Power – Page 2 – Car Repair Life

In this article we will take a look at the Stanley 1000-amp Peak Jump starter with Compressor. This is a portable jump start kit for car and truck batteries that also includes a small air compressor for inflating tires. We will look at the Stanley product in more detail and also compare it to several similar products on the market to see which one offers the average customer the best overall value. What Is the Stanley 1000-amp Peak Jump Starter with Compressor? The Stanley 1000-amp Peak Jump starter with Compressor offers two important roadside repair tools combined in one compact case: a battery charging unit or jump starter and an air compressor or tire inflator. [amazon fields="B002X6VXL4" value="thumb" image_size="large" image_align="center" image="1"] A relatively new class of products has developed over the past decade or so: portable roadside emergency kits. While the Stanley jump starter kit and similar products are not necessarily or exclusively marketed as emergency kits (some units might be used in automotive service, fleet service, and auto dealerships), that is how many people think about them and use them, storing them in their vehicles to use in case of a dead battery or a low or flat tire. As we will see, some products offer so many emergency features in their tools they may not be mainly thought of as jump starter kits, even though they supply that feature. And this increased functionality and feature-set can be a problem when manufacturers are still trying to supply the unit to consumers at a competitive price. Before we compare the Stanley jump starter kit to other competing products, let’s take a look at the Stanley product in more detail. Product Specs The Stanley 1000-amp Peak Jump starter with Compressor is first and foremost a tool meant to provide assistance with a vehicle that won't start. Many battery chargers are now on the market, but this Stanley product offers certain basic features that will appeal to most customers. First off, the unit provides 500 amps of instant cranking power, and that should be enough to start most car and light truck engines, including most V-8 engines. If extra power is required, the Stanley jump starter offers 1000 amps of peak or boosted power. In most tests, even cars with cold, dead batteries start right up using the Stanley jump starter. With a large truck, or in very cold conditions, it is possible the jump starter will not work. Making the Job Easier Image from Pixabay In addition, the Stanley jump starter provides extra features that make the often tedious (and sometimes stressful) job of jump starting a vehicle just a little easier. For example, Stanley supplies the jump starter kit with a high-powered LED light that rotates 270 degrees, providing illumination even when the working area is in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. A reverse polarity alarm warns when an incorrect connection of battery cables has been applied to the target battery. Emergency Extras In keeping with providing users a means of dealing with roadside emergencies, or any emergency where a backup power source is required, the Stanley jump starter provides a USB connection port, through which smart phones, tablets, and laptops can be recharged. Finally, the Stanley 1000-amp Peak Jump Starter with Compressor does indeed include a 120psi air compressor and an inflation hose and connector to deal with low tire pressure or flats. While the inflator is not going to work as fast as a dedicated tire inflator or air compressor, it gets the job done. Of course the product can only get the job done if the user keeps the Stanley jump starter kit charged. This is enabled through the 120 volt input, and the unit can be recharged with a standard household extension cord. How It Compares We picked a few similar products available on the market to see how they compare. Clore Automotive Jump-N-Carry JNC660 1700 Peak Amp Jump Starter Suaoki 600A Peak Portable Car Jump Starter/Jumper Pack 18000mAh with Air Compressor and LED Flashlight Rally Portable 8 in 1 Jump Starter and Power Source Unit with Air Compressor/Tire Inflator [amazon link="B002X6VXL4" title="STANLEY J5C09 " /] [amazon box="B002X6VXL4"] The Stanley jump-starter offers a lot of great features in a basic, easy-to-use package. Most users find the Stanley a reliable product that does what it advertises. Ease of Use 4.5-Stars Jump-starting a battery is not a technically difficult thing to do, and this portable charger just makes the job easier, with basic controls most users will not struggle to master. The additional features, such as the USB charging port and the air compressor/tire inflator are positioned so they are easy to access and use. The battery connectors store away in a compact configuration. And the unit itself, though it is not feather-weight (it is after all a large battery), is still very portable. Design Quality 4.5-Stars As we said, Stanley designed this unit to be easy to use, sufficiently powerful (500 cranking amps) to get the job, jump-starting car and truck batteries, accomplished most of the time. Some users have complained that larger vehicles, and particularly ones with truly dead batteries, will not start with this unit. This is possible, as the cranking amps of the Stanley unit may not be sufficient to handle larger engines, especially in cold weather conditions. One somewhat negative aspect of the charger is that careful recharging of the unit has to be followed. You cannot simply hook the charger up to a wall socket and let it go. It does not have overcharging protection, so you need to time it manually, otherwise the charger battery can be damaged. However, the standard power in this charger plus the additional features in the Stanley 1000-amp Peak Jump starter with Compressor, including the helpful LED light and