Battery Jump Pack Recommendations?.

[trigger]

Mrs Trigger keeps pestering me what to buy for Christmas, I don't really want much but i keep toying with the idea of buying one of these jump pack for once in a blue moon when my battery goes flat.

 

The trouble is there's quite a few about and i don't know what's the best for the money, We don't want to spend any more than £100, so far I've found:

 

 

The Sealey RS131 and RS1 both either £75 or £99.

 

 

SIP 03936 Rescue Pac 1600 which is about £100

 

 

Or the Clarke Jump Star 900 which is £65.99 at Machine Mart

 

Anyone got any experience with these or even know of any better for sub £100? I'm not bothered about one's which have a compressor built in or makes tea whilst you wait.

[cobblers]

Lithium Ion all the way! 

 

EDIT:

I have one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Car-Parts/DBPOWER-16500mAh-Portable-Starter-Battery-Booster-Laptop/B00YDZR3ZI/ref=sr_1_3?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1482323150&sr=1-3&keywords=dbpower

 

It's never failed to start anything I've thrown at it. Big old diesels etc are no issue.

 

The only downside is they're not really cut out for "prolonged use" trying to start a car that's somewhat shagged in another way - you're limited to probably a 10 second burst every minute or two. Any more than that and it starts getting warm.

[Stanky]

These are supposed to be very good, and you'll have £40 change:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Multi-Function-Portable-Emergency-Flashlight-Camcorder/dp/B00YEL86R0/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1482322794&sr=1-1

[AMC Rebel]

Don't get one from Maplin.  The one I got from there was shocking and when I reviewed it they removed the bit of my review that suggested people do a quick Google before they buy.

[Royale80]

I know it's no use -but I bought one for 20 odd quid years ago from Makro's-said it would start up to 2 litres. It would start my 6.3 litre Interceptor and my brothers V12 XJS. Funnily it would not start my 3500 SD1. Replaced it with a more expensive one after a few years and the new one wasn't anywhere as good as the first.

 

Steve

[DSdriver]

I have been thinking of getting one of these for some time. What is stopping me is knowing that 1) I won't have it with me whenever I need it, and 2) If I actually have it with me it will itself be flat - like the battery in my circuit tester, always fucked when I need to test something.

Actually I no longer have a circuit tester as I binned it last time it ftp. Waste of space.

[alf892]

I've had a Clarke RS1 for about 8 years now......stick packs a good punch and holds charge really well. When I had my old BMW it worked hard for a living - it was even the sole battery for my old truck while I was working on it

 

Mind you I'm slightly confused ........ it is the older model one and looks exactly like the SIP one in your pictures except that it is red

[garbaldy]

My bro's starter pack stopped taking a charge after 12 months of light use so with that in mind would a decent set of jump leads and a leisure battery not be a better bet.

My misses is in the same boat with my pressy and was trying to get me to agree to a £99 dash cam from halfords,

[overrun]

DP Power lithium ion

[dollywobbler]

I've got one of these.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/68800mAh-12V-Portable-Car-Jump-Starter-Pack-Booster-Charger-Power-Bank-Battery-/322357156212

 

Could not be happier with it. So useful, so often as I can charge my phone on it, and it fits in my backpack nicely. I've got a more traditional jump pack, but can't remember the last time I used it now.

[paulplom]

I've got me one of these. It's rescued me loads of times

 

http://www.costco.co.uk/view/p/powerstation-12-volt-portable-jumpstart-model-psx3eu-745384

[plasticvandan]

Google jumping jack, have one at work,best jumper I've come across,and smaller than a house brick.starts our 3l ranger and forklift with ease.

[Eddie Honda]

Mrs Trigger keeps pestering me what to buy for Christmas [snip] so far I've found:

So far I've found http://autoshite.com/topic/22847-booster-packs-any-recommendations/

 

I think the jist of it was that the gazillon mAh lithium ion thingymajigs were the most useful as they weren't massive like this:

 

 

and could be also be used to feed dead mobies on the go.

 

Maybe W² could give us a long-term report on this bad-boy??

 

[Pillock]

At first I thought WW had one of them cases with a flip-cover on his iPhone, and he'd been jump starting cars with the lightning port.

 

Actually, for the benefit of Google searches, that's my idea. You just know that the next £35 Chinese HooFlung Dung 7000000XXXL Smartphone will have a 12V output and a 84,000mAh battery now I've said that. Bastards.

[dave21478]

Another vote for the dbpower lithium stuff.

 

I did a thread about mine here....

 

http://autoshite.com/topic/23841-dave-reviews-his-new-booster-pack/

[Jim Bell]

I dont really know how best to review something that you attach to a car to make the car start, other than to say that when you attach it to a car, it always starts it.

 

Ive only used mine a handful of times but the confidence it gives me to have it in the car is almost worth the lofty purchase price.

 

Holds a charge for ever too.

 

4 out of five shites. Would benefit from having a clock and a radio on it.

[sal]

I've had one of the Clarke ones for about 4 years and it gets regular use. Has never failed to start anything from small petrol to larger diesel (2.5 litres). Lamp on it is junk but otherwise it does what it's supposed to.

