Jump starters can be a life saver, especially in emergency situation. These devices make it possible to jump start our car without the presence of another running car with good battery. Portable jump starters are essential when we are travelling in remote location. The dreaded clicking sound can be solved with these devices. We don’t always find kind strangers in the middle of nowhere and our friends could be many miles away or unreachable. If we love to hike, we could leave our car at specific spot until we are done camping or hiking. There are a number of reasons when our car refuses to start due to bad battery. With jump starters we are always in a convenient position, although there’s no other car that can help us to revive our bad battery. Jump starters are also useful in urban settings. As an example, our car could be in a cramped and tight space, so it will be very difficult to position another car so the jumper cables can be connected on both cars. In this case, the only solution is to remove our battery and recharge it in different place, which is obviously a less convenient procedure. There are electrical and mechanical issues that can cause our battery to perform poorly from time to time. Jump starters work based on DC current and it is the same kind of power we get from the cigarette lighter. It means that some jump starter models can be recharged inside the car, when the car is running. In fact, jump starters can also be used as backup power pack that can be used to recharge our laptops and cell phones. However, it means that we should use jump starters that have a variety of DC outputs, as well as USB power connections.
Some jump starters can be connected with AC outlets, so we can charge it at wall socket. However, it is preferable to choose a model that can also be charged with DC power, so we can recharge it with our car. So, when we go camping, we could plug in our laptops, radios and stereos. A few rarer models also have solar cell extensions. Although it may take a whole day to charge the jump starter under the sun, this will give us another option for outdoor situation. That means that we could put the jump starter in the open in the morning and we could go back in the afternoon to collect it. This would be ideal for any camper.
However, other than bringing a jump starter, we should also check our car’s battery system before we go to remote places. Our car’s battery is constantly charged by the alternator when the engine is running. Some amount of energy is taken from the engine and used to charge the car. However, even if we have checked our battery properly, it is possible that for some unknown causes, the battery refuses to start. A normal jump starter should have at least 300A capacity and 12V output. It should be enough jumpstart typical cars like Toyota Tacoma and Honda Accords. Choose a 450A model if we have a large SUV and truck.