Sealey Jump Starter unit

prowla

I've got a car I don't use so much and its battery has conked out, so I need to jump start it.

Yes, I know I should use the car more often to keep it going, but it's happened to me a couple of times, so I'm looking for a plan B...

I bought a rather neat little Sealey SL65S hand-held jump starter unit on ebay, which I thought might be ideal, but when it arrived it was a "Red Fuel" branded one instead, so I'm sending that back (I think it's a grey import from the US). That's set me back, as I can't use it today.

Annoyingly, the ones which are now on ebay today are more expensive, so I'm considering other options too.

So far I see:

• Sealey SL65S - very compact, 600A, up to 2l engine.
• Sealey RS1312HV - larger, 900A.

Any recommendations for alternatives & where to buy?

AdrianC

prowla wrote: »

I bought a rather neat little Sealey SL65S hand-held jump starter unit on ebay, which I thought might be ideal, but when it arrived it was a "Red Fuel" branded one instead, so I'm sending that back (I think it's a grey import from the US). That's set me back, as I can't use it today.

It's very likely that the only difference is the branding, and they're otherwise identical.

Sealey is a fairly low-end brand, so I really wouldn't get too hung up on the badge on it.

George_Michael

AdrianC wrote: »

It's very likely that the only difference is the branding, and they're otherwise identical.

Spot on.





It looks like the only difference is the name on the front.

missile

A new battery?

AdrianC

If the car's only used very infrequently, then it's going to keep going flat. It's simply a fact of life that modern cars use power all the time - memories, listening for the remote locking doofer, alarms. That doesn't mean anything's wrong with the car or (yet) with the battery. But batteries really don't like being flattened...

Is it parked anywhere it can be kept on a smart charger?

loskie

keep it on a trickle charger

https://www.toolstation.com/shop/Automotive/d60/Starters+%26+Chargers/sd3219/Trickle+Battery+Charger/p17423?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkNHqs4it2QIVar7tCh1tpQxdEAAYASAAEgKFXfD_BwE

Jonesya

I'm not sure why you're buying a jump starter, it sounds like what you need is a battery charger and possibly a new battery.

Car batteries don't like being drained flat and being left like this for long, it actually damages them so if it's gone flat a few times now, you probably want a new battery as well.

onomatopoeia99

SIP do one for about £100 which I have and is very good. The AA use them (which I know from when my car battery died in the office car park). Does the job in fairly big diesel engines, been used on a 2.5l V6 and a 2.4l inline four.

System

You need a new battery. Once it drops below a certain voltage, OTTOMH I think its 10.5V, its knackered. It may appear to hold a charge but the damage has been done and it will have one or more duff cells. As has been mentioned if you don't use it often keep it on a trickle charger.

shaun_from_Africa

Tarambor wrote: »

You need a new battery. Once it drops below a certain voltage, OTTOMH I think its 10.5V, its knackered. It may appear to hold a charge but the damage has been done and it will have one or more duff cells. As has been mentioned if you don't use it often keep it on a trickle charger.

Whilst it's true to say that discharging a 12v battery below a 10.5v can knacker it, this outcome is far from being guaranteed.
What happens during this is that lead sulfate builds up on the plates but provided that one or more of the cells doesn't get too hot or go into reverse polarity or the battery left at low voltage for an extended period of time, a recharge carried out promptly can often get the sulfate to revert back to lead and sulfuric acid and avoid any damage to the battery.

It's also a cumulative effect.
The more often a battery is excessively discharged, the harder it becomes to reverse any sulfation.

One of my duties at work involves running a battery shop and I have recovered quite a few lead acid batteries that were discharged close to 0v and these batteries get tested on a regular basis (every 3 months or 6 months) and part of this test involves a capacity test.
If one or more of the individual cells was damaged or had low capacity due to being discharged, this test would pick it up easily enough.

iolanthe07

If you're going to leave the car for an extended period and don't have access to a power point for a trickle charger, you can always disconnect. For a negative earth car (most are these days; I had a Morris Minor decades ago that was positive earth), disconnect the negative lead.