Can You Charge a Car Battery With a Jump Starter?

As the name implies, a jump starter is an electronic device that jump-starts a car. That is what most people know and use it for. However, other people wonder what a jump starter can do besides jump-starting your car, including whether you can use it to charge a car battery. If this is among your worries, search no further! This article is exclusively a treat for you. So charge your car battery?

The short answer is NO! It is definitely not possible for now. As the name implies, it is a “jump starter” and not a “battery charger.” A jump starter will deliver an instant surge of power to a weak or dead car battery, Just enough for it to spin the starter motor and start the car engine.

Are you still in doubt? This article provides everything you need to know regarding the subject. So you don’t want to stop reading here!

Can you charge a car battery with a jump starter?

As stated above,  you can not use a jump starter to charge a car battery. A jump starter will only give the battery an instant power surge that is enough to get the car engine running. As the engine runs, the alternator recharges the car battery. The alternator is a small electrical generator connected to the engine. It can charge the car battery until it attains a full charge.

Why can you not use a Jumpstarter to charge your car battery?

It all comes down to battery capacity. Car batteries are usually 12 volts. Their charges have been designed in such a way that they can continually supply power at 13-14 volt until the batteries attain full charge.

Jumpstarters work using the power stored in their batteries. Their main selling point is their portability and convenience. This stems from the fact that they do not have large batteries. Their batteries do not have the capacity to charge car batteries that require a great deal of current to attain full charge.

If their battery sizes were to be made large enough to charge car batteries, they would no longer be portable and convenient. If that happens, you might as well get a small generator and use your battery charger.

When do you use a jump starter?

A jump starter is an emergency battery booster. It is an essential part of the emergency kit you keep in your vehicle permanently.

You can use a jump starter when your car breaks down due to a dead or low-charge battery. A jump starter releases energy in short bursts to provide enough power to start your car. It powers your car engine to work so that the alternator can then charge the battery.

How to power up your car with a jump starter

Knowing “the use of a jump starter” and knowing “how to use a jump starter” are two different things. It is necessary to know how to jump-start your car properly. You can use the following procedure to jump-start your car.

1. Read the owner’s manual
2. Turn the car and the jump starter off.
3. Check the owner’s manual to ensure that the battery charger’s voltage (usually 12-volt) matches the jump starter’s output voltage.
4. Identify your car battery’s positive (+) and negative terminals (-).
5. Identify the jump starter’s positive (red)  and negative (black) clamps.
6. Connect the red clamp of the jump starter to the positive terminal on the battery.
7. Connect the black clamp of the jump starter to the battery’s negative terminal.
8. Turn on the jump starter.
9. Turn on the car.
10. Crank the engine for less than 5 seconds. If the engine fails to start, wait for about 2 minutes before cranking again.
11. Turn the jump starter off when the engine starts.
12. Remove the negative (black) clamp before the positive (red) clamp.
13. Leave your vehicle running for about 30 minutes to allow the alternator to charge the battery.

Precautions to take when jump-starting a car

★ Wear protective clothing and eye protection.

★ Keep your vehicle away from flammable materials, liquids, or gases.

★ Keep the charger away from the battery.

★ Remove any excessive corrosion on the terminals of your battery before attaching the cables.

★ Turn off the jump starter before connecting to the battery.

★ Keep the positive and negative clamps away from each other.

★ Never use fuel lines and engine rocker covers as grounding points.

★ Connect the clamps tightly. They should not break loose if shaken.

★ Always turn off both the car and jumper before readjusting the jumper clamps.

★ Always keep your face far away from the battery.

★ Keep the black clamp away from the battery carburetor and fuel lines when connecting.

How can you recharge a jump starter?

There are several ways to recharge a jump starter.

Use an electric outlet

This is one of the simplest and most commonly used methods. All you need to do is plug your jump starter into an electric outlet. When it is fully charged, unplug it.

Use a solar energy

Solar chargers for your jump starters are now available. They are quite bulky and cumbersome, though.

Use your car’s AC adaptor

Using your car’s AC adaptor is quite convenient and easygoing. It also comes in handy in situations where you do not have access to an electric outlet or solar charger.

Can a Jump starter be used to charge electronic devices like phones or laptops?

Although you can not use a jump starter to charge your car batteries, you can use it to charge electronic devices like phones and laptops in the absence of the main power source.

Modern jump starters have been designed to accommodate this. They come with USB, micro USB, and other frequently used ports. This is quite good, given that there are never too many ways to get your electronics charged.

Conclusion

A jump starter is a much-needed car emergency kit. It has saved a significant number of car owners from being stranded on several occasions. However, you can not use it to charge your car battery. Its battery capacity is incapable of that.

Although you can not use it to charge your car battery, you can use it to power your electronic devices like phones and laptops.

Besides a battery charger, you can use several other devices to charge your car battery. A jump starter is just not one of them.