car jumper packs

[frank]

I was thinking about buying one of those new compact jump starter packs to carry with me in my car. I was wondering if anyone on here has one, has ever used it, did it work well, how often it had to be charged and mainly how well it started the car with the bad battery, what was the brand and model. thanks

 

[folivier]

I've had a Lithium pack for a few years and use it often, especially after my "toys" have been sitting through the winter. Works great, holds a charge for a long time. I check it each month to make sure it's at 90% or higher. Recharge when needed. Most of the time it sits in the trunk or bounces around in its nice padded case in my SxS.
BTW I've only used it connected directly to the battery and NOT plugged into the cig. lighter.
I'll get the brand later, it's a

BEATIT QDSP 2200Amp Peak​

. This would make a great Christmas present for family and others.

 

[pb4uski]

I was thinking about buying one of those new compact jump starter packs to carry with me in my car. I was wondering if anyone on here has one, has ever used it, did it work well, how often it had to be charged and mainly how well it started the car with the bad battery, what was the brand and model. thanks

We have one that we bought from Costco for ~$75 as I recall. Works well and handy to have. Hold a charge for a long time, over a year IME.

 

[RetireBy90]

I also have one that I have used twice. Don’t have the model handy right now. AAA uses them rather than jumper cables when my buddy called and once when I had to call. Works great.

 

[Car-Guy]

I had considered getting one of those at one time but I had too many cars and I wasn't going to buy/maintain one for each. Sooooo, I keep an eye and ear open to developing battery problems and switch them out at the first sign of trouble. Also carry jumper cables in all my cars. Only needed a "jump start" once about 20 years ago.

 

[Montecfo]

They work great. I have one in my oldest car in place of jumper cables.

When I returned from extended travel 2 cars were completely dead. It jumped them both.

Also, some young kids had a dead battery after football game. They had a jump pack but no idea how to use it. I showed them, it worked and they were in their way.

Hulkman Alpha 85 jump starter 2000. From Amazon. Less than $100 back in 2022.

 

[frank]

I had considered getting one of those at one time but I had too many cars and I wasn't going to buy/maintain one for each. Sooooo, I keep an eye and ear open to developing battery problems and switch them out at the first sign of trouble. Also carry jumper cables in all my cars. Only needed a "jump start" once about 20 years ago.

I usually change my batteries out when needed also. The problem I have is that I now have two hybrids and it is really a pain to jump them in the trunk. I can jump them in the motor compartment with the smaller pack, I also have a 2006 silverado that I usually jump with but am thinking about getting rid of it. that is the reason I want something to carry with me that is compact. my 2012 prius battery went dead at the grocery store one day without warning and I had to ask around to get a jump. the dealer told me the start batteries in the hybrids don't have much deep cycle so when they go dead they can go just like that.

 

[easysurfer]

I have one of those portable Lithium pack jumpers . Used it once. Worked great for jumping battery. The charge lasts forever. I have recharged the battery in probably a couple of years and the charge still shows 100%. But think use it a little (not for jumping) and recharge it again just to be safe for an upcoming trip.

 

[calmloki]

We have a couple - lost one in the car for the better part of a year and bought a replacement, then found the original. Amazed me that they work well, the wayward pack had 90+% charge when found. Very handy to keep the phones up in a power outage, though my very connected honey carts fully charged battery packs of various sizes wherever we go and keeps her phone plugged into the house or car pretty much full time.

Toughest thing is wrestling the cables, adaptors and battery into the black hidey case or bag.

 

[6miths]

Yes have one in each of the cars and have given to kids and family. Hold charge for very long time. Can be used as power source for phone, laptop, etc in a pinch. Much easier to use than jumper cables for the uninitiated and cleaner! Also have chips that prevent reversing cables.

 

[jazz4cash]

Does anyone have experience jump starting through the cigarette lighter (aka 12V accessory) port? I’m not sure my family members would be comfortable jumping at the battery.

 

[pacergal]

We have one in each car and bought one for each of our kids. We eep ur in the center console. They work well, also can charge our phones during power outages. Both DS and DSIL have used them to jump their cars.
They hold their charge for a long time. DH brings them in every year to check and recharge if needed.

 

[djsander]

Would like to hear what the brands are as well as they have them and like them. We are researching getting one.

 

[spencnor]

Would like to hear what the brands are as well as they have them and like them. We are researching getting one.

I have the GOOLOO. They have different sizes available. I went for the 4000A version. YouTuber Project Farm rates this highly.

