 Exactly what I expected | | Review Date: August 20, 2006 | | Reviewer: Bradley Hubbard, Santa Barbara, CA USA | | This product was exactly what I expected. It was lightweight, durable, and compact. The included lamp is handy, but I mostly bought this to use car accessories when I didn't have a car handy. The 12V outlet is great for exactly that. Charging can be a bit slow (up to a full day from dead) but the unit is a great piece of equipment. The only this that's annoying is that it doesn't come with a car charger - you have to buy the cigarette-lighter adapter seporately. I just built one for about $4, so it isn't the end of the world. Just cut the ends off of two cheap car chargers (non-voltage changing ones) and wire them together. Plug one end into the car and the other into the unit. |
Great Power Jumper/Power Starter | | Review Date: April 16, 2007 | | Reviewer: Electric Z, Oregon | I bought this for 'just in case' scenario. It happened about three weeks after purchase. Dead battery on my pickup. Previously, I had followed the mfg's recommendation/instructions for a newly purchased unit and unit was fully charged.
This thing is great, I had to jump start pickup 3 times before finding out I had a defective battery and needed to replace. It kept me from being stranded. It is simple and foolproof to operate. It has worked form me and sits in my garage fully charged again. It is cheap insurance and saves having to call a friend or a tow truck for a jump start. I wished I had purchased earlier. GOOD BYE JUMPER CABLES |
Great product! | | Review Date: April 28, 2007 | | Reviewer: Rick Weldon, | I've owned and operated my own auto repair shop for just over 25 years now, and we regularly need to jump a car for one reason or another.
The first Schumacher charger I had lasted for 10 years before finally giving up the ghost. Not bad for something used as often and hard as this in a repair shop.
I purchased two from here at Amazon over a year ago (the price was so good it made sense) and couldn't be more pleased.
Highly recommended product. |
Good product | | Review Date: July 24, 2007 | | Reviewer: Kenneth L. Spears, USA | Believe it or not, I got a chance to use this 3 nights after I bought it. My son's Jeep sometimes leaves the automatic headlights on. He visited and found his battery dead when it was time to leave. I was excited to use it! It worked great, quickly providing enough power to jump start his vehicle.
Highly recommended! |
Highly recommended | | Review Date: May 25, 2007 | | Reviewer: M. Weidner, Elbert, CO | This is the handiest little thing to carry in the car. I decided to purchase this after helping a coworker with a dead battery, going through the hassle of jumper cables, getting vehicles close enough, etc.
The Instant Power is just that....Instant Power. When it arrives, you need to charge it up. The ONLY unfortunate thing initially is that the device does not come with a cord so that you can charge it. A simple heavy duty extension cord will work (NOT the kind with multiple outlets though), so I was quickly in business. Once charged, no recharging is needed for 3 months, or after a usage. Otherwise, it sits in your trunk.
For me, 2 weeks after buying the Instant Power, I discovered that my riding mower battery was dead after Winter. I hooked up the Instant Power, and had the mower up and running in the normal amount of time. That enabled me to drive it up to the garage to hook it up to a trickle charger vs. carrying the battery from the shed.
I looked around, and even the manufacturer sells this item for about $150. My purchase on Amazon was less than half of that cost, with free shipping, and it arrived quickly. I'm VERY happy so far. |
Absolutely top rate | | Review Date: June 27, 2007 | | Reviewer: James Alan Olmstead, Big Spring, Texas USA | | One of the highest-quality electrical products I have ever used. Totally eliminates power worries for all-day still and video photography shoots. Holds charge remarkably well. A must for any outdoor digital photographer. |
Saved me on my boat... Now time to "Pay it Forward" | | Review Date: July 3, 2007 | | Reviewer: Gregory R. Thorson, Morris, MN USA | I recently took my kids and their friends out to the lake but unfortunately flooded my boat motor while trying to start it. In the process of trying to get the motor started, I killed the battery after 30 minutes. Now the motor wasn't flooded, but the battery was dead! In came a kind fisherman that had just the trick on his boat: the Schumacher PS-400-3A. I hooked it up to my battery and my boat started right up. You should have heard the kids scream with jubiliation!
I decided right there that I had to have one of these little beauties in my boat (and car during the winter) so I would be protected in the future and could help someone else if they needed it.
After a great deal of research, I would strongly recommend Schumacher products. There reputation is much stronger than Black and Decker, etc...
