In all four previous reviews and in the product description there is no mention on how long these cables are! In the picture they look pretty long, and you would think length would be a primary concern. So, from the back of the product packaging, once I received the product, here you are: 2 Feet long, 14-gauge wire.
I bought this to use with a Vivair air compressor that draws about 15A. It will work off some accessory sockets, my bimmer works for instance, but not for very long without the engine running. In my truck, the amp draw is high for the accessory socket and it is only active with the engine running. This is a bit of a pain when you want to check and air up your tires. So I clip this to the battery terminals and I am good to go. The clips are not huge but work fine for me and the construction overall is fine. It is nothing very fancy but it is well worth the modest price IMHO.
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I bought this cable to go along with the viair 85P portable air compressor, that way I didn't blow fuses.
As soon as I opened the cable, I noticed it was only a couple feet long, which is not very long, but I was happy anyway.. The clamps also don't open up far enough to connect to a battery terminal securely.
I took it outside and plugged it up to my compressor, popped the hood of my car and as soon as I opened the clamp the positive wire fell out of the clamp.
Once I inspected the wire and the clamp, you could clearly see there was almost NO solder on the wire, and what little bit was on it was a "cold joint". The cable was also not crimped to the clamp like it was suppose to be (it looks like someone forgot to crimp it) , which is another reason it came apart.
I went ahead and pulled the sleeve off the negative clamp and noticed it WAS crimped (unlike the positive clamp), but the solder was also very little and cold-jointed.
Both clamps were also forming rust around the solder connections where the wire goes.
LUCKY FOR ME, I own a soldering station, so I disassembled both clamps, cleaned up the rust, re-soldered them on PROPERLY and THEN crimped them. They work perfect now and should never come loose again.
This is the first time I've ever rated a product 1 star, but when it literally falls apart as soon as you remove it from the box , it deserves 1 star.
I'm just glad I wasn't stuck somewhere on the road with a flat when it fell apart on me. Luckily I ALWAYS test my equipment before I rely on it for emergency use.
I wouldn't recommend this product unless you own a soldering iron and want to take the gamble of fixing it yourself or returning it to amazon.
EDIT: I bought another set of these cables, and they were properly crimped and soldered, I will upgrade my rating from 1 star to 2 stars, but RoadPro needs to improve their Quality Control.
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Works as advertised. The little clamps should be much bigger the same size as what you have on light duty jumper cables. This way they would connect securely. Also, the short wire supplied should be a tad thicker. Main concern and 4 stars is b/c of the clamps being small and not very secure on battery terminals.
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Very handy to toss in the trunk. Using this will protect your ciggy lighter socket that could get overloaded. Every car should have one. I use it for an air pump and a very powerful camp light.
Note, most lighter plugs are limited to around 10 amps by fuse or circuit breaker in addition they have long run of small (higher resistance) wire to the jack which 'may' cause a voltage drop to your equipment.
Short of 'hard wiring directly' this is the next best thing.
This has none of that and of course it's the same as hooking directly to the battery so know what you are doing (sparks, load, polarity, fingers)...
You might also want to pick up a heavy duty male to female ciggy plug extension cord...
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After several missteps I finally got it right and my Garmin Street Pilot C330 is working perfectly. This is an excellent product, but you need to be aware of a couple of things. First of all, you need a soldering iron, otherwise forget it. The item description doesn't mention it, but you have to use a soldering iron to take out the old battery and connect the new one. Secondly, you need to watch the video (comes with the package) very closely as to the placement of a metal piece that comes dangling after you open up the Garmin. I don't know the function of this metal piece which is connected to the GPS thru several small wires. If this is not correctly placed in the bottom slot of the Garmin, it will not be able to pick up satellite signals. I learned it the hard way. I thought somehow I fried my Garmin!