the tire inflator, make this product one most people will find does the job for them. Warranty 4.0-Stars This unit has a one-year limited warranty. Pros Will start most cars and light trucks Good additional features Cons Recharging the unit can be tricky May not start larger vehicles (with dead batteries) [amazon link="B00CMP3Z1C" title="Clore Automotive JNC660C" /] [amazon box="B00CMP3Z1C"] The Clore Automotive Jump-N-Carry series are portable jump-start kits that deliver sufficient power to start most cars and light trucks. Ease of Use 5-Stars Once again the basic operation of this jump-starter is fairly simple. Controls and gauges are laid out simply and are easy to use. As always, the user is advised to refer to the instructional manual for specific alerts and cautions regarding jump-starting a vehicle and recharging this jump-starter unit. Design Quality 4-Stars The Clore Automotive Jump-N-Carry JNC660 1700 Peak Amp Jump-starter is a simpler device than the Stanley 1000-amp Peak Jump starter with Compressor, because the Clore does not include an air compressor nor does it provide a USB input to charge mobile devices. And the Clore does not include the handy LED light that is available on the Stanley unit. The Clore claims to have a larger peak charging power, but its cranking amps rating is basically the same as the Stanley. For just charging a car battery, the Clore should get the job done. As an emergency kit, it is missing a couple of handy features the Stanley includes, and the Clore costs more. Warranty 4.0-Stars This has a one-year limited warranty. Pros Should recharge most cars and light trucks Better peak power than most jump-starters Easy to use Cons Doesn’t include all emergency features More expensive than units with more features [amazon link="B0185CYFE6" title="Suaoki 600A" /] [amazon box="B0185CYFE6"] This is a multi-functional power bank which supplies users with a true emergency kit in terms of its versatility. Because it is trying to be all things to all needs, and it is very compact, it may not be the tool you’ll want for larger vehicles and in cold-weather starts. Ease of Use 4.0-Stars While the Suaoki 600A is certainly straightforward, it does supply more features than most jump-starters, so it will take a little more time to get up to speed with them. And in the case of the jump-starter kit, it seems the instruction manual can be hard to understand or misleading, resulting in erroneous short-circuit messages; so this is not so easy to use. Design Quality 4.0-Stars This is a full-featured, compact power station, capable of jump-staring cars and light trucks, providing air boosts to deflated tires, and it can charge a variety of computers and smart devices. It also comes with two kinds of emergency beacons and an LED flashlight. While the instant cranking power (about 300amps) of the unit is less powerful than other units reviewed here, the all-around versatility of this unit still makes it a handy tool for the average customer. Warranty 4.0-Stars This unit has a six-month limited warranty. Pros Very versatile emergency power bank Inexpensive for what it offers Cons A little under-powered (but it is compact) [amazon link="B002NGCO30" title="Rally Portable 8 in 1 Jump Starter" /] [amazon box="B002NGCO30"] The Rally Portable emphasizes versatility over power, and so once again it may be a very handy tool for many users for multiple applications (say as a secondary backup power source after a hurricane). Ease of Use 4.0-Stars As with the Suaoki unit, the Rally Portable provides a lot of tools inside a relatively compact case, so some additional time will be required to learn all the different applications and how they work. While the hand-crank charger feature can be seen as a definite ease-of-use benefit, it is only that way if the hand-crank works, which a lot of people have had trouble with. Design Quality 3.5-Stars This device packs even more features into its case than the Suaoki, the idea being to produce a really useful all-around power bank and emergency power source. The Rally will power up cars, inflate tires, charge USB devices, and has a flashlight and emergency flashing light generators. As is often the case, where many features are packed into a small space and the price is still kept relatively low, some compromises end up being made. Reports of shoddy construction on some internals and the generally cheap feel to the product suggest where the cost-cutting measures were applied. The air inflator is low powered and the hand crank is often not reliable; at least not for long. The real problem for somebody wanting a reliable tool to jump-start their vehicle is that this unit is simply too underpowered to reliably do the job, especially in cold weather. Warranty 5-Stars This unit comes with a two-year limited warranty. Pros Lots of potentially useful features Can charge phones and run house lights Cons Construction not the best [amazon box= "B002X6VXL4,B00CMP3Z1C,B0185CYFE6,B002NGCO30," template="table"] Conclusion As we saw in this review and comparison of portable jump-start kits, not all of these products are made with the same customer base in mind. Some manufacturers understand that most customers looking for a portable jump starter would like to have their battery actually start when the jump-starter is applied to it. Other manufacturers might be trying to slip in an underpowered jump-starter mixed in with a bunch of other emergency features. The two products that stood out were the Stanley 1000-amp Peak Jump starter with Compressor and the Clore Automotive Jump-N-Carry JNC660 1700 Peak Amp Jump-starter. Both these products delivered on the basic requirement of jump-starting most cars and light trucks. In our comparison the Clore (which delivers more power) and the Stanley (which delivers more features) tied with 4.3 average stars.