I've decided it's about time I bought an all-in-one jump starter with tyre pump, etc for the garage. Something like this one...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-5-1-POWER-STATION-200-WATT-INVERTOR-NEW-/270744194267?pt=UK_SportsLeisure_Camping_LightsLanternsTorches&hash=item3f099c8cdb

It's going to be the tyre inflation feature that will get used the most (as I seem to have an ever increasing number of tyres on my driveway  ::) :-X)

I don't want to spend a fortune, but want something that's going to work when I need it too!

Your recommendations please...  :y

If you want it for inflating tyres, make sure the one you get:

a) Has an automatic shut-off at 'desired pressure'
b) Has a useful pressure gauge

The Halfords one I bought has a gauge that reads from 0-120psi, so it's practically impossible to tell the difference between 25psi and 40psi as the lines are practically one.. and it takes an age to pump a tyre up :-/ which is doubly annoying when you need to stand over it!

Unlike the ones cigarette lighter powered ones I have which shut off at the set pressure - although I keep having to take the lighter plugs apart to clean the contacts inside or the resistance builds up due to corrosion and they stop working :-/

Beware of some, I have a Halfords one and it will not work on dead electrics, you must have some power for it to 'Jump Start' a car, so imho pretty crap really. I have had others that worked on a totally flat battery, all been cheap and chearful and failed at an early stage, so my advice would be to buy something up market... :y

Buy a good quality one.I dont want to borrow some old tat. :D ;D ;D

Very few of them will start a dead car IME. I once borrowed a small professional one from a garage when I got stranded with a completely flat battery. They didn't have a clue when it was last charged and I was amazed that it went. Then again, it was a good brand and probably quite expensive.

If starting a car with one of these, connect it directly across the battery and let it rest for a minute or two before charging. Some charge will migrate to the vehicle battery during this time and you won't be up against the relatively high resistance of the battery pack on its' own.

At the consumer end of the market I would wait until they're on special offer at Maplins. Got one for 20 quid a few years back. It will get a car started if the battery is just a little weak and they all have fairly cheap no-name lead acid batteries in them, whether 20 quid or 70 quid. If the battery fails replace with a decent branded one and you will have a much better chance. If anything the cheaper ones won't have cheap and nasty circuitry to detect a reverse connection so it's less resistance in series with the output and less to go wrong.

Ditto the compressors. They are all cheap and nasty, IMHO, having said that mine copes fine with glider tyres (60PSI) and it's very handy being self-contained. A sensible pressure gauge would be nice, though, but no gauge on this type of kit is ever accurate enough anyway so always double check with a proper gauge.

Vamps wrote on 20. Sep 2011 at 23:44:

Beware of some, I have a Halfords one and it will not work on dead electrics, you must have some power for it to 'Jump Start' a car, so imho pretty crap really. I have had others that worked on a totally flat battery, all been cheap and chearful and failed at an early stage, so my advice would be to buy something up market... :y

The Halfrauds ones that detect reverse connection won't touch a dead battery as they don't activate the outputs until they see a voltage across them of the correct polarity.

Mine is one of these:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/portable-jump-starter-and-air-compressor-49038

Now discontinued at Maplins but you'll still find them elsewhere.  Buy at 20 quid and see how it goes. Get a good quality replacement battery for 40 quid if it's no use. You've still spent 60 quid and you'll be better off than a "better" 60 quid jump start IMHO.

Oh, and the chargers are generally rubbish too so I charge mine on my C-tech.

I have a Snap-on jump pack which is 4-5 years old and will still start most things,it was a tad expensive though but I suppose good value against the cheap ones which are dead in 12 months :y

I got a Halfrauds portable power pack about 6 years ago.

200 watt invertor
Couple of strip lights built into the end.
12 volt output ( fag lighter socket )
A deicent compressor to pump your tyres  / airbed up with.
Jump leads for the flat ish battery note, it needs at least 3 volts left in the car battery to throw the relay in the pack.

It has started the Mig when the car batterys been that flat it struggled to open the door locks  :o

I've dropped it of roofs, out of the back of my car and left it outside in the rain / snow for 2 days and the bugger still works  ;D ;D

Got to admit its well worth the 80 quid I spent on it and I would get another  :y :y

I'd recommend one of the Clarke ones. I've had mine for 9 years now and its never let me down and my dads  had one for 7 years in very regular use to jump  an old merc 2.5d motor home and had no problems. If and when mine packs up I won't hesitate to get another(even though I don't know if the new ones are as good).
Hth
Lee

henryd wrote on 21. Sep 2011 at 09:17:

I have a Snap-on jump pack which is 4-5 years old and will still start most things,it was a tad expensive though but I suppose good value against the cheap ones which are dead in 12 months :y

Yep, my Snap off one is over 10 years old now. Only downside is that it doesn't hold it's charge like it used to (would last 20+ starts even after sitting for a few weeks). Now needs regular charging.

I must take it apart and see if I can get some replacement batteries for it actually as it may well be coming into regular use again soon ;)

lee4206 wrote on 21. Sep 2011 at 10:15:

I'd recommend one of the Clarke ones. I've had mine for 9 years now and its never let me down and my dads  had one for 7 years in very regular use to jump  an old merc 2.5d motor home and had no problems. If and when mine packs up I won't hesitate to get another(even though I don't know if the new ones are as good). Hth Lee

new stuff is junk like alot of there stuff.
mine never made it past six months.

I got mine from Costco, has 240v 3 pin output on the back. It did break after 3 years but they replaced it no hassle. I find their stuff is good quality

I got my first pack from Maplins when it was on offer. It had a light + air compressor + cig socket on it.

Think I managed to use it to start my 1.8 Vectra 3-4 times, and then it gave up... The air compressor was DOA (I lost the receipt, and since I have an airline in the garage, couldn't be bothered taking it back). These typically use a 12v 17ah sealed lead acid battery (often found in computer/server mains backup units). I was going to replace the cheap crap with a decent battery, but never got round to it.  :-X

On the other hand, I've just been given a second hand pack from Ray (met him on here!) and it started the Omega week before last - the car struggled to unlock!  :o The thing which really surprised me was the size of the battery inside the pack - it was only a 12v 10ah battery! Which is bugger all! To say I was impressed would be an understatement  ;D