Car Battery Jump Starter?

[MAS308]

Hi All,

The other day my VE SS battery completely died and I needed NRMA to get me going. Whilst he said the battery was fine im not convinced that im not going to be left roadside again so decided id look at purchasing a lithium car battery jump starter.

Does anyone have any recommendations on ones they have purchased? will they start the 6 litre without issue?
There are quite a few on ebay that seem to be too good to be true with their mah ratings which confuses me... ie

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4USB-68800mAh-Car-Jump-Starter-Booster-Charger-Power-bank-Battery-Auto-SOS-LED-/141854216477?hash=item21072b911d:g:OXQAAOSwZ8ZW2Ue r

this has big mah but says it can only start cars up to 2 litres!

whilst this has much less but says it can do up to 6 litres
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/152006355311?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Any advice on what people have bought and found good? I'm not looking for cheap and nasty... happy to pay a bit more for something i know will do the job!!

thanks

[duke5700]

milli amp hours, a rough way to give you an indication of the storage capabilities of the unit. As an example, think of it as litres of water in a tank and volts would be the pressure being applied to that volume of water. 68800mAh would be 68amp hours.. I call bullshit.

Consider the size of a cordless drill battery at 4ah that is Lithium.

Generally with a car starter, it is large loads for a very short amount of time. So the peak and continuous ratings would be what I would be looking at rather than total storage amounts. Once the car is up and running, you would plug it into charge.

Jaycar do some.. it would be worth it for the warranty. Unless you could match up the chinese import of whatever Jaycar are selling.

http://www.jaycar.com.au/Power-Products-Electrical/Charging/Battery-Charger-Accessories/12-24V-800A-Jump-Starter-Power-Bank-%28Li-ion%29/p/MB3756

[El Narros]

I bought one similar to the first link. Can't remember the name and its in the Monaro at home. I paid about $150, its great, starts the car straight away. My mate who has a Patrol got me onto it as he has about 4 different jump start kits and recommended it.
On the subject of batteries, I bought a charger kit as my battery kept dying, charged it all day and the car wouldn't start, no worries, went to Repco, bought a battery, car wouldn't start. then lost all power to dash etc. Turned out my isolator switch on the negative terminal was broken and the two metal parts wouldn't touch. Jury rigged it and works fine.

Question, will a dodgy connection help a battery to lose charge? Car gets driven about once a week.

[duke5700]

Depends on where you were connecting the charger and or where the alternator connects as to its ability to charge the battery.

The broken negative wouldn't of helped any of the car electrical at all as it needs it to get back to the battery to complete the circuit. Short answer it wouldn't of helped.

[El Narros]

cool. summary is I need to drive it more. if not I can charge it. or jump start it.

[white lie]

If there's an isolator on it, why don't you use it if it's going to be parked for a week plus?
I think the only time I've had flat batteries is when it's parked for 6 months or more. 2-8 weeks has never been a problem.

[duke5700]

Sorry I probably didn't word that well, it wouldn't of helped with the charging but on the other side if the isolator was isolated so to speak the battery wouldn't have been able to drain either.

A good battery should last way longer than a week. I've only got an earlier girl, but I could go easily months with my Optima Red Top and it would kick into life without hesitation.

The pain with an isolator is you lose all your stereo settings.. The CTEK chargers do a little add on part so you don't even need to open the bonnet to charge. Just wire it in for easy access somewhere and it is an easy way to keep it all topped up... and yes the answer is you should always drive it more.

[El Narros]

Because I always think I'll drive it in the next few days and don't. then think "she'll be right". I've always had battery problems, we tracked it down to the aftermarket alarm and have since removed it. Maybe the isolator has been causing grief.

[ajs]

I bought one of these after having battery problems and bought a SJS model SSC05 and it starts 3 litre diesel and 6 litre petrol. I have used it twice on my WM Caprice and it has started it with a completely flat battery no life at all but only just started it. I would recommend the next model up which starts 4 litre diesel or a 7 litre petrol.

[mechatron]

I've got two things for my car. First thing I have is a CTEK MXS5.0 where my car batteries are always connected to it throughout the week.

I also have a SCA 1900A jump starter and it's a fkn beast
http://m.supercheapauto.com.au/Product/SCA-Jumpstart-1900-Amp-Heavy-Duty/283448

This thing has never let me down. It can jumpstart multiple cars that are completely dead and the jump starter itself still doesn't need to be recharged

[bush_basha]

I'm also keen on a jump starter so watching with interest. I didn't click the links but I've seen the ones about the size of a hard drive with leads off it, they would be great as doesn't take too much room but I would imagine not enough grunt to start an 8

[XUV]

I've got two things for my car. First thing I have is a CTEK MXS5.0 where my car batteries are always connected to it throughout the week.

I also have a SCA 1900A jump starter and it's a fkn beast
http://m.supercheapauto.com.au/Product/SCA-Jumpstart-1900-Amp-Heavy-Duty/283448

This thing has never let me down. It can jumpstart multiple cars that are completely dead and the jump starter itself still doesn't need to be recharged
I picked up one of those on special for a hundred buck, nice unit and they have a 38ah battery in them

[duke5700]

If you've got time to waste, a video of a guy using supercaps to start his engine. I could imagine that the cranking amps would be pretty damn high with this, not sure how many joules you would need to kick over a LS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3x_kYq3mHM

[XUV]

not sure how many joules you would need to kick over a LS.

270 CA for a LS2 according to optima
http://www.bugmanweb.com/c6/c6images/battery/optimabatterytable.jpg

[ls1 VN]

I have 2 cars that are constantly connected to a smart charger during the week, V10 M6 & the VN. they are only used once a week or at times monthly or longer. The batteries of both cars are constantly monitored by the chargers and kept charged.
A jump starter pack that will start a big engine if need be is a good idea, specially if you have a car out somewhere and leave your lights on.

Our AA breakdown guys carry one that starts all cars, petrol & diesel....I need to ask them what make & power unit they use.