47-55.1 New Jump Starter Technology

[vintovka]

Not really an AD question but has made me think. A few days ago a fellow was removing sections of fallen trees with a really beat old truck and winch. The winch killed the battery so he whips out one of the new tiny Jump Starters from his glove compartment. First It instantly started his big V8 and second was able to wind in his 12,000 Warn. Battery meter said 80% charge left. -- Flat amazing. Am getting one for my 350 powered AD. In addition some of these Jump Starters have both Battery maintenance and repair capabilities. These would be handy for storing one for a couple months. The question begs could these be used as primary battery and free up room? In any case this technology is amazing.

[mr48chev]

I had one from Costco and it only lasted a little over a year. It worked great when I first got it but seemed to degrade pretty fast.

We have had a couple of the regular jump boxes with the short jumper cables and light and air compressor on them and I have only got about two years out of one of those. I got my daughter one and she used the daylights out of it not only jumping her own car a few times but jumping cars for coworkers and airing up hers and others tires.

[1project2many]

Several years ago we configured the new shop truck with a set of 00 gauge jumper cables utilizing a quick connector on the grille, a second battery, an upgraded alternator, and a heated storage battery compartment on the side of the truck. There were days when I'd be going from bus to bus doing all I could to get them to start in the cold. Diesels almost always required at least one new battery to be installed and there was still 15-20 minutes of charge time before we could crank them fast enough. These days I almost never carry batteries and I rarely connect the jumper cables. What's different?

1) We switched to AGM batteries. They last longer and seem less likely to fail unexpectedly. They also draw less current so they are kinder to the alternator.

2) We're using the new style jumper boxes. There's a Noco GB70 in the shop that's about 5 years old and still works fine. I carried a GB70 in the cab of the service truck for about three years and it worked great until it stopped charging I replaced it with a GB150. That one lasted about a year before it stopped charging. It was replaced under warranty two months ago so we'll see how it goes.

They generally work great. The GB70 will start 2-3 6.0 liter engines with completely dead batteries, anywhere from 4-6 if the batteries are just low. The GB150 will not crank a 6.6 diesel if the batteries are dead. But that jump pack and the GB70 will crank a cold diesel on a summer day. I have to add the shop truck jumper cables to the mix if it's a winter morning.

The jump packs in the shop truck have to work pretty hard. They do a lot of deep cycles along with temperature extremes. If I bought one for personal use I would probably keep it inside and would try not to run it down to nearly dead.

We saved the old GB70. One of the techs here is hoping to try and use it to replace his motorcycle battery. There are some videos on Youtube about testing and repairing them.

[mongocanfly]

Funny, I ordered a noco gb70 the other day

[vics stuff]

I was given a Diehard #1150 for X Mas 7 years ago. This jumper box was used a lot around my home / shop but only lasted about 1 1/2 years . I will not take a charge anymore. I plan on tearing it apart to see what is going on. Otherwise heave hoe into the trash.
Vic