Portable battery jump start boxes

[cvcman]

Ok I will try this here as I received ZERO responses on the other thread. I am looking at buying from Harbor Freight the jump start box with the compressor, anybody here ever use one ??

I want it mainly for lawn tractor tres and jumping lawn tractors but the 12V outlet may be handy too.

Ideas ???
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96157

 

[petty4243]

I do not know about the harbor freight brand, but in general, if you want one, get a good one... not a cheap one

 

[cvcman]

not sure that this is a "cheap" one ?? Seems like enough for what I need

 

[sk farmer]

seems like it does a few too many things and maybe nothing well. i would get a good jump starter . then maybe a small portable compresser that runs from the battery. if you can't get it started you won't need the air.

 

[tatra]

look at quality components invidually and then add up the cost..........and if one does fail on this then you'll have to buy a eplacement anyways.......consider buying a gel cell battery and add components as needed and build a box / cart affair for portability..........chances are you already have cables so utilze what you already have

 

[nissan_crawler]

Is your garden tractor somewhere you can't get to power? If you can, I would buy a small 50 amp portable charger and a $99 pancake compressor. If not, I would just carry a spare battery (never had a trouble jumping a garden tractor with a plain old battery), and an air tank.

I have yet to see a portable jump pack that lasts for more than a year or two, and those air compressors are a dman joke. Yeah...260 psi...if you clamp the line off and let it run for 15 minutes.

My dad gave me a similar compressor. I got a nail in a tire, pulled over, threw a temp plug in and hooked up the compressor. 5 minutes into it, I got pissed off, and changed the tire with the compressor still hooked up. 12 minutes later, the tire was changed, and the flat one had 11 psi in it, yeehaw. I threw the compressor in the garbage as soon as I got home.

 

[cvcman]

hummm I had a portable cordless compressor and it worked fine. I used it to pump up my Park Ave's tire once with no problem..

I have seen some people swear by the jump start boxes, many garages use them too.

My garden tractors are stored on a vacant property I own. I just thought these would be handy

 

[Thedroid]

Here's the one I have, works great. After using a Die Hard w/ compressor I thought these things were a gimmick. Nope not this one. Best thing since sliced bread.

I've used this one to jump start at least 10 cars without recharging, and even then I don't think it needed it. It's sat untouched for about 6 months, and the neighbors wife needed a jump last week, and it did the job no problem.

 

[Dstosh]

I can recomend the JNC 660 and 4000. Have two 660's and one 4000 in the family. None are more than a year old but I can say they are handy when we need them.

 

[WVU Tuba Dale]

Here's the one I have, works great. After using a Die Hard w/ compressor I thought these things were a gimmick. Nope not this one. Best thing since sliced bread.

I've used this one to jump start at least 10 cars without recharging, and even then I don't think it needed it. It's sat untouched for about 6 months, and the neighbors wife needed a jump last week, and it did the job no problem.

Our shop has 2 of these and uses them daily. Much more convenient than dragging out jumper cables to start a dead car, or maneuvering the tow truck so the cables will reach. For a garden tractor it will be plenty, but it took both jump boxes and a battery charger on wheels to jumpstart an F350 with the 7.3.

 

[Thedroid]

I've used mine several times to jumpstart a 7.3, also a 6.0 with no probs. Batteries weren't fully discharged. This company does make some bigger ones for the bigger truck, I wonder if they are as nice as this one?

 

[Hip2u77]

I bought this one from HF back in '06.

To be honest, I've only jumped one vehicle with it ('07 Wrangler 3.8), and it struggled, but I've used it numerous time for jumping various ATV's / lawn tractors, etc., and it's been fine for that.

As expected, the compressor is a toy, but it has come in handy for airing up an atv tire and a wheel barrow out in my buddies shop. (But then again, the little CO2 pumps worked faster and are easier to carry.) If I'm away from my house and need air I'll bring a pair of SuperFlow MV-50's.

The battery level button / gauge quit within a year, but the batteries seem to be still holding a charge.

The light is worthless.

 

[mkdive]

one one of those are also on my "list of tools to get". That would come in handy.

 

[Rickster]

When I went looking for one I had a several criteria in mind: Heavy so its a big battery. On board charger with the three prongs to connect a standard extension cord for charging. A pair of quality battery clamps with heavy cords. Some kind of charge level indicator.

 

[cvcman]

Hey "droid" what brand is it and where did you buy it ?? The one I have on my post from HF seems to have alot of amps !

 

[ahaidet]

I had great luck with what appeared to be a cheapy one. When I was working in the machine shop in college (4-5 years ago) the boss bought a pallet of these from ebay?? or some where. He gave them out to us for Christmas Gifts that year.

I used it all the way up until the last month or so. I stored my Mr2 winters and it often sat long periods needing jump starts. My dad used it to start his Porsche a lot because it sat long periods too. The compressor worked great as well. I let it sit often months with out charging in the trunks of cars parked outside.

