Feedback on Jump Start Packs?

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I'm kind of out in the middle of nowhere and left a dome light on (there was a flood light hitting the car...so I didn't see it at night). Luckily there was a maintenance guy coming to the house, so I got a jump. Otherwise, I would have needed a tow truck to come down a dirt road. I've been meaning to get a jump pack for the two cars, so now I'm getting down to it. Would have come in handy today.

Any recommendations? I'm looking at the most popular model on Amazon and it looks like it will clearly do the job. I had read that if you buy one, buy one that doesn't have the strobe light, air compressor, radio beacon, etc. on it. Just buy one that starts the car.

As with all of our cheap Chinese junk these days, I'm worried about buying one that lasts for 2 years and then doesn't hold a charge. I found the Made in USA model from Clore and it seems like way more than I need and is twice the price of the JNC660. Plus I'd bet the battery is from China either way.

So anyone had one of these for a few years now? One of those things you'll use once in 3 years, but it needs to work when you need it.
 
A friend of mine has that JNC660 and seems to like it. What kind of vehicle are you jumping?

I have a $30 Pepboys black friday unit that has been working for me for several years now. I've never had to jump a totally dead battery, but for a weak battery (like a drained battery playing music while tail gating), it has worked for me several times.

I think a key part for longevity is to make sure the battery is always fully charged. If you charged it up every couple months, I think you'd have no problem.
 
Meant to put that in the OP. Just jumping a Subaru Outback 3.6R and a Prius. No 6.7 Powerstroke here. So I'm sure most consumer grade jump packs have the juice I need, even when the battery is stone dead like today.
 
I have a Noco Genius boost GB30, I posted a YouTube video of it starting my 99 Taurus with 3.0 Vulcan V6 by hooking it directly up to the car with no battery attached.

It started it fine 6 times and still indicated between 75-100% charge.

Here's the video.

https://youtu.be/m-mg8RfCNCY

Since I've had it I've jump started a cobalt by hoping it up directly to the battery in the trunk, no issues started on the first try.

I also used it on an Acura tsx.

I had issues with a Chevy venture because the battery is recessed and the jump post was rusted good. I had to pull out jumper cables which I had trouble with too because I had to move the cables around multiple times to get a good ground on the car.

It works best on cars where you can directly hook it up to the battery.
 
Do you really want a lead-acid type, versus the new-fangled lithium ion ones?

If you read reviews, many of them now are from tow-truck people or car-lot folks; so they're happy this is the way to go over lugging the lead-acid jumper.


These are much more convenient, and can also serve double duty to charge your phone or other accessories, and you can just throw it in your trunk.


I got one made by antigravity, because that at least is a US company, even though it maybe still made in china.
It worked when I had to jumpstart my car. I also tried it with no battery attached on a v6 3.5 toyota avalon (2gr engine) and that worked.

As well as charging my phone when needed.

I would agree though, it maybe hard to tell which are good and which are not good. Every one has similar looking parts-so probably actually are sourced from the same parts.

Well, to be honest the lead-acid ones are probably the same lipstick too, there are really only 1 or 2 lead-acid manufacturers and that's going to be made in china too.


To be honest, china makes your iphones and they work fine, so the Chinese are actually are better at it than the US.

From here, it looks like it's hard to get this done in the US anyway, just like you wouldn't want a US made TV.
http://www.sebsgarage.com/2013/07/microstart-xp3-jump-starter-review/
Antigravity replies: “Our regular Antigravity Batteries are made in the USA, but the Micro-Start was made overseas. We had to because no one in the USA could help us with the circuit board and battery cells we needed to make it function as intended.”
 
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Clore jump and carry are good products but more expensive products. If you get a lead acid based unit look for 17+ah batteries which are the standard. The standard is usually the 6-FM-17 sized cells which is made by many manufacturers but with huge swings in quality.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Clore jump and carry are good products but more expensive products. If you get a lead acid based unit look for 17+ah batteries which are the standard. The standard is usually the 6-FM-17 sized cells which is made by many manufacturers but with huge swings in quality.


I agree that Clore is a good brand. You want something about 1500 peak amps. The good ones are going to be heavy. Also a jump pack in your trunk when its 5F outside will not be much help starting a vehicle with a dead battery.
 
Also keep in mind that you really want to fully charge a dead battery with an AC charger. Not jump and and drive off expecting the alternator to charge the battery.
 
Originally Posted By: raytseng
Do you really want a lead-acid type, versus the new-fangled lithium ion ones?


I see what you are saying now that I read up on it a bit. Honestly, I looked at them initially but they just look so "cheap" to me and it looks like a lot don't "jump start", rather they will trickle charge. I suppose I see a little battery pack and figure it isn't up to the task.

I'd lean towards "tried and true" for a device like this, which I'll look to when I am in a jam, rather than the latest and greatest. I also don't care if it only jumps car batteries. Again, looking for it to bail me out of a bad spot.

It does look like lithium performs better overall in hot and cold environments. So maybe they are the way to go. The Antigravity and Noco ones have positive reviews. But again, I'm looking for a device that will last and most importantly works when I need it to.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
You want something about 1500 peak amps.

Keep in mind the amp ratings on all AGM based jump starters are purely bogus. If you don't believe me, look up the replacement AGM battery and find the specs for it. If you get 90 amps out of one of the larger ones, you are doing well. This will start most cars. Larger high compression engines with a really large, dead battery are problematic, because the amps get sucked down into semi-recharging the dead battery. Then you have two mostly dead batteries.

There is a fix for jumping in this situation, but it involves sparks.
 
In my business, I jump started many cars over the years.

At first I use the lead-acid based jump starter. After about 8 jumps, the 18AH battery was damaged. I didn't replace it. It looks like it was not built for jump starting.

Then I switch to lithium-ion based jump starter. It jump started most cars successfully. It was small in size, very handy to carry around. I've got 2 more since then. So far, they are still working well.
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
Read the reviews and then roll the dice.


Yup, that is about all you can do and it is nice we have the resource to use. On the other hand, "reviews" have all but crippled my ability to buy something in a store without checking online first. Probably a positive in that it essentially eliminates any impromptu purchases more than $5.
 
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