After I left home yesterday my wife called saying she’d left her car door open all weekend and the battery(s) were dead. She called AAA, they started the car and she kept it running for another 1/2 hour until time for her appointment. I wasn’t sure the battery would have sufficient charge to start after her appointment so I bought 750 A fairly hefty device at Walmart and plugged it in at the place of her appointment. Going forward, I will return the jumper and get her a small lithium ion device she can keep in the car and is manageable.
I searched and found a ton of devices. I’m leaning toward “the Aickar 800A Peak 19800mAh Car Jump Starter” for its safety features. It’s the only one I’ve come across that will override/not allow you connect the terminals incorrectly which could be a real possibility.
I’ve never used one of these, but I see no issues. You might keep some safety glasses with it. If she’ll have to pull back any terminal covers that could have battery acid on them, you might also keep some disposable gloves with it.
I love these things. I recently made the move you are planning, moving from a heavy, large conventional battery jumper to a smaller, lithium unit. markg2 is spot on. My dad and I were jumping a car once and the battery popped. Safety glasses and a cloth over the battery being jumped.
you have to charge the internal battery via a USB port.>>>
The unit I purchased at Walmart also had a charging plug the could connect to the ‘cigarette’ lighter. Her burb is too old to have a USB port. I’m not seeing any mention in either jumper of a cigarette lighter charging connector. I guess I was ‘assuming’ they all included it? Do you see mention? Knowing she’ll never remember to purposely charge the unit I was planning on sticking it in the glove-box and keeping it plugged in all the time.
After it’s charged, I would put it in the trunk and just check the battery gauge every 2-4 weeks. You don’t want this thing to drain out the battery from being plugged in all the time. I think most of these units hold a good charge for awhile, and have a gauge or indicator that lets you know when it’s not holding enough of a charge to jump a battery
I was tempted to get one of this type however with the recent spate of exploding Lithium batteries I went with big bulky lead acid ones. I would use caution when charging, not over night when you are sleeping or out of the house. An outdoor area and concrete floor would be nice.
I do not know where the unit was made but cheap chinese electronics and dangerous chemistry do NOT make a comforting combination…
I dunno but I suspect it may not be powerful enough for a dead battery. Especially not enthused about running it through the accessory plug and leaving it plugged in all the time. Usually its something that only rarely happens and I have one of those portable things too that I’ve only needed for the lawn mower. When my wife left the trunk open at the airport, it took several attempts and finally the motor club truck to finally be able to start the car, the battery was so dead. Yeah, fire would be another concern. Made in China?
I work at a hazardous waste collection site occasionally, and we get quite a number of those recharger units in, as they have recyclable batteries, I brought one home to see if I could replace the battery in it, have not gotten that far yet.
My ac powered battery maintainer for the boat charged up the wifes van in 20 minutes enough to start, I have jumper cables and roadside assistance that 2 calls for my daughter, 1 for me and 1 for the wife has always been between 10 and 30 minutes.
My experience with rechargeable batteries, they are great, but only fail when you need them.
ps I have an 03 trailblazer, the lights time out if the door is left open, maybe something to look at.
If the battery is the GM side mount terminal type, I would recommend removing the the small bolts that secure the terminals to the battery and replace the bolts with these.
This will allow whatever jump device you use to get a good connection with the clamps.
I bought a Winplus lithium-ion battery jumper from Costco 10 months ago. The largest engine that I have started so far was a 4.6 L V-8, I had my doubts, this jumper fits in my shirt pocket.
I use it a few times a month, recharge it every other month. It doesn’t need frequent charging, it has never been below a 3/4 charge level.