recommend a jump starter please

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Batman

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#281122 31-Jan-2021 15:51

Hi I am thinking of getting a jump start thingy to keep in the car in case it's needed.

i've researched reviews but when I visit the repco website (the only car shop i know of :( ] i am limited to projecta and repco brands

what do people recommend and where do i buy them (assuming there are more and better options than these)

- drive a people mover/v6

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#2644777 31-Jan-2021 15:52

this was my inspiration

Batman

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#2644778 31-Jan-2021 15:53

still watching that clip - i wonder if it will tell me how long they'd retain the charge for.

no point having amazing specs but can't retain charge

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#2644783 31-Jan-2021 16:00

found this on kogan - any good?

https://www.kogan.com/nz/buy/certa-16000mah-water-resistant-and-portable-jump-starter

jlittle

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#2644790 31-Jan-2021 16:46

I use a no-name unit from Jaycar "450A Li-Po Jump Starter & Powerbank", bought on some special.

The specs of the kogan one are mostly better: 16,000 mAhr, 600 A, waterproof.

My starter works well, and cranks my Holden engine no trouble. Far, far easier and convenient than cables.

Of course, it's far, far easier and cheaper to fix whatever might flatten a car's battery. Modern car batteries don't last long after being discharged completely.

Regards, John Little

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#2644791 31-Jan-2021 16:55

do you know if it holds the charge for long?

read some reviews on the kogan and they say it goes flat when it's needed!

dazhann

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#2644796 31-Jan-2021 17:12

Batman:

found this on kogan - any good?

https://www.kogan.com/nz/buy/certa-16000mah-water-resistant-and-portable-jump-starter

I have this for the money its a good buy. Started a 6 cyl car the other day that was gettting jumped started by another 6 and it wasn't happening, I walked over with it and said I'll see if this will start it, they said ok dubious like, first crank the car fired up, thay all went what the f

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dazhann

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#2644797 31-Jan-2021 17:18

I haven't noticed my unit going flat. When I jumped the 6 it had been in the car for quite a few months and all the power level lights were still lit. They all were after the jump as well

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#2644805 31-Jan-2021 17:40

Ok so just QC issues

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#2644807 31-Jan-2021 17:44

I have an Autowit jumpstarter that I backed on KickStarter. It is supercap-based, so it doesn't hold its charge for very long (minutes to an hour, I guess). But that's not how you use it. It can be recharged from any source over about 5V (it comes with a microUSB and cigarette lighter socket). From the cigarette lighter socket, it charges up in I guess about 5 minutes from dead flat. But, best of all, it can charge up off your almost-flat battery... if your battery has between 5-10V it won't be enough to start the car directly, but it *will* be enough to charge the Autowit. (Actually, I haven't tried this feature yet... so far I've always charged it from the cigarette lighter on a running car).

djtOtago

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#2644895 31-Jan-2021 21:29

Batman:

found this on kogan - any good?

https://www.kogan.com/nz/buy/certa-16000mah-water-resistant-and-portable-jump-starter

The manual says check and charge every 3 months. https://kogan-prod-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/files/usermanuals/CTJMPSTW16B-UG.pdf

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#2644911 31-Jan-2021 22:20

I bought one of these from Repco a couple of years ago. I've used it a couple of times to jump start a dead car, both times it was easy and successful. It's quite bulky but fits in a side well of my car boot nicely. I check the charge every couple of months and charge it when required. It has a work light function and also a USB charging function, but I have not used that other than initial testing. Mine came with a 240V charger and a 12V charger so you can charge from within a car if needed.
Can recommend.
Cheers,
Joseph

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#2644958 31-Jan-2021 22:44

I recently bought 2 of these for our cars

First one was a 8000 mAh Baseus Power Bank Jump Start to start the Mrs 6 cylinder Falcon from Trendyful.co.nz for $109

Second one was a 10800 mAh Gulp All Power Jump Start to start my V8 Fairmont off 1-Day for $79.99. Mitre10 sell them for $160

In one of the instructions (cant remember for witch one) it said to check charge level every 6 months.

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#2644966 1-Feb-2021 00:21

I have two of these:

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/4000185855643.html

Shipping was fairly fast, (cira 2 weeks). Charged up fine and passed a no load volt meter test fine.

I avoid china products for ethical reasons where viable, but this is not one of those cases. They were $70 to $80 each landed. Nothing non china for close to that.

Same brand has a slightly bigger one (1000A branding, not that I trust that), with a USB c port for a slightly higher price.

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#2644973 1-Feb-2021 07:07

Thanks guys, got the kogan one to try

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#2645202 1-Feb-2021 12:31

Here's What I've used for the past 40 years or so. Never had a failure, petrol or diesel large or small. Heavy duty cable and clamps. Still working as well as the day I bought them, no need to charge up.

One of the problems with many jumper cables is the cross sectional area of the cable (too small) and the light duty clamps that do not give a decent contact area on the battery terminals.

The portable jump starters have short leads, therefore the small cross sectional area doesn't cause as much of a problem and there's only clamps at one end thus halving the problem with poor contact between the battery and the clamps.

I'd still look at jumper leads provided they were of decent quality, decent cross sectional area (at least 35 mm) and heavy duty clamps.

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