Power Station 12v 1200a

[Robroy]

Anyone that has any experince of using a Power station like this one to jump start when the battery is down?
I’m been thinking of buying one for a while now and after I got stranded the other night at a gas station :tonge2: it seems like a good thing to have laying in the trunk IF it deliver a good power boost when needed…….

[dewbers]

I've seen them before, but don't know much about them Per... I'd be real interested to see what the group thinks. Is it worth the investment ? Jumper cables are always good, but that's only if someone is around to jump you!

[centurion 455 ragtop]

I bought one, different brand, from Wal Mart a few years back. They are basically all the same but I do suggest to have one. They are fairly cheap too. They usually last a few years and the costs is in the area of 39- 69 dollars USC. I use mine mostly when racing in case the old girl won't start on a hot day in the staging lanes. A quick hook up and she fires up. When not at the track I keep it in the trunk of my Centurion. Funny thing I never needed it but did help out about 4 stranded motorists over the years.

[Centurion717273]

I have one in each of my cars including daily drivers - I can't tell you how many times they have saved me or other motorists - I have the ones that also have an airpump in them and that is a great thing to have along also.

[The German]

Reading the comments it could be a good idea, Per, you had to buy such a maschine.

On the other hand I ever thought that the red lamp will come up showing when the battery / accu is not charged any more so that one could search a solution early enough - isn´t it working that way ? And what for are the extra volts gauges (if one have installed it) - shouldn´t it show that the accu gets weak ?

Would like to read some informations regarding these questions to be able to understand the probable necessity of such a special power station.:rooleyes2:

[Robroy]

Thanks for the response guys, think I’ll go and by one today!

You are right Rolf that with a fresh battery and proper working charging you should be ok, but sometimes when the engine is really hot it can be hard to crank,
also you may find yourself pushing the gas pedal a little too much when starting the engine which will make it soaked with gas and it wont start.
That’s when a unit like this comes handy unless you have a friend in the neighbourhood so you can use jumper cables which work fine too.

A battery with a lot of amp-hours gives you a little more to play with; In general, what are you guys running? 55-60 ah ?

[centurion 455 ragtop]

Think of it as good insurance and a machine that can make you feel good.

A: If you never use it, yes it could be a waste of money.....BUT need it just once and it will pay you back about 4 times over maybe more. You may be on a long trip its dusk out and you just have the timmer lights on. You stop to get a bite to eat and return to your car an hour or so later only to find your battery may be dead. It only takes one time. Think of it like having some spare tools in a small tool box along with flares. You never know and you can never plan on breaking down on the road. Having some small emergency repair equipment can save you some time and money along with aggravation.

B: You may come across someone who needs a jump. You can lend a hand and get them going. A feel good feeling. You never know it could be a good looking blonde that you can give a jump:Dou:.....jump start:Brow:

Another quick fix it: Buy a small package of tire plug kit. (Tire repair kit to plug up a hole) along with two cans of fix a flat, needle nose pliers and a screw driver. Takes up small space but if you get a flat, you can actually fix the tire without removing it and use the fix a flat cans to fill it up to get you going again. I've done it so it does work.

[dewbers]

Very cool fella's! Some great advice. Expecially that flat tire thing Rick. Good stuff.
Rick - does Auto Zone or Pep Boys carry that? (these are auto part stores on this side of the pond guys!)

[centurion 455 ragtop]

Steve

They all sell it, even K Mart, Wal Mart, Sears, Pepboys. Cost is around 5$. First time I used it, it took a while doing it and I took the tire off the car. Had a few flats on my work car over the years and I'm down to about 15 minutes (start to finish) getting the tire plugged without removing the tire.

Not sure if any of you guys saw the TV movie, "The Christmas Story" When Ralphie's father had him time him on changing a flat and Ralphie dropped the lug nuts. Last time I had a fast leak on my work car I had my son with me. I started to laugh cause I had him time me on repairing it and it reminded me of that movie. Did it in 15 minutes start to finish :laugh:

The key is laying everything out in front of you and lining up the screw or nail so that it can be removed and the file tool can be inserted. It takes a little muscle working the round file tool in the hole and shoving the plug insert into the tire. In the end it's a lot quicker and cleaner than changing the tire while on the side of the road.

[73 Centurion]

These can be very useful, but you have to develop a routine for charging it. They lose their charge over time.

Very similar to checking the air pressure in your spare tire. It's easy to forget until you need the tire and find out it's flat.:Dou:

John

[The German]

Thanks for the good advices, Per and Rick ! I will have a look for such things next time when being in Dortmund where we have some special cars maintenance shops. Guess they´ll have it and will give me some more detailled informations also.

Per, my battery shows "1000 Amps cranking at 32°F" and "800 Amps cranking cold" and "115 battery reserve capacity", which will be the Ah number I guess. Up to now I never had a problem with it, but it was new when I got the car from Adam ! And when being in the garage I mostly put on a special charging maschine called "CTEK MULTI XS 3600" which keeps the battery at its optimum. Here is a link to such a maschine (haven´t found a site in English, so I used the Google translator) :
http://translate.google.de/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youngtimerzubehoer.de %2Fwerkstattausruestung%2Fmess-ladegeraete%2Fctek-multi-xs-3600-12-v-6.601.html&sl=de&tl=en&hl=de&ie=UTF-8

That´s really worth its money, batteries last longer if you put that maschine on the poles - especially when the car is stored for some weeks. You could get it at Ebay too and cheaper of course.

Added: Link in English : http://www.ctek.com/EN-US/Default.aspx and click on the US-flag right side above the text !
BTW : It´s a Swedish battery charger