Dead Battery - Good portable jump starter.

[mcs328]

My car doesn't seem to do well in the winter ever since they replaced my original battery twice at the dealership. I paid for the replacement the first round and they replaced it gratis the second time (under warranty).

Well after this Sunday's snow by car won't turn over again. I can jump start it but I can't get my wife's car close enough because I have two parked cars next to me on either side. Regardless, I'll jump start it when one of those cars moves.

I've been looking online for a good jump starter trying to understand all these peak amps and cold crank amps. Anyone have a good recommendation on a jump starter? I've seen the ones you hook up to the cigarette socket that looks like a brick. I've also seen the other kind where you hook up the cables to the battery. Is there any frankenstein mash up of the two where I can jump start with cables and/or through the cigarette adapter? Also recharge through the adapter or household outlet too.

Price range I would say around $100. I'm looking at Costco and they have one around $130.

[DarkFury]

I've had the exact same problem...

2 questions/comments though...

1) Is your vehicle sitting for long periods of time between crankings? If yes... then what you need is a "trickle charger" that can keep the battery charged at "full" between periodic crankings.

2) If you crank your vehicle every day, and you STILL have problems starting it in the morning, then I'd recommend that next time you buy a battery with higher cold cranking amps than what you currently are using.


As far as "recommendations" as to a good jump starter... the one I use is like this: http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-PS-.../dp/B00078NJYE

I keep that jump starter in my truck just for those emergencies where I need to jump someone or if my truck won't start because it has sat too long (yes.. it does happen sometimes ) However in another post a long time ago, I posted about the solar trickle charger that I now use to combat that problem.

I paid about $75 for my jump starter, so that one at Amazon looks like a pretty good price to me. Good luck!!!

Also, here is a link to a trickle charger that you can just plug into an extension cord to your garage or house: http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SE-...8&s=automotive

I have one like that connected to my 300C as it is parked for the winter in my garage. Without it, my car would run the battery dry in about a week.

[mcs328]

It sat for about 3 days max. I never has a problem any other day just when it's really cold and even during the ice storm it was fine. My car is a little 99 civic. Usually I'd skimp out but when you got to get to work then I can't afford to skimp out but not break the bank either.

Thanks. Any other recommendations?

[DarkFury]

Well for $60, that jump starter I recommend is a cheap insurance policy.

It saved my hash a couple of times when the truck wouldn't start... Honestly, I'd say go get that and be done with it. (That way you don't have to depend on a friend to help you jump your car.)

[Daedalus]

Be careful to not start the car by jumping it through the cigarette lighter. The lighter takes a good amount of current, but nowhere near what the starter motor needs. The wiring is not sized to handle the ~150amps required. I'm pretty sure the "brick" jumper is hooked up for a short time for a small recharge. I bought a cased unit similar to one in DF's link for from Costco with a built-in compressor and it lasted a few years with periodic recharges. It no longer turns my V-8s over but the compressor still works. It was such a lifesaver I bought a similar unit from Costco for just under $50.
Even with the temperature, 3 days between drives seems too short a time for this to be a problem. I would be concerned you got another bad battery, the charging system isn't up to snuff, or you have a bad circuit w/ parasitic drain.

[renovation]

no way i buy a unit that jump starts the car though the cigarette lighter . look at the size of the normal battery cables .and that of normal jumper cables .they are about the size of your finger . it takes a lot of juice to start the normal auto . i go to walmart or sears or place you got the battery from and have it checked . they may of sold you a under rated battery for your car .or it has a bad cell in it .also todays so called close cell batterys still have filler caps .at least on most they do . just dont look like it . or you may just have a bad cable . as for a quick jump unit . plan on dropping about the same price as you did for a replacement battery $50 -$60 and wallmarts or sears should have a nice one avail !

[DarkFury]

Be careful to not start the car by jumping it through the cigarette lighter. The lighter takes a good amount of current, but nowhere near what the starter motor needs. The wiring is not sized to handle the ~150amps required. I'm pretty sure the "brick" jumper is hooked up for a short time for a small recharge. I bought a cased unit similar to one in DF's link for from Costco with a built-in compressor and it lasted a few years with periodic recharges. It no longer turns my V-8s over but the compressor still works. It was such a lifesaver I bought a similar unit from Costco for just under $50.
Even with the temperature, 3 days between drives seems too short a time for this to be a problem. I would be concerned you got another bad battery, the charging system isn't up to snuff, or you have a bad circuit w/ parasitic drain.

