Charging (jump starting) batteries can potentially produce dangerous
amounts of hydrogen gas near the battery vents. BY conecting the negative
after the positive and removing the negative before the positive you can
always make and break the electric circuit with the negative jumper cable.
Usually when the circuit is made or broken there is a spark of some kind
and by connecting the negative cable AWAY from the battery therminal the
chance of exploding the hydrogen is reduced.

-Andy

PS how do I unsubscribe so I can move this list to another email addres??

On Mon, 7 Feb 2000, Woody Halsey wrote:

> Dear List,
>
> Yesterday I caught only the tale end of Prairie Home Companion, at the
> point when Garrison Keillor was talking about his automotive need to jump
> start his car again and his psychic need to reassure himself by
> reconfirming that it was indeed "positive to positive and negative to
> negative," much to the exasperation of his interlocutor and savior.
>
> My questions: why, according to Haynes and everyone else who knows,  should
> he have in fact attached the negative end of the jumper cable not to the
> strong battery's negative post, but to its ground on the frame; and why
> (and how) do batteries improperly jumped sometimes explode?
>
> My theory: members of this list are disproportionately fans of Garrison
> Keillor and PHC.
>
> Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on both the questions and the
> theory.
>
> Woody
>