Automotive
Weego Jump starter Reviewed
What is it? A pocket-sized battery that can jump-start most four- and six-cylinder gasoline engines.
Pros:
Small unit jump starts most four- and six-cylinder car engines
Chargers other devices
Includes useful accessories
Cons:
Larger-capacity units can be had in the same price range
Plethora of accessories negates some of the benefit of small size
Not long ago, we tested the Cyntur JumperPack Mini, a book-sized booster battery that can jump start vehicles with a dead battery, up to and including pickup trucks with V8 gasoline engines. The novelty of this unit (and others like it) is that they are much smaller than traditional jumper boxes (as frequently used by car dealers) and jumper cables—and unlike jumper cables, you don’t need an obliging motorist to use it.
But what if you don’t have a truck with a big V8 engine? What if you have a car? It would make sense that you could jump-start it with an even smaller jumper pack.
Enter the Weego micro jump starter.
Using similar technology (a powerful and compact lithium-ion battery), the Weego is tiny, even by mini-jumper-box standards: It’s about the same height and width as a decent-sized smartphone, and roughly twice as thick. You could literally carry it around in your pocket if you were so inclined.
With its smaller size, the Weego is rated for gasoline engines up to 4.6 liters and diesels up to 2.4 liters. (Diesels have higher compression ratios so they are harder to start. That’s why most big diesel pickup trucks have two batteries.) That covers just about every car and SUV made in the last ten years, with the exception of big pickup trucks and truck-based SUVs like the Ford Expedition and Chevrolet Suburban.
So tiny is the Weego that the quantity of accessories that comes with it is almost comical. Along with the jumper clamps that fit onto the car’s battery—they plug into a port on the side of the unit—Weego includes a wall charger, a car charger (very thoughtful), and a USB cable with micro-USB and Apple (old and new) connectors. (As with most of these gadgets, along with jump-starting your battery, you can use the Weego to recharge your devices.) They also include a wire brush to clean off your battery terminals (very thoughtful!) and a stuff bag to hold everything.
Using the unit is pretty simple: Charge it up using either the wall plug, your car’s 12V lighter outlet, or a USB power source. Four lights on top of the gadget show the state of charge. When it’s time to jump you car, you simply hook up the battery cables, plug in the Weego, and turn the key. (This is where that battery brush comes in handy, as a clean connection helps the juice to flow.) Complete instructions are printed on a sticker on the back of the unit—again, very helpful.
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