Posted: 8/7/2010 5:38:43 PM EDT
| Hey folks, want to get the opinions out there on portable jump units. Just want the back-up (already have good jumper cables) but want to put something in the BOV thats a little more portable. Thanks! |
| I have one that is a combo jump box and air compressor. Its held up for MANY years. It was a 50dollar box from advanced auto (discount auto). I keep it in my work truck and have used it alot. It WONT work if the battery is completely dead or so depleted. Its a good addition for sure. The air compressors are pretty slow but will help air up if your just a lil low. If you get one with compressor, might as well get a tire plug kit and then youll be all set if you get a Nail/screw flat (cant help you if you pop the sidewall, lol) |
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I have one that in addition to the jump starter, has an air compressor as well as AC and DC outlets. I would not be without mine. I have used it for everything from fixing a flat tire, to jump starting my truck to running my laptop when the battery gets low.
I have the Black and Decker Electromate 400. Just be sure to recharge it after you use it and recharge it every few months to keep the battery topped off and it won't fail you. |
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I don't have one - but if I was considering getting one, I'd probably just buy a gell-cell and use it with my booster cables.
The AH capacity of the battery in most portable jump starters is pretty small - could do a lot better for the money if you just bought the battery yourself. If you wanted to get fancy, you could connect it through a blocking diode and current limiter to your vehicle's 12 volt electrical system to keep it fully charged all the time. |
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I don't have one - but if I was considering getting one, I'd probably just buy a gell-cell and use it with my booster cables. The AH capacity of the battery in most portable jump starters is pretty small - could do a lot better for the money if you just bought the battery yourself. If you wanted to get fancy, you could connect it through a blocking diode and current limiter to your vehicle's 12 volt electrical system to keep it fully charged all the time. I run dual battery in my BOV, that is why my jump box stays in my work van. Basically what you described in your last sentence was an ISOLATOR. A DIY way is to use a ford solenoid. Ive got a lil more elaborate system from Hellroaring. It works and I really like it. I have a switch in the cab that has 3 positions. UP - will combine the two batteries and charge the two batteries for extra power like winching, MIDDLE position - will charge both batteries but only draw from the main, DOWN position - will take 2nd battery out of the charging circuit. Works very well. |
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had the older model.thing works great for all task's ask of it
sears |
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I don't have one - but if I was considering getting one, I'd probably just buy a gell-cell and use it with my booster cables. The AH capacity of the battery in most portable jump starters is pretty small - could do a lot better for the money if you just bought the battery yourself. Or an Optima so it doesn't have to be charged often... |
The point that I'm trying to illustrate here guys is -yes, I realize having an entire spare battery would be prefferable- got it. That said, here's the situation I'm trying to negotiate. It's raining, muddy and it's your wife (who doesn't do battery replacement drills on the weekend) who's car is out of reach of the worlds longest jumper cables. This calls for (aside from AAA or me- cause I'm usually in Afghanistan  ) her to have a portable, realitively compact and easy to use jump system to get the car going. Not looking to rewire the car, I'm already rocking two batts in my truck, just looking for something simple 
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The point that I'm trying to illustrate here guys is -yes, I realize having an entire spare battery would be prefferable- got it. That said, here's the situation I'm trying to negotiate. It's raining, muddy and it's your wife (who doesn't do battery replacement drills on the weekend) who's car is out of reach of the worlds longest jumper cables. This calls for (aside from AAA or me- cause I'm usually in Afghanistan ) her to have a portable, realitively compact and easy to use jump system to get the car going. Not looking to rewire the car, I'm already rocking two batts in my truck, just looking for something simple I bought a Duracell Powerpack 300 
It has a air compressor, 12 volt cigarette port, a removable flash light, 110 outlet inverter, and the jump starter. I have used them for a year and have been really pleased with them. Here is a link to it on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Duracell-DPP-300EP-Powerpack-300-watt-Compressor/dp/B000TKBLHM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1281364396&sr=8-1 I got lucky and found them at BJ's for $29.  I bought 5 of them. 2 for me and the rest for gifts.
