PEP BB homesteading.straw.start - Jump start a vehicle

May 16, 2020 11:16:54

This is a badge bit (BB) that is part of the PEP Curiculum. Completing this BB is part of getting the straw badge in Homesteading

In this Badge Bit you will learn to jump start a vehicle. Sometimes a light has been left on overnight or you have a draw somewhere in your funky farm vehicle.

Here are some videos for your inspiration:

To complete this BB minimum requirements are:

- The vehicle starts
- The battery begins to charge(voltage changes)
- The voltage is shown before and after the jump start (with a voltage meter)

To show you've completed this Badge Bit, you must post pictures of the following:

- Picture showing the dead battery voltage with a volt meter
- Picture of the vehicles with jumper cables connected (or mostly connected if it's safer/easier to get the picture that way)
- Picture of the dead vehicle running (please show the instrument cluster)
- Picture of the new voltage of the battery on the running vehicle

Or post a 2 minute video of the above work.

gir bot · Feb 13, 2021 23:57:49

The Kubota hasn't run for a while and between that and the cold weather, the battery doesn't have enough juice to crank it. So I jump started it.

Picture showing the dead battery voltage with a volt meter:

Video showing it won't crank:

Video of the vehicles with jumper cables connected:

Video of the dead vehicle running (part of the video image is obscured to cover jump vehicle license plate):

Picture of the new voltage of the battery on the running vehicle:

gir bot · Jul 31, 2025 21:02:46

To complete this BB minimum requirements are:

- The vehicle starts
- The battery begins to charge(voltage changes)
- The voltage is shown before and after the jump start (with a voltage meter)

To show you've completed this Badge Bit, you must post pictures of the following:

- Picture showing the dead battery voltage with a volt meter
- Picture of the vehicles with jumper cables connected (or mostly connected if it's safer/easier to get the picture that way)
- Picture of the dead vehicle running (please show the instrument cluster)
- Picture of the new voltage of the battery on the running vehicle

Had to jump start the truck today. We always keep a portable jump starter plugged in and ready to go. My neighbor did stop to see if I needed help when she saw the hood of the truck was up so I felt pretty covered.

The multimeter before jump starting.

The portable jump starter attached to the battery.

It started! Huzzah!

The voltmeter after jump starting (while the truck is running). This was the most difficult picture to get while trying to hold the multimeter prongs against the bolts on the battery.

gir bot · Feb 22, 2026 12:30:06

To complete this BB minimum requirements are:

- The vehicle starts
- The battery begins to charge(voltage changes)
- The voltage is shown before and after the jump start (with a voltage meter)

To show you've completed this Badge Bit, you must post pictures of the following:

- Picture showing the dead battery voltage with a volt meter
- Picture of the vehicles with jumper cables connected (or mostly connected if it's safer/easier to get the picture that way)
- Picture of the dead vehicle running (please show the instrument cluster)
- Picture of the new voltage of the battery on the running vehicle

gir bot · May 02, 2026 10:55:18

I didn’t really expect this to work because I felt the battery was too dead, but it did!

what if we put solar panels on top of the semi truck trailer? That could power this tiny ad:

grow your own garden and build your own home in the gardening gardeners program

https://wheaton-labs.com/bootcamp