Battery booster packs

[mattblack]

...Is it worth buying a cheap one? Last time I went to the garage to mess about with the Sceptre, the (just charged) battery didn't have enough power to start it. It's nose first in the garage, and while I could roll it out to jump start it, I've got visions of it still not going, and me struggling like a twat to push it back in. I don't want to pay £70-80 for something I'm (hopefuly) not going to use very often, but don't want to waste money on something that won't do the job.Any ideas?

[Mr Lobster]

Personally I'd say if you get one, get a decent one. Had a cheap one and it was useless, wouldn't hold charge for long and didn't really like starting things if they were particularly dead. No hope on diesel engines either. I now have a set of good quality and decent length jump leads which do the trick.

[warren t claim]

You can usually pick one up from your local Home and Bargain for about £25. Extra shite points if you're seen driving around with it poking out of your bonnet!

[FredTransit]

Spend the money, you will wonder what you did without it. Ours cost best part of £100, but it get used loads.

[Cavcraft]

Definate case of buying the best you can afford. I'm told B&M (the artist formerly known as Glynweb) sell them for £17.00 but I bet they're shite.Think I paid £48 for mine from Machine Mart about four years back and one of the best things I ever purchased. On it's last legs now (has been for about a year if truth be known) but has been hammered and still works.

[dollywobbler]

I got one from Halfrauds - allegedly Ring. It's crap. Seems to have an issue where you have to wiggle the wires (and sometimes hold them) to get a connection. Kind of impossible to then let go and turn the key...Seems better after getting smashed up in the Minor roll disaster oddly!Still wouldn't be without it though. Can run 12v stuff off it as it has a lighter port, and the air pump is handy for tyres too.

[Minimad5]

They are a good buy,Like already mentioned try stay away from the cheap ones.Crazy man 2 doors up got two motorbike batteries, wired them together and uses them as his homemade "Booster pack"Do a little research online maybe, or at a local motor factorGet the more relivant for your needs (As in Voltage/Amp output)

[Father Ted]

I just use an old 80AH battery and set of jump leads, cost me oooooh, about £3 for the jump leads.Does the job. Been doing the job for yonks too.Admittedly I dont cart the battery everywhere I go, but I do carry the leads....

[Minimad5]

I got given a broken one (wire inside had come off due to poor connection)And they basically appear to be a motorbike battery, just with a fancy plastic case and on some a nice red cut off switch.Go the autoshite route and make your own !Small-ish yet powerful battery, attach handle, carry jump leads too = DONE !Or .... buy one

[wuvvum]

What's already been said really - cheap ones are OK for a while if you don't want to start anything too demanding (and I find old British stuff, especially positive earth, tends to fall into the "too demanding" category) or if your battery hasn't quite got enough to start the car and just needs topping up (managed to start the Townace like this the other day when I left the interior light on for two days) but they don't keep their full capacity for long. For more serious stuff I tend to use my old 130aH JCB battery (bought 7 years ago for my Dodge 50 recovery truck and still going) with heavy duty jump leads - less easy to carry around, but I've jump started anything from a 125cc moped to a Ford D series in this manner.That said, a mate of mine recently bought a jump pack from Maplins for £50 (I think it was reduced though) which is great - will start a diesel engine from cold and has a built-in 240v inverter as well as the usual compressor, light and 12v sockets. Well worth looking into I'd say if they've still got them at that price.

[Richard]

How about a long set of jump leads?

[garbaldy]

I used to use a combine battery and jump leads but by heck it was bl00dy heavy to lug about my bro has a halfords starter pack and its now 2 years old and still going strong i guess its a bit hit and miss with the quality off the batterys,lidle had one on offer for £25 squid i think it was last week.

[chester drawers]

The last cheap one I looked in had a 7.2Ah lead acid in it. You'd think no amount of creative marketing could disguise the utter futility of that, but I'm sure they sell just as well as those Sunday colour supplement mini compressors that take a week to add a couple of extra psi per tyre.

[Ratdat]

I've only ever owned one of these. I bought it cheap (about £25 IIRC) and it lasted precisely two jump starts before it packed in. GR8 VALU To add annoyance, I bought it whilst in Scotland so i couldn't even take it back to the shop Since then It's been a batter and jump leads, although I'll probably splash out on a really good one one day. Maybe.

[Station]

Two were just sold on RR for 10 quid each.

[Andrew353w]

I "acquired" a set of jump leads from my local bus garage.... These (quite literally) would "start a bus' ( and probably have!) They're 15 feet in length and have been used a great deal, particularly over the last few weeks! The leads, together with a well charged spare battery, topped up from the car's cigar lighter, always does the trick!I had one of those started packs, which cost in the region of £50 and it lasted about a year, after which it gave up the ghost. Back to those bus jump leads....

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I've only ever owned one of these. I bought it cheap (about £25 IIRC) and it lasted precisely two jump starts before it packed in. GR8 VALU To add annoyance, I bought it whilst in Scotland so i couldn't even take it back to the shop

Probably didnt have a proper battery in it, just a fuggin haggis sitting in a tub of whisky with two bits of copper wire in and a deep fried mars bar for a 'transformer'