Battery powered jump starters

[Cooperman]

What is your opinion about these jump starters? Do they work, or are they just a waste of money? I'd like to have something portable for jumping all the dead batteries I have every time I go to start something.

[Macgyver55]

Buy a good one and you won't regret it, buy a cheap one and you will wish you had saved the money!

I have a good one that still works great, it is close to 15 years old and has jumped countless vehicles! Make sure to get one with the highest cranking amps you are willing to afford. I have found the ones with compressors and lights and gadgets are often not as good.

Edited April 29, 2016 by Macgyver55
Added thought

[jmd1]

And make sure you plug it in when not in use to maintain the battery charge or it is just a big ole weight

[BoxMN]

14 hours ago, Macgyver55 said:

Buy a good one and you won't regret it, buy a cheap one and you will wish you had saved the money!

 

I have a cheap "Peak" one, like 600 cca, but I bought it for a different reason (led lights in fish house) and it does decent for my reason But I have also used it for jumping and it has been so so for that. It will jump and get you started when not really cold or on a smaller engine, but a 350 with pretty dead batt when it is really cold, no way. I cursed that thing as Mac said...

For pure jumping, I would get a good one of those smaller versions (but high amp) - some are pretty small now and I have heard they work well even though they almost fit in your pocket. For a sort of "catch all" one, I would make sure it has a light (might does not) and a USB plug (mine does not). I would not get a pump built in. And get the biggest amp you can. Dont get the Peak 600....

[rustysetter]

If you get a good one they are very handy to have around, 4 wheelers, lawn tractor, boat and vehicles. I bought a middle of the road Schumacher and its worked well so far.

[jmg]

Macgyver states it the way it is.  I received a Schumacher (about $80) as a gift a couple yrs. ago and wish I'd returned it.  Only thing it IS good for is inflating tires and that is if I remember to charge it every 1 to 2 wks.  As far as jumping assist, I might as well hook up reg. jumper cables, hold the loose ends and say a prayer.  Get a very good quality unit without extras built in on it.  Am thinking about one of the new lithium compact units, but not sure which to get.  Good luck with your purchase.

 

[papadarv]

I bought a $60 Power On Board Jump Start 450 crank amps 18 years ago. This thing is amazing. Starts my RV 454cc engine, many cars, serves as a test battery for all my fishing equipment with the Cig. lighter outlet. Its always in my boat wheel house UTV 4 wheeler, when on the lake, its been a life saver. Always charge it after heavy use, last time charged was back in early March - just checked, still has a full charge. Like other posts, buy a good high crank amp one.

[Cooperman]

Thanks all,

lt looks like it will cost about $150 to get a good one according to the review I've been reading. But I think it will be worth it, with all the batteries I have to keep maintained, and the portability.

[gunner55]

I have to agree with papadarv. We use ours a lot, even to trim up the outboard so we can pull the boat up to the garage to put the batteries in each spring. We have a couple of Sears Diehards & they were on sale for about 1/2 of that. I think as long as they don't have all the extra stuff & some good CCA's they work pretty well as long as you charge them after using

Edited May 1, 2016 by gunner55

[BobT]

Why not just get and keep the electrical systems working? I get a kick out of some of my neighbors. They park their farm equipment on hillsides so they can roll them downhill to get them started. What a pain in the neck that must be to always have dead batteries. It really takes very little maintenance to keep batteries in top condition.

[Cooperman]

Believe me Bob, I try. I must own 6 battery maintainers and 3 battery chargers. I have a lot of battery powered equipment.

3 riding lawn tractors

a pull behind Ranch king, electric start

a John Deere and an Alice Chalmers

2 ATV's

3 boats

an Yetti ice house

A truck, a car and an SUV (usually not a problem, except for the SUV that has 26 computers supposedly, and if you don't drive it for a week or two the computers drain the battery.

the other day I pulled the JD out of the garage that had a battery minder on it. It started fine. A day later I go to start it, dead. Also, some of the equipment is at a property of mine that has no electricity.