Ill give you the good news first. This item will spin my 430cc high-compression V8 like there's no tomorrow, and it will do it at least 5 times on one charge. It will hold a fresh charge for three months. It has a huge red digital readout that serves several purposes. It will let you know when you have a good connection to a car battery before you switch it on. It will let you know how much voltage it is providing, and it will tell you the charge state of its internal battery when it is in charge mode. There is also a warning if you cross up your leads. There is a cigarette lighter socket for 12V access.
Now for the bad news. First, you have to provide an extension cord, and, when you do, there's no place to store one of any length on the device. My advice is to buy the shortest single-socket 16AWG cord you can, and squeeze it onto one of the side hooks where the leads are stored. Otherwise expect to just leave the cord behind (probably the manufacturer's intent) or carry it separately. Second, while you can leave the charger plugged in full time without overcharging, there is a noisy fan that runs full time (and draws about 6 watts along with the display). Even if you charge it in your garage, you probably won't want to just plug it in and forget it for two years, because that fan will wear out sooner or later. At least it sounds like it will. (I wish they'd used a quieter fan of the type that comes on desktop computers.) Don't plan to store it in an unheated area in winter, because performance will suffer severely, although a sealed garage is probably warm enough in most climates. Finally, you can't use this thing as a charger to maintain a car's battery in the garage. It's not designed for that and won't allow it.
I'd like to make a couple of final points about battery-powered, jump-start devices in general. If your car's battery has failed catastrophically, meaning it's almost like a short circuit, you must disconnect one lead of the battery before using one of these. (Assuming your alternator is good, you can reconnect the battery once the car is running.) Otherwise, the bad battery will suck the charge out of the jump-starter. You may have encountered such situations with jumper cables, when you find you have to partially recharge the dead battery with a running car's alternator before you can start the car. This is the kind of thing that happens when you leave the lights on for a long time. It should not be the kind of thing that happens when you have tried to start the car and heard a clicking noise.
If your car's battery is dead because you've run it down while trying to start the car, you'll probably run the jump-starter down too. In fact, it will probably run down faster than your car's battery did, just because it's not as big. Don't blame the jump starter for either of these situations.
This jump-started does what it's supposed to do, and it is a good price. If you can live with the cord and the fan, and you don't ask it to perform miracles, you'll be happy with your purchase. Schumacher PSJ-2212 DSR ProSeries 2200 Peak Amps Jump Starter and Portable Power Unit
These units exceeded my expectations. They are dead easy to charge as you just plug an extension cord into the side of the unit (why didn't anyone else think of that). A clear digital indicator tells you the status of the charge. It even has a small cooling fan that runs during charging. We use these units for operating 12 VDC instruments in the field so we want a unit that will, at least, last all day. The jury is still out on this since few have been used yet but expectations are high.
This box sells for $300+ on the tool trucks, and is a professional class jump starter. You can crank a turbo diesel that has two batteries with this bad boy and not even make it sweat. Im giving it 5 stars even though you will have to buy an extension cord to charge it(because the jumper does not come with one). Any one in the automotive industry needs one of these in their shop.
I purchased 2 of these, one got plugged in and the other put into a closet for future use. The one I plugged in after 3 days became extremely hot and smelled up our entire building like rotten eggs. My initial thought was we over charged it until I read the label that says "keep plugged in, it cannot be over charged." Now Schumacher, National Tool Warehouse and Amazon tell me it is my responsibility to pay to ship it back for replacement......and I never used. Buyer beware
Bought this several months ago to jump start my 2002 BMW 330ci when the dumb owner (me) forgets to turn the interior light off after he's read the mail in the car/garage. I've owned several battery jump starters, none would do more than brighten the lights in the car. Click - click - click is all I would get.
Long story short - did a lot of research - don't need a battery charger with compressor, radio, toilet seat warmer, tazer, etc. This Schumacher jumps starts my completely dead battery without a hiccup. I couldn't be happier!
My only gripe is the vents on top of the unit - under those vents, clearly seen, is a circuit board of some sort. Perhaps this isn't an issue but, when it's raining outside, that board is going to get a couple drops of water.
Hope this review helps.
Cheers! - Jump Starter - Jump Start - Battery Booster - Battery Charger'
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