Summary: In this auto service article we review the Jump and Carry booster pack line-up. These booster packs (jump starters) are manufactured by Clore automotive, which is one of the largest jump box suppliers in the automotive service industry – we cover the reasons why they maintain their top position. Jump and Carry booster boxes are available in several different CCA’s (Cold Cranking Amps) ranges, which allows the auto professional to purchase the size unit that best fits their needs.

The battery is the heart of any battery booster. Jump n Carry booster packs have AGM (Absorption Glass Mat) batteries that are sealed, which allow them to be used or stored safely in any position – there is no liquid that can leak out. This type of sealed battery technology was originally formulated back in 1985 for military use in aircraft – obviously power, weight, safety and most of all reliability were serious considerations. The AGM type battery provides increased safety, performance and service life over all other existing sealed battery types, including gel technology. With AGM sealed batteries, the acid is absorbed between the plates and immobilized by a very fine fiberglass mat. No silica gel is necessary, because the glass mat absorbs and immobilizes the acid while still keeping the acid available to the plates. This allows a fast reaction between acid and plate material, which provides superior performance on demand.

The Jump n Carry battery booster housing is durable, which can withstand rough handling and the occasional fall from under the hood. The reason it is so durable is due to it’s case being made with high impact resistant polyethylene. Many imported jump boxes are cheap copies, they are made to look like the professional grade booster pacs – but looks can be deceiving, “generic” brands skimp when it comes to the quality of materials. After-all a booster pack that looks as good as a professional jump box, but does jump start a car with a really low battery; is a waste of money. More difference between cheap battery boosters and the best booster packs are the quality of the cables and clamps. The cheap ones will sometimes only be “hot” on one side of the clamp. Jump and Carry booster packs have current supplied to both sides of the clamp (wire braided cable insures this) to provide a good connection every time.

Selecting a Portable Booster Pack

• Buy a quality booster pack or buy often. Cheap jump starters are quite expensive if they don’t last!
• Choose a booster pack with sufficient amps (the more the better). Just like buying a battery for a car.
• Select a booster box with long enough cables, so that jumping a car is not a hassle – don’t come up short.
• Jumper clamps that are “hot” on both sides are the only ones worth having. JNC’s have these type of clamps.
• Booster boxes with air compressors should have metal pistons like the Jump and Carry Air to insure quality.
• Choose the brand more car lots and marinas select – proven dependability with repeated use.

One final recommendation is to be careful not to over-charge your new Jump and Carry booster pack. Over charging it can shorten it’s life. Be sure to review the manual and follow recommendations from the manufacturer. For those who’ve asked the question “which is the best booster box?” See our Jump and Carry selection now.

Tags: Jump, and, Carry,, Best, Booster, Pack

AC Machine by Robinair

Robinair AC machines are the most popular machines for servicing car air conditioning systems in repair shops throuought the USA. Robinair is an industry leader in the air conditioning field, developing new and innovative products. Robinair was started in 1956 by the Kent-Moore Corporation in Michigan. The Robinair division of Kent Moore was created to design and manufacture specialty tools for repairing home appliances.

The Robinair name was a created by joining two of Kent-Moore executive’s names, Robinette and Adair. It was lucky that the use of the last part of the second name was “air” since the popularity of air conditioning back then was increasing by leaps and bounds. Robinair recognized the demand for servicing home AC, car air conditioning and moved towards the manufacture of AC servicing equipment. Robinair quickly changed to meet the needs of the air conditioning service market earning a very large share of the new industry. Today air conditioning technicians, especially in the automotive field mostly prefer to use Robinair AC machines due to their ease of use and dependability .

Recycling

Recycling has always been important to Robinair. In fact Robinair was the first company to offer an AC machine for refrigerant recovery and recycling. This was in direct response to the concern of the environmental impact that releasing chlorofluorocarbons has on depleting the ozone. The ROB 34788 meets the newest standards, if any other AC machine is considered it undoubtedly has to be compared to see if it measures up to a Robinair AC machine.

