Hi folks,
Today I saw a commercial for the Black and Decker Simple Start, and as I’m considering purchasing a jumpstarter, I wanted to ask everyone if you think this actually works. It supposedly charges the car battery just by plugging the unit into the cigarette lighter of the car. I’m curious if this could cause any damage to car electronics, since electricity would flow in through th elighter, as opposed to the usual out.
On a related topic, what is the recommended amperage for a jumpstart battery?
Here’s the link for the item:
http://www…ctID=16346
Thanks all!
elcuc0
I do not think this is the product you want. Read the fine print, “charges & starts vehicle in minutes.” Is that 20 minutes? 60 minutes? The point is that you simply cannot get enough juice through the lighter circuitry for a rapid charge to a dead battery. This gadget should work but you must have patience.
You want a device that can give you an immediate start. There are products that do that. You must lift the hood and attach cables to the battery. Then you’re good to go immediately. Check around for portable jump starters.
It has a 3AH internal battery, You would be lucky if this thing started your lawn mower…
Be sure that you know what you are doing even with jumper cables. You can do some serious damage with the cables by getting them hooked up wrong…I agree stay away from “easy” gimicks.
It’s a safe way to jump start something because you’re not under the hood but all the older mechanics probably think it’s a waste of money and a big waste of time. If you get a pair of jumper cables or one of those car starters that clamp to the battery, at least get safety goggles to save your eyes in the unlikely event that the battery explodes. If you ever change batteries, don’t put the old or the new one on the ground without a rubber mat or piece of wood under it. Same reason.
This product may help you if the battery is weak and you need just a little bit of extra power. Starting a car typically requires 100 to 200 amps, so the simple start’s 7 amps isn’t going to do much.
I wouldn’t buy it.
It will only work IF it’s internal battery is still good and changed and IF your car’s batter is almost good enough to start the car.
My suggestion is a good cell phone. If you don’t like that, then I would suggest carefully reading the information in your car’s owner’s manual about jump starting and buy a really good quality set of jumper cables.
This product has been around for at least 15 years. It will NOT start your car immediatly. It will however charge your battery (after several minutes…like 30 or more)…thus allowing you to start your vehicle.
Battery cables will supply enough from the other cars battery to START your car IMMEDIATLY. Then you can drive the car and after 20 minutes the battery will be charged. Is it more dangerous…Sure it can be…but so is sitting in a dimly lit parking lot a 2am for 40 minutes while your battery charges.
Thanks everyone for the information. So, how many amps should a jump starter have to be most useful for starting a car?
I would suggest the portable jumper boxes. They still hook up to your battery when you jump, but at least you don’t need another car around. These you can get in the $50-$60 range, I believe. They put out 400-600 Amps running off of a 10-20Ah battery. Nothing that plugs into the cigarette lighter will work well for jump starting. Although they might be useful for a battery change if you don’t want to loose computer/radio settings. Just make sure you charge them up on a regular basis.