Booster / Jump starter packs.

[Neil]

Can anybody recommend a decent, reasonably priced booster pack? Seen some tiny things on the internet that claim to have the power but a bit dubious as the last one was massive / heavy and even that wasn't much cop. Has the be a portable rechargeable one.

[Nathan]

Mines a Sealey unit, was quite expensive but I have had it 8 years and it;s still going strong.

[SmokeEm]

I've got a Halfords one. Was about £100 but I used a discount voucher and got it for £75. Works well. Even has a 240v plug socket on it to power stuff and has built in light and pump.

[Battles]

My experience with them, whether expensive or cheap, is that they need to be used regularly or need to have a charger that can do battery maintenance.

A boy I know has two cheapy ones (poor quality plastic, rubbish switches and clips) that he uses for recoveries, a couple a week, and they get charged by a simple 12v cigarette adapter after each outing and he's had them for years.

I noticed in Halfrauds' the other week that their own brand model has a charging station/dock you can buy separately and they're selling them off cheap. The guy in the store said that the newer model has a battery conditioner built in to extend the life. He said they get a lot of the booster packs brought back for warranty claims then remembered he was talking to a punter and stopped talking about them...

[SmokeEm]

Nov 12, 2015 15:48:17 GMT Battles said:

My experience with them, whether expensive or cheap, is that they need to be used regularly or need to have a charger that can do battery maintenance.

A boy I know has two cheapy ones (poor quality plastic, rubbish switches and clips) that he uses for recoveries, a couple a week, and they get charged by a simple 12v cigarette adapter after each outing and he's had them for years.

I noticed in Halfrauds' the other week that their own brand model has a charging station/dock you can buy separately and they're selling them off cheap. The guy in the store said that the newer model has a battery conditioner built in to extend the life. He said they get a lot of the booster packs brought back for warranty claims then remembered he was talking to a punter and stopped talking about them...

Will have to check that dock out as I deemed it too dear when I bought mine but if they are now cheaper...

[colnerov]

Hi, A good indication of their capacity is their weight the heavier the better. But why not just buy a battery and put it in a box with handles, because basically that is all they are. You can get a good size battery cheaper than a booster pack. Don't worry about lights and pumps they're just gimmicks

Colin

[taurus]

As above - I just have a battery in a box. You can buy a decent battery from a scrappies for a tenner.

The tiny ones are lithium ion technology. Don't underestimate them, they may be tiny but they hold a massive charge. The advantage is their size and weight, the disadvantage is the cost.

[dodgerover]

The MOT station I use has a tiny lithium battery as a starter pack - about the size of 6 packs of 20 fags, apparently it's never failed once, even when starting cars that have been stood for years with a completely dead battery. It's used regularly though and spends it's time on the charger when it's not in use or out on a job

[heathrobinson]

I bought a set of 3000F ultracapacitors. Put 'em in a box, add a heavy Anderson connector via some 50mm welding cable, and a little momentary push switch to a volt meter, and a nice long pair of leads (Anderson, welding cable, and a pair of honking gurt Russian crocodile clips) and there you have it. Starts our 4l telehandler 8 or 10 times, recharges in about 4 mins from any running vehicle, and weighs maybe 6kg.
Will put up a couple of photos at some stage if you want.

[dodgerover]

Nov 12, 2015 20:08:40 GMT heathrobinson said:

I bought a set of 3000F ultracapacitors. Put 'em in a box, add a heavy Anderson connector via some 50mm welding cable, and a little momentary push switch to a volt meter, and a nice long pair of leads (Anderson, welding cable, and a pair of honking gurt Russian crocodile clips) and there you have it. Starts our 4l telehandler 8 or 10 times, recharges in about 4 mins from any running vehicle, and weighs maybe 6kg.
Will put up a couple of photos at some stage if you want.

Having experimented with blowing up capacitors in technology class the thought of that scares me... Don't know why as I'm quite happy to ride around sat on top of however many litres of flammable liquid in a thin metal tank. It's a damn good idea though, how long do they hold charge for?

[heathrobinson]

Never noticed it go flat, but then I don't really pay it that much attention. I think you'd have to try quite hard to pop one.

[VIP]

Modern technology means bigger is not always better.

Those little ones you've seen? They jump start V8s without hesitation.



We have one at TaB and its never let us down.

[Neil]

Thanks for all the replies, some really useful info. I'm leaning towards a small lithium one now just for practicality. Question is... Which one!? There are hundreds. Am I right in thinking that the higher the mah the longer it'll stay charged for and the higher amperage the more cranking power? Thanks again, any more suggestions welcome I'm gonna order one this weekend.

[mgbizzle]

Nov 13, 2015 11:08:55 GMT Neil said:

Thanks for all the replies, some really useful info. I'm leaning towards a small lithium one now just for practicality. Question is... Which one!? There are hundreds. Am I right in thinking that the higher the mah the longer it'll stay charged for and the higher amperage the more cranking power? Thanks again, any more suggestions welcome I'm gonna order one this weekend.

mAh stands for milli Ampere hour or milli Amp hour. It is a measure of a battery's energy storage capacity. If you think of a battery as a small fuel storage tank, which in a sense it is, mAh a measure of how much "fuel" the battery holds. Higher amperage more cranking power, yes.

[skozra]

This one from DB Power seems to get good reviews (it's £46 inc delivery) plus there's a more powerful version available as well for a tenner more :

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00YDZR3ZI?ref_=pe_385721_51767431_TE_dp_1

[Battles]

Nov 12, 2015 20:08:40 GMT heathrobinson said:

I bought a set of 3000F ultracapacitors. Put 'em in a box, add a heavy Anderson connector via some 50mm welding cable, and a little momentary push switch to a volt meter, and a nice long pair of leads (Anderson, welding cable, and a pair of honking gurt Russian crocodile clips) and there you have it. Starts our 4l telehandler 8 or 10 times, recharges in about 4 mins from any running vehicle, and weighs maybe 6kg.
Will put up a couple of photos at some stage if you want.

I would definitely like to see a couple of photos of this built.
Am I right in saying that you don't need to keep this charged, you just keep it handy and then charge (in a few minutes) it when you need it?

[stonyray]

Just get a type 096/100 battery and keep it charged. Jump packs won't work on a completely flat battery, they'll work on one that needs a bit of help but a flat battery the can't help.

Problem is that they're rated a different way to regular car batteries so when they brag about 1000amps, thats equiv to a 300A battery off a 1.4 astra.

Also when you're trying to start a car with a flat battery the flat battery tries to take all of the current, as a result non gets to the starter.

[heathrobinson]

Nov 13, 2015 15:18:25 GMT Battles said:

Am I right in saying that you don't need to keep this charged, you just keep it handy and then charge (in a few minutes) it when you need it?

Yeah, pretty much. It doesn't seem to go flat when left though, so I do charge it when finished with it when I can.

[Battles]

That's a great set up. Very clever.

[Indie]

Not sure this adds very much to this thread but couldn't think where else to put it.

www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showDetail&id=28637&ar=4

I suppose it would be a consideration if you were needing a charger as well as a jump start pack
(and had a very long extension lead)