J5C09

This jumpstarter is absolutely amazing. I mean it. My car has had it's battery die on many occasions, due to a variety of circumstances. I have never had a problem with it in it's extensive use. Trust me, this thing takes a lot of abuse from me. It sits in my trunk 100% of the time, unsecured, in freezing cold temperatures, bounces around, and gets very frequent use (anywhere from daily use to once or twice a month). I bought it on November 6th 2014, and at the time of writing it is Febuary 2nd 2015. I haven't had it for long, but I have definitely used it more than anyone should have to use one of these. And it still works just fine. The cables and alligator clips seem very sturdy, as well as the materials used for the casing, handle, and various switches. It is very reliable. I would wager that it is more reliable than my car's actual, brand new (November 2014) battery. Now that we have it's sturdiness aside, I'm going to talk about it's performance as a jump-starter. Yes, it does come with some fancy frills, but let's be honest. None of those matter if it doesn't do it's intended job. However, that's not an issue at all, because it DOES do it's job, and it does it very well. My car is a 1988 Mazda RX-7. These have a lot of electrical problems, due to Mazda's poor soldering and 27 years of corrosion on the grounding points. My battery will every once in a while drain for some unknown cause, it leaves a circuit closed after turning it off or something. Even when the battery is 100% dead like this, this jumpstarter can crank out enough power to turn it on. If you try to turn the car on very quickly after connecting it (less than 10 seconds), it might not turn the motor over very quickly. However, if you wait just a few seconds, it cranks it over just as well as a fully charged battery. Basically, when the battery is 100% dead, it takes a couple seconds to build up some juice. Which is fine. Another thing, my car has a strange engine that is drastically different from any other car's engine (it has a rotary engine). These take a LOT of power to crank over. This jumpstarter is more than capable of turning it over. In the winter, it is a common phenomenon that the rotary engines have trouble starting even with their own factory battery, fully charged. They thick oil they use compounded with the high power necessary to start them renders them sometimes useless in the cold. In the winter, if the car doesn't want to start, I just pull this out, connect it, and it'll start faster than ever. It gives a significant boost to the battery, and lets the car start much faster than usual in conditions when it would normally not even start at all. Next, let's talk about charging, battery life, etc. It does not take long to charge at all. There are two ways to charge it, you can use a 12V DC "cigarette lighter" plug (included) and charge it in the car, and it also has an AC plug that you attach an extension cord (not included) to charge from a wall socket. I haven't used the car plug, I have only used an extension cord. It usually has a "green light" in a few hours or less. Granted, I have never fully drained it, I've come down to the first LED out of the 3 that indicate the charge level). This leads into another great thing about it. It can take a lot of use before it needs to be charged. I have had it for 3 months now, and I have charged it about 3 times. This may seem like a lot, but remember, I use it very, very frequently. I haven't actually counted how many times I can use it before I have to charge it. However, when it's very cold out, I use it almost every time I start the car. This shouldn't count as a "full jump" though, because my car battery is actually fully charged. I'd count it as a "partial jump" because it IS using power from the jump starter. It gives enough "extra power" to get the motor started. Doing this, I have never actually had the indicator drop below the green "fully charged" level (or whichever it was currently at). As for completely dead jumps, I tend to mix those in with the "partial jumps". I can't give exclusive data on that, because as is the case with jump starting, it occurs unexpectedly. However, I can definitely perform multiple completely dead jumps on a single charge. Sometimes a full jump won't even take it below the "fully charged" green LED indicator. Sometimes, it will drop down to the 2/3 level. If I had to take a guess, I'd say the jump starter would be able to jump my car (with a completely dead battery) reliably 3-5 times in a row before it can't do it anymore. Maybe even a bit more, if the car battery is not 100% dead, but doesn't have enough juice to either start the car or even turn it over. I have also used it extensively to turn the motor over without the goal of starting the car. Sometimes my car has problems that require turning the engine over without actually starting the car. If you're familiar with cars, I have to take out the spark plugs or fuel pump fuse and crank the engine over. When doing this, if I turn the key, the engine just makes the "brrrbrrrbrrrbrrr" noise but never starts. This kills my car's battery, so I hook up the jump starter once it's dead. Again, I have not collected any hard data, but I