Please Recommend a Jump Starter

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Merkava_4

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2000 Buick LeSabre The Buick has a parasitic current draw on the battery. I'm still in the process of determining which circuit is causing the draw. In the meantime, I think I might need one of those jump starters. Can those little jump starters that fit in your pocket really start a car ? Which jump starter do you guys have ?
 
Get the little red $40 one from Walmart, an Everstart. I have one and I bought that 2001 LeSabre from an auction last winter. Battery was completely flat after sitting for months and it jump started it no problem, drove it home from the auction.
 
Our 2001 Impala had a constant drain that would kill the battery in a day or so. It turned out to be the radio. The fuse for it is behind the panel that you can see when you open the front passengers side door (it is towards the front of the car beside the dash). If your 2000 Buick LeSabre is like our 2001 Impala it could be the radio. I think what it is actually doing is turning on the amplifier (that you can see when you look up inside the trunk) that is for the rear speakers, when the radio is off. But that is just a theory. Anyhow, pulling the fuse for the radio does make the parasitic drain go away for our car. I have to temporally reinstall the radio fuse every once in a while to reset the oil life monitor when it flags the warning that the oil needs changed.
 
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Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
Our 2001 Impala had a constant drain that would kill the battery in a day or so. It turned out to be the radio. The fuse for it is behind the panel that you can see when you open the front passengers side door (it is towards the front of the car beside the dash). If your 2000 Buick LeSabre is like our 2001 Impala it could be the radio. I think what it is actually doing is turning on the amplifier (that you can see when you look up inside the trunk) that is for the rear speakers, when the radio is off. But that is just a theory. Anyhow, pulling the fuse for the radio does make the parasitic drain go away for our car. I have to temporally reinstall the radio fuse every once in a while to reset the oil life monitor when it flags the warning that the oil needs changed.
Funny you should mention that Jim because the 10 Amp radio fuse has a 5 milliVolt voltage drop across it. Looking at the chart, a 5 milliVolt drop across the fuse equals a 674 milliAmp current draw. The limit is supposed to be 55 milliAmps. It's the only fuse in the back fuse box that's pulling that much current. I pulled the fuse because I don't use the radio anyway. Tomorrow I'll check the underhood fuse box.
 
They work; a bigger one is useful for large V8s. Most double as cellphone chargers and flashlights. Antigravity Batteries started the whole thing, so that's one brand you should look at.
 
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i have a antigravity xp1. works well and jumpstarted a few cars with it. i also have hotwired it to run accessories like a viaair for a short time so i dont have to run long wires to clamp to the starter battery, and as a batterybank for a kindle. if you have space the bigger ones based on an sla battery have a compressor and inverter built in id youre looking for an all in one solution with a lot of these, buyer beware on greymarket gear. if you just buy from some ebay oe amazon seller thsts 40% off you aren't sure if youll get a knockoff ot qa reject item that may work but will fail to hold a charge or other issue.
 
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Harbor freight sells a little $15 ammeter that takes the place of a fuse so you can narrow down your issue. Those li-ion jumpers sketch me out. I'm waiting for the tech to mature.
 
If your comparing SLA batteries, heavier is better, but with SLA if the jump start pack is very cold, it will not help a super lot. A battery so discharged it will not start your car needs a full charge by an AC powered charger. Jumper cables (good ones) are a good alternative. I would put a batter maintainer on it each night until you find the cause of the parasitic current draw.
 
Originally Posted By: SilverSnake
JNC 660. Best jump starter I ever had. Lots of power and no frills and garbage. Best feature is that you can leave it plugged in all the time and not damage the unit. No so with a lot of the cheaper models out there. Here is the link at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jump-N-Carry-JNC6...+n+carry+jnc660
I have that one or a similar model from same company. I think the built in charger is the weak link. Might be better to leave a BatteryMinder connected rather than their internal charger.
 
Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
The harbor freight Viking Mini jump starter will start a V8 engine with a dead battery, no battery, whatever. Ask me how I know.
I have one of these as well and it is hard to beat for the money. One of the reasons I went with it was because it has a Lithium iron phosphate battery, which is superior in durability to a Lithium Ion battery commonly found in mini jumpers.
 
Originally Posted By: SilverSnake
JNC 660. Best jump starter I ever had. Lots of power and no frills and garbage. Best feature is that you can leave it plugged in all the time and not damage the unit. No so with a lot of the cheaper models out there. Here is the link at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jump-N-Carry-JNC6...+n+carry+jnc660
Is that the one with an air compressor ? I don't need an air compressor.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: SilverSnake
JNC 660. Best jump starter I ever had. Lots of power and no frills and garbage. Best feature is that you can leave it plugged in all the time and not damage the unit. No so with a lot of the cheaper models out there. Here is the link at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jump-N-Carry-JNC6...+n+carry+jnc660
Is that the one with an air compressor ? I don't need an air compressor.
No air compressor. No frills. Very strong unit. Why an internal charger would be a weak link (Donald's post) is a mystery to me Had them in every jump starter I have ever owned with no issues.
 
Originally Posted By: SilverSnake
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: SilverSnake
JNC 660. Best jump starter I ever had. Lots of power and no frills and garbage. Best feature is that you can leave it plugged in all the time and not damage the unit. No so with a lot of the cheaper models out there. Here is the link at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jump-N-Carry-JNC6...+n+carry+jnc660
Is that the one with an air compressor ? I don't need an air compressor.
No air compressor. No frills. Very strong unit. Why an internal charger would be a weak link (Donald's post) is a mystery to me Had them in every jump starter I have ever owned with no issues.
When my jump pack was pretty new I plugged it into the AC outlet. The light was red. A few hours latter the light was green as expected. A few hours latter the light was red and it stayed red for another 2 days before I unplugged it. I now charge it every few months but unplug when light turns green.
 
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