When jumping a car to charge the battery, how long should we leave them on the cables?

We have a dead car battery and we know we alternator problem, we just want to charge the battery enough to get it to the garage. We live no more than 10 minuets from the garage. How long should we leave both vehicles on the jumper cables so the car's battery is fully charged? Will it hurt our other vehicle's battery by doing this?



Thank you for your help and time!When jumping a car to charge the battery, how long should we leave them on the cables?
Dalton is correct... the better the cables the quicker the battery will charge... the cheaper cables take longer because they are usually not the best gauge wire for the job. if your battery will hold a full charge and you use the correct cables then you should be ready to go within 10-15 minutes of charging. You of course should leave the car running that is charging the dead battery.
The alternator of the jumping car or any car for that matter is not designed for fully charging any battery.

Take the battery out and take it to the parts store and have a two hour charge put on it. They usually do it for free.

If you try to use a car to charge a dead battery the risk of damaging the alternator is very high.

If you know the alternator is bad, pick up a new one, and you'll have two hours to replace it while your battery is being charged.

If you're not sure if the alternator is bad, take the fully charged battery bad to the car, take the car to the parts store and ask them to check the battery, alternator/charging system. They usually do this for free also.When jumping a car to charge the battery, how long should we leave them on the cables?
About an hour if you have a good connection, it won't hurt the other vehicle because even the best jumper cables cannot draw enough amperage to hurt the charging system or battery of the other vehicle as long as they aren't hooked up backwards.



Edit: A few good answers here, and we are hoping you are right about the vehicle not charging and that you do not have daytime running lamps etc.

It probably would be less problematic to just have it towed.
You shouldn't charge a battery that way, it can cause damage to the other cars battery. Now, once the car is started, you shouldn't actually need battery power except to run accessories such as the radio so jump starting the dead car should be sufficient.When jumping a car to charge the battery, how long should we leave them on the cables?
It depends on how big your cables are. If they are really thick it will charge it faster. It won't hurt the other car if you put the cables on right