I was at some jumper cables to keep in my truck and came across these portable power bank and jump starter boxes. Has anyone tried these out, I'm wondering how good they are. I'm thinking of getting one of these instead of the jumper cables.

 

Had a bud buy one. It was a name brand although I don't remember what it was. It was "guaranteed" to start any car. It did absolutely nothing to help his Dudge truck when the battery failed in it. Get the jumper cables but make sure they are extra heavy duty. Mine are made of 4ga copper wire and are heavy. They won't be $9.95 so expect to pay some bucks for them but if you take care of them, they will last you a lifetime. Mine are about 40 years old. FWIW, there are a lot of cheaper 4ga sets out there that are copper covered aluminum wire. They will not transmit the same amount of juice and may not be big enough to start a dead battery on a decent size engine.

Ever seen one of these? All of the ranch trucks carry them. You pull a spark plug, thread in the valve body, start the engine and you have an air pump that will usually give you around 120lbs of air. I haven't tried it on the 3.7 I have mostly because I have no clue if the threads are right. WE use them a lot with the old FE engines I have. I keep them in a bag with a plug wrench that fits the truck behind the seat.

 

I love my jump box. It also has an air compressor, light, and a 12v power point socket.

 

Lol, Labnerd. There's no way I'm pulling a cop and plug on a 4.6L/5.4L in order to have a make-shift air compressor. For $10 you can get a 12V compressor with auto-pressure shut off and it'll fit under the back seat.

The wife did get gifted a cheap starter box that she kept on the charger. We tried to jump the '65 Vette with it in the garage and it wouldn't even kick the bendix over. The starter boxes may work well new, but I sure wouldn't bet my life on it being ready to go a few years down the road when you need it. A set of good 4ga jumper cables is a much better investment, and a good battery charger as a backup.

 

Sure do! I first used one years back during college. Was the JumpnCarry brand. Police had it and let me use it. The reviews for the Harbor Freight one are excellent and it works very well. I've used it a few times now. Absolutely a must have. I've helped other people and myself with it. Usually $39 on sale or with a 20% coupon. I convinced my dad and brother to get one too.

 

I have not carried jumper cables in about 5 years and will not use jumper cables to or from my truck. Why? Because the possibility to frying my electrical system by hooking them up backwards or hooking to another vehicle with serious electrical problems far outweighs the possible benefits. (You'll find that virtually every tow truck driver will give you the exact same reasoning.)

I will be more than happy to jump start your vehicle with my Snap-On jump box however. Not only is it much safer for my truck, but it will beep if somebody hooks it up backwards. Sure, it cost a hell of a lot more than a set of cables, but the peace of mind and portability seems to make up for it - at least for me.

 

I own two JNC660's as well as a small portable one from Lowes. The smaller "pocket" is nice to have in the truck for a low battery, but they just can compete with the "ooomph" the bigger jump boxes can provide.

 

Well, how about you just don't hook them up backwards and it solves the problem, too?! Jumper cables aren't rocket science, hell they're color coded most of the time! If you can't get that straight, how could you change the oil or pump gas?

 

I agree , if your worried about someone connecting them backwards, hook them up your self, don't trust someone else to do it.

 

I bought a small jump pack from Menard's a couple of years ago because it was small and in-expensive, what a mistake. I can't remember the brand but you can plug it directly into a wall outlet to keep charged, thing doesn't have enough ump to start my riding mower let alone a vehicle with a low or dead battery. We have some really good ones at work but pretty sure they cost more than $400 each, I guess you get what you pay for.

 

I've owned 2 of these little deals and the first one saved me quite a few times in the winter with my 97 F150. The newer one I got for my wife was ok but didn't last nearly as long battery wise. Mostly because she left it in the trunk of her car just in case. Which at -40 to -50 in winter means it's being abused hard. The battery in that one didn't last much more than 2 years and is useless.

Keep in mind, just like UPS units for your computers/electronics.... these batteries are often just 1 or 2 units joined together. You may be able to get inexpensive batteries to make them like new.

I've always noticed that the battery will die well before anything breaks on them.. no sense in throwing them out if all they need is a new battery in my opinion.

 

The batteries need to be kept charged. The harbor freight models specify charging once per month if unused.

 

Well, must be nice to be perfect. I'm 60 years old and have probably jump started more cars that both of you combined. Is it easy to hook them up correctly? Yes. Can one still get it backwards after 30 hours in the truck plowing? You bet!

Please don't try to sound so superior. It doesn't work very well with those of us that have been there, done that and got the t-shirt - many times over. Oh, and when both of you finally do hook them up backwards, remember this post.

 

I'm on my second jump box -- the first one I bought worked great, but didn't last all that long. I bought a new one about two months ago and have used it a couple of times already! I have never had an issue starting any vehicle with a properly charged unit.....

 

I was using a bit of hyperbole in my response, it wasn't a personal attack on you. My point still stands, for the general driver on the road, having a set of jumper cables handy for the handful of times that they may need to use them is a fairly foolproof way to be prepared, as opposed to having to remember to pull the jump starter box out of the trunk every couple of months to recharge it. Jumper cable use isn't any more difficult than using a jump start box aside from having to make sure the clamps are on the correct posts a second time. If you are jump starting vehicles frequently, it probably makes sense to isolate your vehicle from the process.