Battery Jump Starter?

joe2cool

Hi totally agree with getting a new battery when needed, originally the reason I was asking about the 'jump starters' was that last year my 'Honda CRV's' battery wouldn't start, breakdown said because of how the car was parked he wouldn't have been able to use his leads, so luckily the battery restarted & was able to get a new battery. Now that my wife's car battery is getting on a bit, just wondered about a backup & if we don't have any call outs with our breakdown service no increase in costs next year. So I was thinking if I could restart if required this winter, so as to get a new battery without a call out.

forgotmyname

These jump packs are OK. Buy a decent one though the battery in the cheap ones will last past the warranty and probably not much longer.

I normally charge mine monthly to keep the battery fresh. But earlier this year we had a family emergency that lasted months so it sat in the boot.
Nearly 3 months later it was still good enough to start a ladies car at the hospital.
No issue at all. Connect it up, Give it a minute to put some charge into the cars battery and then fired up no problem.

A cheap one would probably be as dead as her battery.

Its close to its 7th birthday now.

Strider590

TrickyWicky wrote: »

I did that once.. turned up a few days later covered in condensation only it wasn't condensation it was battery acid. It had no only eaten through the leather on the sofa arm (where I put the battery when getting it out of he box) it also wouldn't hold its charge longer than 4 days and that was without even using the car (should hold for at least 6 weeks).

I did the opposite of what you suggested and went and bought a battery from KwikFit instead. That wasn't brilliant either and under warranty they refused to replace it.

Had I gone to Halfords and bought their £99 battery I'd of had no hassle with it and I've taken stuff back to them in the past and they usually replace it with minimal fuss. You get what you pay for.

They shouldn't leak, if it did then it was damaged....... All batteries have to be transported at some point in their life, whether on it's way to you, or on it's way to a retailer.

Halfrauds prices for batteries are in my opinion a complete rip off, selling a rebranded Varta (as Bosch) for £130, I got the same battery without the rebranding for around £65 online, delivered to my door with no leaks, no damage and no hassle. I dread to think what they charge for fitting......

vikingaero

Surprisingly the cheapest place I've bought a car battery is from a Vauxhall main stealer. They have a budget range of batteries marketed under the Go range and worked out £25 cheaper than most factors. I even bought a couple for some non-Vauxhall cars.

And there was no problem with shelf life or spillage because only when you buy the battery do they add the acid from a separate barrel.

red_eye

joe2cool wrote: »

Hi are these 'battery jump starters' any good? No need for jump leads so they say?

They....

• Revives low battery in minutes
• Plugs into 12V cigarette lighter socket
• No need for jump leads
• Recharges itself while you drive
• Suitable for petrol and diesel cars

one thing you dont want to do is revive a dead battery in minutes trickle charging is the best way to charge a battery it will live longer. and the cigarette lighter socket wiring is not rated to handle the amps the starter motor draws infact no wiring behind the dash can handle more then 15-30amps.

TrickyWicky

redux wrote: »

The RAC man a few years ago had something like this, probably a bit bigger, which strikes me as a brilliant idea, but I can't see the point for an ordinary person.

You don't have to use them exclusively for jump starting your car. You can use them for all sorts of other things that might need a 12V supply when out and about.

TrickyWicky

Strider590 wrote: »

They shouldn't leak, if it did then it was damaged....... All batteries have to be transported at some point in their life, whether on it's way to you, or on it's way to a retailer.

Halfrauds prices for batteries are in my opinion a complete rip off, selling a rebranded Varta (as Bosch) for £130, I got the same battery without the rebranding for around £65 online, delivered to my door with no leaks, no damage and no hassle. I dread to think what they charge for fitting......

Yes but any battery made badly enough that it will leak in transit, is (as I was trying to point out) a bad battery. At a cheap price the battery plastic is probably thinner and weaker than a bosch or varta.

Halfords may be expensive but by god their batteries are solid. I bought a second hand one from a bloke who's motor packed up. He'd only had it a year and sold it to me for £10 yes you read that right, £10. It still had 2 years of its warranty left and I've never had any trouble from it at all. You get what you pay for.

Bravehearted_2

Is it a bad thing to buy a more powerful battery than technically specified "just in case"? E.g. 065 instead of 063?

red_eye

Bravehearted wrote: »

Is it a bad thing to buy a more powerful battery than technically specified "just in case"? E.g. 065 instead of 063?

065 and 063 is that not the physical battery size?

forgotmyname

Bravehearted wrote: »

Is it a bad thing to buy a more powerful battery than technically specified "just in case"? E.g. 065 instead of 063?

063 and 065 is the physical size of the battery.

Its like Saying A4 and A5 when it comes to paper. But as with paper you can get different thickness of A4 and A5 paper.
80gsm copy paper, Better quality 100gsm to 200gsm+ card.

The battery will have an Ah rating.. The higher the Ah rating the longer it lasts before it loses its charge.
Buying a 120Ah battery with a 30Ah alternator means it will be working hard to charge it. And unless you do long journeys it may never fully charge.

Stick a 30Ah battery and a 100Ah althernator and it will charge quickly. Maybe too quickly. But it will die quickly when you leave your lights on or crank the car for too long if it doesnt start.

Just stick to what you have or the heady duty option of that battery.