Pocket jump starter - anyone have any experience with these?

Sep 25, 2008
7,075
Alden 50 Sarasota, Florida
Re: Pocket jump starter - anyone have any experience with th

Like any other power source, the charge needs to be maintained just as with any dedicated start battery making it subject to the same limitations.
 
Feb 11, 2006
141
Hunter 34 Galveston,Texas
I have one.use it all the time at work.it is only 300 cranking amps.I did not look at your link.But if it is lithium ion like mine.it will blow you away for what it can do.Even jumps off V8 engines.But I believe it probably would not just keep turning over and over on a car that would not start right away.Mine says it can jump 16 cars before charging.Can be stored for a year on a full charge. These things are worth every penny.Great for the ladies to keep handy.Also comes with a million different plugs.
 
Feb 5, 2009
255
Gloucester 20 Kanawha River, Winfield, WV
Looks like it might be pretty convenient to keep handy.
I have something similar that I got last spring for around $80. Mine has a LiFePO4 battery with a claimed 12AH capacity. My plan was to use it in place of the gel cell of similar capacity that I'm currently using on my boat, but I haven't got around to that yet. (The only thing I need to power is a set of LED nav lights.)
 
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May 24, 2004
7,129
CC 30 South Florida
Re: Pocket jump starter - anyone have any experience with th

That is just a power pack. It seems more geared to charge electronics but I'm sure it will do a fine job for starting your engine. I'm old school so I just buy them at an automotive shop and they are bulkier (wet cell batt) and just have a 12V receptacle but only cost around $40. I think that besides bulkier they are also sturdier and have better clamps. The good thing about them is that they are portable; you can use them in the boat, car or take it camping. Stuff happens with installed batteries so these are nice to have. All of them have to be recharged after use and after a long interval.
 

weinie

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Sep 6, 2010
1,297
Jeanneau 349 port washington, ny
That is just a power pack. It seems more geared to charge electronics but I'm sure it will do a fine job for starting your engine. I'm old school so I just buy them at an automotive shop and they are bulkier (wet cell batt) and just have a 12V receptacle but only cost around $40. I think that besides bulkier they are also sturdier and have better clamps. The good thing about them is that they are portable; you can use them in the boat, car or take it camping. Stuff happens with installed batteries so these are nice to have. All of them have to be recharged after use and after a long interval.
I just think that it's pretty impressive that one device that takes up less room than a set of jumper cables can get you going in a bind.
 
Nov 26, 2012
2,315
Catalina 250 Bodega Bay CA
Re: Pocket jump starter - anyone have any experience with th

weinie: They are indeed a great emergency tool and I have owned one. Chief
 
Feb 5, 2009
255
Gloucester 20 Kanawha River, Winfield, WV
All of them have to be recharged after use and after a long interval.
One of the advantages of Li-whatever batteries is their low self-discharge rate, IE you can neglect them for longer intervals than lead acid batteries.
 
Nov 26, 2012
2,315
Catalina 250 Bodega Bay CA
Re: Pocket jump starter - anyone have any experience with th

Lithiums can hold a charge for a long time but usually limited ampere output for short time. Chief
 
Oct 15, 2009
220
catalina 320 Perry Lake
Re: Pocket jump starter - anyone have any experience with th

I have something similar and when my car battery ran down due to me leaving the lights on overnight, it didn't help. Just to be clear, mine is different than this one but is supposed to do the same thing.
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Lithiums can hold a charge for a long time but usually limited ampere output for short time. Chief

??????

Li batteries, depending upon the chemistry, can handle loads upwards of 10C or ten times their capacity in discharge current. Impulse current can be upwards of 30-70X capacity.... A lead acid battery would implode if asked for anywhere near 10C for anything more than a few seconds........

I have physically started a Yanmar 3GM with a 6Ah Li battery (Race Cell brand). This is a 28C average load with the in-rush starter load approaching 65C. No 6Ah lead acid battery on the plantet, that I know of, will start a 3GM....

Also keep in mind that Li batteries such as LiFePO4 are Ah rated at 1C. So a 400Ah LFP bank is rated for 400Ah's at with a 400A constant load!!!

A 400Ah lead acid bank is rated at a 20 hour discharge rate for Ah capacity. This means that at just 20A & 80F it will deliver 400Ah's. Apply more than 20A and you won't get 400Ah....


That said....

These little jump packs are entertaining for the size and the price they have come down to, but...