do have a general idea of the jump starter's capabilities through frequent use. If I had to give a figure, I would say that the jump starter (from a full charge) can turn the engine over all on its own for a total time of about a minute to a minute and a half before it gets to the first of three charge indicator lights. That is a minute and a half of constant "brrrbrrrbrrrbrrrbrrrbrrrbrrrbrrr". To those who know that doing that for such a long time is bad, this is not all at once, it is spaced out over the period I'm working on the car. In summary, you barely have to charge this thing. It can easily take a couple jump starts before you even have to THINK about charging it. I'm gonna recommend that you keep it fully charged, and charge it after every use. It is definitely unnecessary, but I'm gonna say it just for the sake of saying it. I don't want anybody to get mad because "this guy online told me it would last exactly 4 jump starts! Now it's not working and he's an idiot and I'm stranded!". And it puts out a very generous amount of power as well. Now, the fun little features that it has! It has a USB port that you can use for charging phones, electronic cigarettes, cameras, or even to power your USB desk back massager. I have never actually used it "for real", but I did test it out, and it works. I don't know how long it would be able to power something like a phone, but if you are stranded somewhere, you will DEFINITELY NOT have to worry about your cell phone dying. If it can jump a car multiple times, it can probably power a phone for a very long time. The built-in flashlight works pretty well. You can move it around and stuff, and it can actually really help at night if you need light for something. It's not the best flashlight in the world, because it's attached to a giant battery, but it gets the job done. It's more of an "oh crap I need light" thing than "I'm gonna be out in the garage tonight, I'd better bring the jump starter so I can see!". The charge level indicators are a little weird, but it really isn't a problem. You just press a button, and 1-3 LED's light up to show you how much it has left. I can see how someone would think it's a little inaccurate (you couldn't have put like a couple more lights on at least?), but it gets the job done. You really do not need an exact percentage display of the battery life, and this reduces the cost because it doesn't need an on-board computer to run a display. The last little thing it has is a mini air-compressor for filling your tires. The value of this depends on how you look at it. It is NOT good for filling up your tires. It will take forever. If I'm being honest, you're probably better off going to a gas station and paying a quarter. Even though it's kind of awful, it is still easily my favorite feature of this jump starter. If you happen to notice that a tire is low, you can just fill it up. If you're like me, then it's always in the car with you, and you never have to worry about finding a way to fill your tires. If a tire is leaking air, but is still somewhat drive-able, it will be a lifesaver. You can use this crappy little air compressor to limp your way over to a repair shop (or your house, if you're so inclined). It is a great thing to have in a desperate situation. Now onto the negative things...which there aren't many of. The switch for the air compressor is on the back. Under normal, not reckless use, it is 100% fine and there is nothing wrong with it. However, this thing sits in my trunk literally all the time. It is not fastened down at all, and there isn't really anything else to hold it even remotely in place. As a result, it ends up flying around a lot. Not often, but occasionally, the air compressor switch will flip to the "on" position from a bump, hard turn, panic braking, etc. I would not consider this one a flaw with the product, it is more of a user error. I know I don't take care of it, and it really is a result of my negligence. It is still worth noting though. To avoid this, you have some options. First of all, don't be like that random guy on the internet and let it fly around in your trunk. Second, if you do, place it so that the front (the side with the yellow buttons) is on the bottom. It is much less likely for something to move the switch, because it would have to flip over. If you manage to flip it over AND move the switch while driving like a sane human being, then I honestly think you deserve to have your air compressor switch flipped. Lastly, you could put some tape over the switch or something if you absolutely cannot avoid stowing it recklessly and driving like a maniac. Next issue, the size. For anybody who has a somewhat normal car, this is not really an issue. It may be able to power a car, but it is not the size of a car battery. It is much smaller. However, I have a two-seater convertible that only really has a trunk because it's hard to sell a car without a trunk. It takes up a large portion of my trunk. It is DEFINITELY worth it, but again, it is worth mentioning that with the other various tools I need in there for my ancient car, I pretty much end up with 1/3 of my trunk space available for trunk-stuff. And that's after playing trunk-tetris and getting