The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) started a new program to reduce the amount of R-134A refrigerant that’s allowed to escape from the use of RRR (Recover, Recycle and Recharge) machines. The program was named I-MAC (Improved Mobile Air Conditioning), the idea was to reduce the emitting of refrigerant into the air as inexpensively as possible. I-MAC has came up with smaller AC machines that have fewer emissions (Refrigerant/Freon Leaks). The SAE passed more strict rules for automotive air conditioning recovery, recycling and recharging machines. The mandate was called SAE J-2788 which says that all AC machines made after November 1, 2007, must recover 95% of the refrigerant and recharge to within 1/2 ounce.

Robinair AC Machine

The Robinair AC Machine ”CoolTech ROB 34788″ meets the J-2788 mandate. The ROB34788 is one of the most popular AC machines made for servicing automotive ac systems. It’s got the ability to quickly recover, recycle, vacuum (AKA Evacuate and Recharge) the system with the right amount of 134A into the car’s air conditioning system – it can be set to automatically do this or for each phase to be started manually. The lowest amount of CFM’s (Cubic Feet per Minute) vacuum pump needed for automotive use is 1.2 CFM. The Robinair 34788 AC machine has more than enough CFM capacity, it’s included vacuum pump is neatly tucked away and rolls with the unit. The higher rated AC vacuum pump that’s built into the machine pulls vacuum down quicker than a lower rated vacuum pump would and that’s a plus! Once full vacuum is reached the boiling point is lowered and harmful moisture is boiled and therefore removed from the A/C system more efficiently. Removing the moisture can reduce the possibility of freeze-up in the car’s expansion valve or evaporator. Also moisture that combines with refrigerant under pressure can cause a corrosive acid that can corrode air conditioning components from within causing component leaks and/or failure. Air conditioning refrigerant oil is prone to absorb moisture that can result in the AC refrigerant oil sludging. Robinair air conditioning machines with higher capacity vacuum pumps help to remove more moisture faster, without loss of technician production.

AC System Capacities

Correctly charging air conditioning systems is crucial for optimum performance. Most cars and trucks have air conditioning refrigerant capacity labels under the hood. If the decal is not present or is not legible, the correct capacity must be looked up to insure the proper charge of Freon is put into the system. Overcharging the system can damage the compressor and cause the car not to cool as well. The ROB 34788 has a database that’s available (optional) for looking up air conditioning refrigerant capacities. Disks that store capacity info. are inserted into the expansion slot on the 34788 air conditioning machine. The Robinair AC machine with this feature can save time allowing the tech to be more productive.

AC Machine Filter Change Requirements

The J-2788 mandate requires that the A/C machines filter be changed after recovering and recycling 150 pounds (68 KG) of 134A refrigerant. The ROB 34788 prompts the user when it is time to replace the filter. The technician can easily change the spin on filter (ROB 34724) without the need to call for service. This particular A/C machine has a compartment on the rear of the unit to store an extra filter.

Auto techs using this machine benefit from automatic oil purging and passive 134A refrigerant refilling from the virgin tank - time savers that are appreciated by any tech that has had to fill an AC machine before he could fill the car!

The Robinair Cooltech 34788 AC machine includes free shipping and no sales tax charged outside the state of Florida. Also while supplies last see the ROB 34288, same great brand at an even lower cost.

Related article – Adding Freon To Car – AC Gauge Readings Explained

Tags: Robinair, AC, Machines, air, conditioning, Kent, Moore

The Rigid brand video inspection scope is called the SeeSnake 

Rigid Micro SeeSnake is an option with a 3 foot reach, a magnet and clip on mirror included. The main drawback with this tool is that the camera at the end of the wand is 0.70″ and that prevents the use of this tool in smaller areas like in an engine’s cylinder through a spark plug hole. A better size for the probe on borescopes and video endoscopes is under 0.50″ this allows access to much tighter areas. The Micro SeeSnake inspection camera has a 2.4″ color LCD screen that has 160 x 234 resolution.

