I saw this infomercial on hsn and I saw this emergency starter that you plug in the lighter and supposedley starts your dead battery, I find this hard to beleive, can this be possible? Andybody owns and had any experience with these lighter plug-in starters? Thanks.
The way that those thinks work, or are intended to work is that you recharge the battery through the cigarette lighter. You can't put enough amps through a car lighter and wiring to start a motor.
Brian
They work by recharging the vehicle battery enough to start the car or truck. IF you really run the battery down (lights left on overnight), these things cannot charge it enough to start.
My experience is IF the headlights will illuminate at all.. or the interior lights.. but the car won't quite crank over, these things will get you going. As in, you left the lights on, say, 3-4 hours.
You plug it in to the cig lighter, wait x minutes (instructions will advise), and try to start. It helps if your car has no other starting problems - as in, it starts first time, every time, under normal conditions.
I keep one in my plastic tub of "emergency" stuff. Briefly:
Good jumper cables, quick charge battery starter.
First aid kit ($30, I'm no doc but it will help with basic cuts and wounds)
Mag light, and cheapo LCD no-battery wind up light, am/fm radio combo
Flares, flare gun
2 gallons of water, I dump out on plants and refill 2x / month. Water is drinkable or useable for washing, radiator refill, etc.Fluids - anti freeze (gallon), oil (qt), tranny fluid (qt)
Various simple hand tools, a few hose clamps, socket set, open/box end wrenches.
Serpentine belt. I change mine annually, and rotate the one taken off in to the emergency tub.
Other "stuff". It's in a rubbermaid tub, doesn't take much space.
Small cig-lighter air compressor, rags, waterless hand cleaner, gloves, extra "grubby" change of clothes (old jeans, shirt, undies, socks, old pair of sneaks). Space blanket. Dehydrated backpaker meals (2 days worth). No-prep energy bars. Small sterno stove, sterno. Waterpoof matches.
Copies of all home and vehicle insurance, list of key family and biz phone numbers, printed inventory of valuable "stuff", etc. Small amount of cash, travellers checks. New, empty 1g gas can, to get fuel (hopefully for someone else!).
Pay as you go cell phone with 100 mins - AA batts for phone - I just buy a new card at xmas time and check the phone every month or so. Even though I have a "regular" cell phone this is a backup.
FRS handheld radios (pair), AA batts. Hand-held 40 ch CB, can run on cig lighter, cig-lighter portable starter, or AA's.
The goal is, I can do basic repairs, stay with the car if it dies in bad weather, have clean clothes, and something to eat, and signal for help with. (Flares, radio, phone). If I have to evacuate (coastal area), then I have enough stuff to go inland and at least have basic comforts for a few days. Better if I can go get "stuff" at home but if not I can just go.
Where on earth do you live? Jeez, I don't even carry a spare tire any more
hahaha... Funny, i think this is a good emergency kit for travelers. Not for your everyday commuters. Good advise though, thanks.
On the coast, I keep it ready during hurricane season. And I travel to CO in the winter.
I've started carrying a lot of stuff myself. Our trips seem to be around holidays where the wait time for someone else to help could be a number of hours. The FRS radios are a toy, you can throw one about as far as they will transmit, your much better off with a CB as the truck driver actually will listen and help since CB's are not as popular anymore so the truck drivers kind of assume you are either a truck driver in your other vehicle or are friends/family of one.
Kind of makes my "Multi Tool" seem useless!
Al
I've got a jumper pack, with a battery in it. It's either called a Winchester, or a Sport-Pac. I've seen both names. Emergency Essentials used to have em (
Ebay has it, Item number: 280057800855
I had to pull the bulb out of mine. Too easy to bump the switch, and then you have a dead battery. They had a run of bad batteries for awhile.
I needed it about two weeks ago, I was doing some work and had the back hatch open. Drained the battery. I clipped the booster pack on the battery and the alternator bracket, and the engine started right up. I'm very pleased.
In addition to the booster, I also carry some other stuff. Like you say, FRS are a bit limited, though I've had some good results with em for around the mall, or at the park.
CB radio, I think is very good. Not as many people on now days. Cell phone is essential. And cell charger.
And, of course, I do carry jumper cables. Newer vehicles, I've heard to turn the dead vehicle off, and pull the key out. Clip on, run the other vehicle for awhile, and then unclip the cables. Otherwise the voltage spike fries computer boards.
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