****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
First of all, I purchased my cables from TechBuy. My product arrived quickly, and much earlier than I expected--which I truly appreciate. (Thank you, TechBuy.) I am not mechanically inclined, but I'll do my best to explain the product I received with some context as to why I bought this and how the product turned out. My review is pretty long, but I hope my experience with this product helps someone.WHY I BOUGHT THIS:One of my vehicles--a V8 BMW--sat in my garage since February 20 without anyone driving it or starting it; that's 50 days ago. It snows where I live, so me being the overprotective person I am, I don't drive my car until it stops snowing and all the salt on the roads is gone; I also work during the week, so I don't get to drive it as often as I'd like to. A few weeks ago, the interior lights were still working but I couldn't crank my vehicle. I bought one of those $70/$80 jump starters from Costco, but it had little to no effect for a few reasons I mention in the "Why I Recommend These Cables" section of my review. I opened the door of my car again last week, but this time, the interior lights never came on; my battery was completely drained.I decided to buy these 25 FT, 1-Gauge 800A Energizer-branded, heavy duty booster cables to jump start my vehicle with my van (with its V6 engine) as my next option. The main reason why I bought these cables is because I was intrigued by the fact that you could jump start a vehicle from behind. I also did not want to push my vehicle out onto my driveway only to have it stuck there and have it rained on later this week. Since I only have a 1-car garage, these ended up being a great investment.HOW IT TURNED OUT:The cables (including the copper-clad contacts, themselves) I received were brand new and came rolled up and placed inside an Energizer carrying bag. Since they are 25 FT long, they were long enough for me to connect my van to my car. However, be sure to move your supporting vehicle (with the good battery) a bit closer to the car in need of a jump before connecting the cables just to be sure they reach one another. The grips and contacts of the cables I received were of good quality.I proceeded to connect the cables to each car, waited about 5 minutes, then tried starting my vehicle. It didn't work the first time, so I waited another 5 minutes and tried starting it again. It worked after a good 4 to 5 second crank, and I was relieved. I drove my car around for a good hour to charge my battery as much as I could until my next drive (tomorrow).WHY I RECOMMEND THESE CABLES:I recommend these cables because of their LENGTH (25 FT or 30 FT options), but also because of the GAUGE SIZE. Earlier in my review, I mentioned that I tried jump starting my vehicle using one those $70/$80 portable jump starters from Costco. The cables from that jump starter have a gauge size of 10 while these have a gauge size of 1.Why does that matter? A high gauge number indicates that the jumper cables contain thinner wires, which then means it takes much longer for enough amperage needed to travel through the cables and jump start a vehicle. Therefore, the lower the gauge number, the thicker the wires and the easier and quicker amperage is able to travel between two connected vehicles. I also needed high quality cables, because I was jump starting a V8 with a V6; I read that better cables, thus, make jumping vehicles with larger engines easier. Moreover, the insulation covering the cables is thick and in excellent quality (based on what I received).The contacts/clamps are made of copper-clad aluminum, which transmits electricity a bit easier than if it was just made of aluminum. Although solid copper clamps would be better, these worked well for my vehicle. If you need these cables for your privately-owned vehicle, I believe these are a great set of cables. If you need it for vehicles with much larger engines (especially commercial engines), you should consider purchasing cables with clamps/contacts made of solid copper instead--which was also recommended by other reviewers.VERDICT:Having done a good amount of research to better understand the product and jump starting a vehicle, I am very satisfied with this product and plan on purchasing another set of these same jumper cables to replace the cheaper, shorter, and 10-gauge ones I currently store in my van. If you are going to purchase and use these cables, I recommend having a friend help you out to make things easier.
