Portable Jump Starter experience?

[nisryus]

Has anyone ever used one of those portable jump starter (ex. The RAVPower 500A Peak Current Portable Car Jump Starter Power Bank http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...&ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_9&smid=A2KUZVNQ9LP7N9)?

They are so cheap and small, I am tempted to get one and put it in my wife's car. (She has forgotten to turn off the dome lights many times and I had to charge the battery).

All of the ones I saw at local Advance Auto or Walmart are make in China, I guess the quality might be suxky, but do they really work? Some reviews on Amazon and Walmart stated the battery died within months.

 

[gorcorps]

I bought this: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-...sr=1-1&keywords=black+and+decker+jump+starter

And I've had to use it many times on my newer Jeep that was having electrical issues. Works great. It's pretty damn bulky, but that's probably mostly the air compressor which doesn't really work anyway.

When I saw your link I thought it looked pretty small to be able to jump a vehicle... but truthfully it doesn't really need to be big after thinking about it. The actual battery and jump start part of mine is probably less than half of the bulk of the thing. I don't see why they wouldn't work, you just might get a bad battery and have to exchange it. No big deal, it happens.

 

[Thump553]

First question you need to answer for yourself is whether your wife is the sort of person who will actually use the jump starter? I know mine isn't.

What I did is my car insurance has something like AAA which cost $5-10 per month. We have had to use it two or three times and they come out a lot quicker than AAA ever did. Plus it covers a whole lot more than dead battery situations-I had blowout a few years back and was wearing a suit I didn't want to ruin. Twenty minutes later I was back moving and still clean.

 

[razel]

I don't have one, but a buddy does. He primarily uses it as a gigantic USB battery since it has USB output. Anyhow, you must baby sit it's charge constantly for it to be effective on really dead batteries since LiOn losses charge.

Example. Buddy's car has a bad alt. Too cheap to fix it. He used my buddy's Lion portable charger. Works well for his crappy nearly always dead battery situation as long as it was charged every other day. The 1st time it didn't have enough charge, I came by with my old fashioin all-in-one compressor/sealed lead acid battery booster and his car still didn't start. We hooked up both! Finally got it to crank, but not quite enough to start. Luckily it was a manual, so we just push started it.

 

[nisryus]

Thanks guys for replying.

Hmm, come to think of it, my wife is the type who would not use it... sigh. Guess buying one is out of the question.

Might just well keep watching out for her and recharge the battery instead. I will also ask my local agent if my auto insurance has that option like AAA.

 

[razel]

You can try to change the dome light to an LED bulb. Be weary of the super cheap ones though. The light output maybe strong, but is very directional. Good ones have the nice color of incandescent and will have LED elements arranged to have good 180-270 degree coverage.

Funny though how the really efficient good bulbs seem like they never turn off, especially if you have the fancy lights that slowly dim. They'll dim, but after they still look dim when it's very dark and will slowly dim to off sometimes after a day. It's probably just running off residual energy in a capacitor somewhere in the dimming system. That's how efficient they are!

 

[SearchMaster]

There are also models that plug into the cigarette lighter to make it easier than popping the hood, maybe that would be easier for her. I've never used one (and it seems like the accessory fuse would prevent much current from flowing).

I like the LED option but of course she might complain that it doesn't look the same

 

[nisryus]

lol, yeah she might complains the light is different. she is kind of a picky person. But the LED light idea sounds great!

 

[cbrsurfr]

I don't have one, but a buddy does. He primarily uses it as a gigantic USB battery since it has USB output. Anyhow, you must baby sit it's charge constantly for it to be effective on really dead batteries since LiOn losses charge.

Example. Buddy's car has a bad alt. Too cheap to fix it. He used my buddy's Lion portable charger. Works well for his crappy nearly always dead battery situation as long as it was charged every other day. The 1st time it didn't have enough charge, I came by with my old fashioin all-in-one compressor/sealed lead acid battery booster and his car still didn't start. We hooked up both! Finally got it to crank, but not quite enough to start. Luckily it was a manual, so we just push started it.

Since when do you need to babysit the Li-ion models? I bought a Li-ion because my sealed lead was always dead when I needed it. Li-ion holds a charge way longer.

 

[Raizinman]

I prefer the jump starters that have both an air compressor and cigarette lighter plug. Both come in very handy for other uses. Check out Harbor Freight which is where I purchased mine. I've used mine mainly for my riding mower and motorcycle. Dead batteries and low tires are all too common.

 

[razel]

Since when do you need to babysit the Li-ion models? I bought a Li-ion because my sealed lead was always dead when I needed it. Li-ion holds a charge way longer.