[omegod]

I got one from costco and battered it for a few years, I forgot to charge it for 6 months or so and it wouldn't work so it went back for an easy refund 

[DSdriver]

OK, I'm being tempted, which one had the tea maker?

[mercrocker]

Had my Clarke for well over 10 years, it started my Bedford ambulance every time one of the 45 interior lights got left on for a week.    Tyre inflator compressor thing is useful, too and has regularly done four flats on a scrapper in about 10 minutes.     Light thing is a bit shit but does assist hooking up.   Only issue I have had with mine was air line kinking - sorted out by snipping off the braiding. 

 

Got a fag lighter outlet as well for charging phones etc.    One thing I like is a positive indicator of battery full-ness.    

 

Would buy again.   Small print - they might have become a bit shit like many other things....

[trigger]

Well i don't feel any the wiser now! So basically Clarke is fine as is this DBpower power pack...

[twosmoke300]

I got a sealey one years ago secondhand and it's been a beaut . It's only the small one but starts all but the biggest stuff . I bet the newer ones aren't as good tho

[gordonbennet]

Clarke Jump Start 4000 is the one, its a lump of a thing mind, but it will crank more or less anything for a decent time without wilting.

 

Tool-Net.co.uk (i can't work out how to do links, thick see) have it on offer @ £115.01 incl VAT plus £7 postage, the cheapest you find it elsewhere is usually £146+...i've never bought from them so feel free to check the place out for feedback before sending your hard earned.

 

I like the idea of the new tech ones, but my Jap Diesel is 3 litre and bitter memories of trying to start flat Japanese 4x4 Diesels and Transits at auctions tells me these motors need one hell of a lot of current to get them spinning, three sets of good quality leads sometimes needed in parallel just to get the things to turn over.

[PiperCub]

I've had one of those Clarke 900's for about 6 years - basic unit (useful 12V socket & useless silly light only), all good, absolutely no complaints. If you want one, check out when Machine Mart have one of their VAT-free days and get it cheaper. Keep it topped up often using a proper charger (Optimate in my case) is frequently cited as the best way to prolong its life. 

 

Having said that, when it finally dies (which it will as it's just a battery in a box with leads after all), I'm very tempted by one of the new genre of LiOn packs. Being an electronics engineer by trade, I was rather sceptical at first when I saw them (a few years back) thinking they'd have no balls but they seem to be well regarded now and the small convenient size is a real bonus. TBH I think that's what I'll get next time. 

 

FWIW I think if you want a jump pack for those moments when a regularly/fairly freq used vehicle that's pretty well maintained FTP's due to the battery dying or just going flat/a bit limp then the small units will be fine as you won't be beating the battery too hard. If you regularly are into resurrecting long dead or really big engined stuff then a conventional jump pack is probably the way to go as from what I read, the LiOn (etc) units only seem to like short bursts (about 10 secs?) at a time before getting warm.

 

Bit horses-for-courses really, depends what your use will primarily be. 

 

 

Edit: If you are regularly into doing the resurrection shuffle on big stuff &/or long dead stuff then I'd probably opt for neither and get a big commercial-type 12V battery and a top quality set of jump leads.

[trigger]

It's really just for the odd blue moon when one of the batteries lose their umph on my older cars from sitting for a while or to keep in the car just in case i need it so it won't be getting a awful amount of use.

 

Mrs T has ordered the Dbpower LiOn one from Amazon for me now after the good reviews on here and Amazon so fingers crossed it's ok.

[cort16]

I think I'd buy one of the little ones just because these big heavy bastards always seem to get under your feet and are really too big to keep in the car if you're going anywhere.

For the amount you're likely to use it the little ones are likely to be more useful.

[Hertz]

I've had two of these over the years and they were both crap. Both cheapies (£30 - 40) and both ended up in the bin after a year or so. So my only advice would be to spend more to get a quality one. Bloody obvious and you knew this already...

[BavarianRetro]

I've had two of these over the years and they were both crap. Both cheapies (£30 - 40) and both ended up in the bin after a year or so. So my only advice would be to spend more to get a quality one. Bloody obvious and you knew this already...

 

This is true. I use one probably every day and the £100 Sealeys and the Clarkes last about a year and don't like being left attached to flat batteries. You're not meant to do it, but it's easy to forget. A £280 Snap-On one, though has been superb and will bereplaced with another when it dies. I'm going to get one of the dbpower things for the boot toolkit, though.

[Rocket88]

One of the little lithium ion jobs..........the big ones are such an arse to lug about, especially if on kollekshun duties..............

[cobblers]

You can buy the batteries to go in the snap on boost packs for about £80/£100, better than buying a whole new pack.

All they are is a battery inside a box, nowt special!

I fix boost packs for buses/trucks which have a pair of these inside, and they'll easily start absolutely anything.

I've got a few spare "part worn" batteries, if you're local and want one then you're welcome to come pick one up. 

 

 

EDIT:

 

IIRC these are the ones in most Snap on packs:

 

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/batteries/odyssey-extreme-racing-25-battery-pc680