Yes, Jumper Cables Can Wear Out, Here's When They Should Be Replaced

Noin90650/Shutterstock

We whitethorn person a committee connected purchases made from links.

By default, I inherited a group of jumper cables from a fewer of my dad's car shed devices earlier he passed away, a hand-me-down of basal car feline necessities, including an alligator jack, a foot-driven aerial pump, and immoderate wrenches. The jumper cables were of emblematic old-school quality, featuring much important two-gauge cables, robust insulation, and durable clamps. Those booster cables were already a decade aged earlier they passed hands, having jump-started rather a fewer cars for strangers astatine parking tons who had nary thought that their batteries were connected their past legs.

However, I gave up tinkering and fixing cars for a while, and nan devices began to stitchery dust. The jumper cables that I thought would past everlastingly (owing to their heavy-duty construction) began deteriorating to nan constituent of rendering them unsafe and unusable. Rust began to eat distant astatine nan exposed metallic parts, and nan insulation started to crack, peel, and disintegrate. 

It led to exposing nan heavy wires underneath, pinch nan faulty insulation allowing nan cables to commencement fraying and go loose successful each nan incorrect places. Meanwhile, nan clamps were truthful heavy pinch rust that location was almost nary metallic left, a stark reminder that moreover nan astir well-built products guidelines nary chance astatine neglect. Jumper cables tin past a agelong clip pinch due care, but they quickly degrade erstwhile near unattended successful nan beingness of moisture, weather, and dust.

Valentina Stankovic/Getty Images

It whitethorn each dangle connected nan materials and value of nan product, but it's not uncommon for jumper cables to past much than a decade if they are correctly maintained. Frequent usage and aging whitethorn yet shorten nan usable life of booster cables. However, it's clip to switch them if location are signs of visible damage, corrosion, aliases deformities successful nan insulation, cables, aliases clamps. Remember that jumper cables are for illustration bridges of energy erstwhile connected, and a anemic nexus tin either create shorts, unnecessary sparks, aliases commencement a fire, eden forbid.

Luckily, you tin get a 20-foot, 4-gauge Top DC jumper cable for nether $30, while 16-foot Energizer booster cables are retailing for nether $25, meaning you don't person to walk an limb and a limb to switch your aged jumper cables. You tin make your caller booster cables past longer by avoiding folding aliases rolling them for illustration electrical portion successful retention to forestall cracking aliases fraying. In addition, storing your cables successful a barren spot is basal to forestall rust and corrosion buildup connected nan clamps, and it's worthy wiping them down pinch a barren towel aft each usage to region ungraded and contamination. 

And contempt being invented to stop interstellar missiles from rusting, occasionally treating nan clamps pinch WD-40 and wiping them down goes a agelong measurement successful warding disconnected oxidation. Jumper cables should beryllium successful each car owner's trunk, since there's nary saying erstwhile nan request arises to commencement a dormant car. And erstwhile you do successfully jump-start a vehicle, retrieve to drive nan car for astir 30 minutes to springiness nan alternator a chance to recharge nan artillery sufficiently.