Jumpstarter for the car

itgirlinuk

Hi,

I have been asked to buy a jumpstarter to keep in the car for emergencies. Can anyone recommend a good one? And there are any deals right now?

I'd rather buy it from a store, than online. So any local store deals would be great.

Thanks in advance,
K

GabbaGabbaHey

I bought a Clarke JumpStart 900 from Argos in 2002 for about £50 and it's still working fine. Got us out of a hole a number of times (we have 7 cars, so they don't get driven all the time and sometimes the batteries go flat) and it has the oomph to start even larger engined cars (e.g., 5 litre Porsche 928 S4, 3.8 litre BMW M5).

You must keep it charged, especially after using it and take the usual precautions you would for extending the life of what is effectively a large rechargeable battery.

vansboy

Have a word with your local independent car spares store - the ones that have delovery vans, selling to the 'trade'. They quite often have special deals on offer.

BUT... depending on the age of the car & how many electrical items/computers/gadgets your car has, you need to be VERRRRRY carefull, when charging/boosting/jumping batteries.It can cause considerable damage!!

Best not to let the battery get flat, of course, but if it does happen, follow the instructions with the cars handbook, for jumping from another vehicle & the directions with the jumpstarter, if you get one.

Also beware of causing the car to 'missfire', if it's been turning over slowly, with a flatish battery. This may damage the catalytic convertor, in the exhast - £$£$£$ again!!

Maybe a budget membership to one of the motoring services, would be better than a portable jumpstarter?? & check if you get the cover free/discounted within your car insurance!!

VB

Weymouth_Man

itgirlinuk wrote:

Hi,

I have been asked to buy a jumpstarter to keep in the car for emergencies. Can anyone recommend a good one? And there are any deals right now?

I'd rather buy it from a store, than online. So any local store deals would be great.

Thanks in advance,
K

Have you had a look at Maplin ?
Maplin.co.uk Also Stores around the country.
Jumpstart up to 400A Cranking Power :eek:
£29.99 Order Code N36BF
Hope this helps :beer:

skiddy2k

Weymouth_Man wrote:

Have you had a look at Maplin ?
Maplin.co.uk Also Stores around the country.
Jumpstart up to 400A Cranking Power :eek:
£29.99 Order Code N36BF
Hope this helps :beer:

bare in mind, 400a cranking power doesnt cover larger engine sizes, most cars at around 1.4-1.6l are 400amps

boatman

Just to add to what Vansboy said. When they jumpstart cars at auction, was told that they turn the lights and fan on before firing the car up. The theory being that any power spikes are taken by these items and not the delicate circuits in the car. Sounded a reasonable argument, not sure if it actually helps?

buchos

Makro do a jump starter (identical to the clark one in Argos, different name sticker like Nutool or something) for £14.99 and one with a 240v mains invertor and compressor for £24.99.

I have the £14.99 one and use it all the time on old cars I work on, though they can struggle with large diesels.

Porker

I have a 'ring' jump kit from halfords - £60 i think - not a cheap version, but it will happily turn big engines easily. also has compressor on it for tyres - makes it a bit more justifiable i suppose. It can also be used to trickle charge the battery via the 12v socket inside, which avoids any potential spiking problems, you really dont want to fry your ECU. Dont ask me how I know. :mad:

jjames_3

One way of lessening the possibility of needing to use a jump-starter in the first place is to religiously replace your car's battery every 3 or 4 years.

I know that batteries can last up to 8 or 9 years before they need replacing, but the most common reason for cars not starting in the winter months is a weak, but not dead battery that works perfectly well for 10 or 11 months of the year, but doesn't have enough reserves to be charged fully when all your lights, fans etc etc are switched on.

Get a jump-starter by all means, but having a good battery in the first place will probably prevent you from needing to use it.

itgirlinuk

I finally went into Maplins and bought the jump starter. Works great, even though the instructions with the jumpstarter are not very clear.

And it comes with full charge, so didnt need to charge it for 36hours as it suggested.

Thanks everyone for your advice.