lithium jump starters

[JackOfDiamonds]

I have a van that randomly drains the battery. It's going to strand me somewhere. I would like to get a jumper box, but now they have the little lithium ones and I'm not sure about them. I used to have a normal one that took a standard lead acid battery, it was change-able, but I never had to change it and I used that thing almost daily. I'm sure the little lithium ones are not that tough but at least I want one that won't go up in smoke the first time I use it.

Does anyone have actual field experience with a lithium jump pack, and has actually used it a few times?

 

[RacerX]

I have one and it was able to start my 2017 Ram Hemi just fine, several times.

It surprised me how robust it is.

Yes, I recommend them

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[Jlarson]

I use the NOCO ones, I don't trust the cheap ones cause I know people that have had meltdowns. My GB70 is my go to on my service rig. It's started everything I've thrown at it, I often use it to start tractors, forklifts, smaller construction equipment without the batteries too.

 

[alcorelli]

I have a couple of Antigravity jump packs.
Outstanding operation.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[tez929rr]

I’ve started my V10 with an Antigravity XP-3 a couple of times. I replaced it with a less expensive alternative a while back (after 5 years the case was bulging which apparently means imminent failure). I have a couple of smaller antigravity brand batteries that have jumped smaller vehicles with no issues. When I travel by air I carry a small Costco pack that seems to be OK - I think they run around $50.00. I just looked at Amazon and the one in my truck now is a Bolt D29.

 

[livinloud11]

I second NOCO. I have two on board battery charges and a GB40 jump starter all from NOCO. The GB40 jump starts my ford explorer without issue at all. No complaints here.

 

[dogdog]

The Costco one $59.99 worked like a champ on the Honda CRV and the VW Jetta... with a dead battery / weak battery... almost always start on first try... I kept it inside the car, but you do have to take it out and recharge it sometimes. especially every 6 months or so or when the battery is a bit less than 1/2 for me.

 

[seanb02]

Those little lithium ones are no joke. I've got a couple NOCO GB150's, one in the shop and one in my service truck, and I can jump start all the tractors and vehicles on the farm. Usually more than once per charge if necessary. It has even been successful with the dump truck that utilizes 4 big batteries. Went from a massive jumper box to these, and haven't looked back. More cranking amps in a smaller package, haven't found a downside yet.

 

[theoldwizard1]

There are SO MANY CHEAP CHINESE ONE ON THE MARKET, it is hard to know which one is any good.

Which Car Jump Starter Is Best? Let's find out!

Scientific Tool Review #2: NOCO GB70 JumpStarter -Part 1

New KING of Jump Starters? TrekPow JT2500
The coolest feature of this model is you can recharge it, admittedly slowly, via your cell phone charge port in your car !

 

[Danglerb]

The business end is just a battery pack with attached leads. The leads are mostly so short they don't make much difference, so bottom line is luck of the drawn on the quality/chemistry of the battery pack, and both good and bad have been reported on ALL brands including the expensive ones, and big names.

I picked something on sale with a decent warranty and tested it out a few times right away. Its the Saoki something like that, from a deal thread at Amazon, like $59, maybe $39, also it seems to hold a charge for months without plugging it in.

We had a no start on son's V8 Lincoln, cranked fine with our pack, but no start. Tow truck that came out tried their boost box, cranked fine, no start. Tow guy's boost box was a HF, told us he used it several times a day and had for months.

 

[aggie113]

I trust the NOCO as well.

 

[ajchien]

I just bought a NOCO to supplement the JNC. Haven’t used the NOCO, but the size and weight are big positives if space is limited.

FWIW, how about also trying to track down your mystery amp draw?

 

[G1GRANDEUR]

with GB40 i was able to start completely dead car battery, had to use boost mode.

 

[Eric29]

I thought they were made up mostly of capacitors?

The business end is just a battery pack with attached leads. The leads are mostly so short they don't make much difference, so bottom line is luck of the drawn on the quality/chemistry of the battery pack, and both good and bad have been reported on ALL brands including the expensive ones, and big names.

I picked something on sale with a decent warranty and tested it out a few times right away. Its the Saoki something like that, from a deal thread at Amazon, like $59, maybe $39, also it seems to hold a charge for months without plugging it in.

