At a minimum, look for covers that seal tightly. This means the jumper cable connection port is usually covered because of its size. The best-designed models place some cable in between the plug and the box, making for easier handling.įinally, it’s important to keep water and other contaminants out of connection ports, to help the unit last for a long time. These can be hard to handle and rest in the engine compartment. Some designs have the plug coming directly out of a circuitry box. On the smaller jump packs, the cables are a separate component that plugs into the main jump unit. Clamps should also open wide enough to fit any size terminal post without any bending or twisting. Look for clamps that are soldered or screwed to the cables versus crimped. It’s possible to buy an otherwise quality jump pack with cheap clamps that won’t last and don’t conduct very well. Here’s a great example of how price doesn’t always mean top quality. It’s also a good idea to buy a jump starter with higher CCA if you live in a cold climate.
VEHICLE JUMP STARTERS PORTABLE
The best portable jump starters, when operated at room temperature, can jump a frozen battery. While lithium-ion jump packs perform better, they still lose some power in the cold too. This means you should expect that same loss of performance in a traditional jump box. Your car battery can lose up to 50% of its cranking output in cold weather. But if you live where the winters are harsh, choose a jump starter that can stand the cold. If you live in a warm climate year-round and aren’t planning any drives to Minnesota, this will not be a concern.
Almost every jump starter you consider will have more than enough. The good thing is all reputable manufacturers build plenty of capacity into their units for a handful of starts. Units as small as 6000 mAh offer enough capacity for a handful of starts. CapacityĬapacity is how many times can you jump start your car before having to recharge the jump starter. These will help you determine how long a jump pack will perform at its best. There are specific things to look for in each portable jump starter. Many people think a higher price means higher quality but that’s not always the case. Choose a portable jump starter that allows you to help a fellow motorist in need too. Remember, your car isn’t the only one you may be jump starting. As a general rule, 400-500 CCA should start most any passenger vehicle on the road. Perfect for emergency situations, these jump starters will. This is due to improvements in engine design and newer starter motors. Safely jumpstart any battery without another vehicle using dependable portable jump starters. For example, a 20-year-old, 8 cylinder engine pickup needs more amps to start than a brand new one. Engine size is important but age is part of the equation, as well.Īssuming similar sized vehicles, the older the vehicle the more amps are needed to jump it. Full-size trucks and SUV’s need around 450 CCA. There are two main factors to consider when deciding what power level is right for you.Ī compact or small sedan battery can be jumped with as little as 150 CCA. But that doesn’t mean you should pick the jump pack with the highest CCA and call it good. The higher the number, the more powerful the jump starter. CCA is determined by putting a new, fully charged battery in a cold environment (0 degrees F) and measuring how many amps it discharges for 30 seconds. Measuring CCA tells you what to expect from your battery in the worst starting conditions imaginable. As ever, price from a range of online sources was the final factor.Jump starter power is expressed either as cold cranking amps (CCA) or peak amps (PA). Instructions were also rated, as were safety and options, including sockets. We logged battery state at the end and rated each starter for practical features such as cable length and clamp size, tech spec and weight. How we tested themįor our starting test, each device had to assist an ailing battery on a 1.6-litre petrol engine, turning it over five times for five seconds, with two minutes in between attempts. But it is expensive, more than twice the price of the MSC, which it matched in our key starting tests. The high-capacity PowerBoost impressed, particularly in its ability to charge a car battery and having three sockets capable of powering the latest phones and laptops. But can it topple our current champion, the MSC Overland? We charged both to find out. One of the latest products to hit the market is GC’s PowerBoost, with a 16Ah battery and lots of handy add-ons. Starter packs with the latest batteries have long sidelined jump leads, and the tech is developing with new mixes of power, capacity and features.
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