Project Farm - Best Jump Starter? - Test - Lies...

[adrianh]

I really want @JustLoadIt to watch this comparative test and tell us what he thinks. The products have amazing ratings "On the box" but most of them seem to blow up long before those ratings are reached.

I have a couple of questions related to the specific products and these sort of products in general:
1. How can the consumer protect themself from false "on the box" ratings (For any product - If there is any way whatsoever to do so)?
2. How come these products seem to blow up in smoke under load rather than trip or have some other form of protection - The compressors seem to trip when overloaded?
3. Although these products have great ratings many of them fail to crank a car engine - isn't that the exact purpose of such a product - why is this (technically)?
4. Do you have any advice for people wanting to purchase a Jump Starter?

Best Jump Starter? DieHard, Schumacher, DeWalt, Michelin, Stanley, CAT - Project Farm - YouTude

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zAgL2L4ILY

[Justloadit]

Interesting video.
My experience has been when the unit has been standing idle in the boot of my car for months waiting for the day to be used, and wham the battery has self discharged, and can not get the motor to crank.

One of the biggest issues I have found are the misleading amps that jumper cables are supposed to be.
When you physically look at the cable, diameter wise it looks to be correct. But upon close inspection, it is a 4mm square wire, and all they have done is increase the amount of PVC during manufacture to look like it is a thick cable.

The other issue as well, is that the wire termination on the clamp, is so poor, that 9 times out of 10, there is no electrical connection. Just when you are in trouble, and you pull out your jumpers, and there is no spark, so now you are stuck.
What I do is I buy the so called 150A, which is the highest current on sale, strip open the connection on the clamp, and physically solder the wire to the clamp.

So before staking your life on your jumper cable in your car, test it first, or alternatively solder the wire to the clamp.

[adrianh]

Interesting. Thanks.

[adrianh]

How come so many of them go up in smoke when they are loaded - do you think they all have the same design flaw?

[Justloadit]

Probably the wire size is incorrect for that high current, and acts like a heater.
These designs are done based on cost, and that you will never pull the advertised current for longer period.
When cranking an engine, you will get pulsed currents as opposed to a constant current as per the test equipment used to test.

[adrianh]

When cranking an engine, you will get pulsed currents as opposed to a constant current as per the test equipment used to test.

Ah OK, that is why they cook under continuous load but simply fail to provide enough power when cranking.