Sunday, January 8, 2012

Can I use my automotive battery jump-start system to charge my car's battery?

I have a Peak brand portable battery jump-start system, which has a built-in battery designed to jump-start 12v DC automotive batteries. It works well in this capacity, but I wonder if it can do more. The system charges from a power supply cord that plugs in to a household AC outlet. If I leave the system plugged in to an AC outlet, might I be able to connect the system to my car battery and charge up the car battery so that I don't have to jump-start it later?|||Maybe. The charger in the jump-start box may not like it much but at least it won't overcharge the car's battery.





If money is not too tight you may want to spring for an actual battery charger. Cheap ones can be had for $25 that will do what you are trying to get the jump-start charger to do, and full capability ones are well under $100 in most stores. I would be lost without my Schumacher.|||Check the manual, but I would say no. Usually most portable jump starters are not designed to be chargers too. If that battery keeps giving you this headache I would have to ask how often this vehicle is used and for how long. If you were to say once every two weeks for 10 minutes you've been shooting yourself in the foot. Jump it, get it out the highways for at least 30 minutes and and see if it like you later. If it does then the battery isn't dying it just hasn't gotten time to recharge.

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