As others have pointed out, you should immediately get a short, heavy-gauge cord with a dedicated female end. I had no problem picking one up at my hardware store for $8. I also ordered the SAC-109 cord from Schumacher that allows you to charge the unit from a 12V source. Finally, I also picked up a 400 watt Shumacher inverter so that I can use AC appliances on it as well. It will come in handy for inflating our tubes and, in the event of a power outage, we'll have more flexibility for running other appliances. |
Charlie from Leoma Tn. | | Review Date: August 1, 2007 | | Reviewer: Charles G. Rosebrock, | | This jump starter has saved me a lot of work.no more going to get the truck and finding the jumper cables.Everything is self explanable in the paper work and it only takes a second to hook up! |
Has never let me down | | Review Date: September 22, 2007 | | Reviewer: Sans Mudande, New York | I have had this product for years and have never had a problem with it. Has always worked well with cars, although I did need soemthing more powerful, with more cold crank amps for my old full-size bronco. But it has served me well, including when I have used it to play the good samaritan and helped out a fellow motorist.
I came across the same issue with having the recessed receptacle, but it is easily solved by purchasing an adapter, such as your basic "3 prong to 2 prong plug, for about $1. That will go directly into the receptacle on the booster pack and make it easy to attach your plug and charge it. |
women best friend | | Review Date: February 7, 2007 | | Reviewer: Katherine C. Brown, eagan mn. | | very helpful and easy for anyone to use I no longer have to call towtrucks to start my car when my battery fails me the money it saves me is put to better use |
Really Nice | | Review Date: March 17, 2007 | | Reviewer: Arthur Meisberger, Walton, KY | Got three of them for the shop. They have been used this winter and they work great. Got them at a great price with free shipping. Should have got another one.
Art |
Nice Piece of Equipment | | Review Date: December 29, 2006 | | Reviewer: J. Guerrero, | You have to buy an extension chord for charing it from the power outlet in your wall, though and it comes with no inverter for AC current.
It's a bit heavy, though, and it comes with a cool light you can plug into the 12V DC outlet to light up in the dark.
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VERY WELL MADE | | Review Date: March 8, 2007 | | Reviewer: Ron Dossey, Hurricane, Utah | | THIS IS NOT A CHEAPO CHINESE PRODUCT. MADE VERY WELL. WORKS GREAT. VERY VERY GOOD PRICE. |
jump starter | | Review Date: January 18, 2007 | | Reviewer: Karen M. White, kennesaw ga | I have not actually used it yet. Instructions are very clear. Maker
is very well known. |
PS-400-3A Instant Power Jump Starter | | Review Date: February 8, 2007 | | Reviewer: Andrew Popoff, Arlington, Texas | | It's what I will need if the car battery is drained. I hope I never have to use it. |
Not the whole story | | Review Date: December 21, 2006 | | Reviewer: W.C., Alexandria, VA | | The jump starter arrived very quickly and in good condition. I got this system for my wife after she spent 90 min trying to get someone to jump start her car recently. However, there are two issues folks need to know about before they buy this unit. First, You will need an extension cord (with only one female connector) to charge this unit. It does not come with a plug as part of the unit and the male prongs are inset in the unit preventing you from using a strip extension cord. Second, I would recommend also getting the 12V DC male-to-male connector. This will allow you to charge the unit in the car, while it is running of course, and it will allow you to jump start the car using the 12V plug. You can either make your own or I found one from Schumacher (SAC-109 part number). By the way, it does come with a plug-in light that can fit into the 12V adapter. |
Good charger; worth the extra $$ over the cheapies | | Review Date: January 28, 2007 | | Reviewer: Rob Gendreau, Martinez, CA United States | I've learned from my mistakes. I've purchased two of the cheaper jump starters (one Coleman, one Vector, probably made by the same folks) and both stank. They don't give enough power to do than more than a couple of cranks in warm weather, and are worse in the cold. Worst of all, the cheap plastic clamps broke. It was difficult to open them wide enough.
This charger, on the other hand, works very well, and it's a great value. Lots more power, charges up efficiently, and has solid all metal clamps. You do need an extension cord with a small enough female end to charge it, but that's easily found.
