Hi!

BTW I've never seen a car with a dead battery actually start with one
of these gadgets. So far it stands at 3 for 3 no go...

Well, I have.

This was done with a 1989 Buick Electra with a really dead battery in the
wintertime...the battery was worn out and happened to be so dead that it
would not even illuminate the dome lights. Several smaller examples of these
"jump starters" were tried with no success...so I went and got my "really
big" Vector-branded one. Hooked it up and the interior lights came back on
to normal intensity.

The car turned over *very* sluggishly, but it started. The cables on the
jump starter got rather warm. The jump starter was then removed after
letting the car run for a few minutes. It became obvious at that time how
bad the car's battery really was--the alternator was unable to provide well
regulated power (you could see the lights going up and down in intensity)
and the car stalled a few minutes later.

I don't think this is the appropriate use for one of these though--I think
they are made more for the purpose of starting a car whose battery is
"almost good enough" to do the job itself.

William