Last December I broke the tire chuck on it and the last few times I tried to use it, it did not have the power needed even after charging all night. The power cords started too get a little aged looking too (slight cracking of the insulation)

I figure 5 years of medium duty use is a pretty good life span for something like that. It saved my **** many times... I would love to find a replacement just like it but it has no brand labels or ID marks on it really and doesn't look like any of the cheapies sold today.

 

[a390st]

I had a monster one of these portable jump packs. It was big and heavy. It was alright for small stuff, but it never would turn over anything big that was really dead. Forget about a diesel. Anyway, it was handy for things that didn't require huge amounts of power.

 

[Thedroid]

I believe the brand is Booster Pac, or Solar. My dad gave my brother and I one for Christmas several years ago and it is still going strong. I wouldn't hesitate to give this brand a high reccomendation.

 

[Danglerb]

I wouldn't jump start any modern car with a booster battery. I have a lunch box (hey I eat a big lunch) sized battery charger with a internal storage space for the AC and battery cables that I use instead. It has 2 amp trickle, 20 amp fast charge, and 50 or 70 amp starting modes.

I'd prefer not to add another battery to my life that WILL need replacing.

 

[bowlofturtle]

i got a cheap yellow pepboy $10 jump box on black friday about 3 years ago. it doesn't have enough juice to spark up a battery when i connect it to it but i did work on semi-dead batteries. i failed on completely dead sitting over 4 month batteries. i mainly used it as a 12v source when testing LED's and radios but it jumped 3 cars sucessfully, i feel i got my money's worth.

 

[carsounds_dan]

Brought a 14.4v rechargable battery from RadioSpares, connect up some nice jump leads and a plug for a little charger and jobs a good'n. cost all in was the equivilent of $60 and hasn't failed me yet.

 

[scottmlew]

I wouldn't jump start any modern car with a booster battery.

Danglerb, why do you say this? I had been thinking the same thing, but was shocked when MB and Porsche both told me that this was an approved way to jump start their cars (!).

 

[jay50]

Danglerb, why do you say this? I had been thinking the same thing, but was shocked when MB and Porsche both told me that this was an approved way to jump start their cars (!).

Acutally, the safest way to jump start a vehicle is with a booster pack, not jumper cables, especailly with a car "running"

The good samaritan is the one most likely to suffer PCM damage during a jump start when the other guy attempts the crank his car with both cars running. Feedback into the cars can wipe out the PCM and charging circuits. It might not show up immediately, but a day or two later.

That is why I have forbid my wife from ever using her car to boost another car.

 

[MarkH]

To date the farm has tried them. Unless used very frequently on small engines, ie cars or less where useless. We ended up going back to a couple batteries on a cart if we were where AC power for a good charger - booster was not available and we could not do the old style jump. It was alway fun when I started with a mix of negative and positive grounds on the machines.

They always seemed dead and would not turn over what we needed them to.

 

[Jamesh]

New here just joined to post on this subject.

To the Op. I too was looking for opinions on this item. In case you havent bought one or are still looking. It turns out this particular item is of good quality and has been re-badged as Harbor Freight's Brand Chicago Electric.

Real Name is Power Dome 400 made and distributed by Wagan a trusted manufacturer, they make good stuff. There is also an EX model that has a radio. Which I may pick up instead. I intend to use mine both for Camping utility / Blowing up air mattresses , charging small electronics,as well as emergency road use. Though I would let you guys know what I found.

 

[yogitech]

I have the JNC 600 and a mountain booster pack, they both work great and are used daily to start anything from a Focus to an RV.... I have these...>>>

http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/kkjnc660.html

http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/mtn8810.html

 

[tatra]

here's a coupla questions..........if i hook up the booster pac to my dead battery and turn it on and leave it, will it charge my dead battery?.........what if i leave it on and plug it in?..............

 

[benjamming]

Made in USA Jump Starter

I'm looking for a portable jump starter that is made in USA. Others have pointed me in the right direction for good sources I believe.

Clore seems to be the mfg that I am interested in mostly. ASEdeals.com sells them as well as the link above to sjdiscount. Are their sealed lead acid (SLA) batteries actually made in USA? If US, does anyone know who actually makes these for them or do they mfg them in-house?

Does anyone have feedback on the Jump-N-Carry jump starters? Which model would you recommend to start dead batteries from cars/pickups?

Peak power seems to be a useless indicator per ASEdeals.

 

[brockstar]

I've personally used the JNC pack for a couple of years in our auto ministry at church. While its nowhere near a shop in volume, we get a lot of dead batteries, more than a homeowner. The JNC 400 has never let me down. It will jump several cars before needing a recharge and is worth the money

One nice feature is that all you have to do is plug in an extension cord to charge it. You do not have to have a special cord and wall wart like my Vector jump pack. Speaking of, avoid them - they are now owned by Black and Decker. they wont even jump my civic.

If you're going to buy cheap - follow Nissan Crawlers advise - stick a regular battery in your trunk.

 

[BUBJEL]

My solar battery http://www.tooltopia.com/solar-es5000.aspx finally crapped the bed; after many good years of service. I'm thinking of buying that one again; but I also see this one.http://www.tooltopia.com/solar-jnc660.aspx Any recomendations on which one. Thanks