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I purchased this with the purpose in mind of using it as a portable power source for things like when I go camping it can provide power for lights, an air mattress inflator, etc. The battery rating of "18 amp/hour" tells you it should be able to run something drawing ~18 amps for 1 hour, 9 amps for 2 hours, etc. I've even tried using it to power a small inflatable boats trolling motor for over an hour and it didn't drain it, but I mainly kept the motor on the low setting (using ~8 amps, high would use ~15 amps but I used that only ~10 minute of the time I was out).
Note: New units are out with a digital display of battery level showing % of charge (instead of LEDs) and has the charge unit built in (with no "charge port"), so the things I've said about those items may have changed if you're ordering one now. The current pictures show the old one, the new one has the main switch for the cables on the front panel.
The only issue I've had with my unit (why I dropped 1 star) is for charging it, I've had to send power thru the lighter outlet or main jumper cables. The red LED indicating "charging" comes on with it plugged in to their "charge port", but after leaving it plugged in for an hour there was no increase in voltage. I connected up a charger to the other places and instantly saw "12.75V, 12.76, 12.77, etc" (about at the same rate you can say those numbers out loud) showing it was actually charging (and FYI I still used a 500mA charger like they provide, not a 10amp or such). Also the switch for the outlets didn't turn them off, but they pass power fine. Update Dec 2012: I got the guts to open up the case and on the back of the circuit board, I saw a line of solder going across the switch terminals for the "power outlet" switch. I'm 99% sure that shouldn't have been there, so popped it off and now the switch turns off the outlets. Still not sure about the charge issue though and didn't want to risk breaking the circuit board trying to dig too deep. I've since got another of these (but the model with the air compressor) for my sister and it accepts a charge thru the "charge port" normally, so it seems a random problem.
For older units, the battery indicator LEDs come on as follows:
While something's in the "charge jack" (to tell the unit that you're charging it) the red LED shows with under 12.75V, the yellow LED shows for 12.75-13.1V, a green LED shows for 13.1-13.5V and 2 green LEDs show for over 13.5. If nothing is connected to that "charge jack" (hinting you're draining the battery) the red LED shows for under 11.6V, the yellow shows for 11.6-11.9V, a green is on for 11.9-12.25V and double green show for over 12.25V. Those make sense to me because 13-14V is fully charged and what you want to measure while charging, yet down in that 12.5-11.5 area is what you want to measure while draining.
This has a switch for the main "jumper cables" that eliminates arcing as you hook them up and it allows the unit to have a "reverse connection alarm". That alarm sounds if you hook them up backwards before you turn it on (and should prevent an explosion that could result). Without the switch, you can't have that alarm and you can't "turn off" those cables (a review of another unit without a switch says "a fire started in my car since the cables are always on and touched each other"). That switch may add a bit of resistance during a jump start and another step to remember to do, but those safety features are good to consider as well.
As far as it living up to it's title of "jump starting" a car, I have doubts. Just like this battery is ~1/3 the size/weight of a car battery, you won't get but about that much power from it (and the labels like "450 amp" or "900 peak amp" are just a big salesman lie to make it sound big). My proof is from connecting up a 100 amp battery tester to it freshly charged, the battery drops to 9.5V under that load for 5 seconds (and that power draw is close to what a small car starter needs). I was taught in shop class that a car battery should keep 10.5V under 1/2 it's CCA load, so this doesn't pass as even a 200 Cold Crank Amp (so how do they get "450"?).
Update Oct-2012: I tried starting my Ford Festiva (4 cyl) with this alone on a morning with it ~40 degrees out (disconnecting the car battery to partly simulate a dead one). It did start it, but the starter was slow just barely being able to crank it. I tested my car battery the next morning and it's labeled as 500cca, but passed as only a 200cca (showing I need to replace it soon). After doing that test I started the car and didn't notice anything abnormal (with the starter going much better than on the Peak unit alone, even after the drain from the test).
The cars battery condition will also play a big role in whether or not this can "boost" you enough to get you going. If a cars battery is pretty weak (like from leaving your lights on while you went to a movie for 2 hours) but can still provide some power, this can give you some extra power and has a fair chance of getting you going. But if a cars battery is fully drained (like from leaving lights on all night long) and you hook this up to the fully "dead" battery, the dead battery will instantly start "stealing" power (to recharge itself) & probably drain this before you can even get from the hood to the driver seat to start the car. In that situation I doubt you'll get started without another full size car battery or a charging source for 20+ minutes (an a/c charger or car & jumper cables).
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Features are good. Materials are bad.Zipper bag to hold accessories is brilliant. Everything worked well when I got it. It has plenty of power and stays charged for months at a time.
However, after owning it for about a year, and keeping it in the house it has started to fall apart. The air hose is weather checked and will be cracked through soon. The battery clips are plastic with metal inserts. While the clip was attached to a battery, it broke. Unit is nearly useless until I get a new set of clip leads. This unit is better than many models sold at auto parts stores, but it still falls short of a durable, reliable item.
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