recommend me a portable jump starter?

Sunset said:
I wonder if that is true.

Up North, on super cold days it is true because batteries that are weak simply don't work in super cold days, so a lot of folks find out on the first cold snap, or when they drive from warm garage and park all day in the freezing cold to find the battery is dead at the end of the day.

Do hot days work the same, a sudden jump in temp from 90 to 110 does it also cause weak batteries to fail that day ?
Certainly there might be a few more cars overheating, but surely they overheat in 90 degree days too.
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I'm not sure it's real important why you're stranded. You're there waiting for a jump, or something more complicated has happened. You could have a good experience with your tow contract, and then have a terrrible experience waiting in extreme weather.

It's not a certainty the jump starter will get you going, but I think for under $100 it's a nice tool. Charge your phones too! Emergency light would help in some circumstances.
 
Sojourner said:
True, but what about changing a flat tire yourself in 115° heat? IMHO, paying a few bucks a month for roadside assistance that covers many common issues is preferable to having to acquire all the tools, knowledge, and experience to handle all those things on my own. I'd rather wait 30-45 minutes for a trained professional to drive out to me, remove my flat tire, and put the spare on instead of doing it myself in gods knows what kind of weather/road/traffic conditions.
Click to expand...
Topic was jump start a battery. I wasn't really trying to address other road hazards. Although flat tires are definitely more common around these parts.
 
youbet said:
Boy, you are an optimist! [emoji23]
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Last tire I almost changed I had to wait that long for the Fire Department and rescue to show up. They didn't change the tire either.
 
badatmath said:
Thanks, REWAHOO
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+1

I really didn't think I needed this until I realized my charger was stolen and I'm not jumping anything with my Tesla. Handy add.
 
NOCO GB150 if you need to start more vehicles or bigger vehicles like trucks

Love mine
 
target2019 said:
I'm not sure it's real important why you're stranded. You're there waiting for a jump, or something more complicated has happened. You could have a good experience with your tow contract, and then have a terrrible experience waiting in extreme weather.

It's not a certainty the jump starter will get you going, but I think for under $100 it's a nice tool. Charge your phones too! Emergency light would help in some circumstances.
Click to expand...

When I used to drive up NORTH , I always had in the trunk, my winter kit which was things like: blanket, winter boots, scarf, hat (toque), candles, firestarter, downvest, mitts, snack bars and chocolate bars, shovel, etc..

I guess really in any extreme temp area, a person should carry enough things to help them survive a day being stranded.
 
HawkeyeNFO said:
Buy a car with manual transmission, and push-start it.
Click to expand...

When in college, 40 years ago, the starter went out on my manual tranny Datsun 240Z. I had no money, and got really good at push starting that car solo. I went for 6 months with no starter. Don't park at the bottom of a hill though.

I have one of these and it has worked well the few times I tried it. It may be overkill for a smaller car/engine. I've used mine before to start a 1100 cubic inch V-12 marine diesel, so it has some cajones.
XP-10 microstart
 
Sunset said:
When I used to drive up NORTH , I always had in the trunk, my winter kit which was things like: blanket, winter boots, scarf, hat (toque), candles, firestarter, downvest, mitts, snack bars and chocolate bars, shovel, etc..

I guess really in any extreme temp area, a person should carry enough things to help them survive a day being stranded.
Click to expand...
That's a good list. I would add a snow shovel for tires and a snow brush.
In NJ you just need to navigate by way of Wawa gas stations. Your supplies are all there.
The circumstances up north and west are severe and dangerous. Thinking NY state and Wyoming in past winters.
 
badatmath said:
I want something to jump start the car that is idiot proof (warns you if connected wrong), has a flashlight, AND most significantly can be stored at high temperatures as I live in the desert and it is 115 outside never mind what it would be in the car . . .
Click to expand...

