steep considering I need 4.

https://www.tooldiscounter.com/Item...11GCv4xL7PQIsGvUMMnXYNE7sW95wZvYaAklfEALw_wcB

I used "parrot" clamps made by Grote... but they are sold under other brands. They weren't cheap, thru Zoro with discount code they where $60 for a set of 4 clamps.

https://www.zoro.com/grote-booster-clamp-900-amp-blackred-pr1-84-9630/i/G9799170/

https://www.dbelectrical.com/produc...MI_p6Up-Sk4AIVhx6GCh1foQTkEAQYAyABEgLqzfD_BwE

https://www.centurytool.net/602070_QuickCable_Heavy_Duty_Charging_Clamps_900_A_p/602070-2002.htm

https://theelectricaldepot.com/batt...s-pair?zenid=ba42682327c11bcaffc6991a06e97f1a

 

[johninct]

I used my JNC and an old Mercedes car battery in series to jump start my Cat 215 excavator (20 ton) that had completely dead batteries. It was on a 60 degree day.

 

[Bondo]

Where I am living It has been -20 at night for the past several days and I have had to jump start multiple people. I currently have a cheap light duty set of cables and they have worked OK but it would be nice to have a good quality preferably USA made set with clamps that are not absolute junk. What do you guys recommend?

Ayuh,..... I built my own set, 20-odd years ago,......

50' of heavy welding leads, cut in 1/2, 'n sets of parrot jaw clamps on the ends,.....
Taped 'em together with quality electrical tape, 'n covered everything with spiral hyd. line protectin' sheath,....

The very fine stranded cable passes all the amps available,......

 

[mbshop]

Usually a 4 g all copper 20ft cable with hd clamps will get most jobs done. I have cables that are less than that and are over 30 years old. Used them to start cold dead mb diesels. I regret that they are not as long as 20 ft. now. One suggestion that I read about was to make sure both sides of the clamp are wired. Otherwise you actually have a very small contact area.

 

[850xpeps]

Ayuh,..... I built my own set, 20-odd years ago,......



50' of heavy welding leads, cut in 1/2, 'n sets of parrot jaw clamps on the ends,.....

Taped 'em together with quality electrical tape, 'n covered everything with spiral hyd. line protectin' sheath,....



The very fine stranded cable passes all the amps available,......

Same made my own from welding cable with 800 amp parrot clamps. Jump start a dozer, excavator, semi, you name it. They can have stone dead batteries and makes no difference.