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Portable jump starters


You'd need a fairly substantial hard wired inverter and at that point you're spending more than the compressor just to power it. No way an inexpensive cigarette lighter powered inverter would do trick. A good pancake compressor pulls about 400 watts at 110v meaning the inverter would need to be rated above that and would be using like 35-40 amps from the 12v battery if my terrible math is right...
Close enough. Would probably be higher due to losses in the equipment. And all that would take up a lot more storage space, also.
 
Lowes stores are installing free air pumps in my area.
 
Just go to a used car lot and steal the pump from a wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man. Or call Al Harrington, you can buy one from him and pick up some crudely painted not so funny plywood cutout folk art while your there. Stay clear of his intergalactic proton powered electrical tentacled advertising droids though, they are total garbage.
 
I don't know how you guys survive without an air compressor.
I used to buy our jumper boxes from Napa and if they dies I'd open them up and get a replacement battery from Napa for a fraction of the cost of a new box. Very few died, usually the salesmen would leave them outside after jumping a car when they were clearing a snow storm and they'd disappear. I'd often have to buy 4 or 5 of them in a winter so the dealer had us sign them out. Salesmen aren't any better at signing the sheet than they are at returning things they borrow. One of my advisors started creating repair orders for a used car and billing the replacement jump box to the car instead of writing it off as shop supplies.
 
Close enough. Would probably be higher due to losses in the equipment. And all that would take up a lot more storage space, also.
What's funny in my line of work I throw away loads of those cheap ass 1000watt inverters that hard wire all the time. I have 2 on my work bench now to test. Been wanting about a 2000 watt to build me a little camping pack in a rubbermaid tub or something I can throw in the bed and do some overnight wheeling trips. AKA overlanding. Already have the 12v charger and batteries that I've collected.
 
You'd need a fairly substantial hard wired inverter and at that point you're spending more than the compressor just to power it. No way an inexpensive cigarette lighter powered inverter would do trick. A good pancake compressor pulls about 400 watts at 110v meaning the inverter would need to be rated above that and would be using like 35-40 amps from the 12v battery if my terrible math is right...

Not to mention the power spike when the compressor first starts running. That's why a lot of generators have a surge rating as well as a constant power rating.
 
Not to mention the power spike when the compressor first starts running. That's why a lot of generators have a surge rating as well as a constant power rating.
Any motor load will have a large spike at start up. You can limit it with a starting capacitor in line before compressor. I use a 3000w on some of our sprinter van conversions and run a 13500 btu roof top ac on it. I have to add a starting capacitor in line to avoid ac overload when it starts. Saves inverter and batteries. but we are getting real expensive now
 
Dang... I haven't seen FREE AIR anywhere around here. Most of the air machines now will accept credit cards.
Around here, all the Sheetz stations seem to have free air. Doesn't seem like much of anyone else does though.

We have Wawa that has free air but the unit doesn't deliver enough PSI.

My tires call for 70. The machine at the Marathon that takes coins and credit cards gets the job done though.
 
We have Wawa that has free air but the unit doesn't deliver enough PSI.

My tires call for 70. The machine at the Marathon that takes coins and credit cards gets the job done though.

Just fill them with 35psi twice.
 
Finally got to test the jump starter. If you jump a normal car with a low battery you just connect it and start the car. I used it on a 76 vette with NO battery. When you do this or the battery is totally dead you have to hit the "boost" button first which aparently gives you 30 seconds of full bore power. It spun the engine over just as fast (maybe faster) than using a normal battery and it started with ease. (Chevy 350). So definitely works great.

My only complaint is that it has a 12volt 10amp power outlet with a cigarette lighter outlet adapter for charging random car things or running something like a portable tire pump. I tried to use it to charge my new dash cam but it automatically turns off after a couple minutes making the 12 volt port useless unless you sit there hitting the power button every 2 minutes. Kinda dumb design.

The USB outlets for charging your cell phone or whatever don't do this, they are constantly live. So at least it's useful as a phone charger. And the outlets are "fast charge" or whatever you call it so they charge my phone as fast as my wall charger. Other usb power packs I've used put the phone in "slow charge" which takes forever.

Only time will tell how well it holds up. The owners manual says it's lifespan is around 4 years which is expected since batteries don't last forever. If I get 4 years out of it I feel I got more than my money's worth for something that ended up costing $70 bucks.
 
Hey, you know how to solder. Open that puppy up and hot wire the adapter. 🙂

-Jazzer
 
I got the one from autozone... cost like $130... can start the V8 in my JGC 3 times before recharging
 
I got the Makita air compressor because I already have the batteries for it. The Milwaukee ones are kinda better (my buddies have em), and I have batteries for those, might get one.

The jump starter battery packs found at Autozone are actually good ones. its the parts behind the counter that are junk.
 
I have a Noco Genius. Not sure if it is the best but it is well-made.
 

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