I sold,have and highly recommend this one, The GB40 is A compact yet powerful 1,000 Amp lithium-ion jump starter that delivers 7,000 joules of starting power. It's patented safety technology features spark-proof technology and reverse polarity protection making it safe for anyone to use.
Amp/Hour‎: ‎2.1
Cord Length (ft)‎: ‎3.16
Less than $100. bucks and works like a top. We were camping one weekend and had a guy come up to ask if I had a set of jumpcables.I said No but Just a min.and went to get mine out of the truck. I pulled it out and handed it to him. He went on and came back a few min.later and said,I had my doubts but this little thing spun my diesel over like it was new.
 
badatmath said:
I change my car batteries approximately every 2 years and have them checked at oil changes. . . I still get stranded sometimes. They just do not seem to like the AZ heat. Has happened with 3 different cars. . . Kind of sounds like most of them would work since I can't really tell the "storage" temp without seeing the instructions. I just have this vision of my car being 200 degrees and it catching fire or something. I guess I could take it out in the very worst of summer. Knowing myself I would not be likely to take it in and out each trip. Did I mention I was lazy?
Click to expand...


JKA- (just kidding around)
Don't fight it, harness it - Add a rack and a PV panel or two. I have one of those smaller PV panels with a cigarette lighter plug that I use in the old truck when it sits idle out in the sun.
I usually get 6-7 years between batteries in our hot climate - as an extra measure, I pop the hood to release extra heat from the hot engine when returning home. This time around, I am trying an AGM battery to see if I get more life.
 
REWahoo said:
FWIW, I just saw this $42 'daily deal' on Amazon. Looks like it has good reviews:

https://www.amazon.com/BEATIT-B10PR...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
Click to expand...

Bumping this topic 'cause I just used one of these (not exactly the one shown - but looks very similar, similar price, etc. and mine was available from Costco.)

I'll be honest. I didn't think it would work - but it did. Full disclosure: The car battery itself is okay but I had been running the fan for over an hour while DW shopped. Have barely driven the car, so battery was just low. It was in the click-click-click condition. Even tried waiting 5 minutes for it to recover, but no dice.

The only tricky part was figuring out where the wires connected to the unit. (you have to pry up this little 'flap'). If I ever have to use it again, it will take 2 minutes to get it from the trunk, open the hood, connect the unit and start the car. No fuss, no muss. BUT you DO have to keep it charged. Near as I can tell, you should charge every couple of months though I think it says charge once a month. YMMV as always, but I am sold!
 
HawkeyeNFO said:
Buy a car with manual transmission, and push-start it.
Click to expand...




Just do not do what I did and forget to turn the key on!!!


Had 4 people pushing and nothing... saw I had the key off and turned it on... started right away... did not tell my helpers!!
 
I recall as a teen and college student "living" that way (park car to go down hill - away from other cars, etc.) Jump in car, use one leg to get it rolling, wait to 5 mph, pop the clutch and go. Worked like a charm.

BUT now I'm too old for that nonsense AND I haven't owned a manual for 10 years. YMMV
 
Have to get another one of these portable jump starters for my kid studying away at university. She’s deaf and doesn’t hear the little bell that goes off in the car when you leave the lights on.

Had one but was stolen out of her car.

She has killed the battery more times than I can count. But now is very experienced at connecting the portable battery to the terminals or using old school jumper cables. And through experience knows not to keep the portable battery or cables in the trunk since the trunk latch is electric and dies when the battery goes flat.
 
Koolau said:
I recall as a teen and college student "living" that way (park car to go down hill - away from other cars, etc.) Jump in car, use one leg to get it rolling, wait to 5 mph, pop the clutch and go. Worked like a charm.

BUT now I'm too old for that nonsense AND I haven't owned a manual for 10 years. YMMV
Click to expand...
I had read not to long ago that less that 5% of new vehicles sold "in the US" are manuals... Very different numbers in the rest of the world.

Back in the day, no self respecting "guy" would have been caught driving an automatic (a.k.a. slush bucket) due to the performance differences... Not so anymore... Automatics out perform manuals... Since electronic controlled auto's have come on the market with 6 to 10 gears, the days of manuals are just about gone... At least here in the US.
 
Car-Guy said:
I had read not to long ago that less that 5% of new vehicles sold "in the US" are manuals... Very different numbers in the rest of the world.

Back in the day, no self respecting "guy" would have been caught driving an automatic (a.k.a. slush bucket) due to the performance differences... Not so anymore... Automatics out perform manuals... Since electronic controlled auto's have come on the market with 6 to 10 gears, the days of manuals are just about gone... At least here in the US.
Click to expand...

I still consider rowing a 5-speed a lot more fun than driving an auto. The reasons I no longer own manual trans. cars: 1) DW won't drive one. 2) In traffic - such as Honolulu, a manual is too much work for the fun but YMMV.
 
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