Yes! You Can!: How to Make Your Own Jumper Cables

s a rule of thumb – it is advisable to fire up your car’s engine and use it once a week – if you can’t take it for a long drive, a run around the block will do. At the very least let it run idling for around 10-15 minutes. This allows the oil to flow around your engine, the gears to turn and more importantly, your battery to recharge. It took me almost 2 months to finish Voxy’s paint job and I was not able to start her up after I have masked off everything (which is about 3 to 4 weeks). As expected, the battery was dead when I tried to start her up again. Right then , I decided to get myself one of those jumper cables you see at the malls. TIP: Anything that is not used for a long time breaks down! I mean anything.. a gadget, appliance, your bike, even your mind hehe.

These things are 3 to 5 meters long and costs around 300 to 600 pesos but after careful inspection – I don’t think they are durable and heavy duty. The wire is thick enough on the outside but a closer look will show you that the copper wire is just a couple of strands and what makes up its bulk is the thick rubber insulation so I figured that it might not last that long. A good quality and heavy duty jumper cable costs around 1500 to 2500 pesos per 5 meters. Since Voxy’s battery is located under the rear passenger seat, I would need at least 6 to 7 meters of cable for a hassle free jump. After giving it much thought, I decided that it’s more practical to make my own heavy duty jumper cables.

I bought several meters of gauge 8 wire – anything thinner simply won’t do. It is better if you could afford a gauge 6 wire or something thicker but they are expensive (given I’ll be needing around 7 meters – the cable will cost way too much) TIP: According to my research, the maximum length for an average car’s jumper cable is 10 meters since you have to take into consideration the wire’s resistance. Some say that there is a slight drop in current when it travels through long thick wires and this drop might spell the difference between a successful and a failed jump start.

I couldn’t find a red gauge 8 wire so I decided to get the yellow one instead. TIP: Make sure you buy a stranded gauge 8 wire. You cannot use a solid core wire for jumper cables.

These heavy duty clips are pretty cheap and are more durable than the ones used by cheap jumper cables.

Strip the ends of the wires. TIP: My gauge 8 wires only cost me 50 pesos per meter (circuit brand). Look around as some shops charge as high as 90 pesos per meter for gauge 8 wires. Thank you Effies Auto Supply! :)