Why Jumpstarters are now leaving people stranded

I'm still waiting on why jumpstarters are NOW leaving people stranded.

My car makes itself a nuisance with these, if you use one, it sets off the car alarm @#$%&*

MISLEADING!
Nobody that spends that kind of money won't read the INSTRUCTIONS.

Don’t all NOCO Jump-starters have an Override mode?

Also be warned, double and triple check your connections, because the override generally also removes all of the safety features.

Good PSA.

You know it has a sticker that says it will start diesels up to 6.OH liter, no it won't start big trucks, it's not rated for what you showed a pic of lol.

I have a fairly old Anker one and I'm not sure it has a boost feature. What I do if it doesn't detect the battery being low enough is I turn on my headlights and that always activates it since it pulls the charge down low enough.

I'm not buying another battery jump starter without actually seeing the battery cells inside and verifying the claimed battery capacity AmpHr rating with a dummy load first. Allot of companies keep printing whatever you want to see on the label (50 million Jolts) especially when it comes to rechargeable batteries and most people never test the stuff or only test it in ideal conditions when they don't really need them, then forget about it. Months later, in the dead of winter they are greeted with an unpleasant surprise and by that time return period is over, Hulk-man brand long gone and forgotten, replaced by yet another fly by brand Trex-MEGATRON jump pack. Tow truck drivers who use them keep several of these battery packs continuously plugged but nowadays I've seen them switch to Ultracapacitor Jumper packs. PS: If your battery voltage is reading 0 volts, you shouldn't be driving with that battery even if you were able to jump start it.

No! No more battery based jump starters for me. Ultra Capacitors are the way forward. Those jump starter batteries lose charge, they are overrated in their capacity claims, and dangerous. Whenever I needed one, either battery was swollen up damaged or had no charge because I forget the maintenance charge, or it was too cold and the output capacity dropped due to freezing weather. Got myself an ultra capacitor based jump starter with override feature, and I'm extremely happy with it.

The Hulkman is amazing. It has saved me many times...

On the backside of the Hulkman is a little trouble shooting guide that explains a bunch of different scenarios and what to do for each.

The NOCO brand of chargers has an override button. That disables all the smart stuff. If you're sure you've hooked up the cables correctly, hit the button and enjoy your start.

I've never heard of Hulkman. It's not sold in the stores I visit. But thanks for the rant suggesting "all" chargers have this "problem."

Not all engines need a battery. Many have magnetos

That is why they give you an instruction sheet to read it is not just packing in the package

I just replace my battery often

Its not the jumpstarter that leaves people stranded , its their negligence that do it . I have never needed a jumpstarter in my life , because i look after my car .

Great video, good to know. We have "Gooloo" battery jumpers in all 3 of our vehicle and all have been used (with one being having been used around 50 times now as I use it at work as well). They do have a "boost" button, though it's not always required to depress to work. Usually as soon as the cables are properly placed, "ready" is displayed. I did have a couple occasions where "ready" wasn't on the screen and I had to press that boost button. It would be followed by a click, but it seems like it's coming from the unit itself. Each time, the jumper started the vehicle immediately afterwards.

I always wondered why that was there and now I know.

I have a booster and there is an "override" button on it. Most times if i connect booster i need to press it in order to start teh car.

newer cars can't even be used to jump start another car.

It's so stupid I have the same problem with more modern remote control car chargers.

The reason for the boost it gives the battery a small enough charge so the booster can sense the voltage and the car can start. There needs to be a small buffer voltage on the battery so when the car starts the alternator dose not fry the battery the battery will have a small buffer of voltage.

My NOCO has a boost override button. It's also a few years old.

just don't leave it in the rain

None of the Richardson commercial grade jump starters have these BS problems. Indeed, the handheld JB12HD will start anything which uses a 12V battery. It is zero degrees out and you have a 20 liter diesel engine? No problem.

My Audew (which was highly rated when popular a few years ago by project farm) has a button simply labeled boost. If the light is green, no need to press, if it's off, press boost, and then start the car.

So people just don’t read the directions? Lol

OMG! I think I tossed a totally good jump starter because when I needed it, it didn’t work. I had a totally flat battery. Better find the manual for my new one!

My noco has a button

I find the jumpers batteries go dead just sitting in my trunk

Just goes to show you why reading the manual is important. Especially when it has anything to do with electricity.

