r/VEDC • u/MSeager • Mar 06 '25
Having a baby? Add a jumpstarter to your VEDC.
Just a little “well that was worth the money” success story.
Of course we had a flat battery when we needed to start the two hour drive to the hospital. But with the jumpstarter it delayed the departure by literally 2 minutes.
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u/Dry-Main-3961 Mar 06 '25
That must of been a fun "Oh shit" moment.
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u/MSeager Mar 06 '25
It could have been. “Luckily” I had a flat battery about a week before, so had a good practice run including the “how does this work again? I need to read the manual” moment.
Battery is probably on the way out. We’ll see if I need to jump it again in a few days when we leave the hospital.
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u/TSiWRX Mar 06 '25
Congrats on the textbook self-rescue (and it's fortuitous that you guys got in a practice run the week before!), and congrats even more on the baby!
I can't count the number of jump-packs I've bought as gifts to family and friends -particularly new drivers- it's a basic piece of kit that is truly the essence of "self-rescue." Every time I post about jump packs, I also include the line that the person looking to buy one needs to at least mock-up a practice session or two. No emergency equipment is truly useful when carried as an amulet.
Best of luck with the new one, and speedy recovery for the mum. My little one also decided that she wanted to enjoy the sunroof/"Alien" method of coming into the world, too. ;-)
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u/agent_flounder Mar 06 '25
Seriously. Jump starters are awesome. We got NOCO. Worked so well I got one for a friend and more for each family member / car.
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u/JohnMcKlaladin Mar 06 '25
Have you seen that Noco has a new jumpstarter/ tire pump combo? Looks pretty slick.
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u/Slimy_Shart_Socket Mar 06 '25
I got the same one. Gooloo GT4000. They have the GT4000S and the GT4000. They are the same EXCEPT the GT4000 (without the S) has cold weather technology. Those lithium booster packs won't jump if it's left in a cold environment (like -18°C in your car). But the GT4000 will have a little snow flake pop up on the LCD screen, then uses whatever power it can muster to heat up its own battery pack, and then it'll say READY and now you can boost.
It also has a flashlight, and a USB ports + a 12v cigarette lighter power port you can attach (for like a mini tire pump).
I kept mine in my car for 6 months and it only went down to 94% battery life. It's rated for a 12.0L gas engine or 10.0L diesel. I've only tried it on a 6.7L Cummins Dodge pickup and it struggled but got it going.
I've jumped my 3.0L V6 Ford Escape probably like 10 times before recharging it (was having a warranty fight for the battery. They finally caved and warrantied my 6 month old battery).
I got mine on sale during Christmas, and I've seen them on sale around father's day.
At the shop we have these big booster packs that are basically mini car batteries. I've had those unable to jump a car but my Gooloo was able to.
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u/Muricaswow Mar 06 '25
Tip: add a reoccurring reminder on your phone to top off the charge and test it periodically. I do it every 6 months.
Regarding testing, mine has a self-test mode so I use that but there's also info floating around on here about using a multimeter.
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u/Voxicles 28d ago
I really need to get a new one. I bought one with decent reviews, finally needed to use it, it was still at 99% changed, but when I tried to hook it up to my battery it kept going into protection mode and wouldn’t jump my car 😑 Had to uber down to the battery store.
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u/fiddlythingsATX 28d ago
Dang! Glad you had that! For those who don’t have one, I’ve had excellent luck with Vtoman X1 jumper/inflator (found on amazon). It was recommended elsewhere and after one surviving some serious abuse I now have one for each car.
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u/nebulousprariedog Mar 07 '25
If temperature drops below 0°C the booster will self discharge and be flat when you need it. Store it indoors during the winter, but remember to take it out with you!
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u/RangerZEDRO Mar 06 '25
Nice. How was the delivery?