Many cars now have integrated sound systems. There's no DIN unit in the dash to easily pull, it's a multi-hour removal job to rip the dash apart to get at it. And most DIN units aren't worth nicking: anything that sets them apart (mega-amplifier with 99+9 surround sound) will be an extra box in the boot. Who would buy a nicked dash unit, when you can just get one from Argos for a few quid?
Maybe it's different in other countries, but seems to me the code should be an optional feature like on a phone - I suspect the pain caused by missing radio codes is much more than the pain caused by stolen radios.
You want a radio that will only work in the car its fitted to. It needs to have a key exchange with the car so you can only pair it if you have the correct code for the car and the radio.
My aftermarket Blaupunkt radio takes a standard memory card, by hinging down the front plate. Under normal use you can record to this - handy if listening to a play on R4 etc - or use it for MP3s, etc. But it also takes the individual key card for the radio - needed to get it working if totally powered down.
No. I had the drive to my alternator fail, but it was still going round enough to prevent the warning light coming on. When power ran out I pulled into an emergency layby, phoned for help and got the van that arrived while I was still on the phone and had been sent for the other car in the same layby, also with alternator failure!
As radios talk to the canbus these days (to know when to increase volume with speed or dim the display with lights) they could simply request a code if the are connected to a different engine management unit.
Yes but as has been said the replacement 22Ah Lucas for 50 quid delivered is a much better battery ( I paid 46.98 inc tax and delivery)
I have exactly the same jump pack which I replaced the battery with one from our burglar alarm, it's far better than original.
The tyre pump works well and it doesn't have the safety "feature" of isolating the crocodile clips so I can leave it charging with a simple smart charger (Lidl £10) as I lost the mains one supplied.
They lie about capacity, much less lead.
Mine gets regular use, jump starting and pumping bike tyres
Thanks for the replies. I do have jump leads; I must remember to put them in the boot of the car so that they are there if I need them. Like the empty fuel can, they are sitting in the garage!
The problem with jump leads is that you need there to be a friendly, passing motorist to use them.
I haven't used the compressor in my jump starter as I already had a compressor with a digital gauge, so that is easier to read. The only time I missed not having the pack was when my car was at the garage and I wanted to blow up my bike tyres. Perhaps a hand pump for the bike would be a cheaper alternative?
I did wonder about using the jump starter's compressor to inflate my boilers expansion vessel though.
I wonder why they add compressors and torches to these packs? Why not save money and miss them out? They could use the savings to buy a better battery!
And it really can start a 1.9 VW diesel - got me out of trouble a couple of times in winter, otherwise lives in the glove pouch. Also seems to hold its charge happily for months without use.
I think it suggests both doesn't it? It says it's a 400A 'Peak' which would qualify it for it's engine starting role and the 12000 mAh is how the capacity of such 'portable' batteries are normally quoted. I'm not sure that 12 Ah would mean so much to most people who use these sort of things.
It would to me because I play with all sorts of battery and have smaller Ah batteries on some of my motorbikes. ;-)
Cheers, T i m
p.s. I've just bought one of these to (primarily) test / balance a couple of Lithium packs I'm playing with. I'm really loving it because it seems so flexible.
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e.g. I was monitoring a 10 cell (36V / 10 Ah) Li-Ion pack during discharge but the charger only has a 30W internal capacity. However by clipping 3 x 60W car headlamps in series into the +Ve line between charger and test battery you can take that up to about 4.5A (I think the max external load is 300W).
Another 'clever' thing is that it can also dump discharge energy back into the chargers supply, as long as the supply is a rechargeable battery of course . This is very handy (and fairly efficient) when 'cycling' a pack.
And because it connects to your PC (via USB) you can run free software like LogView and watch all 10 (max) cells reacting in one view (and log and save other parameters like current and battery temperature).
One advantage of having a compressor and light etc is that it might well get used regularly and therefore the battery charged up. As a jump start pack, it might never get used. So the battery is flat and ruined - if and when you do want it.
I find it difficult to understand why anyone should use 'milli' units for big things. It only leads to quantities having to be given in 'telephone numbers'. Maybe the intention is simply to impress the buyer, but this immediately makes me a little suspicious of such specs. That said, I know of one planning application for a sign on the front of a large building, where all the dimensions had to be given in mm. [I don't know if this is standard practice.] As the width of the building was probably around 30m, it is debatable whether anyone actually measured it
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