jump starter packs

Sep 23, 2009
1,477
O'Day 34-At Last Rock Hall, Md
Looking to buy a new jump start power pack for both my bow rider and tow vehicle. Local true value store has a full size dry battery 750 amp peak jump starter on sale for only 20 bucks. However there are also a lot of new small lithium packs for twice that on line. Has anyone had any luck with the new smaller starter packs?
 
Oct 24, 2010
2,405
Hunter 30 Everett, WA
They seem to sell a bunch of them, but I haven't tried one. Remember that actual capacity of these things is really quite small. That's why they are so light weight.

The reason they work is simply due to low internal resistance. They can give up their energy quickly to provide a high energy start.

Ken
 
Jan 22, 2008
80
Gulf 29 Little Current, ON
Our Gulf 29 has a M-15 Universal diesel, which requires holding the glow plug or fuel pre-heat for 30 seconds before starting. Does anyone know if these power packs have enough power to do both the pre-heat and then start a small diesel? I've wondered if having a power pack is a good back-up if the batteries were dead, but I don't know if they are practical for this application.
 

Gunni

.
Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
I have a 19 Amp/hour AGM battery jump starter for offshore use. Not just for jump starting the battery but keeping the 12vdc gear working (vhf radio, handheld gps rechargeable batteries, cell phones) in an emergency.
 
Nov 9, 2012
2,500
Oday 192 Lake Nockamixon
I bought a Noco Boost GB40 I think based on MaineSail's recommendation. https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GB40-UltraSafe-Lithium-Starter/dp/B015TKUPIC Lives in the car. (Hmm, probably time to charge it up for the winter.) I've jumped several gasoline car/truck engines with it. There's a London taxi cab at our office (don't ask...) and it has some kind of parasitic load on the battery. Since it never gets driven for any length of time, the battery goes dead often. It has a diesel engine and a large battery, if I remember correctly 120 AH, and certainly much larger than my car. Anyway, the Noco Boost doesn't start it. No one seems to understand me when I tell them that going out to start the damn thing every so often, and letting it idle there for a half hour actually drains the battery, and doesn't re-charge it, but what do I know?