Customer Reviews

Coleman PMJ8960 10 Amp/Hour Jumpstart System With Work Light

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a great idea - a portable jump starter. Unfortunately, current-day battery technology doesn't make it very practical. If, like me, you live in an area where you get cold weather your car is either sitting in cold temperatures or in the blazing sun. Neither condition is conducive to long battery life, so the Powermate is not likely to be fully charged for long if left where it makes the most sense - in your car. Mine spends most of its time in the house where it's only useful for those rare times when the car's battery has died in my driveway. Ideally, it needs some kind of system to keep itself fully charged while sitting in the car - you can hook it up to your car's cigarette lighter to charge it but I do not get the impression from the instructions that this is a recommended procedure - it's just not designed to be kept connected to a charging system 24/7. Power and battery management is expensive and Coleman left it out of this product.

If you're thinking this will make you a self-contained AAA service, probably not. After long exposure to temperature extremes in your car you'll likely find yourself stranded with both a dead car battery and a discharged jump starter and you'll need a tow truck anyway. All told, this is a good idea that's poorly executed. It needs to be kept at home and in the house to be fully charged and to keep the charge well enough to be of any use. There are other jump starters of a similar idea that run on D-cell batteries. Possibly a better idea - at least you'd be more likely to breakdown near a convenience store where you could buy a few packs of fresh batteries - when this thing is dead, so are you - right in your tracks. If your battery is dead you can't charge this thing up from a dead car battery. It seemed like a good idea when I bought it - now I realize it was a waste of money - it's just not functional in the "real" world.

I agree with the other reviewer, but I'm angrier about having wasted my money on this product! In the 2 years that this product actually worked, just like the other person said, it was constantly losing its charge in the extreme heat and cold conditions that you find in the trunk of a normal car (particularly if you do not have your own garage...). I was able to use it successfully just ONCE. Of the other two times I needed to use it, one time it couldn't do the jump because it wasn't fully charged, and the other time it couldn't do the jump because it wasn't fully charged *and* I accidentally left the radio on when I tried to do the jump.

(Warning: if you do use this product, make *absoutely* sure that *everything* electrical in the car is turned off before trying to jumpstart your car, otherwise the wipers, heater/AC, radio, lights or whatever will drain too much juice and you will not be able to jumpstart your car.)

Now, 2 years later, the product won't hold a charge at all and I have just had to dump it in the trash. It is a good-sized chunk of plastic, metal etc. and it seems a terrible waste not to be able to recycle or reuse it somehow.

I just complained to Coleman and they said it was a licensed product and they took no responsibility for it and referred me to the actual mfr, Team Products International. When I complained to them, they sent back a form email saying it was under 2 year warranty and that was it. I am totally disgusted with this.

Bottom line, in my opinion towing insurance from your auto insurance co. or roadside assistance from your cellphone co. would be money better spent. And of course it's a good idea to carry regular (LONG) jumper cables, a blanket, etc. in case of wintertime emergency.

1) Okay, it's an older model, dosen't have the light
2) Keep in the box in my pick-up
3) Have jump started at least a dozen cars.
4) Inflated several tires
5) Just used the DC outlets for the past three days because my power is out to run:
a) a small TV
b) a portable DVD player
c) recharge my cell phone
d) And yes, still has a full charge

6) granted, it won't start a car that with a "fully" dead battery, but either will my 50 amp jump starter

