jump starter features

Jump Starter Features - [Your Ultimate Guide]

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When shopping for a jump starter, it’s important to know and understand the various features of modern jump starter so you can make the best buying decision possible.
The picture above shows a diagram of the main features and parts of a jump starter. These features will be explained in more detail below.

If you are thinking of buying a portable jump starter, jump starter features to consider include: 1. Internal battery with high reserve capacity. 2. Heavy-duty jumper cables and clamps. 3. Air compressors. 4. Emergency lights. 5. AM/FM Radios. 6. 12-volt accessory sockets. 7. USB charging sockets. 8. power inverters.

Table of contents
  1. Safety Power Switch
  2. 12V DC Socket
  3. Battery Check Button
  4. DC Socket Switch
  5. LED Status Indicators
  6. LED Work Light
  7. Work Light Switch
  8. Charging Port
  9. Charging LED Indicator
  10. Air Hose
  11. Pressure Gauge
  12. Air Compressor Switch
  13. Air Compressor
  14. Jumper Clamps
  15. Jumper Cables
  16. Batteries
  17. Peak Amperes
  18. Cold Cranking Amperes
  19. Cranking Amperes

1 – Safety Power Switch

The Safety Power Switch on a jump starter is what controls the current flow to the cable clamps. With the switch in the off position all current from the jump starters batteries are isolated from the rest of the jump starter. You may think that this is a no brainer but some companies do make jump starters without a safety power switch and there is no way of stopping the cable clamps from being live. With these particular jump starters as long as the clamps are placed in there holders and the jump starter is stored correctly there is no risk of accidental shorting.

2 – 12V DC Socket

The 12V DC Socket on a jump starter can serve 2 purposes. The first is that it supplies you with a 12V DC source of power that you can use to run 12V devices, charge phones or tablets or connect a small inverter to give you mains power to run other items like lights or laptop computers.

Alternatively the 12V DC Socket can be used, with the aid of a special cable, to charge the jump starter while stored in your vehicle using the power from your vehicles 12V accessory port, this can be handy as you can recharge the jump starter after use or be confident that it will always be ready to go if you store the jump starter in your vehicle permanently.

3 – Battery Check Button

As the name suggests the Battery Check Button is there to let you check how much charge your jump starter has. All jump starters will have a display, either a set of LED’s or maybe a gauge or digital display. By pressing the button the display will indicate if the unit has full power or need to be charged.

4 – DC Socket Switch

The DC Socket Switch controls the voltage the 12V DC socket allowing you to leave devices plugged in but not being charged.

5 – LED Status Indicators

As mentioned previously depending on the jump starter they may use either LED’s or maybe a gauge or digital display for their Status Indicators. Which ever method they use the purpose is still the same and that is to be able to display to the user the amount of charge the jump starter has left in its battery. Some companies have also used their display to display other information to the user, some jump starters when connected to a vehicle will display the volts in the vehicles battery as well as alternator voltage once the vehicle is started.

6 – LED Work Light

An LED Work Light is a useful feature to have on a jump starter, it can help you at night to see your battery when jump starting is required or if your jump starter has an inbuilt compressor it can light up a tyre and help you locate the valve.

7 – Work Light Switch

The Work Light Switch allows you to turn the work light on or off.

8 – Charging Port

There are 2 types of Charging Port to consider when buying your jump starter. These are Plug Pack or Direct Mains Power. With the Plug Pack the transformer changes the mains power down to 12V which is fed into the jump starter for charging. The down side of this method is you have an external transformer which you are reliant upon to be able to charge your jump starter and if you lose it you will be initially stuck. Direct Mains Power uses a standard mains power extension cord which plugs directly into the jump starter, all of the transformer circuitry is contained within the jump starter.

9 – Charging LED Indicator

The Charging LED Indicator indicates when the jump starter is charging. Most jump starters will use a color change to indicate charge levels, starting out with a red LED when the jump starter requires charging and then changing to a green LED once the jump starter is fully charged.