everything to fit like a puzzle. So be warned, if you have something like a Miata, S2000, or another tiny two seater, space might be an issue if you keep it in the car all the time. If you don't have a hilariously small car, then ignore everything I just said. You may have to take it out if you're planning on hauling a metric crapload of stuff, but othewise it really shouldn't impede you. Basically, the solution to this negative is 1.) you could not keep it in your trunk (I don't suggest this one), or 2.) don't drive a roadster. If you already have a roadster, I'm sorry, but you're just gonna have to sell it. If you can't deal with the 2-seater's now barely-existent trunk, then you have to pick between this jump starter and the car. And you should pick the jump starter. Another negative thing I have is yet another thing that barely even counts as a negative. The flashlight is right above the thing you use to wrap one of the cords around. If you quickly try to wrap it up, you might get the cord caught on the flashlight just a tiny bit. Not really an issue, just something that I would change if I were to design a newer model. One negative thing that I'm seeing on some reviews of this and other jump starters is that the alligator clips break. I may have gotten lucky, or they may have gotten unlucky. Personally, I haven't had an issue with them, and I actually think they are built rather well. But it isn't worth glossing over, because if a lot of people complain about it, there may be some truth to it. Just know that even if some of them are bad, mine is proof that they are definitely not all like that. One final negative I have is the air compressor. It is an awesome thing that they included, and it could really come in handy, but it objectively is a bad thing to use for filling your tires. It is NOT supposed to be very good, after all, if you want a good air compressor, then you shouldn't be buying a battery jump starter. However, it is loud, I could hear it VERY clearly while driving, on the highway, with it in the trunk, that is a completely isolated compartment from the cabin. The first time the switch flipped after a bump, the loud noise actually freaked me out, because I heard this huge vibrating noise that would not stop, and I thought it was coming from the car. It is also pretty low-powered (again, it is attached to a car jump starter that only supplies 12 volts). It takes a long time to fill up air, and it obviously struggles getting the tire pressure up once it gets to (relatively) higher PSI. To summarize, this is an absolutely amazing device. It comes in handy in a lot of desperate situations. It can take tons of regular wear and tear as well as abuse (I would know, I'm not exactly nice to it). It manages to jump start even cars that are pretty difficult to start, and it can do it time and time again without recharging. Still, for safety's sake and just in case, I'd recommend keeping it charged. Just know that it is definitely capable of multiple jumps if 1.) you happen to need it multiple times in a row, and 2.) you don't feel like charging it every time you use it. It has some nice "extra" little features that you probably won't use a lot, but are definitely nice to have on the off chance you do need them. I keep this thing in my car literally all the time. It has not only saved my sorry butt more times than I can count, but it also allows me to use my car without worry in the winter when there's a less than 50% chance my car wouldn't normally work. If you are even THINKING about buying this, stop thinking, and give Stanley your money already. Even if you aren't thinking about it, even if you don't have a car, buy it.

I ordered the Stanley J5C09D 1200 Peak Amp Automotive Jump Starter recently and already put it to good use. I shop at a 24hr supermarket. It was 4:00AM, at 23 degrees, and it was cold, dark, and scary. I left the lights on the car for far too long without the car running to give it the electrical charge needed while I was putting early morning groceries away in my home. When I tried to start the car, it couldn't because of the battery was drained. After receiving the unit from Amazon and immediately completed the 100% charging of the jumper pack , I secured it into my trunk. But once it couldn't turnover, I started to make use of it. Simple as 1-2-3. The car started right away with its powerful jump start capabilities and I was on my way. Worth every Dollar of it and highly recommend owning one for your vehicle or purchase multiple ones to have in your autos. Wish I could give this Stanley jumper pack a million stars or thumbs up. It really help me when I truly needed it.

It's a lead acid battery. I fill 4 tires from 24 to 33 with half battery left. Then I charge ot two hours to full charge. Best to have at least 3 bars battery for a jump start. It takes alot of power to jump start with 1400 peak amps, but it will jump an suv no problem. That's what I have experience with. Great product. I got it for 60% off. Don't pay full price for it. Its way easier to use than the small ones I think. Don't have to plug the clamps in to it like other small ones. Yeah. Lithium ion would be amazing, but it works fine with the lead acid battery.

