Guarantee and safe use

The legal guarantee

Goods sold to consumers in Spain carry a legal guarantee of conformity of three years from delivery. If something does not match its description, or does not work as that kind of product should, you may have it repaired or replaced, and failing that ask for a reduction or a refund. For the first two years a fault that appears is presumed to have been there from the start.

It is a legal right, it costs nothing, and it sits on top of any manufacturer warranty rather than instead of it.

What it does not cover

• Ordinary wear, including batteries holding less charge as they age
• Damage from reverse polarity – connecting the clamps the wrong way round
• Running an inflator far past its duty cycle until it overheats
• Damage from dropping, or from use outside what the instructions describe

Jump starting, safely

• Red to positive, black to negative, and check twice before you connect. The unit’s protection is there for a mistake, not for a habit.
• Do not jump start a battery that is visibly damaged, leaking or frozen.
• Keep it out of the engine bay while cranking, and away from the belts.

Lithium batteries

Charge with what came in the box, indoors, and do not leave a unit on charge for days at a time. A car that stands at 40 °C in summer and below freezing in winter is a hard place for a battery: if you can, bring the jump starter and the compressor inside between seasons rather than leaving them in the boot all year.

Top the jump starter up every few months. It holds charge for around six, but a unit you find flat is no use at all.

Inflators

Both inflators have a duty cycle – they are built for a tyre or two, not for an hour of continuous running. Let one cool before going round a second car. Set the pressure your vehicle’s door plate asks for, not the maximum the pump can reach.

Fitting in the car

• Nothing here should sit where it blocks your view of the road or the deployment path of an airbag.
• Set a dash camera or a display up before you drive, not while moving.
• The 12 V socket on some cars is live only with the ignition on; that is normal, and not a fault with the inflator.