JUMP PACKS

you service. Do you primarily receive calls for roadside assistance related to passenger vehicles? Or, do you also handle heavy-duty vehicles? This first question is critical in determining which class of products makes the most sense for you.

If your focus is primarily passenger vehicles, we would say that you should look for a unit (or units) with an effective starting power of 400 amps or greater. What do we mean by effective starting power? For conventional lead acid jump starters, we are referring to Cranking Amps (CA), which means how much power can a battery deliver in 32˚F temperature for 30 seconds and have a terminal voltage of ≥7.2V (at the end of 30s). CA is a very specific, very defined term that means the same thing for everyone.

Contrast this rating with Peak Amps, which is the real or theoretical maximum amperage potential power available from a battery. In essence, this really could mean anything, which should be a concern – as we like to say, Peak Amps don’t start vehicles. So, for lead acid units, your gold standard is CA or CCA.

For lithium jump starters, most units feature safety circuits that prevent them from delivering power for an extended period such as 30 seconds, rendering the CA rating unrealistic in most cases. But this shouldn’t mean that you can’t get an effective power rating when evaluating these units. Here at Clore, we developed a rating related to our non-lead acid jump starters that we call Start Assist Amps (SAA). The only difference between CA and SAA is the time duration of the rating. SAA means how much power can a battery deliver in 32˚F temperatures for 4 seconds and have a terminal voltage of ≥7.2V. This duration well exceeds the length of both gasoline and diesel engine starting cycles, which average about 0.6s and 1.3s respectively.

With lithium units in particular, it is common to find disembodied amp ratings, meaning that an amp rating is offered, but not explained or defined or even given a name. So, the package or advertising might say 2000A, but there is no way to know what this actually means. The easiest assumption is that this is a Peak Amp rating, but it is not called out as such. We’d say that makes such a rating/statement questionable in the first place and also remind the reader that Peak Amps don’t start vehicles.

For heavy-duty jump starting tasks, the power requirement goes up, but how much it goes up will vary based on the class and type of equipment you need to start. That makes it difficult to provide a general rule of thumb like we can with passenger vehicle service, but we’d say that 700 CA is the power floor that is needed for jump starting larger equipment (and the actual need could be much higher). As noted earlier, we make units with output as high as 1800 CCA to start the largest equipment out there.

Separate from raw starting power, another factor to consider is how many jump starts do you expect to perform in a typical day. If you expect to perform one or two jumps a day, that probably doesn’t need to be factored into your power equation. If you expect to perform more than 10 starts per day, you should probably add that into your equation as you evaluate possible units and potentially upgrade to a higher capacity unit with greater reserve capacity to compensate for your expected frequent usage (which will, over time, deplete the jump starter’s energy capacity).

Convenience is Key in a Busy Tow Operation

Another aspect that gets a lot of attention in jump starter conversations is convenience. This could be related to several different features (or lack thereof), but in tow operator discussions, cable length, weight, charging time/method and cable/clamp management are usually the key features discussed in this area.

Cable length is a big one. How much do you need? It again comes down to the types and sizes of vehicles you expect to service, but longer is almost always better. Extra-long cables mean you can reach the starting points on virtually any vehicle and, often times, are able to set unit on the ground (vs the radiator shroud, for instance) and still make your connections. For this feature, lead acid almost always beats out lithium. For instance, our JNC770 and JNCAIR units have 68” cable reach, which is almost unheard of on lithium units. Even relatively pedestrian lead acid cable lengths (22”-46”) would be considered long on lithium units. That said, our JNC345 lithium jump starter boasts 40” cable reach, which is very impressive for a lithium model.

Weight is another critical convenience factor. Opposite to cable length, lithium units have the clear advantage in this category and it’s not really close. The energy density of lithium batteries is much greater than that of lead acid batteries. That enables them to deliver more power from the same size or roughly equivalent power from a more compact, lighter weight package.

Charging time / charging method is another factor to consider when looking at jump starters. What is the charging rate (amps) in comparison to the total battery capacity (amp hours) of the unit? For instance, our JNC770 models feature a 3A fast charger to charge the internal 22Ah battery. So, if the unit is 40% discharged, it would take only ~4.5 hours to bring it back to full charge. Charge method is also important. It is expected that, in 2024, all units would have automatic charging that prevents overcharge, but where/how that charger is engaged is worth consideration. For instance, most of our lead acid JumpN-Carry units feature built in chargers, so in essence, they can never get lost. Something worth considering. Finally, there’s the question of cable/ clamp management. It really helps, in terms of convenience, to have an easy, usable method of cable management and storage. Like cable length, this is an area where lead acid units still lead the way. They are much more likely to incorporate cable management into their design and the cable management is more likely to be usable and helpful. That’s a key thing to watch for if cable management is important to you. Many units make a half-hearted attempt to address this and end up with a system that is never used once the cables are first wound for the initial jump start after taking it out of the box. Cable management is also important for unit longevity, since secure cables are more protected and less likely to experience damage during transit and storage.

What Are Your Durability/ Longevity Expectations

The final factor that is almost universally included in our discussions with tow operators is unit durability and expectations for longevity. Tow Operations are one of the more extreme use cases seen by a jump starter, based on the frequency of use and the challenging jump starting situations encountered. So, it makes sense that this is a critical concern. Here, it makes sense to look at what is working for your peers, either in discussions or by checking review/retail websites.