If your jump starter had an "air compressor" attached, then it was NOTHING like the one I posted in the link.

The jump starters from Schumacher are pure battery packs.... basically a battery and cables (although they do come with a 12V outlet so you can use them as a portable battery for electronics)

Guess that's the difference between "quality stuff" and the knockoff junk.


And I do agree... those "cigarette lighter" jump packs are garbage. Don't even waste your money on them.

[mcs328]

I went to Costco and got this since it was the best of the two they had. The box says 600 amps and I wanted a little more info than that. The manual is even worse. No mention of what the cold cranking amps are. I checked my battery and it says 550 cranking amps at 32F and 450 cold cranking amps at 0F. Isn't that high?

I charged it for 10 hours even though the recommendation is 36. I got it to work and did jump start my car "I think". I could hear my engine try to turn over and in that moment I hit the gas and the engine came alive. I drove around for 30 minutes and got some breakfast too. Next checkup I'll have them check the battery and my starter which I probably shortened the life of.

This jump starter I'm returning to Costco. The cables are only like 2-3 feet long so I had to put the thing on a non-moving parts place under the hood since I can't rest it on the ground. They have two LEDs that say connection good and incorrect connection which I assumed meant you hooked up the cables correctly. After I took the cables off the light was still green and I wasn't hooked up to anything. It has a "Jumper Safety Switch" which I thought meant if it was on there was an additional safety measure activated when you attempt to jump start your car. I had to turn this off to successfully jump start my car. I think what it really means is to not supply juice to the cables whens it's on if you use the light or air compressor. Again the manual has no mention of this other than turn it off when recharging the battery at home. The last thing is I think the thing is leaking it's contents. The sticker overlay for the gauges is oily/greasy. I'm not sure it's from the sticker glue or what but it's around the cigarette socket.

I tried hunting down the schumacher from various retail places but they seem to see their own branded jump starters. I'll look more this weekend now that I have a working car. Thanks for the tips guys.

[DarkFury]

I went to Costco and got this since it was the best of the two they had. The box says 600 amps and I wanted a little more info than that. The manual is even worse. No mention of what the cold cranking amps are. I checked my battery and it says 550 cranking amps at 32F and 450 cold cranking amps at 0F. Isn't that high?

Honestly, 450 - 550 CCA is not really all that high... especially if that is the peak power. I used to have an 800 CCA battery in my T-Bird and I have a 875 CCA Interstate battery in my truck currently.

I tried hunting down the schumacher from various retail places but they seem to see their own branded jump starters. I'll look more this weekend now that I have a working car. Thanks for the tips guys.

Seriously... why not buy the one I linked to above from Amazon.

$60.88 with FREE shipping is a great price on it.


Besides, that one has 850 peak cranking amps + 250 crank assist amps. That other one you linked to seemed to be more of a "general purpose power station" rather than a dedicated emergency jump starter.

However, if you are sure you want to buy a Schumacher locally, then you can mostly find them in Sears, AutoZone, Interstate Battery outlets and a host of other auto parts stores.

BTW... the cables on this unit are short as well, however it's not that bulky and you want it close to the dead battery when it's time to jump as you are not gonna leave it connected for more than a few minutes after your vehicle starts.

[Daedalus]

If your jump starter had an "air compressor" attached, then it was NOTHING like the one I posted in the link.

The jump starters from Schumacher are pure battery packs.... basically a battery and cables (although they do come with a 12V outlet so you can use them as a portable battery for electronics)

Guess that's the difference between "quality stuff" and the knockoff junk.

I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to offend you or hurt your feelings. I was naive to assume you weren't such a connoisseur of portable jump starters. You're absolutely right...the portable jump-starter I bought, with the internal 12V battery, 12V outlet and alligator clips on cables is NOTHING like the one from Amazon. I can see how the built-in compressor makes it completely dissimilar.
How do you define "quality stuff"? Is the Schumacher unit "quality" because it's made in China? Is the unit I bought from Costco a knock-off of the Schumacher one, even though it was purchased years before Schumacher made anything like it?