Poor quality - not what I've come to expect from Stanley. Bought it to get my car going after the battery got run down from a light staying on a very long time. At first, it was totally useless because the car's battery was just too flat - it could not begin to jump-start the car, despite the booster being fully charged (on receipt, I plugged in for about 24h before trying to use it, as directed), though when connected, it did provide enough juice to wake the car up somewhat (big deal). Then I discovered that its internal from-wall-AC charger is safe to use to charge a second battery via the jumper clamps, so I used it as a charger for the car's battery (while disconnected from the car of course). Once the booster showed a full charge via its lights, I disconnected it from the car and set it aside, hooked the car back to its battery, and started it up under its own power. Just in case, I took the booster with me, which still read as fully charged at this point. When I got home, I brought it back in the house and plugged it in, as the instructions make it clear that it can be left plugged in indefinitely without harm. Everyone knows how car batteries are. Run one flat even once, or leave it sitting too long while even somewhat low, and it's trash. That said, I had no choice but to keep using it for a while until I could replace it. So, some time later, I used the booster again to try to straight-up jump-start the car, this time with the car's battery still having enough charge to run everything else except the starter (enough to click its relay, that's about it) - so it was just low, not flat. The booster just baaaaarely had enough juice to get the car going. I figure it should be good for a least one more start after that, especially since I was about to take a drive to the store, and run a couple other errands, so I took it with me, STILL showing a full charge. I came back out of the store after an hour or so, and again the car's battery had only enough charge to run everything in the car but the starter -- but I expected that, so out comes the booster. Nope, no good. Despite there clearly being at least some charge in the car's battery, and the booster showing an adequate charge, the two together were not enough to do more than give the engine half a turn. I had to get a real jump start from a friend. The irony of that trip? The very first thing did when I walked in the door was to head for the automotive department to look for a new car battery. No such luck though. Had to go to the local Autozone for a compatible one (due to the need for dual top-post and side-lug connections -- thanks GM! :-P ). While I was there, I had them check the charging system -- it tested good. When I returned home, I plugged the booster back in. It sat that way for perhaps a week, until I had to unplug and move it out of the way to do some routine vacuuming in that room. When I went to plug it back in half an hour later, It no longer showed a full charge - it self-discharged somewhat just sitting on the table, idle. Guess that explains why it didn't restart the car after I got done at the store. Um, guys, the whole point of a jump-starter/booster is to get the engine started when the car's battery is totally flat, to be able to do so at least a couple of times between recharges, and to hold a full charge for weeks on end. This one failed twice, barely worked once, and didn't hold a full charge after being unplugged for just half an hour. Bottom line: don't waste your money. Go to an auto parts store and talk to one of the associates there - get a brand they will stand behind. I'd get a refund on this unit if I could, but it took too long for the failure to become evident (I'm past the return window).

once again I am revising my review of this product, but upward 2 stars this time after having used it awhile The first thing that impresses me with it is that I have abused it and it is only working better. I've run it completely down at least twice, which is bad for it and I wasn't charging it every time I used it like the instructions say, to do , which is bad for it. and the last time I ran it completely dead, was leaving the air compressor pumping my tire all night, which burned out the compressor as well as drove the battery completely down (lol but my tire was properly inflated in the morning). But the jumper part is still charging and working better than every. Also I'd wasn't following the instructions which say to connect the positive to the positive battery post and the negative to a chassis ground. instead, I always connected the negative cable to the negative post of the battery and it would barely kick my starter over. but today under the same conditions, I connected it to a chassis ground and it started quick and well, My previous negative review, which I am replacing now, was partially based on my improper use and abuse of this product. But i am leaving these parts of the old review because they are valid: .ALL the information about yhis product's power capabilities on Amazon and on the front in the picture are A BALDFACED LIE, according to the finely printed specs on the back of it which say "350 amps instantaneous" and "225 Amps continuous for 5 seconds", which means the "700 amp" claim is totally without merit and the "350" dubious because it cannot be used to start a car. I just WISH AMAZON WOULD REQUIRE it's sellers to PROVIDE TRUTHFUL, USEFUL specs. The product info Amazon provides usually HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PERFORMANCE OF THE PRODUCT, which is definitely NOT " the most consumer-centric" LIGHT: IT IS ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS:Trying to use it too hook up the jumper cables I would up having to get a flashlight. The problem with the light is that #1, it's not bright at all and it's not wide either. I have once watch battery cell keychain led lights that are brighter. And trying to aim the light on what you are doing while using this for, say airing up a tire or jumping your battery, is next to impossible because the beam is so tiny and weak. keep this product charged up to full or it won't start your car when battery is very low, probably won't even start car unless battery is only slightly low. It's good for starting lawn mores motorcycles and other small electric start 12 volt engines.. good cordless portable for inflating tires. Using USB ports run this product down surprisingly fast. inexplicably has covered other weather covered ports, but USB ports are not covered. battery power display leaves a lot to be desired.but then this is very inexpensive and worth the money. Just don't expect it perform like the amp rating suggest it should, because it doesn't seem to. Starting a car with a slightly run down battery with this is hit and miss. If it was truly 300 amps, that is PLENTY of power to add to a run down battery and jump a car, so this must not be 300 amps like i believe that a unit that actually puts our as much as this one claims would cost about $200. But It is very convenient for inflating stuff and quick portable power and it only cost me $40. But if you want unbridled reliable power, pass this up and get another product, another brand, that is much bigger and heavier, as much as like a car battery, such as a Snap-On or Mac and pay $200 or more for it.

