I’m not a very handy guy. I like to think I can tinker and fix stuff, but I’m pretty much only good for demolition and driving the last nail on a project “we” did. The same holds true for being “handy” in the garage. I can do the basics like check oil, change breaks, etc. I have even balanced wheels before. Other than that though, it takes me a lot of searching and time to figure out how to do something more complex. Thank goodness the Internet has information outlining just about anything you could want to do on a car.
Fortunately for a guy like me, companies like Black & Decker make products designed to help out wannabebutneverwillbe “mechanics” like me. I was pleasantly surprised to find just such a product show up at my door recently. Black & Decker sent over their 500 AMP Jump-Starter with Inflator to review.
Let me just say, this is one heck of a handy product and one similar to it saved my bacon while I was out in a Ferrari 348ts last year and it kept dying.
The Black & Decker Jump Starter is just that. It’s a jump starter that doesn’t require you to have another vehicle available to start a car with a dead battery. You hook up the heavy duty jumper cables to the dead battery, give it a minute and let er rip.
A couple of other cool features about this particular model is the included inflator. Very handy for car tires, bike tires, basketballs, soccer balls, etc. They even include a little compartment with a needle and some other adapters for the inflator. It’s got a built in pressure gauge. This model also has a built in area light that is very useful if you’re trying to hook up the unit on a car at night. Last little touch is a USB charger outlet. Helpful for juicing your electronics in a pinch.
The only thing I’ve found it won’t start is a completely dead battery. My neighbor’s son was over at their house for dinner one night last year. Something happened with his Porsche Cayman battery and it was completely dead when he came out. I think he hadn’t driven the car much in a month or two and it just slowly drained. The jump starter we used on it wouldn’t give it enough power to turn it over. Course neither did jumper cables connected to another vehicle.
Overall, I can’t say enough good about the Black & Decker Jump Starter and Inflator. Personally, I think every garage should have one. Even if you have newer cars. Just comes in handy, and you never know when.
Check em out on the Black & Decker site here: Black & Decker.
THose are great. I had an issue getting my car jumped once and the guy had to bring an engine with a hemi just to jump mine.