I've been keeping an eye out for a good two years Power banks with jump start function thrown, but then always thought: How do you want to test that? As a matter of principle, I do not write testimonials about products that I could not seriously try. The fact that I am now writing a review for one of these power banks already shows that I recently managed to get a weak car battery.
Chapter in this post:
- 1 How do the jump start power banks work technically?
- 2 The 1st emergency: battery dead, bridging with jump start cable
- 3 The 2nd emergency: battery dead, jump start with power bank
- 4 Pay attention to the specification of the maximum displacement when purchasing
- 5 Technical data of the Roav Jump Starter Pro Powerbank
- 6 Unplug the power bank after every attempt to start
- 7 My conclusion: A jump-start power bank belongs in every car
- 8 Similar posts
How do the jump start power banks work technically?
In case someone is wondering how such a small power bank can compete with a car battery: These things are equipped with SuperCap capacitors, which have a very high capacity despite their small size. If you plug the charging cable into the power bank, it charges the capacitors. Due to the high capacity, the SuperCaps briefly create very high currents that are sufficient to start a car, but of course they are not designed for continuous load and are therefore not intended as a replacement for a car battery.
So much for the technology behind these car jump-start power banks. Now you are probably interested in what experiences I have had with this type of power bank.
The 1st emergency: battery dead, bridging with jump-start cable
A good three weeks ago I was “lucky” that my car actually broke down because the battery gave up or was extremely weak. I was standing near the train station in the city of Giessen - totally parked up by other cars - and my starter didn't even manage to turn one more revolution. You could hear it moving, but it was far from a complete rotation.
Fortunately, I was able to activate my sister, who was standing in front of me after a good 45 minutes with a jump start cable. Unfortunately, there was no free parking space in front of me, so we - totally pedestrian-unfriendly - had to stand with their car on the sidewalk to get the car batteries close enough so that the jumper cable was long enough.
The whole action from "breaking down" to the running engine took a good 1,5 hours and cost a lot of nerves. But she got me a great deal: I finally had a car with a dead battery that wasn't reliably working. Good general conditions for a serious test of a power bank with a jump start function.
The 2nd emergency: battery dead, jump start with power bank
When I finally got home, I wrote to my press contact at Anker and asked if they could send me a power bank with a jump-start function for a test. A few days later it is Anchor Roav Jump Starter Pro arrived at me. At this point, a big thank you for the free test product. My car wasn't allowed into the workshop until then, because I wanted to check the "emergency".
I was able to do that several times, because in between I had the battery on the charger, so that the car sometimes started, but on particularly cold days - right in the morning - for example, it often couldn't be persuaded to start even after several attempts.
The procedure with the Roav Jump Starter Pro is as follows:
- Open the engine compartment
- Remove the protective battery cover
- Plug the cable with the battery clamps into the power bank
- Attach clamps to the battery (red to + and black to -)
- get in the car and start
- Let the car run
- Disconnect the power bank
- Close the battery cover and bonnet
This approach really worked for me every time and it was done in less than 3 minutes without any help. After I got the engine in my VW bus to work reliably even at -7 ° C in the morning, although I hadn't made it four or five times before with just the car battery, it was clear to me that the technology with the power banks really worked . I was - and still am - very enthusiastic about the little helper with so much power.
The Roav Power Jump Starter Pro was even able to start my car several times with one charge. I stopped trying it after five successful attempts, as probably nobody stays lying down more often. : D
When buying, pay attention to the specification of the maximum displacement
Although I have a car with a 2,5 liter diesel engine (VW T5), the noise when starting it by no means sounded as if the power bank had problems with the load. The more displacement, the harder it is for the battery (and thus the power bank) and starter to start the engine. This is also more difficult with diesel engines than with gasoline engines. For this reason, specifying the displacement is important if you want to buy a jump start power bank.
Technical data of the Roav Jump Starter Pro Powerbank
The Anker Powerbank is perfect for starting aid - even for large engines. Anker gives the following specifications and accessories:
- up to 1000 A peak current
- Capacity: 12.800 mAh
- Voltage: 12V
- suitable for:
- Petrol and gas up to 6,0 L.
- Diesel up to 4,0 L.
