Ring Automotive

Ring Automotive is a maker of vehicle electrical equipment whose products many UK households already own without thinking of themselves as preppers: battery chargers and maintainers, jump starters, tyre inflators and inspection lamps. Its kit sits in the boot or the garage and earns its keep on the days something goes wrong, whether that is a flat battery on a cold morning, a soft tyre before a long drive, or a power cut at home when a torch and a charged power bank matter.

If you have arrived here because of the recall, the essential facts are these. On 21 July 2025, the Ring Automotive RTC6000 and RETC6000 cordless tyre inflator was recalled from end users under PSD notification number 2507-0008, notified by Local Authority Trading Standards¹. The product does not meet the requirements of the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016². Users are advised to stop using it immediately, check the affected batch codes and serial numbers on Ring's recall page, and complete the recall form there¹. Two Ring jump starters have also been recalled in recent years, both presenting a fire risk, and this page covers those too.

Beyond the recalls, this page sets out what Ring makes for ordinary households, how its smart chargers, jump starters and lamps fit into household preparedness, and how to register a Ring product so that any future safety notice reaches you. For the wider picture of what a household should keep ready, start with Getting Started: Preparing Your Household for an Emergency and the Emergency Kit guide.

The recall: RTC6000 and RETC6000 cordless tyre inflators

The Office for Product Safety and Standards issued the notice, which was notified by Local Authority Trading Standards on 21 July 2025 under reference 2507-0008¹. The affected product is the Ring Automotive cordless tyre inflator, model RTC6000 / RETC6000, described in the notice as a cordless tyre compressor and air pump for use with bike tyres, footballs, air beds and motor vehicles². The country of origin is given as China⁶.

The reason for the recall is stated plainly in the notice: the product does not meet the requirements of the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016². That is the legal basis on which the product has been recalled from end users⁶. In practice, a product that fails those regulations may present an electrical safety risk, and the official advice leaves no room for interpretation.

What to do, in order:

1. Stop using the inflator immediately. Do not use it to inflate a tyre, a ball or an air bed while you wait for a response².
2. Find the batch code or serial number on your unit. The affected codes are listed on Ring's recall page at ringautomotive.com/en/rtc6000-batch-recall¹.
3. Complete the recall form on that page. The official notice directs owners there for both the affected codes and the form¹.
4. Keep the unit somewhere safe and out of use until you have followed the instructions on the recall page. Do not dismantle it or attempt a repair.

A note on scope: the recall covers the RTC6000 and RETC6000 models only, and within those models, only certain batch codes and serial numbers. If you own a different Ring inflator, check the recall page before assuming it is affected; if your model or batch code is not listed, this notice does not cover it. Trading standards notices are re-published by many local authorities, so you may see the same notice from your own council; the underlying reference, 2507-0008, is the one that identifies it¹.

Recalls of this kind are exactly why fire and rescue services ask households to register electrical products with the manufacturer. Manchester Fire and Rescue Service advises that registering ensures manufacturers can contact you if a safety repair is needed⁷, and its electrical safety guidance adds that registering your electrical items with the manufacturer means you will be informed of any safety recalls⁵. A household that had registered its inflator would expect to hear about this notice directly.

What Ring Automotive makes for UK households

Ring Automotive's range for ordinary households falls into a few practical groups: battery chargers and maintainers that keep a vehicle battery healthy, jump starters for starting a car with a flat battery, tyre inflators for keeping pressures right, and inspection lamps and torches for working in the dark. Each of these has a place in household preparedness as well as in everyday motoring, because the same kit that gets you to work on a cold Monday also gets you through a power cut or a storm.

For a household building up its readiness, the relevant guides on this site are Backup Power at Home, which covers what a household can sensibly do when the mains fails, and Emergency Lighting at Home, which covers torches, lanterns and lamps. Ring's products slot into the vehicle and workshop end of that picture rather than the whole-house end: a smart charger maintains a battery over months, a jump starter starts a car without a second vehicle present, and a rechargeable inspection lamp gives hands-free light wherever you need it.

The table below sets out the main kit types side by side by what each does and who it suits.

Two of these groups have been touched by recalls in recent years, the jump starters in 2023 and 2024 and the tyre inflator in 2025, so the sections that follow give both the useful side of the kit and the safety record a household should know about before relying on it.

Smart chargers: the Ring 900 series and RSC904T

Ring's current smart charger line is the 900 series, which the maker describes as an evolution from its 800 series. The maker states that the 900 introduces support for charging Lithium Ion batteries and a new efficient nine-stage charging cycle⁸. Nine-stage charging is the maker's own description of how the charger manages the battery through the charging process rather than pushing a fixed current; the practical point for a household is that the charger is designed to be left connected.

That matters because the maker positions the 900 series for maintaining seasonal vehicles, motorcycles, caravans and more⁸. A household with a caravan or a second car that sits unused over winter faces the classic problem of a battery that discharges over months and then will not start the engine. A maintainer is designed to be connected for those long periods, topping the battery up rather than giving it one hard charge.

Within the series, the Ring RSC904T SMARTCHARGE 4 Charger & Maintainer is listed by the maker with efficient charging at a 4A charging rate with Stop-Start compatibility⁸. Stop-Start compatibility matters because vehicles with Stop-Start systems typically use battery technologies that not every older charger is designed for; a charger marked compatible is built with those batteries in mind. The maker's product page is the authority on these specifications, and it is where to confirm the details before you rely on them.

For a household thinking about preparedness rather than motoring alone, a smart charger is one half of a battery plan: it keeps the vehicle battery healthy so that the jump starter, the other half, is rarely needed. It is also worth understanding what a smart charger is not. It maintains and charges vehicle batteries; it is not a household backup power source. For what a household can realistically run when the mains fails, read Backup Power at Home.

