Recommend a Car jump starter

Haze said:
It's pointless, if there is nothing wrong with your car, and you give it a good run once a week, your reason for why these products exist is massively flawed
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So why do they exist? They are sold and marketed to people beyond car dealers.
If you own a new car there is probably a limited need but not everyone has a new car. Also, if someone wants one for peace of mind then that’s their choice, no need to belittle people’s choices - there may well be justifications and use cases that you or I can’t think of.
 
We have a multipurpose one. It just stays charged in our garage as a “just in case”. The pump on it gets used frequently though, mainly for my bike.
 
bettz said:
Hi all after something I can keep in the boot just incase and wondered what people would recommend?
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I have a Clarke Heavy Duty JumpStart® 4000 - currently unavailable and out of your budget anyway. I also have one of the smaller ones like

ShiWarrior said:
https://www.screwfix.com/p/ring-300a-jump-starter-11-1v/777gy
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- not that exact model but similar - but it failed me when I needed it.

The Clarke works and works well. It also has enough current to work twice - for the return trip if the car battery hasn't recharged sufficiently.

One thing I will say is that you shouldn't keep the thing in your boot if the boot doesn't have a manual release. Because you only need the kit when the car's battery is dead and when the car's battery is dead you won't be able to easily open or access the boot if there's no manual release. And yes, I'm speaking from experience. Thank you, Skoda.
 
These are far from pointless. I've seen batteries die overnight. I've had customers drive to Sainsbury's for their shopping, come out and it's flat.

Granted most batteries will slowly die and show signs, but some do go very quick
 
i was visiting the local b and q the other day and was surprised to see 4 different garages/recovery agents there in the space of 2 hours (waiting for the wife...dont ask) only one vehicle was recovered the other 3 were jump started..... guess lockdown is taking its toll on batteries..
 
mushtafa said:
These are far from pointless. I've seen batteries die overnight. I've had customers drive to Sainsbury's for their shopping, come out and it's flat.

Granted most batteries will slowly die and show signs, but some do go very quick
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this is one in amillion though...... been driving 23 years, never had this problem
 
mushtafa said:
These are far from pointless. I've seen batteries die overnight. I've had customers drive to Sainsbury's for their shopping, come out and it's flat.

Granted most batteries will slowly die and show signs, but some do go very quick
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This will be people who have a battery that is on its way out and they keep trying to put off buying another by jump starting etc etc. Which is fine - we've all done it (I used to do it with my Xantia years back) but there is probably little overlap between those who keep needing to jump start a battery which they've not got around to replacing yet and those with the foresight to buy a jump pack just in case.

The reality remains that for most people, a brand new battery will give them 5+ years more zero worry starting without the requirement of a jump pack.

I'd question whether those who keep driving to Sainsburys with a flat battery and having to call the RAC out to rescue them would be the sort to use a jump pack themselves anyway..
 
mushtafa said:
These are far from pointless. I've seen batteries die overnight. I've had customers drive to Sainsbury's for their shopping, come out and it's flat.

Granted most batteries will slowly die and show signs, but some do go very quick
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But was the handbrake on?...
 
I appreciate it's a bump but the typical snobbery in this thread is why I don't come into Motors very often.

I've been considering one of these for a while but haven't bought one yet. I say yet, it's now top of my shopping list and I'll explain why.

I go through batteries - With the amount of radio kit and extra load I put on my cars, I always seem to eat batteries. My current battery is less than two years old so it's perfectly fine at the moment.

When my batteries show the potential to fail (sluggish start in the cold), I replace them straight away. But I know my battery is good, it sat there for months when I didn't drive due to my shoulder and it's done the same over the summer when I've barely used the car.

I've just got home from holiday which involved a five hour drive, a three hour ferry and then my car left where it was for a week. When we returned to it, the battery was completely and utterly flat. Not enough juice for the central locking, not a single light on the dashboard. Time really was of the essence as I had a ferry to catch and then another five hour drive home.

The local breakdown service were called but there was a very good chance they wouldn't arrive until I'd missed the boat. Luckily, someone nearby offered to help and got me started.

With one of these packs, I could simply have plugged it in, waited a few minutes and start the car.

Yes, you're paying for the convenience but that one simple use would have saved me hundreds in overnight hotel costs, a rebooked ferry and additional time off work. A spare battery in the garage would have been utterly useless. And one other thing, I don't have a garage.

The reason the battery was flat?

While unloading stuff from the back seat of the car, someone had managed to knock the rear interior light. The car has darkened rear windows so it simply wasn't visible from the outside in daylight.

A simple mistake that could happen to anyone, no matter how careful. A simple mistake that could have had a lot of consequences. We were lucky, I don't want to be in that situation again.
 
Sounds like alternator to me not the battery if you go through batteries a lot

Do you have a dashcam fitted ? If so, then get a cellink batterypack for it, which will eliminate it draining your battery
 
And there are certain cars it is a must. My bosses brand new range rover sport from around 12 years ago had some much residual battery drain from the system keep trying to see the key near it (design fault) that two weeks in the airport car park when he was on holiday meant he came back to a flat battery. He was not happy. Range Rover said that 2 to 3 weeks was the max the car could be stood for without being flat and there was nothing they could do and wasn't something they were prepared to fix.

He kept a battery booster with him every since.
 
ShiWarrior said:
Sounds like alternator to me not the battery if you go through batteries a lot
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I've always gone through batteries, no matter what car I have. No dashcam, just plenty of radio equipment that's wired directly to the battery and always switched off and disconnected when the car's not in use. It's nothing to do with the alternator.
 
Sometimes you just get a duff car and the dealer unwilling to help to fix the issue, mine went through 4 batteries in 7 years and even the current one according to the monitor wont sit idle for more than a week without flatlining. It sits on a solar trickle charger between drives which is useless during winter so I have one of the small battery jump packs in the car just in case, as I have been caught out in a supermarket car park at 2am. Fortunately I was able to push start the car myself as there was a bit of a slope.

So far I've had to jump start my own car about a dozen times during lockdowns from home and I've helped a couple of others in car parks who were waiting for AA/RAC jump their car as they were quoted a few hours wait (one set an elderly couple). The only car it struggled on was one that sat on a drive for 3 months with a completely shot battery but after 3 days on a dumb charger the battery pack was able to get it started too (and the battery swiftly replaced).

I bought one of the robust USB charger style packs with addon clips from Amazon as it's useful to have in the car if a phone dies too. Lives under the front seat as I found out I can't get in the boot without power unless I want to climb through the back seats.
 
Currently looking for one of these. The Jeep has been faultless starting since I got it, but today after only 8 days it wouldn’t budge.

Not even any audible clicks or attempts to turn over. Just entirely dead. The local garage leant me a jump starter and it fired straight away.

Have seen Amazon sell some around the £60 mark and wondering if the cheaper ones are just as good?

Would also be handy for charging phones/tablets in the car.
 
Yeah the lower end ones are typically fine if you have a petrol or small diesel.

I've used mine a few times, even on a 2 week old car (despite the earlier comments). Yes I could have called breakdown but the missus needed to get to work. So was a bit of a lifesaver.
 
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