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Jeep Gladiators Burn to Death During Battery Jump

ShadowsPapa

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The warning in my manual is about ensuring the portable booster isn’t greater than 12 volts. (like 24v).
Mine is 12 - I put the battery in it myself, and checked it all over. It was a unit my father had in his garage I think he got it from the store where he worked because it didn't work. The battery was bad. After he died I grabbed it and put a battery in it, checked it out- works fine.

But beware those used for ag and industrial equipment, big trucks, etc........ If it's not very clearly marked "12v only" or similar, don't think about it.
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redrider

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I worked a long time ago as a battery charger service tech for the material handling equipment industry. We also replaced individual battery cells using MAP gas/oxygen torch to aerate the cell with oxygen before passing the lit thing across the open cell(s). Pop goes the excess hydrogen and the flame is used to melt lead bars into a cup to make a new post. Fun times.
 
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I get it also doesn't have an ESS system and a 2nd battery... ;)
 

Under-Pressure

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I‘ve jump-started my JT 4 times now in the first 5500 miles due to faulty batteries. I’m on my third set. Mine hasn’t burned down yet. I will always allow a fraction of a chance for truly strange causes of failures, but this screams ‘reversed cables’.
Wow!! 3 set’s of batteries & 4 jump starts in 5500 miles is ridiculous.
 

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LostWoods

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Occam's razor.

I'd bet a significant sum that someone went (+) to (-) on this one. Jumping these trucks is no different than jumping a dual-battery diesel other than the batteries being in parallel instead of series. There's nothing special here that would cause both trucks to melt down other than human error.
 

AggieJeep

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Wow!! 3 set’s of batteries & 4 jump starts in 5500 miles is ridiculous.
Yes. Let’s see if this battery set will last or if I got more bad ones.
 

Mark Doiron

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Yes. Let’s see if this battery set will last or if I got more bad ones.
They just keep changing the batteries? Surely something else must be amiss. Did they also fix that? If not, please tell me you're not using the River Oaks dealership. My daughter lives at the apartments next to there and that's where I would go if I ran into a problem while visiting with her.
 

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AggieJeep

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They just keep changing the batteries? Surely something else must be amiss. Did they also fix that? If not, please tell me you're not using the River Oaks dealership. My daughter lives at the apartments next to there and that's where I would go if I ran into a problem while visiting with her.
It isn’t that dealership. Each time they say both batteries were replaced and no excessive draw was seen, so the battery is about the only possible cause. We shall see if it can survive another 9 days of being parked.
 

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It isn’t that dealership. Each time they say both batteries were replaced and no excessive draw was seen, so the battery is about the only possible cause. We shall see if it can survive another 9 days of being parked.
Do you have the 8.4” radio by any chance? I had a 2019 Challenger with that radio & it was the source of the intermittent draw. I pulled the radio fuse & the car could then sit for weeks without killing the battery. Dealer of course was no help in fixing the car.
 

ShadowsPapa

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Do you have the 8.4” radio by any chance? I had a 2019 Challenger with that radio & it was the source of the intermittent draw. I pulled the radio fuse & the car could then sit for weeks without killing the battery. Dealer of course was no help in fixing the car.
There's the key - intermittent. They could let it sit for an hour with a meter on it and show nothing, yet, 4 hours later.....
And dealers won't let vehicles sit, waiting. If they don't see a problem that hour - then there's no issue. I ran into similar with an intermittent sensor on a Jeep. The dealer, however, was good, the service manager vowed to stick with me and catch it one way or another. Finally, they got it to act up just enough to figure it out. It was VERY intermittent and only misbehaved under certain conditions. The code stored implied, but didn't convict, the trouble sensor and due to the cost, they didn't want to replace it without more evidence. They got it. Finally. Third trip there. I told them keep it, let a tech use it to go to and from work, I didn't care (they couldn't do that for liability reasons, but they saw how serious I was)
 
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It isn’t that dealership. Each time they say both batteries were replaced and no excessive draw was seen, so the battery is about the only possible cause. We shall see if it can survive another 9 days of being parked.
Next time, put a distinguishing mark on the batteries, hidden from their view, and check it after you get it back to see if they REALLY are replacing the batteries or just blowing smoke up your ass, and being lazy POS's that are not doing the work, but then charging FCA for warranty work. LOTS of techs and dealers have been busted doing that over the years.
 

DreamedofaJeepSomeday

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Occam's razor.

I'd bet a significant sum that someone went (+) to (-) on this one. Jumping these trucks is no different than jumping a dual-battery diesel other than the batteries being in parallel instead of series. There's nothing special here that would cause both trucks to melt down other than human error.
Many years ago I bought a set of jumper cables that are in two pieces, with a polarized (by way of orientation of the male and female prongs), and have LEDs on each connector. The prongs are recessed on each connector. You hook each half to a car with the alligator clamps, and if both LEDs are lit, you are good to stick the connectors together.

It is a good system. Tried to find similar product recently, came up empty. Still have the original one, though, in my wife's trunk.
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