Which Jump Start?

[OlberJ]

Anyone have any experience of the above?

Due to not using my car much and with new job may be using it even less so i'm looking for a decent back up if it's needed.

Have seen a few ranging from £50 - £150 but a little unsure on which ones to go for or to avoid? The 4 in 1's with the extra plug sockets and compressors look handy or is it better to just go for a decent premium brand sole use pack?

This looks good value http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-700A-CAR-JUMP-START-...

Any other suggestions?


Cheers,
Olie

[Six Fiend]

I have a Halfords Power Pack 100 - did my Transit Connect nicely when the battery failed. Also started my 540i and random bloke's car which conked causing a traffic jam

Useful lamp on it and holds its charge for quite some time.

Auxiliary outlets were great for running a heater in the back of my van on night stops.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

Edited by Six Fiend on Tuesday 11th October 11:46

[thinfourth2]

Do it properly and buy this as the wee battery packs will go flat when you need them

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BC410E-400-AMP-12-24V-Ba...

[OlberJ]

thinfourth2 said:

Do it properly and buy this as the wee battery packs will go flat when you need them

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BC410E-400-AMP-12-24V-Ba...

Afraid i'm looking for a portable one. I'm good enough at keeping things charged correctly, errr except for car batteries

[Snowboy]

Some of the 'better' jump starters require some voltage in the battery (5amps from memory) so if you have a totally dead battery they will not start the car.
I think this is to stop people electrocuting themselves.

Halfords do/did a big yellow jumpstarter with a 12v socket and a torch on it.
It doesn't have the safety feature, so you can jump from a dead battery.
I've seen the same on at maplins too.

[E38Ross]

thinfourth2 said:

Do it properly and buy this as the wee battery packs will go flat when you need them

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BC410E-400-AMP-12-24V-Ba...

do you need to plug that into the mains to start the car, or is it battery powered...not really clear from that description...? is it effectively portable (i.e. could just leave it in the car?)

thanks

Ross

[thinfourth2]

E38Ross said:

thinfourth2 said:

Do it properly and buy this as the wee battery packs will go flat when you need them

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BC410E-400-AMP-12-24V-Ba...

do you need to plug that into the mains to start the car, or is it battery powered...not really clear from that description...? is it effectively portable (i.e. could just leave it in the car?)

thanks

Ross

You need to plug them in so not a portable solution but a good idea if you have a pile of scrapyard refugees at home

[miniman]

Clarke Jump Start 4000 from Machine Mart, about £90.

[hairykrishna]

I've got one of the Halfords ones. The compressor stopped working immediately, as did the one on the same pack bought by my mate. As far as jump starting goes they're ok but the safety thing, where they require a little bit of juice from the battery to let them know you've connected the leads the right way, was a pain in the arse.