[DarkFury]

I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to offend you or hurt your feelings. I was naive to assume you weren't such a connoisseur of portable jump starters. You're absolutely right...the portable jump-starter I bought, with the internal 12V battery, 12V outlet and alligator clips on cables is NOTHING like the one from Amazon. I can see how the built-in compressor makes it completely dissimilar.
How do you define "quality stuff"? Is the Schumacher unit "quality" because it's made in China? Is the unit I bought from Costco a knock-off of the Schumacher one, even though it was purchased years before Schumacher made anything like it?

Wow.. looks like my words really hurt you there. OUCH!!! Sorry..

But your sarchasm aside, I've had the "cheaper" types of power units like you described before and honestly, they are JUNK. If you are stuck in the middle of nowhere with a dead battery, I want something I can TRUST in my trunk to start my vehicle. With 600 CCA (what your unit says is peak power) on a VERY cold day turns into about 300 CCA which may or may not start your car.

The unit I proposed has 1000 CCA total... and has a greater chance of starting your vehicle in ANY situation.

Yes, it's nice to have that compressor so that you can fill your kids' bicycle tires or blow up pool ornaments, however as an intergrated part of the jump starter, they just take away from the overall quality of the original purpose for what you buy them for. I personally have a separate trunk compressor unit with a flashlight on the other end and yes, I can plug that unit via the cigarette adaptor directly into my jump starter for power. Same functionality as what your unit does, but with MORE power in a more compact casing.

But hey... I guess you were too busy being "sarcastic" to see WHY I was presenting the Shumacher unit over your offering. Ehhh... to me it really doesn't matter what you use, but honestly, for myself, I want the BEST for the money to do what I need to do.

Take my advice for whatever it is worth or don't... That's your choice. And stop being so mad to have to respond in such a way.

HAVE A NICE DAY!

[Daedalus]

Wow.. looks like my words really hurt you there. OUCH!!! Sorry..

But your sarchasm aside, I've had the "cheaper" types of power units like you described before and honestly, they are JUNK. If you are stuck in the middle of nowhere with a dead battery, I want something I can TRUST in my trunk to start my vehicle. With 600 CCA (what your unit says is peak power) on a VERY cold day turns into about 300 CCA which may or may not start your car.

The unit I proposed has 1000 CCA total... and has a greater chance of starting your vehicle in ANY situation.

Yes, it's nice to have that compressor so that you can fill your kids' bicycle tires or blow up pool ornaments, however as an intergrated part of the jump starter, they just take away from the overall quality of the original purpose for what you buy them for. I personally have a separate trunk compressor unit with a flashlight on the other end and yes, I can plug that unit via the cigarette adaptor directly into my jump starter for power. Same functionality as what your unit does, but with MORE power in a more compact casing.

But hey... I guess you were too busy being "sarcastic" to see WHY I was presenting the Shumacher unit over your offering. Ehhh... to me it really doesn't matter what you use, but honestly, for myself, I want the BEST for the money to do what I need to do.

Take my advice for whatever it is worth or don't... That's your choice. And stop being so mad to have to respond in such a way.

HAVE A NICE DAY!

My sarcasm was a reaction to your defensiveness. You seem confused on the aspects of quality, specifications and functionality. CCAs are a specification and say nothing about quality. Neither does functionality. Surely you're not suggesting increased functionality is a reason to not buy a product. Marketers and capitalists would strongly disagree. Even after you understand what each term means, you still can't make a comparison between 2 products until you know enough about both. If you actually read my post you'll see that I only stated I bought a similar product from Costco. I never made an "offering" or recommended any specific model, I just related a positive experience to the OP. The original unit I bought had a 17AH battery with a 900A peak, plus a built-in light and compressor. Of course I'm still not able to compare quality.
BTW Check your specs. The Schumacher has nowhere near 1000CCAs.

