A couple weeks ago I was out tooling around in the Camaro SS and stopped by the Home Depot to pick up a couple things. I came back outside and there was a woman nearby trying to start her car and obviously the battery was low and would turn over very slow and then solenoid clicks. I asked if I could help but had no cables with me cuz I usually keep a set in the truck, but none of the cars. She had a set of cables in her trunk. When I popped the hood of the Camaro it made me instantly remember that the battery was in the trunk, but there was a positive post under the hood to clip onto. And then had to ground to the air cleaner hold down post. PITA to jump off either way. And the cables were greasy and dirty and flimsy.
This got me thinking about those little Lithium Ion battery jump packs you can get. Portable, compact, and never have to fumble with long azz cables dragging across your paint. So I rolled the dice and got me a Shumacher 1000 peak amp unit. (advertised for V8 use). Spent $75 for it on fleabay brand new sealed in the box. My main motivation was eliminating having to use someone else's cables to potentially kill/damage my own car or having to wait for help myself. I try to keep my batteries charged and maintained, so dead batteries are far and few between for me, but I guess it's more for peace of mind.
It already came in handy. Went to my brother-in-law's house yesterday, had the unit in my truck (comes in a zipper case with all sorts of cable connectors- it can charge your cellphone too with the car charger adapter). We went to go uptown in his truck. His truck didn't crank. Battery was nearly dead since he hadn't driven it in a month. We would have had to push the truck back from the house to get room to get another car in to jump it, or use his battery charger and wait. But no! I went and got that little jump starter unit and within a couple of minutes, it was hooked up and ready to go. Cranked that joker right over. I was impressed with the power this little box has. I suggested a battery tender if he wasn't going to drive his truck that often.
Anyway, I'm a believer. And now he is too. We stopped by Harbor Freight on the way back to his house and he bought a Viking brand jump starter. I guess it will work. Could be made by the same company, I dunno. Nice thing about these things is if you're stranded somewhere because of a low battery, this can save your hide without having to wait for someone to come by, or calling someone to come help. Something you don't wish to use often, but it's very nice to have as low/dead battery insurance. And hella easy to transfer from car to car if needed.
This got me thinking about those little Lithium Ion battery jump packs you can get. Portable, compact, and never have to fumble with long azz cables dragging across your paint. So I rolled the dice and got me a Shumacher 1000 peak amp unit. (advertised for V8 use). Spent $75 for it on fleabay brand new sealed in the box. My main motivation was eliminating having to use someone else's cables to potentially kill/damage my own car or having to wait for help myself. I try to keep my batteries charged and maintained, so dead batteries are far and few between for me, but I guess it's more for peace of mind.
It already came in handy. Went to my brother-in-law's house yesterday, had the unit in my truck (comes in a zipper case with all sorts of cable connectors- it can charge your cellphone too with the car charger adapter). We went to go uptown in his truck. His truck didn't crank. Battery was nearly dead since he hadn't driven it in a month. We would have had to push the truck back from the house to get room to get another car in to jump it, or use his battery charger and wait. But no! I went and got that little jump starter unit and within a couple of minutes, it was hooked up and ready to go. Cranked that joker right over. I was impressed with the power this little box has. I suggested a battery tender if he wasn't going to drive his truck that often.
Anyway, I'm a believer. And now he is too. We stopped by Harbor Freight on the way back to his house and he bought a Viking brand jump starter. I guess it will work. Could be made by the same company, I dunno. Nice thing about these things is if you're stranded somewhere because of a low battery, this can save your hide without having to wait for someone to come by, or calling someone to come help. Something you don't wish to use often, but it's very nice to have as low/dead battery insurance. And hella easy to transfer from car to car if needed.
