Emergency car starter packs

[Eric the chicken]

Does anyone have experience of the emergency car starter packs? I'm just planning for our annual drive to Crete and thought that I might get one of these. However reviews seem quite mixed, some rave others are disappointed with the product. So I thought I'd see if anyone on hear has knowledge of better still first hand experience. Vehicle is a Freelander 2 with the 2.2 (transit?) diesel.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

The Draper one is not bad for the price.
Holds the charge well (Internal 12v 17ah battery) mine has been used to start a small lorry and my neighbours diesel land rover.

It can be main charged or from the lighter socket on the car. The leads are long enough and are have enough meat on them.
Slim build and can tuck away.

Down side.
The mains charger socket is on the back, so you can't see the charge meter when re-charging.

 

[premmington]

I am an auto electrician - you are better off with an 010 battery and a set of heavy duty jump leads (cheaper option).

Leave it on float charge. With a battery charger you may already have.

No "jump start pack" will get a diesel going if you "air in the fuel" they just will not have the cranking duration - how ever much ££££ you invest in one"

 

[tlovatt]

I have tried a couple of the really (physically small) li-ion ones, they are good in terms of space, holding a charge and being able to charge your phone, the big downside was that I have not come across one that will actually start a car with a flat battery (this for me is a bit terminal)

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

No "jump start pack" will get a diesel going if you "air in the fuel" they just will not have the cranking duration - how ever much ££££ you invest in one"

I beg to differ. Mine does.

The Clarks ones I used when I used to fit Lorry loader cranes did.

All be it not from a totally flat battery. Eveyone knows they will need a trickle charge.

 

[Migmac]

Mate has one, starts his free lander easily. It’s not very big, can be kept in the door pocket. No idea what brand it is

 

[zzr1200]

Why not just fit a new battery and alternator, before you go?

If your that worried!!!!

 

[Endeleus]

I've had a PowerStart PS700 for a few years, and never let me down on the odd occasion I've had to use it. Last time was starting an old Diesel P38 Range Rover which had been sat in a field for 2 years with a flat battery and air in the fuel lines.

Not cheap, but definitely reliable - I bought it on recommendation of a neighbour who worked for a well-known breakdown service.

 

[8ob]

I bought a 24v Sealy for the trucks and that only lasted about a year, bought a 12v draper for the cars/vans and that was not much better. Both of these are now in the skip. The Ring 12/24v is an absolute gem, it can start the 24v artic with no batteries fitted and must be at least five years old now and still holds max charge.

Bob

 

[Bill Edwards]

I am an auto electrician - you are better off with an 010 battery and a set of heavy duty jump leads (cheaper option).

Leave it on float charge. With a battery charger you may already have.

No "jump start pack" will get a diesel going if you "air in the fuel" they just will not have the cranking duration - how ever much ££££ you invest in one"

The decent starter packs do get diesels going just fine. My 12v unit has been used many times now to get diesels going with fuel issues, and it’s mostly tractors and a 12v horsebox with a blooming big engine.
There’s hardly anything it won’t get going.
I have a 3.7ltr diesel tractor that it’ll start with no battery attached unless it’s cold.

I don’t know how they give such a boost from something so small but they do a heck of a lot better than a battery and jump leads.
In fact, I expect more from the booster pack than jumping off a running vehicle with good leads, it just can’t be beaten.


The small lithium packs are actually quite useful. Nowhere near a full starter pack but they do (or at least the good ones do) give a pretty decent kick that’s normally ample to get a vehicle running. Yes it’s not going to start anything and everything in difficult conditions but for 90% + of non starting vehicles they’re enough.

They have the advantage of being very small, lightweight, hold their charge well and have safety features that prevent fireworks if they’re connected up wrong - great for people who get stuck and struggle with electrics, which is quite common.

 

[ibrooks]

I've got a Suaoki T3

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Portable-Current-Starter-18000mAh-External/dp/B014R5MPJM

Yet to come across something it wouldn't start. Most common one is a Discovery 3.9V8 - often with the battery so flat that you didn't even get ignition lights (still not found the drain, just fitted an isolating switch).

They got a bad reputation because there's a mistake in the manual - it says to connect the leads to the car battery before the boost pack but that's wrong. There's something in the positive lead that I suspect it designed to prevent the vehicle back feeding the boost pack and it obviously has a flip-flop action. If you connect tp the cars battery before attaching to the boost pack you get nothing.

The one occasion it's let me down....... the Mini club were looking at it as I'd mentioned it so went out to the boot and got it to show them. One clown didn't turn it off before it went back in the box and this clown didn't check.

 

[Turbo]

I have one of the Lipo jump start packs from Lidl & I am amazed at the ability of it to jump start a car from something so small. I had a duff battery on my Pug 306 2l diesel & it was able to jump start the car 3 times between charges.

 

[stuvy]

A lad at work bought a snap on lipo one and it was a waste of money wouldn’t start a 2ltr diesel car

Where I used to work we had dozens of different ones. The best was a wurth one and would start horse box lorries that had sat for years. Providing it had been left in charge that is

It was like this but ten years old and could be switched between 12v and 24v
https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wurth-Jump...a2e1e79eb&epid=15024691529#vi__app-cvip-panel

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I got a free halfords one in a job lot I bought...I think they are handy to have around...mine has a built in inverter too which is quite handy. The only problem is that they need to be fully charged up...inside is basically just a battery! The newer ones will have a lithium battery maybe....but their ability to start something will depend on getting the correct one for your particular car.

After all....you wouldn't take the battery out of a ford fiesta and try to start a 2.5 diesel volvo with it!

My last one died and I opened it up...the battery was quite small so I think it was more intended as a "helper" battery....but some are quite powerful I think.

 

[armalites]

If you have a car that starts well but for some reason the battery is low then one of the little jump packs will probably get you going especially on a petrol. If your battery is flat because the car takes a lot of cranking then you don't have much hope.

I have a couple of Optima 5.5 yellow tops with anderson connectors on. The beauty of them is they are gel so you can carry them around without fear of spillage. I use them to run the winch on the trailer and I have a set of jump leads with an anderson on the end.

If you want a decent jump pack then you need to spend a proper chunk of money IE £2-300 as a minimum

Our local recycling cente always has a few of the cheap jump packs in the battery cage.

 

[Bobtail4x4]

and BTW the 2.2 in a freelander is a ford/jag/peugeot engine, nothing to do with transits.