We had a no start on son's V8 Lincoln, cranked fine with our pack, but no start. Tow truck that came out tried their boost box, cranked fine, no start. Tow guy's boost box was a HF, told us he used it several times a day and had for months.

 

[Jlarson]

Those little lithium ones are no joke. I've got a couple NOCO GB150's, one in the shop and one in my service truck, and I can jump start all the tractors and vehicles on the farm. Usually more than once per charge if necessary. It has even been successful with the dump truck that utilizes 4 big batteries. Went from a massive jumper box to these, and haven't looked back. More cranking amps in a smaller package, haven't found a downside yet.

I'm thinking about getting one of the GB500's so I can ditch my big 24v pack on my service truck too.

 

[pbon]

Those little lithium ones are no joke. I've got a couple NOCO GB150's, one in the shop and one in my service truck, and I can jump start all the tractors and vehicles on the farm. Usually more than once per charge if necessary. It has even been successful with the dump truck that utilizes 4 big batteries. Went from a massive jumper box to these, and haven't looked back. More cranking amps in a smaller package, haven't found a downside yet.

What is your method? Do you press the bypass button? How many minutes do you give it before trying to start? I have a GB150 but think I may be using it wrong. In 5 minutes, it could not start an Ford E350 with a Completely dead 730 CCA battery.

 

[Radio Flyer]

I thought they were made up mostly of capacitors?

The most common type are Lithium ion batteries, similar to cell phones.

Capacitor technology is coming out now.

Several years ago, our shop was given a "new style" capacitor jump pack to field test. I believe it came from a college in Michigan.

Anyway, the capacitor style never had to be plugged in. It recharged from the vehicle that it just started. You just left it on the rig that started until the voltage reached 14.0 volts. It usually took an extra 15 seconds or so.

It was way lighter than the traditional jump pack that the shop had.

Capacitors had a longer life than batteries.

Got a call from the college that said "do not use it" potential issues. and we never saw it again.

 

[dogdog]

maybe they are more likely to leaky capacitors or "explode" and not able to handle temperature well... I remember the caps explodes they make loud pops when my first gen or inverter charger's capacitor exploded, loud fire cracker like bang. because I bought it out from a warm room to outside temp that is below freezing trying to charge the battery in the car.

 

[Danglerb]

Dead batteries can vary a lot.

Very low voltage, but not that damaged will quickly recharge to 11+v and do a lot of helping to crank for a very short period.

Dead, dead, dead and damaged may not every take a charge and even continue to drain current, so better off to disconnect them when trying to start.

Worth watching if you are curious, the Project Farm youtube video test of booster packs.

 

[chrismenke]

The business end is just a battery pack with attached leads. The leads are mostly so short they don't make much difference, so bottom line is luck of the drawn on the quality/chemistry of the battery pack, and both good and bad have been reported on ALL brands including the expensive ones, and big names.

I picked something on sale with a decent warranty and tested it out a few times right away. Its the Saoki something like that, from a deal thread at Amazon, like $59, maybe $39, also it seems to hold a charge for months without plugging it in.

We had a no start on son's V8 Lincoln, cranked fine with our pack, but no start. Tow truck that came out tried their boost box, cranked fine, no start. Tow guy's boost box was a HF, told us he used it several times a day and had for months.

Having had two Saokis fail one me, I can tell you that the warranty is 100% lip service.

In the end, Amazon just gave me a courtesy refund.

YMMV.

 

[bas157]

I had an Astro one that was rated for smaller diesel trucks(i've got a 6.0 ford). Used it once on a friends car.. took it out to recharge it later on and the pack was swelled up....well that was a waste to spend more on a name brand one (astro doesn't make/sell them anymore). Next time, I'll probably get one from Costco since they have a good return policy. my fiance has a Saoki , probably that same one that DanglerB has. Used that a few times with no issues.

 

[James W]

Noco gb70 its good, I've killed one through my own error. Sometimes not the best for tractors but overall does the job 95% of the time.

 

[Danglerb]

Given the price on many of these, ONE use and you are ahead considering time and money.

I'm sticking with the comment that there is no "good" brand, all brands have some level of failures as various sources work out the lithium chemistry . Price, warranty, ease of using that warranty.