Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 stars*great customer service, retest pending* Well, it looks good, but failed me in a cold snap.
December 30, 2017
***
edit Feb 2019: I admit the vendor/manufacturer did everything they could to contact me when this happened, here and via email. I finally responded many many months later and they were immediate to continue to try to make things right. They’ve sent me a new kit and I’m going to do a few quick tests on the old one when weather permits.
It sucks when you’re ice cold and trying to jump your car, but the reality is when the jumper pack is also chilled down to zero degrees F, that level of cold impacts the chemical composition of all batteries. The logical thing I should have done is take the battery pack inside and allow it to warm up.
I’m modifying my review now to reflect how positive the customer service team is, they definitely want to make things right, coupled with my re-evaluation of the situation, I’m raising my rating.
I will again revisit when I’m able to test the old/new device on my old car (easier to disconnect the battery), just this is a brutal winter and I’m not spending time in the garage unnecessarily.
***
I believe this is is a generally good product, the wealth of reviews here attest to that. But after a few months in the trunk, I finally had need and was left walking to get a jump from someone else's jump pack.
My car sat for a week in cold temps at Chicago Airport, averaging between -15 and 20 degrees Fahrenheit (with wind), so I anticipated problems but knew I had this tool. (yay!)
Turned on my Rugged Geek, still had 91% charge from the initial charge months ago, cool.
Bragged to my wife as I set up in the cold.
Plug in the connector, very tight but went in. Hooked it up to the car, positive terminal and chassis ground.
Here's the fun. My battery was 5 degrees (ambient air temps) and dead. This rugged geek charger never would "detect" the polarization of the car to pass the safety check, so it would never allow it to energize and jump the car.
By now I've messed with it 10 times, wiggled the connections, removed and replugged in (heard a crack), and was frozen solid.
Absolutely nothing.
So I walked back to the parking garage where the maintenance guy had a traditional jumper and got me going in 10 seconds.
My car is a 2.5 liter 5 cylinder, so it shouldn't have been a problem.
It is a newer car with some computers, but I don't believe that alone would have been a limitation for what this claims.
Now I have this, it's failed me 1 for 1, do I trust it again? Do I pick up a Stanley jumper for road trips? I'm pretty gun shy about trusting this again, guess I'm glad I keep my AAA roadside assistance paid up, but in the bitter Midwest cold waiting an hour for a tow truck would have been dangerous.
Perhaps it's a fluke, maybe I did something wrong, but I'm a pretty tech savvy person and this is a straightforward task.
Your mileage may vary
