Jump starter fail?

ZapBrannigan

ZapBrannigan

If it ain’t a Boeing, I’m not going. No choice.
Before I went to school I bought my wife a Stanley 500amp/1000 peak amp jump starter for her car.

Wouldn't you know it, she came out to the car and the battery was dead.

When I got home the jump starter didn't work! (Even after leaving it hooked up for 10 min wouldn't turn over)

So I bought a new battery this morning. They gave me $40 for the old battery which they said "had a bad cell". It was 5 years old.

Two questions. First, why did they give me so much $$ for a dead battery?

Second, do I have a bad jump-starter or did the bad cell in the battery somehow prevent the jump starter from working?

Thanks!
 
If the battery had a dead cell you won't be able to jump start the car. Overtime the plates accumulate sulfate deposits until they eventually short out. Basically the battery will read a good voltage but as soon as load is placed on it there's almost no voltage. The battery ends up sucking down all of the current from your jump starter device when you connect it because of the shorted plates. If you left the jump starter on there for 10 minutes you might have noticed the battery may have gotten a little warm to the touch because the current is passing through those shorted plates. That's my basic understanding of it... somebody please correct me if I'm wrong.

The jump starters are usually only helpful in the situation where maybe you left your head lights on but the battery is still good. It's just enough juice to get the car going and let the alternator recharge the battery.

The money for the dead battery comes because it's recyclable and pretty toxic if it were to end up in a dump. Many states also have laws requiring them to give you money for the old one.

The $40 seems high but it's meant to get you to turn the thing in so it doesn't end up polluting in a dump somewhere. The companies selling the batteries just add the $40 into the cost somewhere so it's still passed to the consumer while making you feel like you just got an awesome deal on the new battery.
 
Thats really great information. Thank you! Interestingly my wife had it jump started the night before last and drove it home..

When I went to start it this morning it was dead (again) and that's when I tried the jump starter.

Wish there were an indicator light that said, "your battery MAY fail soon!" lol

Thanks for the education.
 
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ZapBrannigan said:
Wish there were an indicator light that said, "your battery MAY fail soon!" lol . . .
Click to expand...

If you have a conventional (unsealed) battery you can buy an electrolyte tester for about $5 at any auto parts store. Use it in the spring and fall and there's a good chance you will be able to avoid a repeat of the unpleasant surprise.
 
With a battery that age in a northern climate (Michigan) I'd be headed to the store right after any indication it might be going bad (require a jump start). I've found car batteries tend to be good for 4-5 years max and it's usually that 4th or 5th winter that you find out while you're standing in the cold with a cart full of groceries. Might not be a bad idea to head to a auto parts store and have them test it before the 4th winter.
 
Good idea. This was a Dec 2009 battery. For some reason I just assumed they checked it whenever I got the oil changed.
 
When was the last time you charged the jump starter? I'd imagine they need to be recharged at some frequency. Might want to double check the manual. May have been dead.

There are only a couple/few manufacturers of batteries (even though they come in several names). And the quality varies greatly. I always buy the one with the longest warranty (you can usually find 84 month pro-rated) because I never have them last.

Getting a new one after that period of time and a couple discharges is a good idea too. Going to potentially leave you stranded and hurt your alternator potentially as well.

Also, after a couple/few discharges a regular lead/acid battery is pretty damaged anyway.

AGM batteries are kind of protection against this. They don't handle a discharge as well as a deep cycle battery but do so better than a regular lead/acid battery. But take forever to charge and (should) need a special charger.

Battery forums are an interesting place to hang out. A ton of nerdiness going on in that realm.
 
Also, as earlier alluded to, one of the few checks you can do on a battery is simply checking voltage. But as previously stated you can get what's called a surface charge where it'll look OK. But put a load on it (ie starting your car) and there's nothing there.

Usually the machine they use to check a battery (if asked to have it checked; not automatically done with an oil change) does this, simulates putting a load on it and does something like check the temperature/current flow while giving it a charge. But unfortunately I've seen these tests not work a lot.

They can use an ohm meter or something to check some things with the alternator but sometimes if you've got a bad diode or some other issues tests are likely to not catch it.

So lots of room for failures here.
 
ZapBrannigan said:
Before I went to school I bought my wife a Stanley 500amp/1000 peak amp jump starter for her car.

Wouldn't you know it, she came out to the car and the battery was dead.

When I got home the jump starter didn't work! (Even after leaving it hooked up for 10 min wouldn't turn over)

So I bought a new battery this morning. They gave me $40 for the old battery which they said "had a bad cell". It was 5 years old.

Two questions. First, why did they give me so much $$ for a dead battery?

Second, do I have a bad jump-starter or did the bad cell in the battery somehow prevent the jump starter from working?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

C'mon, just send Kif to fix it for you
 
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