Portable jump starter

[undyingking]

I was quite pleased to see that there exists such a thing as a portable jump starter, ie. a device that you plug in to the mains to charge it up, and you can then subsequently use it to jump start your car. This one at Maplin is an example.

Unfortunately, a bit of hunting around turns up reviews ranging fairly evenly from "it works, brilliant" to "it doesn't work, rubbish".

Anyone actually tried using one of these, and how does it compare with a normal trickle charger?

Comments

[zengineer.livejournal.com]

When I worked at Nissan we used them all the time for cars with flat batteries from electrical testing. The key things are current, it does take hundreds of amp to start a car, and lead size. This one seems a bit cheap but the specs look OK. Since it has a battery and was probably made in China then how it was maintained during shipping is critical. This may explain the varying reviews.
If you leave your car with a flat battery for long periods it degrades the cells so generally you need a new battery but this will at least start the car so you can drive to Halfords and buy one.

[wimble.livejournal.com]

I've had three over the years, two of which are defunct. The third's going.
The first one's dead because it's got very peculiar leads, and I've misplaced the charger.
The second no longer seems to hold a charge.
The third is still working.

I've also got a trickle charger, which is more reliable (assuming the problem is simply a discharged battery).

They have the advantage over trickle chargers in that they don't involve removing your existing battery from the car; they work reasonably instantly, without a need for a mains supply (at the point of your emergency); they might get you moving when the problem is the battery itself (rather than the lack of charge); they provide 12v DC for other accessories (I pump up my bike tyres with an electricly powered compressor, from the jump-starter).

The downside is that they're heavy buggers, because, in essence, you're carrying a spare battery. If you need it more than rarely, you've got a separate problem (which is the bit I got very wrong).

[thefon.livejournal.com]

I have one, it works fine.
It cost a bit more (£50?) but it was a Sunday, only shop open within walking distance. It can pump tires, and also has a power socket you could plug other things into.

[caffeine-fairy.livejournal.com]

One of my neighbours has one and swears by it, but reckopns the cheap ones aren't worth it.

[rotwang.livejournal.com]

It does depend on the car and the charge required to start it. My diesel requires a lot of current - the couple of times I've had Green Flag out to start me their industrial strength portable starters weren't up to the job and they ended up attaching both them _and_ regular jump leads from their van engines to get mine started.

When I had to start mine from bibliogirl's car, I needed to run hers for about 25 mins charging mine before it would jump.