The Visual Optics brand inspection scope is called the Video Stik 

The Visual Optics video inspection tool is called the Video Stik, Visual Optics’ inspection scopes come in 36″ or 72″ and are made in the USA. The Video Stik with it’s 320x 240 pixel resolution, provides a more defined image compared to the Rigid SeeSnake with it’s 160 x 234 resolution. The camera on the end of the wand is smaller too. Compared to the Rigid brand that has 0.70″ diameter, the Video Stik has a 0.42″ diameter, allowing access to more spaces. The Visual Optics Video Stik also comes with accessories. The magnet an mirror are small enough to access very tight areas, after-all if they don’t fit into the area needed they are useless.

Automatic Focus allows for ease of use when compared to fiber optic borescopes. Fiberoptic bore scopes were at one time the only game in town when it came to affordable inspection scopes. New technology in affordable video based inspection scopes has changed this forever. New electronic gadgets like these, are sure to spawn more competition in the new Affordable Inspection Tool Arena, DLT’s top pick for automotive inspection is the Video Stik.

Tags: Video, inspection, scopes, borescopes, rigid, seesnake, stik, bore-scope, tools, auto, automotive, comparison

 OTC Hand Held Battery, Charging System/ Starter Tester

The OTC Sabre is a hand held tester that is an easy to use alternative to the OTC Minuteman electrical tester. This tool is very easy to use, quick and accurate. The Sabre being a hand held unit, is not subjected to the abuse of rolling across rough shop floors. It comes in a nice storage case, some models come with a wireless infrared printer. The printer capability is nice since many customers will believe the print out over what the technician says. There is an optional amp probe needed for testing amps drawn by the starter. This unit is especially good for not taking up floor space in smaller auto shops.

Old Style Toaster/Battery Tester

The OTC Sabre uses technology that doesn’t create the heat that the old style dead short toasters did. The name toaster for this type of tester was obviously derived from the fact that you could literally toast bread on one of these testers when putting a load on a battery. They work though, and for many years that is all I used at the Goodyear shop that I started at back in the 80’s.

MinuteMan OTC Tester on Roll Around

The OTC Minute Man tester has the capability to check starters without having to purchase an optional amp probe. Larger shops that space is not an issue may favor this tester. There is also something to be said for being able put batteries on the bottom of this cart instead of carrying them by hand to and from the car!

Tags: OTC, Sabre, Charging, System, Tester, Minuteman, auto, automotive, tools

This Bearly Used Grizzly Grinder was for sale recently – Classified Site 

Back in the early eighties when I first started working on front wheel drive cars, the Goodyear shop that I worked at got one of these Grizzly Grinders (sold by Bear). It was the newest best way at the time, to sort of machine rotors on the vehicle when doing a brake job. Actually it didn’t really machine the brake rotors, it would grind them. The Grizzly Grinder only worked on front wheel drive vehicles, since there was no built in motor to spin the rotors. The Grizzly Grinder was bolted on where the caliper goes, the grinding discs were adjusted and then you would run the car in drive trying to maintain around 35 miles per hour! Metal would fly and you’d better be sure you’ve got it adjusted right or the rotors would be ground unevenly in a hurry. This was definitely a job you didn’t want the customer to watch.

Ammco Brake Lathes.  Some brand names make you automatically think of certain products. Ammco is one of those brands that makes one thing come to mind…brake lathes. Ammco is one of the oldest and best known names in brake lathes and by far has more brake lathes in use today than any other manufacturer. Ammco was founded in 1922 and has an excellent reputation among professional auto technicians.

Not just Hondas.  For several years there were some Honda cars that had rotors that were not easily removable from the hub. Sometimes bearing damage would occur when using the slide hammer to separate the rotor from the hub. Even if the bearings were not damaged, since the rotor was being machined without the hub, accuracy was sacrificed. That is one reason in the past that many repair shops wanted on the car brake lathes.  

