STANLEY J5C09D 1200 Peak Amp Automotive Jump Starter, Portable Power – 2.1A/10W USB Port, 120 PSI Air Compressor by STANLEY

Great job

This is my fourth one of these type devices. Second one with a compressor. The air compressor is REALLY, REALLY good to have around. Upon initial checking it over- all functions, am pleased with it. Will update this if I have any issues. It has a USB outlet. Feels heavy enough to have a decent size battery in it. Instructions claim it has a 19Ah battery (right good battery size if true). Also claims it cannot be overcharged via AC charging. That means it does have a float charging regulator. Personally, did not want a built in inverter. Have one of these in each vehicle and a seperate 300 watt inverter at home. Will do like another guy said and tie the 12 volt charging cord to the handle. Would not overspend on one of these with many bells and whistles. This looks like a good one in my opinion. Beware of the $100. Energizer model with an inverter if as other reviewers say it cannot be charged via 12 volts DC- only by 110 AC. Not for me. Like the fact that any outdoor 110 volt extension cord will charge this thing. So, only have to keep up with the 12 volt DC charging cord. Keeping up with AC chargers is a real pain for me.
August 2015: Started a V8 4.6 liter vehicle with a completely discharged battery several times with one of these. Impressive. Both units are still working well on mostly standby service. Both are holding a charge well. The compressors appear to hold up well with some use on 14″ to 16″ tires. Both compressors still working with some occasional use. It’s not a heavy duty compressor though.

August 30, 2012: Am thinking about getting a second one of these and using the two year old Vector model, with a compressor, in my other vehicle to augment one of my alarm system backup batteries and for other uses as needed… In hurricane territory, it pays to have battery power available during the storms. The charge indicator and light switch on the Vector model are acting up- can’t be sure it is well charged.

Dec. 2012: It’s time to retire both of my older Vector models. Ordered another one of these in order to have one in each of my vehicles. Like this unit better than the Vector models. Seems there is right much demand for them around Christmas. Have also bought a 2500 watt DC to AC power inverter to augment my generators here in hurricane alley on the NC coast where I live. Like the fact that about any extension cord will charge these things. No AC charger to keep up with. Just the male to male DC charging cord which I have tied to the handle.

Feb 2014: Like my older ones, these hold a charge a long, long time just sitting unused. There’s a charge indicator to check the battery status. The air pump is not that fast but any air pump is a good air pump when you don’t have anything else…

March 2014: Both units are holding up well over time. One has been used fairly frequently for jumping vehicles and inflation of tires. The other has mostly just been on standby with some light use- holding a charge well. I’m happy with them so far.

July 2014: Brought one inside to power my cell phone with in the event of commercial power failure during the night with hurricane Arthur. Arthur didn’t knock out my power yet did plenty of damage nearby. Tried out the USB port. The power meter app on my Samsung S4 showed a 540 to 610 mA charging rate. The light and USB port would likely have gotten me through an outage for Arthur was a relatively weak typhoon.

It’s been bitterly cold this winter. I went out to my car one day and it wouldn’t even turn over, just the dreaded “clicks”. So I ordered this guy, but before it arrived, a warmer day came around and the car magically started.

A few days later a guy on the road waved me over asking for a jump. If I had just had jumper cables, I would have had to take my little car down a snowy alley and block the whole alley while jumping the guy. Instead, I was able to park on the street, grab the jump starter out of my trunk, and walk over to the guys car. His battery was totally dead, not turning over at all. I hooked up the leads, the “reverse polarity” light stayed off, I turned on the power switch, and the car started right up. I shook the guy’s hand and walked back to my car – total time, probably 2 minutes, and I totally made some guy’s day.

I also seem to have a very slow leak in one of my tires (or maybe it’s the cold – did I mention it’s been super-cold?) I’ve used the pump feature several times, and it seems like it would go forever. I pumped 1 tire up from a reading of “0 psi” up to 38psi, and then added around 5-10 psi in the other three tires, and the meter on the unit said it was 1 bar down. Brought it in to charge overnight and it was good as new. I’m sure it wouldn’t take that long, but it was nice to just plug it in and forget it, and put it back in the truck the next morning.

So, proven starting ability, easy to use, nice features (charge gauge, polarity warning light, LED light, tire pump). It also has a 9V outlet (like you have in the car) that you could use to charge your phone or run small appliances if you needed. I haven’t used this yet, but seems like that would be really useful for camping, so you’re not running down your car battery.

A note – there is no charging cable provided with this, but it happily uses any of those cheapo extension cords that you probably have lying around the house. If you don’t have an extra one of those, you may want to order one with this so that you can use it right away. The instructions have you charge it for over a day before first use.