Jump leads alternative

Murphybear

I have seen something advertised called a Jump Genie that is supposed to be be an alternative for jump leads which obviously require a second car.

I Googled it and found lots of similar products with very mixed reviews. Has anyone any experience of this?

I have a small old Toyota which is used as a runabout rather than for long journeys and the battery went flat while I was in town and it took ages to sort out. Should I buy jump leads instead

Sorry if this subject has been raised before, there's lots of posts!

FiremanDave

How about a booster pack?


https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/jump-start-910-cw-12v-compressor

EdGasket

FiremanDave wrote: »

How about a booster pack?

I think that is what the OP was asking about. Don't know if it's worth having one just for personal use because they rely on their own biult in batteries being in a good state of charge and likelyhood is that when you need it, you'll find it has gone flat if it hasn't been used regularly. In this case you may just as well charge up your own car battery instead. Rather than spend money on a Booster pack/Jump Genie, why not just buy a new car battery and keep your old one charged up in reserve?

Jump starting not recommended these days as there is risk of damage to electronic modules.

Strider590

If a car battery has gone flat, then it's already ruined..... Jump starting just prolongs the agony and increasingly risks you and your vehicle every time you do it.
The sudden charge current from connecting a good battery to a bad one, can produce hydrogen (https://www.google.co.uk/#q=hindenburg) gas, then all you need is a spark to cause an explosion of plastic, sulphuric acid and molten lead.

Admittedly explosions are not a common occurrence, but i've experienced car battery explosion. The highest risk is you'll just wind up stranded somewhere on a very cold day, waiting for the breakdown recovery people to turn up and sell you an overpriced replacement battery.


Prevention is ALWAYS the best solution.

Buy a smart charger, charge the car battery once a week, or keep it connected if you have a garage.
Aldi are selling a good(ish) one for about £15 right now.

colino

Like you OP I'd like to hear of a genuine review of these new generation starter boxes. The one I saw demonstrated was the Micro-start XP-1, but at around £130 (if memory serves) it, while being tiny and very versatile, is pitched at the low level, but dependable, price range of starter packs.
If I were you, I'd buy a good quality set of jump leads, don't bother with cheapies, and prepare to make lots of friends come the first winter frost.

Joe_Horner

Strider590 wrote: »

If a car battery has gone flat, then it's already ruined......

Err, you are making a joke there, aren't you? There are plenty of ways for a car battery to end up flat without being ruined!

Strider590

If a car battery is allowed to become flat, it is ruined...... It will no longer be capable of holding it's design capacity due to sulfation. A battery that's more than a few years old will most likely be damaged beyond repair if allowed flat.

colino

I wonder how the thousands of car batteries at auctions and forecourts, flattened through frequent starts, short drives, or no drives at all, and shut down with no opportunity to replenish the charge manage to survive your sweeping prognosis?

OddballJamie

When the alternator was knackered in my partner's last car, the battery went flat, AA charged it to get us home. After the alternator was swapped out, the battery was fine after a charge, checked the voltage, car ran fine afterwards for many months over winter until we sold it, even using Quickclear daily.

Ranger8

If the battery is a few years old and has had a bit of a hard life (short journeys) better off investing in a new battery.

Joe_Horner

Strider590 wrote: »

If a car battery is allowed to become flat, it is ruined.......

No it's not.

If a lead acid battery is allowed to stay flat for an extended period it'll suffer sulphation of the plates and if a starter type battery is repeatedly discharged fully then it can suffer plate damage.

But a single episode, or even a few, of running it flat under normal load (as opposed to rapid discharge from shorts etc) will make no measurable difference whatsoever.

Suggesting it does is about the least MSE advice ever posted! Are you sure you don't work for Exide?

eta: Unless by "allowed to become flat" you mean leaving it unused, with no load, until it's flat through self discharge. But that comes under the "extended periods" bit above and doesn't happen to fitted batteries on cars that are in use!