My cheap Chinese made booster works better and is probably much cheaper.

never had any issues with these jumpers. just make sure they are charged every 3 months and you should be set

Oooo... I bought this sort of device a couple of months ago and I don't think it has the boost mode on it. I guess that limits its usefulness.

The VTOMAN X1 actually has a simple BOOST button and is by far the best in my experience. They offer course want you to try it normally first, but if no luck, just press Boost and you’re good to go. Plus it’s also a tire inflator (and computer duster / cleaner in my case).

the boost mode depends on the model; my "topdon" Jumpstarter had such a "boost" - switch - so it is easy to use it. by such models, who don't have one, there were sort of a label or a "quick start guide" near that booster a big help. but: the "older" jump-Starters, who aren't that handy will do flawlessy the job - 'cause they're not "outsmarting" the user, 'cause these are mostly just a battery, a big Switch and the cables - and no "electronics". but even that can be problematic - 'cause the "voltage spark" when using them can destroy the engine control unit - and that's not happening with the "smart" starters.

It does a great job of telling you what to do on the back of the unit. I have had these type of jumpers for year, and they have always bailed me out.

Read The Fine Manual.

It doesn't "do nothing but beep at you" it gives you an error code and you flip the device over and it tells you exactly what to do written in plain english....

Thanks for the video. Now I know what to do if my battery is totally dead.

Problems with these is the heat in the car kills the batteries.
Just like laptops should not be left in cars that reach oven temperatures.

A pair of jumper leads are still great to have as you can connect to any car near you.

Had a jump starter only to find that the 3 internal lithium ion batteries had overheated and expanded. So lucky they hadn't caught fire. When I had to use it it failed. Not buying another one.

This is the PERFECT kind of click bait. It grabbed my attention and I learned something useful Thank you sir 🙏

So, read the directions. Got it. (there are other brands with a boost mode evident)

The reason they do this is because these use lithium batteries which are capable of dumping a lot of current in a short space. If you were to turn the booster on before you connected it to the battery, and the two terminals touched each other, they would at a minimum create a spark which can be dangerous in some instances, and could potentially weld themselves together causing the batteries to discharge way faster than intended due to a short, and then catch fire.

That’s why they want to first sense voltage. Because if they can sense voltage it means it is connected to a battery and there’s no risk of shorting.

The override mode removes all the safety measures and turns the booster into a dedicated, powerful but small 12v battery for your car.

You can actually start your car without your battery connected using one of these things, it’s pretty cool! Although doing so might damage some of the modules

Supercondensator is way better 🎉

I don't have one but finding out about this was enlightening. Something to remember. Never would have thought about a battery needing to put out some voltage for the jumpstarter to work. That would have been most frustrating to find out on a dark and stormy night with a dead battery.

buy the ones with the boost mode on the LEADS.
then its a simple matter of chopping the stupid thing OFF so you have full power at the clips, 24/7.

otherwise you open them up and bypass everything. i hate flashing lights and beeping beepers and having to press buttons as every single one seems to have a different system.

the only thing wrong with my cheap one is the lab pup went and chewed the clip off so now its a nuisance as i have to hold the bare wire on to the terminal. heh heh heh, it nibbled him back though! he aint chewing on leads again... just as well, dont want him chewing on EXTENSION LEADS.

not so bad on a motorbike. just turn the ignition on and touch the starter motor terminal... in fact thats pretty well much the default method i take on any engine. if i can reach the starters positive terminal, bypass everything again!

the less "middlemen" in my life, the BETTER!

Noco has a boost button. That one you got there almost looks like a rip off of their box. It might be the other way around though.

If your battery is at actual zero volts it be broken...

um becoause its a 10k lipo pack is all it is it can jump maybe 5 times before its gone.. the circuts in them cant handle the 300 amps a car needs and it really does nothing... there worthless.... get a normal battery a nbew one brace it down in your trunk so it dont fly around and jumper cables then you can swap the battery or use it to jump your car.. these are really garbage the only jumper boxes are the ones mechanics use they are way more expensive use a 20 ah battery and are heavy.. i jkeep a full battery in my car at all times with 10mm wrench and 12mm wrench i can just swap it out etc.. and at 3 years replace all batteries even if you didnt use it..