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10 – Air Hose

The Air Hose on jump starters can come in either a coiled or straight hose. Both types of air hose have there benefits, the most important things to look for though is for an air hose that is long enough for you to be able to inflate tyre from a comfortable distance. The other thing that is important is that it has a rugged air hos clamp, either screw or thumb type, that allows fast and secure attachment to the tyre valve.

11 – Pressure Gauge

The Pressure Gauge allows you to see the pressure both in the tyre before inflating as well as as the tyre inflated. For accurate readings it is recommended to use a separate tyre gauge to check the accuracy of your jump starters pressure gauge.

12 – Air Compressor Switch

The Air Compressor Switch allows you to turn the Air Compressor on or off.

13 – Air Compressor

The Air Compressor allows you to inflate tyres, balls and inflatable toys. Most jump starters that contain in built air compressors come with a range of attachments to make inflation of these items easy. The main thing to look for when considering a jump starter with an inbuilt compressor is the maximum pressure that the air compressor can achieve. The high the pressure the air compressor can achieve the easier and faster it will be when inflating a flat tyre on the roadside.

14 – Jumper Clamps

The Jumper Clamps allows you to connect the jump starter to your vehicles battery. Jumper Clamps are color coded, Red being the positive and Black being the negative, you should always connect the correct jumper clamp to the corresponding terminal on the vehicle. Failure to do so could cause damage to both the vehicle battery as well as your jump starter.

Jumper Clamps come in three grades, these are Standard, Heavy Duty and Industrial Grade Hot Jaw. Apart from the different in quality most jumper clamps only have power connected to one side of the clamp. In a Hot Jaw clamp both sides of the clamp is connected to the power. This gives the Hot Jaw clamps a better connection to the terminal leading to easier current flow when jump starting.

15 – Jumper Cables

The Jumper Cables are one of the most crusial parts of your jump starter. The better quality of cable you can afford the better your jump starter will preform.

Jumper Cables are graded into #2 Gauge Cables, #4 Gauge Cables, #6 Gauge Cables and all use American wire gauge (AWG) as there standard. The easiest way to understand which cable is best is that the smaller the grade the better the cable. for example the #2 Gauge Cables are much better quality cable than the #6 Gauge Cables, the reason for this is that #2 Gauge Cables are 0.2576 Inch diameter vs #6 Gauge Cables 0.1620 Inch Diameter and when it comes to current flow the larger the wire the less resistance which gives you better jump starting.

16 – Batteries

The heart of any jump starter is it’s Battery. Jump starters will come with either 1 or 2 batteries depending upon the voltage output or the cranking amps required. These batteries will be one of 2 types, lead acid or AGM (absorbed Glass Mat). Lead acid batteries are the most common type, they are filled with an electrolyte gel and are sealed to be maintance free. Because they are a gel construction the battery should be stored in its correct position.

AGM batteries are different in construction to lead acid batteries. In AGM (absorbed Glass Mat) batteries the electrolyte in the cell is locked in a fiberglass mat between the plates. AGM batteries last much longer than conventional lead acid batteries and have a better discharge recharge rate.

17 – Peak Amperes

Peak Amperes is the total amount of current a battery can deliver. It is not however very useful in helping you decide which is the best jump starter to start your car and in the most part can be ignored. What you need to know are the Cold Cranking Amperes (CCA) or Cranking amperes (CA) of the jump starter as these directly tell you how your jump starter will perform.

However if you also want to run accessories off the jump starter, via a mains power inverter or 12V DC Port, then this number becomes important in determining how long you can run your devices before the battery need to be charged.

18 – Cold Cranking Amperes

Cold Cranking Amperes (CCA) is the amount of current a battery can provide at 0 °F (−18 °C). The rating is defined as being the current a lead-acid battery at that temperature can deliver for 30 seconds and still maintain at least 1.2 volts per cell (which equates to 7.2 volts for a 12-volt battery).

19 – Cranking Amperes

Cranking amperes (CA), also sometimes referred to as marine cranking amperes (MCA), is the amount of current a battery can provide at 32 °F (0 °C). The rating is defined as the number of amperes a lead-acid battery at that temperature can deliver for 30 seconds and still maintain at least 1.2 volts per cell (which equates to 7.2 volts for a 12 volt battery).