This will only work though if your battery is capable of holding a charge or being recharged. If it is old and needs replacing, this product will do nothing for you. On the other hand, if you leave your lights on for a few hours and your car won't start, this could very well be enough to help you get it started.
Do you I recommend this? Only if you have a good battery and you can get this at a good price.
Do I recommend that you buy a more expensive portable jump starter instead? From my experience, they are not very reliable either. They are essentially just rechargeable batteries, probably very similar to your car battery. That means they will wear out relatively quickly. For the price, you could probably just replace your car battery. For that reason, the Mighty Jump at a smaller price point is very tempting.
In general, having a set of jumper cables would be your most reliable option particularly if you live in an urban setting with a lot of people around. If you are out in the middle of nowhere regularly, you might want to invest in something more versatile (and more expensive).
If you can get this at a good price, it would be a good option for just running down your battery from leaving your lights on. If you suspect that your battery is bad or is getting old, this will do nothing under those circumstances.
Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>
Sabre Rattler and G. Mahler (commentator on Aquabusa Jib's review) comments are the most informational and accurate.For any jump starter to work (including the Mighty Jump) the following conditions must be present:
1. The battery in the jump starter must be in good condition and kept charged. This is needed to charge up the car battery.
2. The accessory (lighter) socket must be in the "ON" position and the connection is good all the way to the car battery.
3. The car battery must be capable of retaining the charge from the jump starter. That is it must not be too old or incapable of holding a charge.
4. All devices using battery power (eg Head lights, rear window heaters, radio, cabin lights etc) should be switched off so as not to drain the limited battery power available.
5. Wait for the car battery to be recharged sufficiently to provide the cold cranking amperage that Aquabusa Jib mentioned in his review to start the car. This may take between 1 to 10 minutes depending on the battery power in the jump starter and how discharged the car battery is.
6. The car should start now (unless the starter motor on the car is dead!). Do not switch off the car engine during the first 15 minutes of driving to allow the car generator to at least partially recharge the car battery.
Remember to recharge the jump starter battery after use so it is ready for the next emergency. It can be achieved by leaving the jump starter connected for about 15 to 20 minutes while you are driving. It is good practice to recharge the jump starter battery at least every 3 4 months. All rechargeable batteries deteriorate over time and need to be replaced after a few years. It is time to replace when it will not hold a charge for at least a few days when not in use.
Jump starters do work if used correctly.
Hope this helps some people.