Since I posted my Internet Finds - Fall Edition, I have been getting a bunch of emails asking me about the portable car starter / jumper / phone charger device I mentioned. I just wanted to do a quick post explaining a few things as this is a new type of device which can be cheaply and quickly produced. I do not want you to fall into a cheap gadget trap so I want to go over some things you should be looking at. You will start to see these literally everywhere in the upcoming months, better to be informed so you do not buy the wrong thing.
Portable car jumpers
have been available for decades, this is not a new technology. The new technology part is that cell phone charging packs have been pushing through and now are hitting a higher AMP scale which puts them into car-starting territory (also electric torture levels, if that's your fetish). Depending on the type of car you have you should be looking to step about 50-100 AMPs above what you may need (due to cold weather/temps vs. electric current issues).4-cylinder vehicles need a 200amp.
6-cylinder vehicles need a 250amp.
8-cylinder vehicles need a 300amp.
If you have a diesel vehicle, just double the amount of AMPs you need for the same size. So 400amp for 4cyl, 500amp for 6cyl, 600 for 8cyl if your vehicle is diesel.
With all this said, you need to get one that will be able to jump your car at least 3-5 times before you charge it. Just because you jump start your car does not mean it will not die on you again and that you will not come across someone who needs jump starting on your trip. Also you may not have any power anywhere in sight to charge your jump starter.
My recommendation is that if you have a 4 or 6 cylinder vehicle that you get a 1000amp device.
NOCO Genius Boost Plus GB40
is around $98.95 on Amazon. It's got a lot of little features as well, a bunch of safety features which you absolutely need. Few others to consider is the Tipsun 20000mAh 1000A pack
, the Rugged Geek RG1000
, the Suaoki 1000A
(this one has a 30% off coupon right now and is under $80 to start off with - might be because it lacks some features), and the Autogen 2000amp
There are a lot of safety features and add-on's you should look at as well depending on your particular situation. All of the above mentioned items have at least a 2.1USB charging (fast/quick charge) for most devices. Some have spark-proof and reverse polarity protection capabilities. You may need one with a decent LED light. Some have USB-C in/out. If your primary use is going to be phone charging and you want to be able to have the added ability of using it as a car jumper you'll want something above the 8000mAh range, the Tipsun is 20000mAh which means you'll be able to recharge 3-4 phones, at the same time, from completely dead to completely charged on one charge to the device. Some have tire air-inflation ability built-in. I would recommend a decent portable air compressor
for when you need to fill your tire up, along with a good tire kit
for roadside fixes. You should know how to do this. Some more considerations - this is not a disposable item, per say. It will most likely last well into 5-10 years if maintained properly (stored in a cool/dry place). So this should be something you may consider investing in specifically because you literally never know when you may need this and having it in your car, charged up, is better than depending on someone else who may or may not come on time (or at all) and will likely cost you most the cost of this device. It also doubles as a phone charger, which everyone needs now a days. There are some safety / usage issues as well you should consider, certain packs have built in CPU's which monitor output and regulate it in case there is a spike due to polarity or unintended contact with a metal item, like the NOCO Genius models
. Just make sure you do your research because some of them will go live the moment you plug the adapters into the device, others will not go live until you hit the button for charging. You have to figure out which one you need and why.