By Tony Barthel
You should have a portable jump starter. Seriously. But why, you ask? Many reasons.
I have had a portable jump start device that lives in my truck for years. The most obvious reason to have one is to jump start a vehicle with a dead or weak battery. But it can serve a lot of other purposes, as well.
Jump starting
The most obvious reason to have one of these is, of course, because the battery that starts your vehicle is low. With the way the universe works, this normally happens on a cold and rainy night when you’re in a big hurry. Of course.
I’ve also watched too many detective shows where someone is the victim of a crime after they can’t start their car in a dark alley.
As with any device that involves vehicle batteries, it’s a really, really good idea to be familiar with how to use this device with your vehicle. While the assumption is that you simply place this on your car’s battery, push the button and get in and start it, that may not be how it actually works on your vehicle.
I also like the units that have a polarity protection function so if you somehow do mix the negative with the positive, you don’t end up with a very, very bad situation. Vehicle batteries can explode for a variety of reasons, so it’s good to know what you’re doing. But it’s also good to have a device that works with you to reduce the chances of something very bad happening.
While I’m pretty meticulous about keeping my vehicle battery clean and well-maintained, I’ve used mine several times to come to the aid of others. It’s always nice to be able to be of assistance. People are also pretty surprised that a relatively small jump start box can actually get a vehicle started, but it can.
More functions
While I haven’t used the jump start function all that often, I have used the flashlight on the jump starter on several occasions. Since there’s a relatively beefy battery in the jump start device, it stands to reason that the somewhat bright light on mine will run for some time.
Thus far, it hasn’t let me down in this department. Mine also can flash the light in an SOS pattern (three short bursts, three long bursts, three short bursts…). Someone out there may know what that means, but it’s a flashing bright light for everyone.
Lastly, this also offers the ability to charge USB devices. If you are stuck somewhere with a dead battery, it’s pretty likely that your phone, too, will be suffering the same fate.
Again, those detective shows.
So being able to bring your phone back to life is pretty valuable as you can call whatever roadside assistance program you have so that they can get there hours later. I know. I’ve called roadside assistance before.
What to get
Looking on Amazon, I noticed that there are several of these with a variety of capacities, none of which is the brand that I have owned for years. But they share the functionality of being able to charge USB devices, have a flashlight and offer protection in the event that they’re not properly connected or that they detect another issue.
The ones from a company called NOCO Boost seem pretty highly rated with lots of reviews and offer all the features I mentioned. Further, there are different capacities with prices ranging from under $100 up to over $200.
I bought mine at the local auto parts store and, as written, have been happy with it. I think this is one of those essential things you put in your vehicle and hope you don’t have to use it. But it certainly is nice to have if you do.
And that way you won’t be the starring victim in one of those late-night detective shows.
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I should try again. I bought one of the early models that used NiCd batteries. These batteries self-discharged and needed to be rather fully drained before recharge as they had a ‘memory’ and would self-limit future recharge volume. And then there was no over-charge protection on my unit so you couldn’t just leave it plugged in. In short, way more maintenance attention than I was willing to provide. Battery technology has greatly improved.
I’m amazed at how big an engine I can jump start with a relatively small device – they really have gotten better.
Bonus: if the battery on your travel trailer dies you can also use these to raise and lower the tongue jack too!
I had one for over 15 years. It was one of the first ones out there that used lithium batteries.
I bought it for use mainly on my motorcycle. Got to a point that it would not charge completely, but still worked.
Never needed it for the bike, and even though it was only 400 amps, it started many cars.
It was just a basic booster, with one usb port and a 12 volt plug.
You had to make sure you had it connected properly to the battery.
My new one, same manufacturer is 800 amps.
It has reverse polarity protection and senses the condition of the dead battery.
For a guy who never watches TV, Tony, you sure seem to know a lot about detective shows/murder mysteries! Seriously, though, my wife was given one of those early NiCad jump starters by her employer when she had to travel all over Colorado at all times of year for work. This was in the early days of cell phones, when you could buy one at 7-11 and get an AT&T card for minutes. It was a good idea to have the charger, but all it did was start car batteries–no flashlight, no USB (there was no USB!). Problem was it was in the trunk of her car, unseen when she was home, and never got charged. The one time she needed it, it was dead. Moral of the story–you have to charge the charger!
Even my new one recommends charging every three months and after using it.
Mine has a BMS (Battery Management System) built in that adjusts the charging current.
I ordered one of these and it arrived just in time. The morning it was delivered found me with a dead battery in my van. Cannot leave a light on overnight and expect it to be great in the morning. Just removed it from package, it was at 90% and it worked perfectly. Ordered a second one as a gift for my son.
Don’t dump your jumper cables. We have (and use) a jump starter. But, last fall, our car battery got drained to the point that there wasn’t even a “click” when the key was turned. It was too dead for the jump starter to work. We were able to manuever our coach so we could jump the car with cables. Thankfully my husband had forgotten to leave the cables home (since we assumed we no longer needed them).
Thank you for the suggestion, Tony! Agreed, indispensable! We have one that also can inflate tires as well as charge devices via USB ports (https://a.co/d/iOynUht). But it is not currently available at Amazon. We brought it along with us to Alaska. Although it cannot jump-start the RV, it can jump-start the Jeep. Similarly, it cannot inflate (or even add air) to an RV tire, it can inflate the Jeep tires. Have a great week and safe travels!
Sheesh, Neal. Sounds like you need to dump the RV and just get a roof-top tent for the Jeep! (Kidding, of course.)
I hope that DW didn’t hear you say this, Tony, or she might make just that request of me. 😉 She likes “camping” and I like “traveling.” Have a great weekend! 🙂