Tools that ensure your vehicle is not knocked down post lockdown

Everybody knows that there is a set of tools in the vehicle they drive or ride. The four wheelers come with a jack, a wheel wrench, besides screw drivers and spanners. Not many bother to buy a few more critical tools that come handy in situations that we are facing now. Yes, I am talking about the lockdown.

With a complete lockdown in the country which we are experiencing currently, the relevance of these tools is all the more evident. So what are these tools? These are basically 3 critical tools. But before that, let me explain what could possibly happen to your vehicle during a lockdown, like the one we are currently experiencing.

A lot of people have not bothered to come out of their houses to start their vehicles. If any vehicle is not started for more than two weeks, the possibility of the battery draining itself out is very high. In other words, it will get discharged. If a vehicle is not started for a very long period, the battery automatically gets discharged or goes dead.  Assuming that the battery is in good working condition, even though it is dead, a vehicle can be push started.

But mind you, only those vehicles can be push started that come with manual transmissions. Automatic transmission vehicles can never be push started. Coming to pushing starting your vehicle, this again requires certain skills and not everyone knows how to do it. Besides, you also require a few able bodied people with great stamina to push your vehicle in order to get it rolling. And if you are in the driver’s seat during a push start, you should have adequate skills to get the vehicle started or else you will only end up with your vehicle not starting and a few people huffing and puffing behind your vehicle.

It is very important that during the lockdown period you need to start your vehicle at least once a week. There is no need to engage its gears and move around and flout the lockdown norms. A stationary vehicle is good enough. You need to put it in neutral and simply start the vehicle and keep the engine running for at least five minutes. A mild acceleration up to 3000rpm is good enough to keep the battery in the “charged” mode.  

Also, since you may not have moved your vehicle, the vehicle tyre pressure would have also come down drastically in the last 21 odd days of lockdown. For that there is nothing you can do except use the tool we recommend below.

THE THREE CRITICAL TOOLS: 

1. A tow cable: A tow cable is always a handy tool that helps your vehicle to be towed to the nearest workshop in case one is not able to rectify its fault. A tow cable is also called a tow rope or a tow strap. Towing a vehicle is best left to the professionals and more importantly, cars with an automatic transmission should be towed with care to avoid damage to the transmission system. That’s why a flat bed tow truck is the best option to tow a modern car. A tow cable, nevertheless comes handy when you have a manual transmission vehicle and you know how to go about towing your vehicle or towing another vehicle.

2.  Portable air compressor: This gadget or tool is a very handy fellow, even when there is no lockdown. It’s a must-have for every vehicle.  The compressor needs a 12V socket or plug point and this machine can fill a deflated tyre in just about few minutes. During this lockdown period, it is but obvious that the tyres of your vehicles have deflated to a low level. The situation gets worse as the weather gets hot.

A portable air compressor which costs between Rs 1000 to Rs 4000, depending on its quality and ability, is always handy for any driver. Since most of the vehicles come with tubeless tyres these days, this machine can fill up air in a deflated / low pressure tyre and can take you to the nearest tyre repair shop before it deflates again. One does not have to go through the painful procedure of changing your tyre all by yourself. And in times like these when your vehicle is stationary, you can ensure that the air pressure on all the tyres are maintained.

3. Jumper cables: These cables are of great help during such times of lockdown. These are basically two cables, one in red and the other in black, with crocodile clamps or clips at both ends. These clamps are also known as alligator clamps or clips with a sprung metal clip with long serrated jaws.

The clamps are basically battery clamps and are made of solid copper for low electrical resistance, and are used with thick insulated copper cables to make connections between automobile batteries. These jumper cables are capable of delivering hundreds of Amperes of current needed to directly power an automobile starter motor, or to transfer energy from a charged lead-acid battery to a discharged one.

One has to use these cables with great care. How does it work? Let us assume you have car ‘A’ that has a lead acid battery that is completely discharged. In essence it means you cannot start car ‘A’. To get is started you need to bring in car ‘B’, a car with batteries that are fully functional, very close to ‘A’.  Once the ignition of both cars is turned off, you need to connect the red wire to, the +ive terminal of car A battery and its other end to the +ive terminal of car B battery. Similarly, the black cable needs to be attached to the –ive terminal of the car A battery and its other end to the –ive terminal of car B battery.

Once the cables are connected, you need to start car B and then tweak the ignition key of Car A. A draws its battery strength from B and starts. It’s as simple as that. Once car A starts, you can gently disconnect the cables. A word of caution here, the cables should be correctly connected and if by mistake the cables get cross connected, it can create a big spark and even a fire and can damage the electrical parts of your vehicle.

MINIATURE JUMP BOX: This is a portable device, something on the lines of your power bank that charges your mobile phones. But a jump box or a portable jump starter is a little bigger in size but has a lot more capacity. Jump boxes are designed primarily for jump starting your vehicle, but they can be used for a lot of other things. Even the most basic units typically come with a built-in 12-volt accessory socket, which can be used to power any 12 volt device like your lap top or some gadget.

The best thing about the portable jump starter is that you do not need the help of another car or its battery to start your car.

In case you do not have the three critical tools mentioned above, then you simply need to keep your fingers crossed and hope you are batteries are discharged. But then there’s always a mechanic round the corner who will come to your aid.