Jump start packs for the car

Werewolf

Werewolf

Werewolf

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Just a quickie, can anyone recommend a reasonably cheap jump start pack for the car? (Lithium ion based I'd guess).

I need it for a 1.6 petrol, nothing fancy just something that will hopefully get the car started if the battery gets a little low :)
Basically I tend to do mainly short runs in the car and managed to fun the battery out whilst listening to the radio in the hospital car park earlier whilst waiting for a friend i'd given a lift to (what's that about no good deed goes unpunished?;))

I've been having a look online but there are so many models, and so many of those models have very mixed reviews.
 
Frustratingly the cheap Li-ion ones pop up and disappear again pretty quickly both good and bad so no sooner do you find a good one and/or someone does a round-up of them they are no longer available :(

As a general guide though the cheaper ones tend to only be suitable for about half what they say but that shouldn't be a problem for a 1.6L petrol.
 
He does say he mainly does short runs, so its possible its just not getting the opportunity to charge much more than the amount hes using to start it, with some using a reasonable amount for alarms, imobilisers its possible not the battery but literally his driving regime, ie only short runs, maybe gaps in between.
First port of call is surely to get the battery tested
 
per previous my radio killed the battery thread .. what radio ? and anything else on - like the scenario I gave ?

PaulCa said:
With a brand new, fully charged starter battery you *might* still be able to start your car after half of that 4 hour run time.
With a battery several years old, half it again.
I ran my starter battery down to the point it would not start the car in 15 minutes while in a queue to exit and event just by running the HiFi at moderate/low volume (though I did have a 300W sub). Battery was only about 4 years old and fully charged minus one car start.
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I'm going to check the battery, the reason I suspect it's simply the radio running it low as a one off is because for the last 6 months or so my longest runs out in the car have been about 30 minutes, with most being 5-10 minutes at infrequent intervals so not really giving it a chance to recharge:) I keep meaning to get into the habit of doing a boost charge every few months but never remember*.
This is the first time I've had to jump start this car, and there is a good chance I won't need it again for ages myself but it's something I can see being handy to have as a precaution (especially given the way my sister maintains her car).

I'd been sat with the radio on whilst reading for about 2.5 hours as i'd lost track of time, and was expecting my friend to only be about 30 minutes (his estimation), if I'd realised he was going to be that long I would have gone somewhere but was a bit reluctant as I've pulled my back so getting in/out of the car is rather painful and I thought I might as well just read (It's fine when I'm sat in the car or driving, but bending/twisting to get in and out is slow going and very painful, that and i was really enjoying the book but haven't had much of a chance to read it).


*I probably need to sort out a trickle charger as well
 
But if you drive as infrequently as you say is it not possible a li-ion pack will degrade too much by the next time you need to use it?

It doesn't sound like you're driving in the sticks with 30 min runs (which should be enough for a net charge) so what's the benefit over jump leads?
 
xs2man said:
He wont require another car to help him?
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That's my point. If you're in a hospital car park or generally anywhere with 30 mins of home that's not likely to be an issue. And you have the added risk of it running down. Even at 4am you don't have to wait more than 5 minutes to find a friendly samaritan.
 
dulcificum said:
But if you drive as infrequently as you say is it not possible a li-ion pack will degrade too much by the next time you need to use it?
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As long as you charge them every few months it will be fine - even partially discharged the good ones will start a 1.6L petrol several times.
 
dulcificum said:
Almost sounds like you could just charge your car battery instead...
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Doesn't help much if the car battery unexpectedly runs down for whatever reason.

So far the most use I've had out of my emergency jump starter is preventing being locked out of the head unit and avoiding problems with glitchy immobilisers when changing a car battery. I'm not sure why people are so anti in this thread though they are useful thing to have stashed for a potential emergency.
 
dulcificum said:
Almost sounds like you could just charge your car battery instead...
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That would require a running engine/alternator.

I bought a suaoki one during the black friday sales, haven't actually needed to use it yet. My old diesel can sometimes struggle during the winter months if it's not been used in 1-2 weeks.
 
Rroff said:
Doesn't help much if the car battery unexpectedly runs down for whatever reason.

So far the most use I've had out of my emergency jump starter is preventing being locked out of the head unit and avoiding problems with glitchy immobilisers when changing a car battery. I'm not sure why people are so anti in this thread though they are useful thing to have stashed for a potential emergency.
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You're missing the point. He says it's running down because it's not charging enough on his short trips. He can either let this keep happening which isn't great for his battery either or keep it topped up by charging it or keep his jump start battery topped up by charging it. One makes more sense.
 
dulcificum said:
You're missing the point. He says it's running down because it's not charging enough on his short trips. He can either let this keep happening which isn't great for his battery either or keep it topped up by charging it or keep his jump start battery topped up by charging it. One makes more sense.
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More I don't see it as an argument against also having a jump starter - for some reason a lot of people seem to be quite anti jump starters and I'm not sure why I certainly like the peace of mind of having mine.
 
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