Any recommendations for a reliable emergency jump starter?

[zjjjj]

Hey everyone! I frequent the forum but this is the first time posting in it.

Last year I bought a lithium jump starter from a certain brand, and at first, it seemed handy. But after a year, I think it's time to replace it. It always dies right when I need it most, and you constantly have to remember to keep it fully charged.

Last time my family and I went camping, I used the car's air pump briefly at night. The next morning, the battery was too drained to start the car. I pulled out my jump starter, only to find it had been sitting in the trunk for months without a charge—completely dead. I ended up calling roadside assistance and waited for almost an hour.

So, can anyone recommend a reliable jump starter? I need one that can actually start my car in an emergency. I really don't want something I have to charge like a cell phone before using it.

 

[franklin2]

I do not know of any type of jump starter where you do not have to keep it charged and maintained.

If your vehicle has a cigarette lighter port that cuts on and off with the vehicle, you could buy one that has a charge cord that plugs into that port. That would keep it charged each time you ran the vehicle, but not run the vehicle's battery down just sitting. Now if you put it in a vehicle that just sits around most of the time, that solution would not work either.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Yeah, any jump starter will need charged and maintained and all eventually crap out. I need to get a new battery for my big jump pack or get a new jump pack. The auction I worked at used a lot of the blue Jump-n-Carry packs. I have one of those and a smaller one from the same company. The blue one and the big red JNC packs can usually start a diesel with a weak battery. Not exactly convenient to lug around though.

I’ve heard rumbles that Milwaukee might have a jump pack that takes M18 batteries and that would actually solve a lot of problems

 

[pentode]

There are a couple different new designs that charge capacitor banks either from standard tool packs or the car's dead battery (!)

Torque Test Channel has done a couple reviews lately. They, along with project farm, are the two best tool review channels I know of. My 2 cents: that Wolfbox looks pretty great. If you happen to carry around M18 batteries the Milwaukee looks very good too.

 

[sgtsandman]

Other than the suggestions above, a traditional set of good quality jumper cables have yet to fail. Granted, you need another vehicle to use them, which may be why you are looking at a jump pack.

Like any other battery system, especially since lithium batteries do not like cold weather, they have to be periodically checked and maintained. Some are better than others. The video above will help. Project Farm has done several videos on jump packs as well. Those will guide you toward which one is best for you, but you will still need to check them roughly every two or three months to see if they need to be recharged or not.

 

[pentode]

Yes, the video I linked above is best really for getting a sense of the pros and cons of a capacitor based jump pack vs lithium, and how these new tool company packs work.

Basically you get 1-2 seconds of strong cranking power out of a capacitor bank, so probably not best for a poorly tuned carbed vehicle. .

No matter whuch lithium pack you buy, you need to have a schedule of bringing it in and charging it at least a couple times a year, if not quarterly. I always sound like Mr. Anti-lithium but in addition to what sgtsandman said above, they also hate heat and being fully charged, so you sort of have to accept a limited lifespan in this use case.

 

[zjjjj]

Really appreciate all the suggestions and perspectives here.

After reading through the replies, it kind of confirmed what I was already running into: most jump starters do work — as long as you remember to maintain them.
I still keep jumper cables in my car, because honestly, they’ve never let me down. But they’re not always practical if you’re alone or parked somewhere remote.

Someone here mentioned capacitor-based jump packs — and I looked into those first, but then stumbled on a new gadget called a “super starter” (the ANCEL BS200, since I liked the brand before). I’ll admit, I was confused at first. It sounded like it might just be a supercapacitor jump pack with a different name.

After reading through some brand breakdowns and actually using it, I started to understand the difference.
Compared to a typical supercapacitor jump pack, this one gives you some visibility into what’s going on — there’s an app that shows battery voltage, charge status, and start history. I mostly check it out of curiosity, but it’s nice not feeling completely in the dark.

The bigger difference, at least for me, is how it works in the background. From what I can tell, it’s involved every time you start the car. When the engine cranks, it steps in to handle the heavy current and takes some of the load off the main battery. There’s nothing to trigger manually — you install it once, and it just manages itself, and from then on it’s just there every time you start the car.

What really sold me was that idea of low maintenance and the fact that it’s always ready, instead of being a one-time rescue tool— which is perfect for me.

To be clear: It’s not a replacement for jumper cables or heavy-duty shop packs (I wouldn’t use it on a big V8/truck).

Just wanted to share this super starter concept in case others are weighing options. This is the one I’m talking about: https://www.ancel.com/products/ancel-bs200

Appreciate all the input here — saved me a ton of trial and error.

 

[Ab_Reed]

I bought a HULKMAN Lithium jump pack a couple years ago. Its been great, i keep it in my truck almost year round as needed, plugged into my usb port to keep it charged. Its helped me multiple times and ive also helped other stranded somewhere too. Rated up to a 6.0 diesel truck or 8.5 gas. And works fine in negative temps. Starts my tundra when i accidently killed the battery with ease.

https://www.hulkman.com/pages/alpha85s they also have an alpha 10 which is even stronger.