Since when do you doubt real-world experience? Have you even bothered to read and absorb the post? Actually even if you did, people still believe what they want to believe. But there is no messing around with real world problems and real world solutions. You can sit and theorize there, fold your arms and rub your chin all day.

For Lion portable battery vs typical lead-acid battery booster sold at Costco sitting around for 6 months, the lead-acid will have far more energy stored, just by it's sheer capacity size. But in the real-world, you absolutely must always keep both charged... and in the real-world... for my friend that ended up being 2 days.... but again... I don't think you bothered to comprehend the post.

 

[shabby]

I used a battery from my drill to start the car, worked like a charm

 

[brainhulk]

I have both a lead-acid type and lithium. I carry around the lithium now since it is more compact and the compressor on the lead acid one broke.

For larger engines and totally discharged batteries, they both recommend keeping the chargers connected to the battery for awhile prior to trying to crank. I believe my lithium pack has a button to "precharge"

As far as holding a charge it still does, but not sure if it's capacity is diminished. That will depend on the quality of the lithium cells they used. I haven't checked if they used panasonic cells. I don't believe china makes any quality li-on cells

 

[slashbinslashbash]

We have had 2 of these (1 for each car) for years now:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Stanley-1000-Amp-Peak-Jump-Starter-with-Compressor/13035281

They work great to start the cars when the batteries are dead, and their air compressors are pretty useful too. I can't remember how long we've had them (probably 4-5 years now) but they have been great and never let us down. Just give them a charge from a wall plug every once in a while. They are heavy and bulky but a lot easier and quicker than jumper cables and having to find another vehicle to jump from.

 

[tweakmonkey]

The lithium ones work great. We have one at our shop and use it all the time.

 

[nisryus]

Oh, for $75 only too. Might just get that one instead of the portable one. I can put that into my car and go rescue wife if her car battery dies again...

 

[zoiks]

Has anyone ever used one of those portable jump starter (ex. The RAVPower 500A Peak Current Portable Car Jump Starter Power Bank http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...&ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_9&smid=A2KUZVNQ9LP7N9)?

They are so cheap and small, I am tempted to get one and put it in my wife's car. (She has forgotten to turn off the dome lights many times and I had to charge the battery).

All of the ones I saw at local Advance Auto or Walmart are make in China, I guess the quality might be suxky, but do they really work? Some reviews on Amazon and Walmart stated the battery died within months.

I have the one you've shown in the link above. It worked great starting my G37 when its battery died.

 

[exar333]

They work great, but sometimes are not up to the task in really cold environments. Years back I had some alternator issues and it worked great most of the time. If you need a cold-cranking amps though, it may not be enough to turn the car over. I would recommend also having jumper cables, just in case, if you live or travel to colder climates.

 

[WackyDan]

I have one... In fact, I have one of the larger ones and a small one... I believe mine is the microstart PPS.

I bought it for touring on the motorcycle. It has successfully jump started the bike and an F-150 so far.

They work well. Just read the reviews on Amazon and buy the best rated one you find. Love the thing.

 

[Kaido]

And I've had to use it many times on my newer Jeep that was having electrical issues.

le sigh

 

[gorcorps]

le sigh

Haha... that comment was about a month before I got rid of it.

 

[Charmonium]

Haha... that comment was about a month before I got rid of it.

Soft necro thread - only about a year old. Not a solidly fossilized necro.

 

[RLGL]

If you need a jump starter more than once, SOMETHING ELSE NEEDS ATTENTION!

 

[darom]

If you need a jump starter more than once, SOMETHING ELSE NEEDS ATTENTION!

Unless, of course, you own an Elantra (2012, for ex.) where its infotainment system sucks 0.3 amps! We can't leave the car in a long term parking for more than 4 days without its battery being drained. The dealer denies anything wrong with it ("we are supposed to drive it daily" to maintain the charge which is a bunch of BS).

I had to rig a switch for my wife in the car to turn off her "Memory" 10Amp fuse socket to kill the infortainment's memory drainage. Now the car can stay for a long time.

We did use the portable battery booster for the parking cases. I still carry it in the trunk of the Elantra.

 

[bruceb]

One word of advice: Do not get your insurance companies "roadside assistance or towing" .. Anytime they come out, those rats, while it may not directly affect your insurance premium, they will report it as a Claim to a company called ChoicePoint ... when you go shopping for new insurance a lot of companies get that from ChoicePoint .. I know Liberty Mutual and MetLife does. Not sure about Progressive or The Hartford (ChoicePoint says they keep claims for 7 years) .... I had 4 tows due to roadside breakdowns, with one going back to 2012 .. my initial quotes then jumped up by $15 per month, instead of that great, let's dump my State Farm rate. Better of with AAA membership or equivalent. And if you use roadside coverage on your cell phone, they usually limit you to 4 service calls per year, so keep that in mind.