No matter how experienced the driver is, but no one is insured against the situation when the car battery suddenly discharges. In fact, there may be many reasons for such trouble. It is difficult to predict in advance when the battery will need to be recharged.
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It is for such emergency situations that special gadgets – jumper starters – have been developed. This is a compact and very useful device, which has been increasingly used recently by motorists. So what is it, what is it used for, and how does this small device work? Let us tell you about it in order.
What is a jump starter?
A jumper starter is a portable, self-contained starter charger (ROM). It has a small size, they are called boosters. The purpose of a jumper starter is to start the car engine in an emergency if the battery suddenly stops performing its functions due to discharge.
They do not need an electrical connection and help to start the car without recharging the starter battery. Their main feature is that they come with their own built-in rechargeable batteries.
The main power source in such devices is lithium-polymer (Li-Pol) batteries. They are more productive when compared to lithium-ion (Li-Ion) batteries.
This makes it possible to achieve high starting currents enough to start the motor with a small size of the device itself. The models offered by the manufacturers are capable of delivering currents from 200 to 600 A, which is quite a weighty figure. Such a device can easily cope with the start of any motor.
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Rules for the use of autonomous starting chargers for engine startup
To connect to the car battery, each booster has a set of special wires with contacts like “crocodile”. When using these devices, it is important to follow the same safety rules and techniques as when working with classical chargers and starting chargers.
The procedure for starting the motor is as follows:
- Connect the jumper starter to the on-board power supply of the machine with a discharged battery, while observing the polarity. Connect the crocodiles strictly “plus” to “plus”, “minus” to “minus”.
- After connecting the device in parallel with the car battery, the device must be switched on.
- Now you can start the engine.
- Once the process has been completed successfully, disconnect the starter charger, and carefully disconnect the terminals from the contact terminals.
When using this type of ROM you must be careful as you have to deal with high currents. For example, when starting a very frozen motor, or when trying to start a powerful motor for which the device is not designed, the jump starter may light up, melt or even explode. Thus, always read the instructions and follow the manufacturer’s standards.
Ability to charge other devices
The peculiarity of the jumper starters is that, in addition to working with car batteries and starting the motor, you can use them to power many other electronic devices. Such multifunctionality determines the demand for this type of device on the market.
Almost every booster is supplied with extra wires and special adapters to ensure uninterrupted operation and restore the battery capacity of almost any modern gadget and a variety of tools. In particular, they can be used to charge tablets, cell phones, laptops, navigators, video recorders; power the power tool: drills, impact wrenches, pumps, and so on.
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In what situations will a jump starter help?
There are actually many reasons why a car battery can let you down. But if the driver has a portable stand-alone starter charger with him, any problems can be solved quickly. For example, a jumper starter will be useful in the following situations:
- The car owner has left the car for a long time in the open parking lot. This is due to such a phenomenon as self-discharge. Overnight, of course, the battery will not discharge, but after a week of downtime, the capacity loss may be significant, which may cause disruptions when trying to start the engine.
- Suddenly, the frost started and the battery was already in a partially discharged state. At low temperatures, the battery loses its capacity very quickly and in the morning it is likely that the frozen motor will no longer start without extra help.
- The driver was inattentive and left the parking lights on all night. Naturally, when the engine is switched off, the headlamps will use up all the battery capacity and will not have enough power to start the engine.
- There are many consumers on the car that are not provided for in the original equipment of the vehicle. For example, the car alarm system, video recorder, seat heating, and many others. All of these devices constantly draw some of the energy from the battery, which can lead to its rapid and frequent discharging and inability to start the engine in normal, normal mode.
This is by no means the whole list of possible situations in which the jumper starter can be used successfully. Thus, to be always ready for surprises, you should buy such a device in advance.