In my previous Quick Tip, I mentioned that my wife and I had just purchased a used car. A major reason for the timing of this was that I was going to be headed out of town, meaning that she’d need a way to get to work. So, imagine the panic and horror I felt when, two days before I departed, we found that the car we’d just bought wouldn’t start. Sparing you the details of how it happened, we basically determined (or at least hoped) that I’d accidentally drained the car’s 12V battery. In theory, this meant that we could bring it back to life as long as we could jump it and drive it around for a while.
The only problem was that, when we looked online, we found reports that we shouldn’t try to jumpstart a car using our other car’s Prius engine. This sent me scrambling to find a jump starter pack that I could not only purchase in town but also charge up sufficiently in the time we had left. That’s how I ended up buying the Duralast 800 Amps Lithium Portable Battery Jump Starter.
For context, as I searched for options, I found that a number of these types of products required up to 36 hours to charge before they could be used. Unfortunately, I didn’t have that kind of time. Furthermore, among the jump starters I was finding, I was also encountering battery chargers and maintainers. Complicating matters was the fact that these tended to be a lot cheaper, thus making them more tempting to try.
In the end, however, I found this particular Duralast product on AutoZone’s site and confirmed that it was available at a few local locations. What attracted me to this model was its size as it seemed to be the most practical for us — which also made it worth the higher price, going for $109.99. On that note, if you search for the name of the item, you might find a larger and somewhat less expensive Duralast model. You’d think they’d have more distinct names, but I guess that’s too much to ask. Also, on the AutoZone site, the image for the product is somewhat similar to what you’ll currently get, but there are some key differences (which I’ll point out along the way).
Opening the box, I was surprised to find that there wasn’t a wall charger included. Instead, it just came with a USB-A to micro USB cord. For the record, the photos on the AutoZone site show a DC-in wall charger.
In any case, my first thought was to just grab a wall brick from my iPhone’s charger. Sure enough, this resulted in the device showing that it was charging. But… as time went on, I noticed that it hadn’t gained any percentage. Suddenly, that panic I felt the night before upon discovering my battery issue had returned.
Looking at the instruction booklet, I discovered the issue: the block I’d chosen wasn’t powerful enough. According to the manual, a 2A charger is recommended. Scouring my collection of chargers, I found one for an iPad that met that specification. The only problem was that it’s built for USB C. While I was worried that a dongle wouldn’t work for these purposes, to my great relief, it worked just fine and the device finally started to gain charge.
Once it reached 100% (within a couple of hours — and the instructions say it should gain a full charge within five hours), it was time to try to jump the car. To do this, you simply plug the cables into the battery device, attach them as you normally would, turn on the battery, and turn the engine. Sounds easy, right?
Skipping ahead, despite my skepticism that such a small device that I charge using a USB cable could really jump my car, it worked! Alas, getting to that point wasn’t so simple — but that’s not really the device’s fault. See, my wife and I aren’t too good with cars and so even doing this much was a bit intimidating.
Speaking of intimidating, on my first try to make a connection, I was startled by the sparks that emerged (to be clear, I was not injured nor were there any negative effects from this). When it was my wife’s turn to try, she encountered something similar before we finally found a good place to attach. And while I’ll happily take the blame for these issues, I will say that the short length of the cables that come with the device doesn’t help matters, as it limits what you can realistically attach to for your ground.
Although I didn’t really want to pay $110 right after buying our new car, ultimately, I do think that this Duralast 800 Amps Lithium Portable Battery Jump Starter was the best option for us given the circumstances. Sure, we could have saved $25 by buying the larger and more bulky version, but this ultra-portable edition feels far more “our speed.” My only wishes are that they’d make the cables a bit longer and also include a wall charger in the box (or, at the very least, I think AutoZone should update their misleading online listing photos). Still, I couldn’t be happier with the ultimate result and will definitely be keeping this device handy for the future.