- up to 20 starts per charge
- further outputs: 1x USB-C, 2x USB-A
- Integrated flashlight function
- Fireproof charging case (Lipo-Bag) for the power bank
- Charging cable (USB-A to USB-C)
- stable transport bag for all parts
With these current and cubic capacity values, the Roav start-up power bank is definitely one of the strongest in Amazon's range. The accessories are also really commendable and well made. The charging cable, the lipo protective bag, the cable with the battery terminals and the power bank itself all fit neatly in the sturdy transport bag. This means you can store the jump start power bank permanently in the car and only have to recharge it every few months.
According to the operating instructions, it holds the charge for over 6 months and is therefore always ready to help a car battery.
Unplug the power bank after every attempt to start
An important note can still be read in the instructions. Since the electronics of the power bank get warm when starting, they cannot be used again after a few seconds. The electronics itself prevents this and, after a start, goes into a mode in which it no longer emits any current.
If you want to make a second or third attempt (this was not necessary for me), you disconnect both battery poles and pull the connector of the clamps out of the power bank. Then you should wait two minutes and try again.
My conclusion: A jump-start power bank belongs in every car
With some technology products, I have the feeling that you have to tell everyone about them because they are so good and practical. The jump start power banks definitely belong to this product category. They don't cost the world and can potentially save you a lot of problems, because batteries usually run out in winter and this is not the best time to wait for an hour for help or to ask people for help in a fully parked city center.
It was immediately clear to me that something like this will be in every car from now on. You may not need it for 10 years, but at some point there will come a time when you need start-up help yourself or you can give someone else start-up help - and then you are happy to have this device with you.
Apart from that, it is also a power bank with USB-A and USB-C output. Even if you only need it every now and then to “jump start” your iPhone or iPad, this is practical. However, you should be careful not to fully charge your iPad, because with a capacity of 12.800 mAh it could well be that you will have a full iPad in an emergency, but unfortunately you will not be able to drive away because the jump-start power bank is empty.
And everyone knows Murphy's Law ... it is guaranteed to happen! But hey: If it really does happen, it is certainly easier to recharge the power bank somewhere than to be jump-started by another car. ;-)
If I was able to convince you that such a power bank is also something for your car, then you can find it here on Amazon Anker Roav Jump Starter Pro power bank, that I have.
No products found.
But I can well imagine that other jump-start power banks will also work well. Just have a look at Amazon in the appropriate category and do not forget to pay attention to the displacement when making your selection.
If you already have such a device, I would be interested to know what experience you have gained. Just leave a comment!
If you are interested in the instructions for the Roav Jump Starter Pro Powerbank, in which the error messages are also explained, you can find them here as a photo collage. Please excuse the poor quality, but I just took a photo of it and put it together into one picture.
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Jens has been running the blog since 2012. He acts as Sir Apfelot for his readers and helps them with technical problems. In his spare time he rides electric unicycles, takes photos (preferably with the iPhone, of course), climbs around in the Hessian mountains or hikes with the family. His articles deal with Apple products, news from the world of drones or solutions to current bugs.
The page contains affiliate links / images: Amazon.de
I bought a similar one 3 years ago after my car did not start in an ice-cold underground car park after 2 days at -15 ° C, and even the ADAC needed its starter battery in addition to the normal jump starter cable to start my car. I did then the model J18 from RoyPow (800 A, IP 66, otherwise similar) bought at a cheaper price.
I used it several times in the cold winter to start the car, was on a tour of Germany before I had a new battery installed.
I was able to start my car several times, then it still showed between 75% and 100% charge. But I still took it to the hotel room every evening and charged it.
What you can do, even if the power bank is (almost) empty (I didn't dare to discharge it too deeply, but in such a way that the 25% display flashed, which means that it now has to be connected to the charger) :
you can plug it into the cigarette lighter and suck out the last of the juice. That's enough to charge the GoldCaps two or three times. Then you hang the battery cables on the battery and start. That worked when my car battery was so empty that the instrument lighting no longer came on. I have had a new car for 15 months, so I don't need the starter, but I always have it with me so I can help others get started.
If it is fully charged at the end of winter, it will still have enough power for ten start-ups next winter.
This also depends on the condition of the car. If it is really only due to the battery, this current only flows for a fraction of a second, because enough current is fed into the system via the alternator from the first ignition. But in winter, of course, the oils and fats are more viscous, so you need more power. In summer it really only takes half a second for every engine to run.