.... to get one on these for the little battery, pull the battery out and return to maplins for refund or replacement in order to keep the battery.

<<<<<< linky

only £24.99 - on sale until 26/01/2010

* Up to 400A cranking power
* 12V power supply output - ideal for spotlights, car vacuums, portable fridges etc.
* 100 PSI air compressor for inflating car and cycle tyres, inflatable toys etc.
* Unit houses a sealed 17Ah battery with meter to show battery charge
* Built-in light for emergencies
* Complete with heavy duty jump leads, mains power supply and car cigarette socket charging lead

I've got one for emergencies.. Got me out of trouble when I'd left something on all night! Also used to do the wiring on the 7 before I fitted the proper battery. brilliant.
Just buy one and don't nick the battery!

ehem that’s stealing

I had one and it was hopeless at jump starting and the pump was sooooo super slow at pumping tyres up

will go and buy one although i do not urgently need it to keep it in my car.

Ive used mine to start my leyland roadrunner (7.5 tonne truck). The compressor is very slow, but for 1 tyre its faster than filling my mains compressor, running out the air lines and putting it all away again!
Regards
Hugh

For that money I'd just buy one and keep it as well - in fact I might just do that

These are absolutely brilliant - I've had one for years & both compressor & starter facilities have helped me (& neighbours!) out on a number of occasions.

I had one of these and it was pants. I think its one of these things where if its cheap its crap.

If it's anything like the one I have they use cheap gel batteries which really aren't up to anything more than the odd jump start as they are simply not designed to provide the kinds of currents required. They also have quite specific charging requirements which is why you'll probably find an electronic charging circuit inside these jump start packs.

I was given one of these, and I now know why!

I had troubles with the Discovery not starting last winter, so I put the booster in the back in case I needed it to save me having to scrounge a jump-start from someone at work when it wouldn't start to take me home. Just to make sure it was topped-up, I put the cigarette lighter adaptor in on the way in to work, and within around 2 minutes, I smelt something getting rather hot, turned out to be the charger cable melting before my eyes

Also, the damn thing never seemed to hold it's charge for long anyhow. So now it sits in the garage taking up space (not sure why)

Wouldn't even entertain starting my Xantia HDI, it's as if it wasn't attached, although it does run my car radio in my cellar for weeks, also good for charging things like sat-navs etc.

I had one of them pile of crap. wouldnt start a 1.2 fiesta. and the battery went after about 6 months.

But i do know people that use them to run camping fridges etc off them with no trouble.

[Edited on 15/1/10 by Danozeman]

we have a snap on one and its great, but needs constant charging....good for when you want to swap a battery and not loose your radio code.....

some mixed opinions there.

IMO if you need a jump started then fix the cause of the problem i.e. replace the battery. I do have a wee battery charger from Argos that will do me; was more interested in using the battery in the kit car (for free!! ) but I am aware that batteries are designed for a purpose so this one may not be idea lfor starting car on regular basis.

nice colour though, innit?

We have the Clarke one with no pump in it. This is our second one and the first lasted 7 years used regularly as a camping battery as well. Don't let the battery discharge too much and charge it up every month it will last ages.

just bought one off eBay, slightly more expensive but has a claimed 900amp cranking power and has 3x 12v fag lighter type sockets and 2 worklights built in
(thought it would be handy for charging stuff and the occasional jump start)

Its been on charge for 24 hours and barely has enough power to light the 2 worklights when I tested to see if it was even charging

Will leave it on charge a further 24 hours to see if it has gained any more power before declaring it a useless toy

Paranoid as to how long it has taken to muster enough current to dimly light 2 poxy little bulbs and not giving much hope for it being able to turn an engine over ...even with spark plugs removed!
(manual does say to give it 48 hours to 72 hours first charge so maybe I'm jumping the gun)
I always thought letting a battery drain right down was a really bad thing to do, but it seems that is how they are shipped, unless I'm being fobbed off by the seller?

Regards
Rob

The chargers supplied with the cheap jump packs are poxy little things that would barely have enough grunt to charge a mobile phone. The Clarke one takes at least 4 days of continuous charging from flat, so now I just clip my battery conditioner (which is suitable for Gel batteries) straight onto the croc clips to charge it.

My Snap on one has just packed up after nearly 10 years of constant use .

Optimate III now plugged direct to croc clips
It really wants to delsulphate the battery
Not sure if I should?

Had it plugged into a 14.4 23amp capable PSU for 2 days, so no excuse for it not yet to be man enough to light the 2 poxy lights yet
(voltage not gone above 11 volts)

Have filled in the eBay return form thingy to see if the seller is willing to do a full refund
Wishing I had got the Maplins one now :-(

You have u2u Greg