Advice needed to return my jump starter, please help???

trinidadone

hi all,

I purchased a recharable jump starter from Amazon for £37.99 (including P&P) in September 2010

problem is, dispite recharging the product a few times, following the instruction book, the charge seems to go flat within a few days. I have lost the reciept and destroyed the box, can I return this product?

alanrowell

It should still be in your list of orders and Amazon will have a copy anyhow

So you follow the Returns process

Strider590

They house a small car battery if im not mistaken.... Which mean's if it's every been left for a period of time (month or so) then the battery will be ruined.

Unless it's a high capacity SLA battery, but those are more expensive than the £30 odd price tag.

Amazon should accept the return but you need to contact them.

trinidadone

I just contacted Amazon customer service. They told me as the product was purchased from a third party, I have to contact them directly. I have been advised to send a email to them, which I have just done, fingers cross

Inactive

Strider590 wrote: »

They house a small car battery if im not mistaken.... Which mean's if it's every been left for a period of time (month or so) then the battery will be ruined.

Unless it's a high capacity SLA battery, but those are more expensive than the £30 odd price tag.

Amazon should accept the return but you need to contact them.

They house a sealed battery, mine has been in my boot for about 4/5 months and is still showing full charge.

KillerWatt

Strider590 wrote: »

They house a small car battery if im not mistaken....

Those cheap ones do use SLA batteries Strider, but the actual CCA makes them about as much use as a chocolate ashtray.

Our neighbour bought one of >THESE< last year and pretty much killed it on the first use trying to start a 1.8 litre Mondeo.

I tried it on the old lady's bike (Honda 750 F1) with her battery (12V 12Ah) disconnected, and it gave up completely within 20 seconds of turning the motor over (her battery will turn the motor over for a lot longer).
In short, unless you pay at least £100 for one of those booster/chargers then you may as well forget it IMO.

Inactive

KillerWatt wrote: »

Our neighbour bought one of >THESE< last year and pretty much killed it on the first use trying to start a 1.8 litre Mondeo.

That is identical to the one that I have, I paid £14.99 for mine ( good old rip - off Maplin ).

I have only used it once to jump start a car, but it worked just fine, I have used it since to inflate tyres.

Strider590

KillerWatt wrote: »

Those cheap ones do use SLA batteries Strider, but the actual CCA makes them about as much use as a chocolate ashtray.

Our neighbour bought one of >THESE< last year and pretty much killed it on the first use trying to start a 1.8 litre Mondeo.

I tried it on the old lady's bike (Honda 750 F1) with her battery (12V 12Ah) disconnected, and it gave up completely within 20 seconds of turning the motor over (her battery will turn the motor over for a lot longer).
In short, unless you pay at least £100 for one of those booster/chargers then you may as well forget it IMO.

They're supposed to be used in conjunction with a partially discharged battery, it's a "boost" not a power supply.
If the battery in the car is dead or/and has been sat around a while, it'll kill the thing just as you mentioned.

Personally I think they're nothing more than a lazy solution to buying and fitting a new battery.

Inactive wrote: »

They house a sealed battery, mine has been in my boot for about 4/5 months and is still showing full charge.

Ok, then it is a sealed lead acid (SLA).... The top SLA manufacturers like Yuasa and CBS state a storage time of 6 months before recharging is needed to prevent damage, so if I were you i'd get that thing on charge for a few hours in the next few weeks

Inactive

Strider590 wrote: »

Ok, then it is a sealed lead acid (SLA).... The top SLA manufacturers like Yuasa and CBS state a storage time of 6 months before recharging is needed to prevent damage, so if I were you i'd get that thing on charge for a few hours in the next few weeks

It has a charge indicator that is still showing full charge.

Strider590

Inactive wrote: »

It has a charge indicator that is still showing full charge.

They don't loose voltage charge as such....
They sulphate (formation of lead sulphate crystals which have an insulative effect and reduce the AH capacity rather than the voltage) just like a car battery that measures 12.8v but won't start the car... But because they're sealed the process takes a lot longer. A quick blast of charge stops/reverses this process as long as it's not too far gone.

AH capacity cannot be measured or gauged without a high current "drop test", so voltage meter's are pretty useless really.

The reason I know about SLA batteries is a wealth of experience with UPS systems and unfortunately with customers who moan about them not working and refuse to pay for replacement batteries after leaving them sat unused in a cupboard for 6 months.

KillerWatt

Strider590 wrote: »

They're supposed to be used in conjunction with a partially discharged battery, it's a "boost" not a power supply.

I'm fully aware that they are meant as an "aid" for the lazy, I was attempting to convey the point that if it can't start a 1.8 Mondy, or turn over a motorcycle starter for any length of time that only has a 12Ah battery to start with - then that kinda tells you what quality the battery pack is to start with.

Strider590 wrote: »

Ok, then it is a sealed lead acid (SLA).... The top SLA manufacturers like Yuasa and CBS state a storage time of 6 months before recharging is needed to prevent damage, so if I were you i'd get that thing on charge for a few hours in the next few weeks

That is the very heart of the problem with those cheap boosters, if they used decent batteries such as you have mentioned then they would work. Unfortunately, if the lazy want a booster that has decent components then they have to pay (same as anything in life I guess).