As radios talk to the canbus these days (to know when to increase volume with speed or dim the display with lights) they could simply request a code if the are connected to a different engine management unit.
I agree. There was a time when a radio was an optional extra and therefore an aftermarket demand. But now a radio is normal equipment, not to mention built in, it seems no longer necessary to worry about theft. Where is the market for stolen radios, (apart from people who have had a radio stolen).?
Anything can get stolen if someone needs that item. My back of my old CF van was broken into one night, it was full of boot sale stuff, but as far as I could tell nothing was taken, a few weeks later I realised what had been stolen: one of the stop and tail bulb holders, which is literally a twist-in holder for a single bulb, maybe 2 quids worth at a dealers.
Most cars have radios (or more correctly, 'entertainment systems') that have more facilities the higher up the model range you go, so some will be stolen as upgrades.
Others will be stolen as replacements of radios that have failed.
Chris
Yes but as has been said the replacement 22Ah Lucas for 50 quid delivered is a much better battery ( I paid 46.98 inc tax and delivery)
I have exactly the same jump pack which I replaced the battery with one from our burglar alarm, it's far better than original.
The tyre pump works well and it doesn't have the safety "feature" of isolating the crocodile clips so I can leave it charging with a simple smart charger (Lidl £10) as I lost the mains one supplied.
They lie about capacity, much less lead.
Mine gets regular use, jump starting and pumping bike tyres
AJH
Flourishing it seems, in the case of the the VW-Audi RSN-E satav I've got. Popular sport in some parts of the country, and £300+ on ebay.
I wouldn't mind if it was half-decent ;-)
[snip]
Thanks for the replies. I do have jump leads; I must remember to put them in the boot of the car so that they are there if I need them. Like the empty fuel can, they are sitting in the garage!
The problem with jump leads is that you need there to be a friendly, passing motorist to use them.
I haven't used the compressor in my jump starter as I already had a compressor with a digital gauge, so that is easier to read. The only time I missed not having the pack was when my car was at the garage and I wanted to blow up my bike tyres. Perhaps a hand pump for the bike would be a cheaper alternative?
I did wonder about using the jump starter's compressor to inflate my boilers expansion vessel though.
I wonder why they add compressors and torches to these packs? Why not save money and miss them out? They could use the savings to buy a better battery!
Thanks, Stephen.
Forget those and look at one of these:
Maybe it does - but is mAh an appropriate unit for specifying the capacity of a car-starting battery?
One advantage of having a compressor and light etc is that it might well get used regularly and therefore the battery charged up. As a jump start pack, it might never get used. So the battery is flat and ruined - if and when you do want it.
Ok 12Ah isn't the 60Ah that a lead acid battery may be. But it delivers the required amps for cold cranking nearly any car / SUV.
16.8Ah If you have a yank tank / Dodge Viper / Bugatti.
It might just do for a very short period of time. Wonder how many cars which have failed to start through a low battery will then start instantly?
I went a size up from that to start my Alfa 2.4 JTD - the car had been sitting around for a while unused. It claims there should be around 20 attempts in the pack from fully charged. It seems to be very well made, comes in a nice case with everything you need, including USB sockets/adapters to recharge mobile phones, run/charge laptops and anything that can run off a lighter socket.
If that's the case, why are most car batteries more like 70 amp.hr than the 16 or so of this one? You'd not normally start and stop a car 20 times in quick succession so relying on the battery only.
It might manage to start a fully hot small engine that is a perfect starter 20 times. I'm willing to bet it wouldn't the average one on a cold morning - just when you're most likely to need a jump start.
Someone I know is a domestic electrician, doing small jobs. He might make half a dozen or more 'house calls' a day.
His Transit alternator failed. He limped home, and the next morning it wouldn't even crank.
Out of desperation, he used one of these devices. He was surprised that it started a reasonably large diesel from cold easily. He completed his day's work by leaving the engine running whenever he could, and using the jump- starter when he had to. He topped up the charge in customer's houses where possible.
The thing is tiny, with skinny cables, and if shown it I would have told him to throw it away, but it worked really well.
Chris
I'm willing to bet if I bought one, it would be useless. ;-)
For jump starting, you don't normally need really thick cables (although they are preferable).
Usually, you are not actually trying to start the engine directly from the jump-start battery. What happens first is that the jump-start battery tops-up the vehicle battery - and when the vehicle battery has got enough oomph in it, it's the vehicle battery that starts the engine. It's only if you need to keep on cranking the engine that the leads and connections start to get hot.
>
Life is about 1500 "starts". About 2 years on one go and come back trip a day. It's not for every day use.
These are to start the car 15-20 times per charge. Say starter draws around 220A cold cranking x 10 sec = 0.61Ah. 15 goes = 9.2Ah. 15 goes in
3 min = burnt out starter motor. Starter motors are run in overload and have a max duty cycle. You are not supposed to crank for much more than 10 secs at a time then it needs a rest to cool down.I also think compared to lead acid the volt drop under high discharge is reduced much, so it's going have a "startling motor" effect.
And it's a jump starter not a complete replacement battery.
60-70Ah is to power the lights and accessory for a few hours. Main beam 120w + quad tail 20w + 2 number plate 10w + dash 20w? = 170w pulls 14 Amps. Your 70 Ah battery lasts less than 5 hours, possibly less than 4 as 70Ah is 20 hour discharge rate = 3.5A. Lead acid "capacity" suffers under high discharge, a 70Ah battery won't deliver 220A for 10 minutes let alone the 19 minutes that the simple capacity sum suggests. Do too many starts in too short a time and the internal heating can make a lead acid battery explode.
Sort of; it's really a combination of both.
10mm2 ones won't usually start something like a Transit from cold, but 16mm2 ones will for example.
You should keep the donor vehicle connected and running for at least 10 minutes before attempting to start the stranded vehicle in any case, to minimise possible ECU destruction of the stranded vehicle.
Chris
You should also run your engine at around 3000 rpm to maximize the alternators output and when you do attempt to start the other vehicle have your lights or heated screens switched on to absorb any power surge as the other vehicle starts up and its alternator kicks in.
You shouldn't connect your earth battery to battery either when jumping.
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