During the initial Covid lockdown, I was worried that my car might have a flat battery when I started to use it again. I’d taken it out a couple of times, but not for a significant run – once to the Post Office, and once to fetch fuel.
Traditionally, I have used jump leads if I ever had a flat battery, and although I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I’ve had to do it, the major drawback is always that you need someone else to manoeuvre their car so the jumps leads will reach between your battery and theirs. And jumps leads are a menace in the boot – they get tangled up and take up space.
As a precaution, I bought a battery-powered jump starter unit – the NOCO Boost HD, shown above.
As it turned out, I didn’t need it once we got moving again. But a few weeks after we had, I was on a lesson with a pupil one evening in Morrisons’ car park in Bulwell. Someone came up to us and asked if we had any jump leads. My first answer was that I hadn’t, but then I remembered I had the jump starter in the boot and took it over to him. His white Transit had died as he was leaving. Here was a chance to see if the starter actually worked.
As soon as the unit was connected to the battery terminals, the van’s lights came on and it fired up first time. The two blokes in the van were grateful, and I was well impressed. Money well spent.
The NOCO Boost can be charged from the 12V socket while you’re driving, or from a USB charger at home. It also has USB sockets of its own, and can be used to charge mobile phones and other devices. It’s basically a massive power bank. Mine’s the GB70. Highly recommended.