[DarkFury]

My sarcasm was a reaction to your defensiveness. You seem confused on the aspects of quality, specifications and functionality. CCAs are a specification and say nothing about quality. Neither does functionality. Surely you're not suggesting increased functionality is a reason to not buy a product. Marketers and capitalists would strongly disagree. Even after you understand what each term means, you still can't make a comparison between 2 products until you know enough about both. If you actually read my post you'll see that I only stated I bought a similar product from Costco. I never made an "offering" or recommended any specific model, I just related a positive experience to the OP. The original unit I bought had a 17AH battery with a 900A peak, plus a built-in light and compressor. Of course I'm still not able to compare quality.
BTW Check your specs. The Schumacher has nowhere near 1000CCAs.

Just because a TV comes with a VCR doesn't necessarily mean that the TV portion of it is higher quality than an equally priced standalone TV that has higher rated specs. Many "jack of all trades" devices don't perform as well as a dedicated unit. That's all I was pointing out originally. I can't help it that you took my words the wrong way and reacted the way that you did.

Either way, the Amazon specs on the Schumacher unit clearly state the following:

Maintenance-free 18 ampere hour battery delivers 850 peak amps and 250 cranking amps (at 32 degrees F).

Ok.. so I added them together to get the 1000... if that is wrong, then pardon the mistake. Either way, 850 is still > 600 (your unit). So why harp on it?

Like I said before, if you are happy with yours... then fine, roll with it. I'm not telling you to get rid of it and purchase a new one, although by your OWN admission you stated the following:

It no longer turns my V-8s over but the compressor still works. It was such a lifesaver I bought a similar unit from Costco for just under $50.

No longer cranks the car eh? Sounds like a piece of junk to me. The original poster wants a jump starter... not an oversized "air compressor", hence my advice.

BTW.. if you just have to have that air compressor with a quality battery pack, then I guess you can dole out the cash and buy this version instead (but the cost is a bit more...).

http://store.schumachermart.com/ps-420ac.html

No pic on Amazon (but the link above has a pic), but they have it here: http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-PS-...2868043&sr=1-1


Exact same battery yet it costs twice as much with the addition of a compressor and a flashlight.

or if you like 'em BIG.. then just get this unit for 4x the price that includes the compressor and an AC inverter: http://store.schumachermart.com/pp-18400ci.html

Now can we squash this argument here... as I see no additional bounds to further discuss or drag it out (unless you just like debating this particular issue).

[Daedalus]

Just because a TV comes with a VCR doesn't necessarily mean that the TV portion of it is higher quality than an equally priced standalone TV that has higher rated specs. Many "jack of all trades" devices don't perform as well as a dedicated unit. That's all I was pointing out originally. I can't help it that you took my words the wrong way and reacted the way that you did.

Guess that's the difference between "quality stuff" and the knockoff junk .

How can I take things the wrong way if you're not explicit? Exactly what is the difference between quality stuff and the knockoff junk? Just so I don't take your words the wrong way, are you not asserting the Schumacher product is higher quality relative to the Costco product? If you are, what is the reason for this?

Either way, the Amazon specs on the Schumacher unit clearly state the following: Maintenance-free 18 ampere hour battery delivers 850 peak amps and 250 cranking amps (at 32 degrees F).

Ok.. so I added them together to get the 1000... if that is wrong, then pardon the mistake. Either way, 850 is still > 600 (your unit). So why harp on it?

How valuable is your advice if you don't know the meaning of the specs and can't make objective comparisons? "My unit" is not 600 anything. I never stated the CCAs for the product I bought. 850 is not the CCA rating for the Schumacher. You need to have a grasp of the meanings of the numbers before you can compare them. If you had such an understanding you would know the difference between peak amps and CCAs, and you would know that the sum of the 2 is not a normal basis for comparison.

No longer cranks the car eh? Sounds like a piece of junk to me.

How old is your unit? I bought mine in 2000. It doesn't crank the truck or sedans on its own but as of last summer it still cranked the Acura. It's older than any car battery I've had, and those get topped off every time you drive, not every few months.

[DarkFury]

Honestly, I'm done discussing it.

It is no longer important to highlight the differences since now it just appears you want to argue points ... You can look up whatever facts you need from the links I provided above.

Thanks for the debate/discussion. Moving on now.