In a similar day from hell at the airport parking lot... I had left the
headlights on dashing to make a commuter filight. When I returned (there had
been a big weather front and the whole east coast air traffic was *greatly*
delayed) the battery was dead. With a cheesy pair of jumper cables, it took
10 minutes for the battery to even think of cranking. I thanked the nice
couple that had been similarly delayed for giving me the jump when they
wanted was to get some sleep.

"Nick Hull" > wrote in message
...
> In article <VYPtd.5837$U47.3409@clgrps12>,
> "Dave Fairfield" > wrote:
>
> > I think you've hit the nail on the head. The battery was very dead
> > (internal fault, it turned out). I have no idea what voltage the
boosting
> > truck used -- but my mechanic thought that if he was running his vehicle
(he
> > was) there would be a surge when my car started -- both alternators
working
> > together.
>
> My SWAG is that you started the car too quick. I always keep the
> boosted cables on (from a 12 volt battery only) foe a minute to put
> enough charge into the battery to start the engine, rather than starting
> from the booster cables. I also keep the booster cables on for a minute
> afterward because the weak battery might have high impedance and allow a
> voltage surge, which is moderated by the booster cables. YMMV
>