BTW, aside from the obvious uses of this product, it's nice to have the male-to-male cigarette lighter extension cord. This allows you to provide power to your vehicle when you are swapping out that dead battery that was giving your problems, which means that all the electronic settings in your vehicle are preserved during the swap. |
Quality jump starter; not to be confused with the parts store "toys"... | | Review Date: January 18, 2007 | | Reviewer: Capt.D, San Diego, CA | | This jump starter has the capacity to jump start diesel engines and everything else I've used it on; I only wished it came with the cigarette outlet cable that is an option...if it also had that I would have rated it with 5 stars. |
Good jump starter | | Review Date: January 9, 2007 | | Reviewer: R. Orr, Cresco, PA United States | | Have used three times,and it still has a lot of power.It takes a few hours to charge. |
Don't forget your extension cord! | | Review Date: March 29, 2007 | | Reviewer: deadman fan, Texas | i just walked a mile to buy this, cause my car is dead, and i don't know anyone in this town yet. I'm excited to have found this, but it really would be nice to have even a 3-4 inch power cord so i can use my extesion cord that has a double sided female end.
As it is though, you need an extension cord that is made for only plugging in one unit to female end, cause the blades on Instant Power are recessed in a small area.
I'm sure this product functions well, the owner at ACE hardware told me he has one and he loves it. It is frustrating though, to have to walk right back to the store again in freezing temperatures, just cause the product doesn't come with cord, nor say on the box that one is required but not included.
Actually, i just noticed it does say on box "just connect an extension cord." But that wouldn't have prevented my hastle if i had seen that at the store. Cause i have an extension cord, just not one with only one female connection. |
Item was well-made but had to return it. | | Review Date: May 12, 2007 | | Reviewer: M. Soriano, Texas | I had to return this item. When I hooked it up to my car battery the reverse polarity alarm went off even though the cables were connected to the correct battery terminals. Even if I switched the cables it still went off. This may be because I have an old BMW with weird wiring or the product could have been defective. Either way, I returned it so I cannot say whether the product works well or not. However, I can say that the product was very well made--the cable clamps were solid and strong (and made of metal) and the cables themselves were of sufficient length. By comparison, the Black and Decker model I recently bought has very short cables and I wonder how I will actually use it if need be.
One downside to this product is that while the description on Amazon says that it comes with a adapter cord it does not. You will have to use a normal extension cord to plug the jump starter into your wall outlet. No big deal but still should have been mentioned as I did not have a cord on hand. |
Great Idea, but untrustworthy! | | Review Date: January 16, 2008 | | Reviewer: The Third Monkey, Washington, DC United States | | I loved this product when I first got it. It helped me out of at least 2 jams where I didn't have to beg people to help. Always kept it well charged and everything, but after 3 months it just stopped charging. I got stuck in a parking garage because it just wouldn't work or charge up. What a waste! If you want something dependable, get jumper cables or buy a backuup battery from a different brand. |
Don't count on this charger when you need it! | | Review Date: April 16, 2007 | | Reviewer: ditblanch, ditblanch | My husband purchased this charger for me for Christmas, after lots of mornings when my van wouldn't start and he was already gone to work. Except for having to search far and wide for the right kind of extention cord to plug this thing in, we were excited to have something for those "just in case" moments. We plugged it in and have left it in since then. Just this week our battery was dead again. We excitedly went to use this charger, and lo and behold, it wouldn't work. We had to call a neighbor to come and give us a jump start. Later that day the battery was dead again (!!!) and this charger worked that time, so who knows what happened?
We haven't tried the outlet power, so I have no idea how reliable that is.
I won't count on this machine. Luckily I have a small battery charger that I can plug my car into, and after twenty minutes or so I'm ready to go. I won't be getting rid of that charger--it's much more dependable. |
not a good power sorce | | Review Date: October 10, 2007 | | Reviewer: D. Vavra, TX | | First of all, I had to buy not only an extension cord to charge it, but also and adaptor to use the power. Unless everything u want to power is charged by car cig lighter, then us have to buy an adaptor. |
Incomplete product | | Review Date: February 5, 2007 | | Reviewer: Tanker, TN USA | Appears to be a good product with one major exception. You can't even charge it for first use without getting an extension cord to plug into 110v power. Required cord must have only one plug in where as most cords today come with a plug on the end that will let you plug in more than one item. The blades on the jump starter are resessed so the extension cord must have only one place to plug anything or the fitting is to big to go into the recess. Got this as a present and so far the report is that an old type cord is hard to find.
I find it unbelievable that any company producing this item would not include 4 feet of cheap cord so the product could be put in service at once. |
came broken | | Review Date: January 18, 2007 | | Reviewer: Rita Rabe, | | I used this item for a gift, and was embarrassed when the recipitant found it broken in several places. He was able to exchange at a local business who carried the same product!!! I was thankful for that. |
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