I bought a Noco GB-30 but it failed to start 3 boats so I returned it. I then bought the Noco GB-40 it too failed to start boats with dead batteries. I have since tried others and they all failed and some failed DANGEROUSLY by physically de-soldering themselves....

With the Noco's "capacity" of the battery is simply too small to jump large marine batteries at low states of charge. I unscrewed and opened up the Noco GB-40, which claims 1000A (peak), and inside I found a 2150mAh battery which equates to just 2.15 Ah. This is considerably smaller than the battery that powers my freaking iPad which is 7,340 mAh or 7.340 Ah. I have gone back to using my AGM based jump pack, which is 22Ah... If these little lithium jump packs can get upwards of 20Ah, with larger cables, I may jump back in but my Noco was nowhere near that and as far as I am concerned is nothing more than a misleading scam with completely bogus specs.

BTW the soldering inside the Noco is horrific and the relay that passes all the current is rated at 70A.... 1000A?? A friend who is also an electrician bought a no-name Chinese jump pack and on the first use the cables got so hot that it unsoldered itself. I bought a different Chinese one and SAME THING..

Also be very wary of how the mAh rating (1000mAh is 1 Ah) is derived. For example is it a 30C, 10C, 2C discharge or a 0.2C discharge to earn that mAh rating? These batteries are often asked to supply a 30C plus load and on diesels often in excess of 40C... Even a massive 12,000 mAh jump pack battery (12Ah my Noco GB-40 was 2.15 Ah's) delivering 400A is a 33C load or 33X its Ah capacity..

What is the Peukert of these jump packs at 33 X Ah capacity? My Noco claimed a peak amperage of 1000A (400A cranking). At 400A (through a 70A relay) that is a 186C load or 186 X the 2.15 Ah capacity of my Noco GB-40. What is the Peukert of that 2.15Ah battery at 186C????? Anyone who tells you lithium has no Peukert is simply full of bovine dung..

Most of these packs rely on your battery not being completely dead. They will actually start a motor without the batteries in place easier so be wary of those shady & misleading videos. The reason for this is the jump pack is not wasting precious starting current/capacity charging your dead battery first, reaching voltage equilibrium, before you hit the key. Believe it or not removing the dead battery from the equation can actually make it easier on the jump pack so don't be fooled by that sort of bovine dung....

Peukert exists, even for Lithium.. For a diesel with glow plugs, and a large dead battery, they may or may not start the motor. If the battery is below about 10V good luck especially if you also need glow...

Unfortunately the snake oil did not work, for what I needed a jump pack to do. I have gone back to my AGM jump packs which are 22 Ah not 2.1Ah.... If I start seeing 20+Ah lithium jump packs, from legitimate companies, not some Chinese scammer, I will jump back in but 2.1Ah, sorry, not for me......
 
Feb 11, 2006
141
Hunter 34 Galveston,Texas
My safety glasses are larger than my jump pack. This thing can fit into your pocket. Not that you'd want to carry that much power in your pocket. I've got over 20 jump starts on this one without ever charging. And even between days with not using it at all.

I've recently converted all of my Electric tools over to Snap-On's lithium-ion. I can use those things everyday and only charged once a month. It is amazing technology.
Here is a picture of my Snap-On cordless ratchet. 14.4v.and 30 ft lbs. Of torque.

ForumRunner_20141125_114536.jpg



ForumRunner_20141125_113926.jpg
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
I miss spoke earlier the little Race Cell battery was 4.6Ah rated....;)

 
Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
The Noco Boost is the brand I had (two of them), but the capacity was nowhere near 16Ah's and the GB-40 actually 2.15Ah or 2150 mAh......
 
Apr 24, 2006
868
Aloha 32 Toronto, Lake Ontario
Re: Pocket jump starter - anyone have any experience with th

Holy crap - here are the specs on Main Sail's nano-start - 240 cranking amps!!!! Ten year projected life! I'm impressed.

High Power and Energy Density • Over 100C Pulse Discharge Rates
Long Cycle Life • Rated for Thousands of Cycles, 10+ year projected life
Maintenance Free Life • No Memory Effect
Rugged Technology • Excellent Abuse Tolerance
Cranking Amps: 240
Capacity: 4.6 amp-hours
Nominal Voltage: 13.2
Minimum Charge Voltage: 13.8
Maximum Charging Voltage: 15.0
Maximum Charing Amperage: 150
Weight: 1.7lbs
 
May 24, 2004
7,129
CC 30 South Florida
Re: Pocket jump starter - anyone have any experience with th

Those specs are convincing, I like the feature of a slow self discharge. placing it on my Xmas list.