For a little more wife friendly there are also systems which plug into the cigarette lighter so she doesn't even need to open the hood. Not sure how well they work though. |
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I don't have one - but if I was considering getting one, I'd probably just buy a gell-cell and use it with my booster cables. The AH capacity of the battery in most portable jump starters is pretty small - could do a lot better for the money if you just bought the battery yourself. Or an Optima so it doesn't have to be charged often... optima is not what it use to be. they got bought out a few years ago and quality has gone down hill and stayed there. you would be better off with one of the sears diehard platinum line of batteries. |
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I have an older jump pack I dismantled because the gel cell in it is about dead. It is a jump pack only. Looking at some of the newer models they take up a fair bit of space with their curvy plastic but I have not dismantled one to see how much air space is inside the thing. Even with a wife or girlfriend I would consider looking at smaller gel cell batteries similar to what is in these jump packs. The weight is similar or identical if you stick to the right sizes. A cheap set of jumper cables comes next. Making sure your wife or girlfriend knows how to jump her vehicle comes last. You can color code everything red that needs to be red and everything black that needs to be black. And if the gel cell was dead and she had jumper cables she might be able to find someone who would let her jump her vehicle from it and she has the knowledge to look for red and black and if you also mark the positive negative symbols on everything she can probably handle popping the hood on most stuff and using it to jump her vehicle. I have a 20 ft set of jumper cables and a couple older smaller sets of cables. I have hemmed and hawed all over the place for a while because I have a couple jump packs but one has a dead battery as mentioned above. I will probably buy a propper size battery for it because it has all the parts to be put back to a working jump pack. The other one is a smaller model black and decker not made anymore for some reason. But the batteries tend to be cheaper than a jump pack unless you find a jump pack on major discount and if I found one on a big sale I might buy it just for the battery inside it. I have two sisters and a mom and I was often called to come drive out to where ever their vehicle had a problem because they would not try to do anything. Could not show them how to change a tire, they did not want to learn. I don't think they would have wanted to learn to use a jump pack and if they don't want to learn they are not going to be able to use a jump pack. If the gal is willing to actually learn and you mark everything really well I don't see a problem with a small gel cell and some jumper cables. And the jumper cables will let the gel cell sit on the ground and I would buy or make a bag with handles for her to carry the gel cell around with. I have invertors and I have decent sized air compressors for vehicle use that will air a tire up in an acceptable amount of time without taking up all the storage capacity with a big tank. So having a battery is simple to me. I guess I just wind up sticking a lot of folks into three categories. One will listen and learn but needs a lot of help to actually do it themselves without someone nearby to help out so making sure everything is well marked and that the jumper cables will easily clamp onto the batteries is needed. Next group might seem interested but won't bother trying to help themselves. Next group is already learning this stuff or sucks up knowledge and takes off sprinting to get more knowledge and is happy to have help but will get it done without help. A lot of jump packs need to sit on a fender of the vehicle or somewhere under the hood because the cables are short and I just see back things possably happening with someone who does not want to learn a little bit. |
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I don't have one - but if I was considering getting one, I'd probably just buy a gell-cell and use it with my booster cables. The AH capacity of the battery in most portable jump starters is pretty small - could do a lot better for the money if you just bought the battery yourself. Or an Optima so it doesn't have to be charged often... optima is not what it use to be. they got bought out a few years ago and quality has gone down hill and stayed there. you would be better off with one of the sears diehard platinum line of batteries. Then an Odyssey Battery AGM might be the way to go. |
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I used to work at Autozone back in college, and we had to use those portable jumper packs all the time. If the car's battery was <~10v you needed to still jump it with another vehicle or a fresh battery. If the solenoid just clicks when you turn the key, you are SOL; you need mas cajones. I would rather keep another battery in the trunk and a set of jumper cables. That would keep you covered whatever the event.
*After some more thought I think they might still be useful if you just left the lights/radio/etc. on and your battery was just drained enough that you couldn't get it started. The cars we couldn't get started with the jump pack were the ones that had a completely dead battery (like 3v, multiple dead cells) and were too cheap to buy another battery there. They expected us to help them get their POS started (damn looter class..  ).
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