I purchased this unit with the purpose in mind of using it as a portable power source for little things. For example, when I go camping it can provide power for lights, an air matress inflater, etc. It can also be a longer lasting light source during a power outage than a typical flashlight. The rating of "10 amp/hour" tells you it should be able to run something drawing ~10 amps for 1 hour, 5 amps for 2 hours, 3 amps for 3 hours, etc.
As far as it living up to it's title of "jump starting" a car, I've not tried that & have doubts. I was taught in shop classes "A good battery should maintain 10.5V when a power draw of 1/2 it's CCA rating is applied for 15 seconds." This jumpstart has been labeled as having a "250 CCA" rating, but using a 100 amp load tester on a pretty new unit that was freshly charged, the voltage dropped to ~9.5V. That test confirms to me that just like this is ~1/3 the size of a car battery, you won't get but about that much power from it (and I wonder if that "250 CCA" rating is true).
The cars battery condition will also play a big role in whether or not this can "boost" you enough. 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 "booster" can give you some extra power. But if a cars battery is fully drained (like from leaving lights on all night long) and you hook this up to the dead battery, the dead battery will instantly start "stealing" power (to recharge itself) & probably drain this unit before you can even get from the hood to the driver seat & try to start the car. In that situation you won't get started without true jumper cables from another car, a full size car battery to jump from, or charging the cars battery for at least 20 minutes with a 10+ amp charger.
If you like to keep this in your car you may want to pull it out & plug it in for 1/2 an hour every month to maintain it (rather than charging it 1 time and leaving it in your trunk until you suddenly need it. At the same time you pull it out, you may consider checking your spare tires air pressure & other such to be prepared for the unexpected).
In any case, don't expect a small battery like this to provide that much power (even if they try and sell you with labels like "500 peak amps" which they have on the box) and don't expect it to hold a full charge forever without ever plugging it in.

After about 2 years mine no longer holds a charge. Brand new it wouldn't start a dead battery in above freezing weather. Don't depend on this to get your car started in a jam. You will have more success push starting your car uphill.

In about 2 years the unit's battery failed to charge. The green light comes on and then goes back to red in about 10 seconds so basically a dead unit or a very expensive dim lantern. The light works on a low charge level. if you only need it for a short while and then plan to replace it might be worth 10 or 15 dollars new.

Unfortunately the product was defective. The company was very customer friendly.
I did not have any problem returning it for credit.

I've owned this model for...oh...quite a long time, I'd say about 13 years or so (I might be off). In that time I've only needed to use it one time - when the alternator went out on a car I owned, and I had to get it replaced. Without an alternator, of course the battery drains instantly, so I couldn't get it down to the shop. I decided to connect this to the battery to start the car - 1996 Chrysler Sebring convertible V6, for reference - and then just left it connected and closed the hood, driving with it attached to the battery. I made it all the way down to the shop...a distance of about 5 miles, and it never cut out, never died, never failed, even when I parked at the shop. I was quite impressed at this feat.

The reason I give it two stars though, has to do with what I consider not only a serious issue, but potentially a fatal one. The included AC adapter might have issues when charging this device; I noticed one day that mine was beyond hot, and the outer casing was melting! I've included pictures so you don't think I'm joshing you...The potential danger of something like this negates any true benefit. I like the device, but I think they need to go back and retool the device to use maybe a retractable extension cord or use better fuses or something else to avoid things like this. It could burn your house down easily, especially if you leave it charging in the garage.

Just be careful when deciding on this device.

I've had this product for well over five years and it still holds a charge fine. I don't leave it in the car to loose it's charge over the course of the months and years, I keep it in the house and if I take a long road trip where I may be away from quick roadside service, then I bring it along. I use the light at camp and in the house during power outages and periodically charge the battery as needed or before road trips, being careful not to overcharge. No big deal. The several times I've needed it to actually jump start a vehicle, it's worked like a charm with power to spare. I just bought a 200W inverter ( check out the "powercup inverter" on this very website:http://www.amazon.com/Power-Line-0900-66-200-Watt-Inverter/dp/B000QFISDK ) so now I can recharge my cell phone, run my laptop, re charge the iPod, and even run a vacuum sealer to preserve the fish I am going to catch on my upcoming camping trip. You could even run a TV off this thing if desired. I'll save the truck battery, and only re-charge the jump start battery while I'm driving down the road. Bottom line, if you take care of the jump start battery like the directions tell you to, it won't let you down. Mine is still going strong after more than 5 years of light duty use. Getting something that runs off of D-cells sounds like a waste of resources to me......

I agree with the other reviewers: this product is a great idea in theory, but does not work in real life. Mine only works when it's plugged into the wall, which makes it useless on the road. Terrible purchase; product website does not load, and customer service # does not work either. Booooo!