Wootalyzer's Pricing Post! - The price of today's woot item is saved here for future reference
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ACDelco Plug-2-Go Car to Car Charging System - 2 Pack
$7.99 + $5 Shipping
Condition: New

Product List:
- 2 Sun-Mate 829 Plug-2-Go Car to Car Charging System

*DISCLAIMER* Wootalyzer! is in no way affiliated with Woot!, and this post may not always be here!

This beats jumper cables by a mile. Easy to carry and easy to use.

PEACE

$15.26 over at amazon

Again...or didn't these say PEAK on them last time?

So I can use jumper cables and start my car instantly/in 1-2 minutes, or wait 10-40 minutes?

Great.

here's the product website

Previous woot of similar item. Doesn't look so good. Seem like it's not time to throw the jumper cables out yet.

http://www.woot.com/blog/viewentry.aspx?id=11197

I'm not sure how well these would work to replace jumper cables. Jumper cables seem to be a sure fire way to get your car moving again while this a hit or miss.

So if you use BOTH of them together can you get going in 5-20min instead of 10-40min?

At least this one doesn't call itself a "jump starter" like the last one offered, and has realistic time estimates. Still, who wants to run their engine (preferably a little above idle) for half an hour for a dead battery? This is best for starting small cars that can still crank the engine over.

How fast do they charge compared to a home charger?

Manufacturer Website!

If these things work so well, why do most people still use jumper cables?

Normally when ones battery is dead, they find out when they're wanting to...you know...go somewhere.

Good idea in theory (not really)...but I'd take regular jumper cables any day.

1-2 minutes vs 30-40 minutes


no brainer in my opinion

Zero to 14 amps??? 14amps you'll fry the wire no problemo.

Wait, wha? So would I be correct in assuming, then, that if you were stranded on the road and a stranger who didn't happen to own jumper cables pulled up along side of you and offered help, he would just drive off unless he's willing to wait 30 minutes while you *charge your battery*? This is a better option than jumping with jumper cables why?

KoraPlaya wrote:How fast do they charge compared to a home charger?

About as fast as a typical small home charger. Much more slowly than one with an 'instant start' feature.

just buy a manual trans and bump start it

Does it takes half an hour to jump start a car with a dead battery? OR does it just take half an hour to charge a cars dead battery?

This would be a fine time to point out that Woot spelled backwards is "Toow."

Coincidence? I think not.

Electrohacker wrote:just buy a manual trans and bump start it

T W S S

I would like to know if anyone has ever used them and if they really work...

"Takes about 20 to 30 minutes to charge a dead battery in most cases"

If you're a driver who would otherwise wait an hour for AAA, this seems acceptable. However, that's pretty lousy for everyone else. A jumper cable will do that same job in 1/20th to 1/30th the time.

Is there any risk of seriously damaging your cigarette lighter socket or even your battery if thing fails?

If the fuse in your cigarette lighter or power jack is smaller than 15 Amps than the unit will fail to function.

My Ford Focus has a 15 Amp fuse.

Seriously close to worthless unless you own 2 cars and you're willing to waste the gas running the one with a decent battery for half an hour -- nobody's ever going to sit around waiting that long.

A better idea is to spend the 30 minutes driving to the department store and buying (real) jumper cables. I mean, even swapping batteries, starting the car, then swapping back is faster than this thing (and yes, that works).

Unless you are incapable of hooking up + to + and - to -, there's really no reason to buy these. Don't make my mistake. I wouldn't even give this thing to Hitler.

I think you will die of old age waiting for this thing to charge up your battery.

lot of outlets need the key to be switched on in order to electrically connect the the outlet to the battery. turning key on also turns on a lot of electric components in the "dead' car adding additional unnecessary drain on the dead battery. looks like this would take forever to work

SpkrBox850 wrote:Does it takes half an hour to jump start a car with a dead battery? OR does it just take half an hour to charge a cars dead battery?

To charge the battery just enough to get it started.

I'm keeping my jumper cables and backup battery. That hooks to the battery.

It seems like a decent idea, but jumper cables really are a better option, and much faster too.

If I came across someone with a dead battery and they had this thing, I would not want to wait 40 minutes while they charged their car off of mine. Especially if after 40 minutes, it turned out it wasn't the battery, but something else was wrong.

deafinoneear wrote:This is a better option than jumping with jumper cables why?

Does it ever rain in your neighborhood?

40 minutes from a dead battery. In what State, in what season?

I'm in Minnesota, where if you don't have actual jumper cables in your trunk, you deserve to freeze to death. And even in the cold, a dead battery can start after about 15 minutes on real cables. (cold means below 0 deg F, above that is picnic time)

I'm good with the 6AWG cables I already have, and my hood opens just fine. Maybe these will benefit some Texas people. Do batteries actually need jumping in 60 deg?

Androsity wrote:If these things work so well, why do most people still use jumper cables?

Summary: People still use jumper cables because they are faster. You can put a lot of current through those thick jumper cables. They can jump the car or charge it enough to start in 1-2 minutes.

Chargers that have to hook through the cigarete outlet are limited since they aren't designed to put a lot of current through them.

Jumper cables = big pipe
Chargers = small little pipe

(Yes, I'm aware of the limitations of the analogy. I'm trying to make it simple)

Well if nothing else it's a cool idea.

deafinoneear wrote: This is a better option than jumping with jumper cables why?

Probably safety as much as anything. Jumper cables (especially the 35 year old, 2 ga monsters that I have in my trunk) can generate tremendous current and voltage surges in either the jumper or jumpee vehicle depending on precisely how they're wielded, and can cause significant damage (including blowing up a battery) if wielded incorrectly, just based on the amount of current they can carry. Have it slip off the battery post when it's carrying 200 amps over to the other vehicle, and you can get a voltage surge from the alternator of up to 50 or more volts; running the risk of frying anything sensitive (Google "Alternator Load dump").

You realize that there are dozens to hundreds of different microprocessors in the average new car, right? You realize that a replacement ECU can be $1000-$2000 if you fry it, right? I took out the ECU and PATS modules (combined total: $1500) on my Ford Explorer just from a bad battery cable; the arcing and sparking it caused when I wiggled it trying to see what was wrong caused a spike that the electronics couldn't take.

Anyway, with the lower amperage possible here, the magnitude of voltage spike you could cause is almost insignificant. Limiting to 15 amps also means that you can easily put a fuse inline to solve any incorrect hookup problems.

Yes, You'd have to be patient. But, you're more likely to make it home with all your original hair than you are with bad-ass jumper cables.

If you get stuck with a dead battery one night and you have one of these, all you have to do is find someone with a running car who's willing to spend at least an hour charging your battery. It will probably take longer than an hour to get enough life in your battery to turn over your engine a few times. Unless you're a young and very pretty woman, you may be in for a very long night...alone!

good in thought. bad execution. well most cars have at least a 15 amp fuse for the cig lighter almost half of them now adays are not powered unless the key is in the on position ...... having the key in the on position and not running in newer vehicles creates about a 10 to 12 amp load.... which would use up almost everything these things put out. not my idea of an effective way to get a car charged up enough to start.

Seems like a good idea. In for one, wish me luck!

i'm not claiming to have read about this thing but judging by the wire gage it should jump start a car in about 3 days


"30 minutes in most cases"? come on people......think before you buy.

You're better off calling AAA. It will cost you less in the long run.