Preferred Method.  Due to possible variances in the car’s hubs, on the car brake lathes are the preferred way to machine rotors on any car today. When the rotor is machined off the vehicle no allownces are figured in for possible hub run-out. When using an on the car brake lathe, the run-out is checked before the machining begins. This insures the most accurate cut is obtained. When comparing on the car machining to turning rotors on a conventional brake lathe, the on the car brake lathe always yields better results, with a much higher likelihood that the rotors will not become warped as quickly over time.

I’m not sure when Bear stopped making the Grizzly Grinder, but I am sure that my Grizzly Grinder experience  is better left, somewhere back in the 80’s…

Tags: brake, lathe, ammco, Bear, turning, machining, brakes, on, the, car

What’s in your toolbox?

Recently I sat in on a CarQuest sponsored auto technician training class for Auto Enginuity and the Carman Wi. Both of these scan tool softwares are PC (Personal Computer) based. The Auto Enginuity scan tool software is an up and coming player in the scan tool arena that has more USA Domestic capability than the Carman Wi. The Carman Wi is a Korean based auto scan tool software that has much more capability when it comes to Asian vehicles, in particular the Hyundai and Kia. The Carman Wi lacks OBD II function, it’s not surprising since this tool is made mostly for the Asian market place where OBD II does not exist. Each of these tools are a work in progress. Each tool had it’s advantages and disadvantages and apparently CarQuest is pitching them as a pair to be able to provide the most complete vehicle coverage. The Carman Wi had an extra module that was placed precariously on a side tray on the computer cart. The trainer warned as he displayed on the overhead projector, whatever you do “don’t drop the module.”  You guessed it, just as the words came out of his mouth, he dropped the module, catching it by the computer cables before it crashed to the floor, the classroom broke out into laughter. There is something to be said for scan tools that are encased in a durable shell that are designed for exposure to the real shop environment. There’s always at least one joker in the group, one in our group said that he would rather have a Nintendo Wii instead of the Carman Wi.

Many Cables.  Each tool had many different connection cables required for interfacing to different makes and models. Someone in the class made the statement that they should have all the cables incorporated into one, like the OTC Genisys Smart Cable. The instructor said that OTC has had a lot longer to develop their scan tools and that we just have to understand that improvements are on the way.  When either tool lacked in any area of capability, the trainer also responded by saying “it’s not cooked yet…it’s not done.”  This was his way of saying that both scan tool soft-wares are in constant development and are not complete at this time.

Colors on Parade.  The bar graphs for each scan tool were customizable by changing the colors of the background and the lines themselves to be able to see the readings more clearly. The Carman Wi being Korean made and losing some meanings in translation, calls the background color setting, the bottom, since it is the bottom color. I couldn’t help thinking that flat rate techs are not going to be too concerned with the color of the graphs, they just want to quickly diagnose the car and move on. The Carman Wi also did not show much of a reading on the graph, it looked more like a straight line. One of the techs pointed this out, the instructor adjusted the graph to show more definition as the tech just stood there and shook his head no, not happy with the degree of movement of the bar graph line. The Auto Enginuity’s graph was much easier to read variances since there was much more movement of the line on the graph. From what I gathered, both of these scan tool products will eventually have the capability to reprogram computers if the the updates are accessed through the car manufacturer’s paid website links.  

Genisys.  There’s no doubt that when these scan tools are further developed they will have great capability. I came away from this training class with a renewed respect for the OTC Genisys scan tool with the Smart Cable. The OTC Genisys may not ever have the capability of flashing car’s computers but with it’s user friendly interface and wide range of use, it will have a place in tool boxes for many years to come.

Tags: Latest, automotive, scan, tool, comparison, otc, genisys, carman, wi, auto, enginuity, smart, cable