I purchased this originally to use with my landscape business JumpStart zero turn and walk behind mowers. Since then I found that I use it for just about everything under the sun. It has plenty enough juice to jumpstart a jeep that I've been working on as a project five or six times before it needs to be charged. With my zero turn and walk behind mowers I can jump start them a dozen times easy. Surprisingly enough the built-in air compressor works pretty well. For small tires like zero turn mowers, wheelbarrows, bicycles, dirt bikes and so on the compressor works great. I've even used it to top off the air pressure in my Mazda RX-8 that requires 50 psi cold anything below 40 and the light comes on on the inside saying low air pressure. Now what I try to inflate a 33" mud terrain tire, no but for everything else including slip and slides it works great. The built-in USB ports are nice to have but I've never really used them. Even though it would be nice if the battery charge lights had two or three more in total would be nice to give you a better overall idea of how much charge is available. I will say one thing that I despise about this product the stupid flashlight! For one it's not that bright and number two is its location. The way they have it situated the button that turns it on is on the underside right where you wrap the cord so if you're not careful you can accidentally turn the light on and if this happens during the daytime you'll have no idea that a flashlight has been activated until you go to use it the next time and the battery is completely dead because said flashlight remained on until it killed the battery. I purchased this in April of 2020 and it's now 5-28-22 so just over two years of use and I would say that I've used it easily 60 times and it's never let me down. As I mentioned before I jump-started things as small as lawn mowers but I've also used it to jumpstart Jeeps, Mazda RX8, Ford F-150. If you've been on the fence about buying a jump box and being concerned whether or not it's worthwhile investment believe me when I say the Stanley box is freaking awesome. If you go to my Amazon profile and read some of my other reviews you'll know that this review is sincere because if I find anything wrong with a product I have no problems with pointing it out. Also know that my last jump box I purchase from Harbor Freight and while it was supposed to be about the same amps is this Stanley the CCA was way lower and I would be lucky if I can jump-start two or three zero turn mowers and never even tried using it to jumpstart a vehicle because I knew it wouldn't have the juice I just figured I'd save the time and get out the jumper cables. Someone stealing the Harbor Freight version out of back of my truck was probably the best thing to happen to me when it comes to portable air compressors and having a decent air pump it's just a nice bonus. My only other advice would be to snap the flashlight off and cut and cap the wires otherwise you will find yourself with a dead jump box because the stupid flashlight was accidentally turned on during the day when you cut a notice.

Every since I bought this item I was only able to utilize it 3x, afterwards the inside battery dosent stay charge, so therefore I can't jump start my car if needed. Ive charged it numerous times at work from 630am- 1pm and it still dnt fully charge 🤬🤬🤬. I asked a mechanic at work what could be the issue, and was informed that the battery within is not good since it dosent stay fully charged. This item needs to be sent back or replace. Im always frustrated during winter!!!

Update: I've recently had some serious issues with this. Even fully charged, it's failed to jump start my car, several times recently, one time costing me a night's work, as it wouldn't start my car. Also, when I push the button to check the levels, all three lights come on, indicating it's fully charged. However, when I take it inside and plug a power cord into it, only the two red lights come on, and it's anywhere from an hour to several hours, before the green light comes on. This means, it's telling me it's charged, when it's actually not! And just this weekend, even fully charged, it's failed twice in a row to jump start my car. A friend had a small hand-held device, and that enabled me to start right up! So I purchased what he had, and maybe I'll use this to fill tires around the house, but I can no longer count on it to do what it's supposed to do. I bought it because a friend had one, and used it to start my car when the battery had died. I did use it to inflate a nearly flat tire I had, and it worked perfectly. It's practical, however, since buying it, I've seen other devices far less bulky & heavy, as this is no small item. Since first reviewing, I've also had the opportunity to charge my dead battery, maybe twice. It worked great, started right up. The only issue was the instructions! It tells you to hook up positive to the positive terminal, and the negative cable to a metal part of the car, and specifically says NOT to connect it to the other battery terminal. Well, I did it as instructed, twice, and nothing, the batter went totally dead, and I thought I was going to have to cancel my plans. Well, I remembered my friend had connected the cables to both battery terminals, so I did it, and it started right up! I wonder if others believe their unit didn't work, because they were following the directions! Plus, the &;emergency light; & USB charger buttons are far too easily turned on. I've had the power drained at least a couple times, due to the USB charger or the &emergency light; going on accidentally, since there's nothing protecting the buttons, and sitting in the trunk, anything bumping it will turn it on. They need to fix this oversight, as it would be of no use, should the power be gone, and you have a flat or dead battery... I have since realized I can rotate the light around so that the button in on the underneath side, and so far, it's worked to prevent it from accidentally switching on, and draining the battery.