OzCharge Rescue Mate Batteryless Capacitor Jumpstarter

[General Geoff]

I learned about this a few months ago from an Aussie youtube review (warning, a few profanities spoken):

Anyway, it's finally available now in the U.S. market for the tidy sum of $300:

https://www.ozcharge.com/jump-start...ate-rm1000-batteryless-capacitor-jumpstarter/

Basically the unique features of this jump starter are that it requires no pre-charging, because it can draw energy for several minutes from even a nominally dead 12v car battery (like, measuring 5 volts dead), and because of the instant discharge capability of capacitors, deliver all that energy in one short spike of 13.7V power to crank the engine over and get the car started.

Meaning, you don't have to keep the thing charged, so you never have to worry about it being 'dead' when you most need it. And theoretically, the capacitors will last a great while longer (a decade or longer) than the lead-acid or Li-Ion batteries found in most jump packs.

I don't have one yet but I would love to get one. The RM1000 is rated for 1,000 amps, and unlike most Li-Ion jump packs, I bet it can actually deliver that much power.

 

[5ubtle]

Scotty Kilmer has a video about a similar product.

No profanities.

 

[Shehzada]

......'start up your engines' (no pun intended)

Sent from my mobile device

 

[Hdonly0]

I built a box with 12 super capacitors a couple of years ago. I replaced my tractor battery with this box. Tractor starts, runs and charges the box. I had problems if the tractor sat for more than 3 weeks without running. Could be an alternator problem. I also had some problems with cold solder joints in the box. I think this was caused by heat because of the large amperage dump when the tractor didn't start immediately. Still trying to cure these problems. I may need a larger soldering iron when making connections because of the 10 gauge wire I used.

 

[pcmeiners]

"deliver all that energy in one short spike of 13.7V power to crank the engine over and get the car started"

That will work ok if it turns over in a quick snap, you can forget it if you need to crank just a little more. Just like a battery, size matters, unless you have a lot of high capacity super caps in the device you will be disappointed. And to have a lot of capacitys, it will cost a lot, even for $300, your not going to have a lot of super caps in a manufactured product.

"And theoretically, the capacitors will last a great while longer (a decade or longer) than the lead-acid or Li-Ion batteries found in most jump packs."
Yes it should last longer especially if you live at the North/South poles or it sits in you kitchen drawer (5-10 years). Any capacitor does not like heat, like in your vehicle in the summer.

 

[Danglerb]

I had to get a tow last week, our 19 year old car died and wouldn't restart (betting its a module I replaced with new a few years ago again). Tow driver had to check it on his own and since the battery was low put HF Lion jump pack on it, cranked fast, still no start. Its like $65 and he says he uses it many times a day with no problems.

Cranking needs a good 5 to 10 seconds of high current, not just a jolt and I don't see the charging off a dead battery working.

 

[Hdonly0]

Trying to post a video of my "No Battery Tractor".
https://www.facebook.com/tony.piper.1690/videos/2351306708273374/

 

[5ubtle]

... and I don't see the charging off a dead battery working.

It works on the principle that any DC to DC voltage booster works on.
For example: http://www.electronoobs.com/eng_circuitos_tut10_1.php

 

[General Geoff]

"deliver all that energy in one short spike of 13.7V power to crank the engine over and get the car started"

That will work ok if it turns over in a quick snap, you can forget it if you need to crank just a little more.

You are right, if you have an older vehicle that needs more than a few seconds of cranking to fire the engine, this is not a good solution. It will work great for cars that start in 3 seconds of cranking or less though.

 

[toplessHO]

I built a box with 12 super capacitors a couple of years ago. I replaced my tractor battery with this box. Tractor starts, runs and charges the box. I had problems if the tractor sat for more than 3 weeks without running. Could be an alternator problem. I also had some problems with cold solder joints in the box. I think this was caused by heat because of the large amperage dump when the tractor didn't start immediately. Still trying to cure these problems. I may need a larger soldering iron when making connections because of the 10 gauge wire I used.

try staybrite silver solder or silver bearing solder

 

[5ubtle]

I had problems if the tractor sat for more than 3 weeks without running.

I don't think it's possible to solve this (short of adding a small battery). The caps have "self discharge" meaning that they will drain themselves over time. Your capacitor bank is a good (although expensive) solution for engines that start daily. Kudos to you for building it, but your tractor is not the ideal use case.

 

[Dagny]

The main advantage a capacitor has over a battery is nearly instant charging. The disadvantages are many.

 

[guy48065]

I had to get a tow last week, our 19 year old car died and wouldn't restart (betting its a module I replaced with new a few years ago again). Tow driver had to check it on his own and since the battery was low put HF Lion jump pack on it, cranked fast, still no start. Its like $65 and he says he uses it many times a day with no problems.

Cranking needs a good 5 to 10 seconds of high current, not just a jolt and I don't see the charging off a dead battery working.

I was a fan of these lightweight Li-ion packs until both my Walmart (Whistler brand) packs died with at most 20 recharge cycles on them. A bit shy of the claimed 1000 cycles.

I still want to keep one in my ATV but any I buy now will be from Costco because of their liberal return policy.

 

[Ign]

Basically a static phase converter... without the conversion