Black & Decker BB7B Simple Start 12-Volt Battery Booster
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend CONNECTS FROM INSIDE YOUR CAR THROUGH 12V DC VEHICLE ACCESSORY OUTLET IN BOOST MODE FOR A SAFE & FAST CHARGE/START 12 VOLT DC AUXILIARY ACCESSORY OUTLET FOR CHARGING CELL PHONES ULTRA BRIGHT, LONG-LASTING 2 LED AREA LIGHT COMPACT DESIGN FOR STORAGE FITS IN MOST GLOVE COMPARTMENTS BATTERY LEVEL INDICATOR PLUG & WIRE STORAGE COMPARTMENT RECHARGEABLE FROM 12 VOLT DC VEHICLE OUTLET OR 120V AC HOUSEHOLD CHARGER, IN CHARGE MODE 36V 3 MAH RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES Product details and pricing info |
|---|
170 Customer Reviews Posted
- Works JUST as described
- On a cold snowy day, the Simple Start really made my day. My car refused to start and without having to open the hood, I charged the battery. Although the TV commercial implied only a few minute wait time, the product literature said about 15 minutes. That is what it took. When it started to beep at me, I knew I was ready to try to start my car. It started with no trouble at all! As recommended, I then charged the charger. It only took about 6 hours to charge back up to full strength. The safety and security of this device (no power cords in the snow, no opening the engine, no jumper cables) makes it well worth the money!
- 2007-01-30, 11 of 11 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- This is a CHARGER -- NOT a jumpstarter!
- Note that this thing CHARGES your car battery, so that the car battery will have enough juice to hopefully start your car. This does NOT jumpstart your car. For jumpstarting your car, you really need a jumpstarter with lots of current, and direct connection (i.e. by opening the hood) to the car battery terminals. This is NOT meant for that. It is a battery *booster* which means it adds more charge to your car battery. Recharging takes time because it cannot pump too much current through that cigarette lighter (otherwise it will damage it). That's why you'll need to wait 15-20 minutes. There are faster chargers in the market, but because faster chargers put out more current for the charging, you will need to open the hood and connect directly to the battery terminals - not a tough job, but that takes at least 5-10 minutes anyways and you have to get out of the car, which can be dangerous if you're stalled by the road.
Also, note that depending on your car model, you WILL have to turn your ignition key to the "accessory" mode (i.e. car radio on) before you can charge through the cigarette lighter. I believe this is the problem of an earlier review where the charger beeps right after plugging it in.
I have used it a couple of times and it works perfectly. Sure, 15-20 mins is a long time to wait, but hey I always have a good book handy.
I dock 1 star from the ratings because I thought the instructions could be clearer and I wish the TV commercial hadn't been so misleading - letting people think that you can jumpstart through the lighter - big NO NO... But otherwise, as a charger, this is GREAT! - 2007-01-25, 34 of 35 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Handy to Have....but takes a while til you can recharge your car battery...
- We are overall pleased with the convenience of the item...the B & D Booster requires several minutes waiting time after plugging into the accessory recepticle before you can get a recharge. That is the ONLY thing that we were surprised about. ( we have another brand and style for our other vehicle that recharges the car battery in an instant but you have to open the hood and connect the cables to the battery ports ) HOWEVER, We used this unit during a power outage as a cell phone recharger and source of light in the house and it was EXTREMELY handy in this situation as well....We would recommend this product even with the wait time required to utilize it for recharging the car battery... IT STILL BEATS WAITING FOR A TOW TRUCK TO COME JUMP START YOUR STRANDED CAR...!!!
A+++ - 2007-01-23, 4 of 5 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Doesn't work as intended/ Don't rely on it in emergency.
- I have a 95 nissan maxima. It has a slow drain on the battery so I figured this would be the perfect item. Got back from a trip and the battery couldn't turn over the engine. Followed the directions using the fully charged booster and plugged it into the cigarette lighter. It told me it was charging and then after 5 seconds it beeped continuously and said it was full. I tried to start the car/nothing.
Perhaps my unit was defective, but it looks like several people are having similar problems. I guess I will just buy one from a company that knows how to make a better consumer product. TEst this before you rely on it in an emergency so you are not stranded. - 2007-01-23, 4 of 8 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Black & Decker Simple Start Battery Booster
- At this time I am not able to rate the performance of this product....
It is one of those things that you buy...hoping never to use!...
It appears to be of good quality and the flashlight function works good, however, I can't rate it's performance until I have had an emergency situation in which to test it. - 2007-01-22, 1 of 16 people found this review helpful, Rated:
