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I am sure some of you already have one of the jump start battery packs.

Has anyone done research on them? What is the best?

I am sure that heavy gauge cables would be desireable, as would a method of checking the battery condition or charge and an outlet for 12 volt accessories.

I would not be interested in one that has an air compressor , radio , inverter, or cordless tool battery charger. More of a basic unit.

There are literally dozens of these out there. What should we be looking for in terms of CCA and Peak CCA? It would be nice to see amp hour ratings, but those are not showing up on the units I have seen.

I don't know too much about them but this is the unit I have seen used by the towing company that we have on account.

Jump and Carry

I wonder if "you get what you pay for" applies?

This one is priced right, 12V Jump Start
But I wonder if it would be worth it?

900 amps for $30.00. How could you lose. You can spend more than that going to the movies.

After the rebate and plus shipping it ends up around $40.

I would hate to think that the 900 amp only lasts 1/2 second or less

I have two of these units. My first one was a Prestone-jump-it. it had just the battery cables and a small light with two 12v outlets on it. It ran around $100 at the local auto parts store. I have had it since 2000 and it has jump started my full size chevy numerous times, and my lawn tractor all last year. I bought a second on from sportsmans guide with the built in compressor as well as the light and 3 12v outlets. It ran around $60 and won't jump start my lawn tractor even once before it is drained down and forget about trying the big pickup. You are much better off buying the more expensive dedicated unit.

I took a first hand look at the "12V Jump start" that I linked above. Our local D&B Farm Supply has that one , only it includes an air compressor. It was only $41.
Cheap comes to mind. I'm not sure the one I linked above is such a bargain if I can buy one with a compressor locally for nearly the same price.

My journeys today took me to a couple other places that sell these jump start packs. I looked at a couple in the $100 range, but they still had smaller 8 ga. cables.

The journey ended at Sears. Instant Power made by Schumacher Electric Corporation was my choice. It includes an on/off switch for the cables to eliminate the possibility of shorting. An indicator, and power port. Charging is done with an extension cord since the charger is integral. At 850 amps peak , 250 amps crank and 18 amp hours, it is not the highest power rated, but not the lowest either. This one came with a halogen flex lamp that plugs into the power port.
The ratings seem to be all over the place, and most don't give you all the ratings.
My decision was influenced by a members experience on the 4WDTrips.net forum.

I paid $70 for it at Sears. It looks like it can be purchased through Amazon cheaper.

Did anyone come across a unit that does have a Air Compressor and more than 1 , 12V outlet , or even AC outlets ? .
I would like to have a unit that i could run 1or2 camp accesories on , either 12V or 120AC would not matter , since most camp lights or fans , heaters can be purchased either way . And a compressor is always handy to have .

04crewvt wrote:I have two of these units. My first one was a Prestone-jump-it. it had just the battery cables and a small light with two 12v outlets on it. It ran around $100 at the local auto parts store. I have had it since 2000 and it has jump started my full size chevy numerous times, and my lawn tractor all last year. I bought a second on from sportsmans guide with the built in compressor as well as the light and 3 12v outlets. It ran around $60 and won't jump start my lawn tractor even once before it is drained down and forget about trying the big pickup. You are much better off buying the more expensive dedicated unit.

The second unit I have has the three 12v outlets with the compressor. The problem being that to make it all fit into the same size case the battery is reduced in size and capacity. I have used mine to charge my cell phone and it takes about 6 hours for a full charge
after which I need to plug in the pack to recharge as the indicator light goes to yellow. I think it is better to go with the best heavy duty battery unit and use seperate accessories especially if you want to power multiple items.

I found a AC Delco system for $59 at costco , it has a 500amp rating , is that good enough to start a truck atleast once ?
it also states that it has a 18 amp hour rating and can continuolsy power accesories upto 80 hours ( depending on power consumption ) and will operate the built in light for 20 continuous hours . Aswell as a 260psi compressor .
So this unit is the right price for me , has the accessories i want , but is the 500 Amp rating "strong" enough ?

Amp rating is most probably peak amps, my guess is that the actual cold cranking amps will be as low as 250amp or less which should start your truck depending on how dead the battery actually is and how cold it is out when you try to start it. The difficulty with these systems is that unless you test it on a dead battery you will find out it is no good only when you need it the most. That being said the combo units are ok for what they are but I think that if I get another one it will be just a battery without any bells or whistles.

ok thanks , I don't really need it for a reliable jump starting tool , but it is nice to have it incase . My truck has a automatic shut off feature( as do yours ) that doesn't allow the battery to die . And i always have a good battery in my truck and don't take chances on old batteries . I just want a portable power supplie for camping .

I think the next unit of this type I purchase will be this one from JC Whitney much higher power output and amp ratings than most, unfortunatly at twice the price also.

Blaze One wrote:ok thanks , I don't really need it for a reliable jump starting tool , but it is nice to have it incase . My truck has a automatic shut off feature( as do yours ) that doesn't allow the battery to die . And i always have a good battery in my truck and don't take chances on old batteries . I just want a portable power supplie for camping .

You know, it's kinda funny, but my that feature used to work on my truck.... but for some reason it doesn't really kick in anymore

wamason wrote:.........You know, it's kinda funny, but my that feature used to work on my truck.... but for some reason it doesn't really kick in anymore

Does this mean that if you have the hood light and you leave the hood open for over 20 minutes it won't go out? Mine still works. If no hood light then try the parking lights.