Portable jump starters

[z7]

Hi All,

Anyone had any experience of these types of devices as a car jump starter?  They seem to be a good size to carry in the 7 when needed.

cheers

z7
 

[AdamQ]

I've got one of these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jump-Starter-Portable12V-20000mAh-Car-Booster-Charger-Battery-Power-Bank-Engine-/322528966639?hash=item4b183977ef

It's useful and has got me out of trouble a few times with starting a 1.8 K - it struggled when the battery was completely flat (but there might have been other factors - the K series click), but for an almost flat battery it gives out enough ooomph to get things going.

And it's very handy on days out when your child has flattened the tablet battery and watching some TV programme is a matter of life and death to them ...! 

[Alan Reeves]

bought DB 600 amp one on recommend from another sevener who has used it in anger several times including on big diesel van 

[Jonathan Kay]

There's quite a lot on small lithium devices in the archives, mostly favourable.

Jonathan

[Garf]

I bought one of these BoPower D30 after lots of research.

I wanted one that would also cope with a 2.0 diesel as well as our other smaller petrol cars so i went for one with 13600mAh and peak 500A and had an LCD to display charge level vs lights (it also had a decent and clear manual unlike the reviews of many others).  Due to spec I was after it's not the smallest but by no means big or heavy but does have a great hard case for all parts.

There were less reviews on the Amzn .co.uk site but lots more on the .com.  I have tried it and yes it works 

I did find that some do look very similar but with different Chinese badges and those that had stories of combusting on charging or melting on use (probably due to turning for too long or too quickly which the manual clearly explains) I avoided!

[Brian Deacon]

From my experience you get what you pay for with these. Mine worked once, then six months later would not charge and the light stopped working, useless.  My friend but a different make and his never did work.

Both of these were less than £60. Maybe twice the price would be safer!

[Duckpit]

I bought a really cheap Lithium on ebay it was less than£ 30 works brilliantly but will probably only start the car twice. It has even started a Freelander !!!

[Duckpit]

I meant twice on one charge

[abbot]

I have one of these NOCO GB30

A bit expensive but a really great bit of kit.  Never fails to kick the X Flow into life in the middle of winter when teh battery gives up 

[z7]

Thanks everyone for your replies.   Looks like something worth having.

 

[Jonathan Kay]

Current Lidl special offer £39.99.

Jonathan

 

[The_ASH]

Bought a very (like £11) cheap one recently, just for research purposes really, by its weight I think it’s 5 or 6ah but as usual with Chinese battery packs quoted as being 30ah. I was hoping to open the case to inspect the contents but can’t find the way in at present. The blurb says it’s not suitable for diesel starting or petrol engines over 3 litre. It’s this one here except mine was UK supplied, I may yet be proved wrong but I think it’s rubbish.

Generally I think a pack that uses 18650 cells would be better and preferably those of a decent manufacturer like Samsung or LG would be even better.

Spare pack connection leads can be purchased giving the possibility of plugging a charged pack into a Seven to prolong the between charges life of a Banner during times of inactivity.

Funny thing is, I’ve had a larger sealed lead acid one for 12 years and in all that time I’ve never had to jump one of my own cars but have become first port of call for mates who know I have a portable jump starter.

 

[tbird]

interesting, in the spec it gives 2 charging times, 3 hours at 5v  2amp  or 4 - 6 hours, so if we presume still 2 amps, so as you say its either 6AH or at best 12AH,  but not 30AH as advertised, but useful things, i use them quite a lot for powering stage FX when its not possible to get mains or its safer LV, also very useful for fireing pyro

[The_ASH]

Indeed, it works so still has a use even if it’s just as a USB power bank.

Generally there’s a very quick ‘feel’ test for these usb batteries basically the good ones are heavy, the one I mentioned above is almost the lightest I have. The best 18650’s (3.5ah) available have quite a mass to them, I had some cheap Chinese ones which purported to be 2600mah but were very light, only seemed to give 800mah at best and it felt like something was flopping about inside the can, so I discharged it and opened the cell via the button end... can half full, contents flopping about unsupported inside, connection to button long, uninsulated, potential for short circuit and fire large. Also an interesting lesson in that even discharged these cells are 3.something volts and things can get a bit lively if you take them apart, any of them present a massive fire risk if a short circuit or cell failure leading to same occurs, they don’t like the cold but ought to be kept somewhere like the garage when not in use where they can’t set fire to something else and burn the house down.

edit: Surprised there’s never been a thread on torches on here (certainly don’t remember one) similarly there is a lot of over claiming of output from Chinese ones of those but even so some seem to be like a pocketable KC Daylighter with a gazillion candlepower, again though care needs to be taken in selecting the right genuine cells to keep the lighthouse ‘burning’ (maybe that’s the wrong metaphor).

[tbird]

OOh Torch thread , you're right cant remember one, you are correct about the chinese ones, having said that if you are wise to Lumens as you are to amphours there are some bargains out there, the cree chips are almost ubiquitous now, and dirt cheap, its build quality and control cctry that is poor in the knockoffs, however i have had some decent ones, but yes my goto for reliability and quality is still Lenser T7M with eneloop rechargeable AAA , it's a bright as any torch could ever need to be, small enough to go on belt or just about into a pocket and has excellent control ccts,

edit  various threads in search but probably about time to revitalise one ;-) maybe this one

[Jonathan Kay]

Funny thing is, I’ve had a larger sealed lead acid one for 12 years and in all that time I’ve never had to jump one of my own cars but have become first port of call for mates who know I have a portable jump starter.

The benign flip side of Sod's Law?

Jonathan

[The_ASH]

Yes, things could be worse 

[Gnockoff]

I've got one of these:

 

https://www.workshopplus.co.uk/jump-starters?brandId=0&subGroupId=0

it will start anything including diesels up to 3.5 litre, petrol 6.5 litre.  Saw it in action when my daughter's car had flat battery and a chap from a local garage stopped to give us a hand and have used it myself. Charge it up every three months and I use it to charge my IPad when out and about. About the size of a paperback book. Fantastic bit of kit. 

[The_ASH]

Linky