Amazon

 

[ERD50]

Does anyone have experience jump starting through the cigarette lighter (aka 12V accessory) port? I’m not sure my family members would be comfortable jumping at the battery.

No experience, but some knowledge.

That lighter/port is typically fused at ~ 10 ~20 Amps, which won't directly 'jump start' a car. But if the car's battery is OK, and just got discharged (lights left on, etc), then it can be recharged enough through that port to sometimes start the car. You want to give it some time (10 minutes, more?) and make sure everything is off on the 'dead' car, and keep the charging car running, as that will run the alternator and bring the voltage up to ~ 14.1 V which is what the 'dead' car will need to charge.

But if the dead car's battery is shot, and can't deliver enough current to start the engine, this won't work.

 

[mistermike40]

I bought one for my daughter two years ago. We've had to use it twice and it works great. She said the charge was still close to 100% after jumping my son's car. I'm thinking of getting a couple more to give as Christmas gifts this year.

 

[Midpack]

Does anyone have experience jump starting through the cigarette lighter (aka 12V accessory) port? I’m not sure my family members would be comfortable jumping at the battery.

I am sure you realize those jump starters also have a battery that has to be kept charged. But it might spare you having to open the hood to connect a jump box.

Do Cigarette Lighter Jump Starters Work?

Cigarette lighter jump starters aren't really jump starters at all, but whether they actually work is a different question.

www.lifewire.com

 

[easysurfer]

Would like to hear what the brands are as well as they have them and like them. We are researching getting one.

The brand of the one I have is Tacklife. But I see that Amazon doesn't carry them anymore. Not sure why as seems to work fine. There are so many different brands out there.

If I was to splurge on a jump starter, I'd get the Ryobi that uses their 18v battery line. Uses a drill type battery to juice up capacitors in the jump starter.

 

[Aerides]

Was looking at those, but cannot remember a single time in my decades when I needed a jump and was not at home, where I could get the jump via cables via each others car.

I mean I guess, perhaps if I were in the habit of parking at the airport for longer trips it might find a use? But unless my car is unused for a long time, it's super rare to need a jump at all, let alone away from home.

I'd get the Costco one if I did at all.

 

[disneysteve]

We got this one. We have used it and it works well.

Amazon.com

 

[Northforker]

Amazon.com

This one works well.

 

[Jerry1]

Does anyone have experience jump starting through the cigarette lighter (aka 12V accessory) port? I’m not sure my family members would be comfortable jumping at the battery.

I’d find one online and see if you can read the manual. My guess is that you don’t really jump the car from the cigarette lighter. I think you plug it in and wait for awhile while it charges the battery.

 

[jollystomper]

We have two, both Suaoki brand (which may not exist anymore) from Amazon. They are 7 and 5 years old. and still keep their charge like brand new. I have never had an issue with them jumping my car, or my riding mower, or other peoples car. I have used them much more often to help out others than to jump our own cars. The only times I have to use them on our cars were a few times with very old, dying batteries that I did not proactively replace.

The battery jumping is much easier than cables between 2 cars , in my view. No need to worry about the order, just connect them to the battery terminals and turn on the jumper, then disconnect. If one can open the hood, one can use these easily.

The USB ports and LED lights they have are a nice bonus, for use as a portable charger and flashlight. I usually recharge them 2-3 times a year, normally before a long road trip.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

When looking at these, make sure you get one that has a BOOST button. You need that to jump a battery that has a too low voltage. In general, there are safety precautions built into these to make sure you have connected the jumper unit to a car battery. If the weak battery is too low, the jumper thinks there is no battery connected and will not jump the dead battery. The boost button overrides this safety mechanism, forcing the jumper unit to work anyway.

Note, the Gooloo unit mentioned earlier has this feature. See the first bullet in the product description.

 

[Koolau]

They w*rk great. I did have a battery that I could not jump - not even with a real 12 v battery (from another car.) Apparently, the battery had a dead short in it. Nothing will over come that, but the little jumpers w*rk well on a low and "dying" battery. I don't think the brand of jumper really matters. Mine suggests charging once a month, but I've let it go 6 months with no problem. Of course, you need to recharge every time you use it to actually start a car. I think you might get 3 or 4 "attempts" before a jumper is depleted. They don't hold a lot of charge but they are able to deliver what they have very quickly.

I think I paid $50 for mine at Costco. They have one now for $100. Should I add that to the inflation thread?

I had to laugh when jollystomper said (words to the effect) "If you can open the hood, you can start the car with one of these jumpers." First time I opened the hood on my Buick, I couldn't find the battery. Turns out it's under the rear seat! YMMV