Jump starters: what they do, and two Ring recalls

A jump starter is a battery in a box with heavy leads, designed to start a vehicle with a flat battery without a second vehicle to jump from. The official recall notice for one Ring model describes the intended use well: the RPPL360 was sold as a jump starter for motorcycles, cars, 4x4s and vans; a LED torch; and a power bank for phones and tablets³. That combination, starting power plus a torch plus phone charging, is what makes a jump starter a genuinely useful item in a household emergency kit as well as in the boot.

The safety record, though, is something a household should know about. Two Ring jump starters have been recalled:

The RPPL360 notice states the position in the official words:

If you own either of these units, the same rule applies as for the tyre inflator: stop using it, and contact the retailer or Ring using the details in the official notice for advice on a refund and on safe disposal³. Do not put a recalled lithium-ion unit in household refuse; the notices direct owners to the retailer or Ring precisely so that disposal is handled safely.

The wider lesson is about lithium-ion batteries generally, not about one maker. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service advises that after buying a lithium-ion battery product you should register it with the manufacturer, because if there is an issue, manufacturers use that information to contact you with relevant safety advice or for product recalls¹⁰. London Fire Brigade describes the registration process as visiting the manufacturer's website, finding the product registration page, and entering details such as the model number, serial number and purchase date¹¹. A jump starter is exactly the kind of product this advice is written for.

Tyre inflators and inspection lamps

Ring's tyre inflators are described in the recall notice as cordless tyre compressors and air pumps for use with bike tyres, footballs, air beds and motor vehicles². That breadth is the point of the tool: the same unit that tops up a car tyre before a motorway drive pumps up a bicycle tyre or an air bed. Keeping tyre pressures correct is ordinary vehicle maintenance, but in a household preparedness sense an inflator also earns its place around storms and bad weather, when a slow puncture discovered at home is far better than one discovered on a flooded road.

The recall section above covers the RTC6000 and RETC6000 in full. If your inflator is another model, the recall page is still the place to check, because it lists the affected batch codes and serial numbers precisely so that owners of unaffected units can be reassured¹.

On the lighting side, Ring makes rechargeable inspection lamps. One example from the maker's own product pages is the RIL0265, a hands-free inspection lamp⁹. The maker's specifications for it give a flavour of what this kind of lamp offers a household:

A hands-free lamp is the working end of household lighting: it clips or hooks where you need it, leaving both hands free, whether that is under a bonnet, under a sink, or in a cupboard during a power cut. A 1.5 hour recharge time means the lamp can be brought back to full between uses without planning ahead⁹. The maker lists the RIL0265 as superseded by the LEDIL413, so households buying new will find the alternative model on Ring's own pages⁹. For the full picture of household lighting in an emergency, including what to keep where, read Emergency Lighting at Home.

Support, warranty and safety notices

Ring Automotive's contact routes are given in the official notices for its recalled products. For the Fast Charge Jump Starter 260, the notice gives Ring Customer Services on 0113 213 7389 and ordering@ringautomotive.com, alongside the retailer, for up-to-date advice on obtaining a refund and safely disposing of the unit⁴. For the RPPL360, the notice directs owners to the retailer and ordering@ringautomotive.com³. For the tyre inflator recall, the recall page itself carries the affected codes and the recall form¹. Use the contact route printed in the notice for your specific product, because that is the one the company has set up to handle it.

On warranty, the maker's product pages are the place to check the terms for a specific item, since warranty arrangements are set by the maker for its own products. What a household can do regardless of warranty terms is register, and the point of registering is safety as much as service.

The registration advice comes from fire and rescue services across the UK, and it is consistent:

• The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service advises registering lithium-ion battery products with the manufacturer after buying, so makers can contact you with safety advice or recall notices¹⁰.
• London Fire Brigade describes registering via the manufacturer's website, entering the model number, serial number and purchase date¹¹.
• Manchester Fire and Rescue Service advises registering electrical items with the manufacturer to be informed of any safety recalls⁵.
• Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service notes you will need the brand name, model, serial number and purchase date, and describes the registration process as very simple to follow¹².
• Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service advises registering your product with the manufacturer for safety updates, recalls and warranties¹³.
• North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service makes the same point for heaters: register with the manufacturer so that in the event of a recall or repair you can be contacted¹⁴.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service's electrical safety guidance summarises what you typically need to hand: the model name or number, the serial number and the purchase date¹⁵. Gather those before you start and registration takes minutes.

Where this fits in a household's preparedness

Ring's products are vehicle and workshop kit, and they are at their most useful to a household that has thought about where they sit in the wider plan. A smart charger keeping the car battery healthy, a jump starter in the boot, an inflator in the garage and a charged inspection lamp on the shelf together cover a surprising number of the small failures that make an ordinary week difficult: the flat battery, the soft tyre, the blown fuse in the dark.

For the broader household plan, the guides on this site take over where vehicle kit stops. Backup Power at Home covers what a household can run when the mains fails and what it cannot. Emergency Lighting at Home covers torches, lanterns and where to keep them. The Emergency Kit guide sets out the whole picture of what a UK household should keep ready, and Getting Started is the place to begin if you are starting from nothing.

The single most important action on this page, though, remains the recall. If you own a Ring Automotive RTC6000 or RETC6000 cordless tyre inflator, stop using it immediately, check the batch codes on Ring's recall page, and complete the recall form¹. If you own a Ring RPPL360 jump starter or a Fast Charge Jump Starter 260, the same applies: stop using it and contact the retailer or Ring for advice on a refund and safe disposal³. And whatever Ring products you keep, register them with the maker, so that the next notice, if there is one, reaches you instead of passing you by⁵.