Lithium jump starter

[Ammonite]

Engine starting with Lithium can be difficult, due to BMS limitations.

Yes, this is what I was referring to but my post could have been clearer. As and when I replace the house bank with lithium I was planning to retain the SLA starter battery....hence the jump pack

 

[OCuea]

I have one of those 'lithium jump starter' units by Ring which is intended to crank up my ageing diesel estate.

It occurs that it might be a useful device to ferry out to the boat when I visit, on the offchance that the engine start battery is a bit depleted or feeling its age. One could make sure the jump starter thing was fully charged on the drive down to the boat.

Any experience? Any pros/contras?

Mine does what I want and is a few years old now. Starts my cold car ageing battery. USB outlet.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I bought one expecting to do that (actually as a starter battery for my RC planes) However, I found that it will only work if actually clipped to a battery. One cannot just clip it to, say, the bilge pump & expect it to work.
In spite of Tranonas comments about having a proper system & never making having a problem it is possible to leave the batteries cross linked & run them down by mistake one day. I am sure many have done it so a backup is handy

I took have a Ring starter pack, which I need for my hobby car that doesn't do a lot of miles and has parasitic drains that discharge the battery. But I don't think the starter pack provides the starting current. I had to use it today and it charged the battery for about a minute before I could start the engine. So I think the principle is that the starter pack puts a minimal charge into the engine battery that is enough to operate the starter motor. You certainly can't connect it and immediately start the engine, as would be the case if it was providing the start current directly.

 

[Daydream believer]

I took have a Ring starter pack,

I never thought one needed a pack to start one's ring. Where do you attack the crocodile clips?

 

[Little Ricky]

Yes they do the job - but you should never need it on a boat if you have a properly set up system of dedicated start battery and house battery, split charging plus a means of connecting the house battery to the engine in an emergency. I have had such a system on all my boats and never needed anything other than the dedicated start battery.

In the winter when batteries are sitting idle in the cold for many many months, would their charge not naturally slightly deplete?

 

[KompetentKrew]

In the winter when batteries are sitting idle in the cold for many many months, would their charge not naturally slightly deplete?

This an old thread but, to answer your question, my shore power, which charges the house batteries with upto 30A or 50A (can't remember) has an additional 1A supply to keep the starter battery topped up when the boat is idle. I think that would be adequate all winter.

 

[Little Ricky]

This an old thread but, to answer your question, my shore power, which charges the house batteries with upto 30A or 50A (can't remember) has an additional 1A supply to keep the starter battery topped up when the boat is idle. I think that would be adequate all winter.

What if you dont use the shore power?

 

[PaulRainbow]

What if you dont use the shore power?

Slightly depleted won't stop your batteries starting the engine. If they are depleted enough so as not to be able to start the engine chances are you'll need new batteries. Lead acid batteries like to be kept charged.

 

[chriss999]

Old thread.

Useful to have as an emergency back up. I’ve never had to use mine. It lives in the car in the winter and in the boat in the sailing season.
As Paul Rainbow says, I shouldn’t need it, But I’m not averse to belt/braces approach to something as critical as engine start.

 

[ducked]

May not be as safe as the resident LiPO, raising the spectre of car/scooter stylee battery fires, especially unwelcome on a boat you sleep on. Probably much less likely if you dont charge it on board.

I think the Supercapacitor types should be safer and more reliable long term than the Lithium battery pack types, though more expensive and not so useful as an emergency power supply.

 

[Refueler]

It took a while for me to understand how such a small item could 'start' a car ...

It doesn't. Its a 'booster charge' unit.

The box that many have to plug into the battery case - is actually a regulator / charge unit ... this then puts a minimal charge amount into your car battery to give you a chance to start the engine. If the engine is reluctant to start on turning the key - then your 'starter pack' isn't going to do it. Its also why - if your car battery is truly knackered - then the unit cannot do its job.

Compare to the units that car rescue guys carry ... usually about the size of a 5litre fuel can and many actually look similar ... wonder why !!

 

[Snowgoose-1]

Thread drift.
On cars, it is not unusual to have a battery that drains quicker than expected despite having everything switched off. This parasitic drain can be a faulty component discovered by removing fuses one by one .

I suppose this could apply also to boats.

 

[Refueler]

Thread drift.
On cars, it is not unusual to have a battery that drains quicker than expected despite having everything switched off. This parasitic drain can be a faulty component discovered by removing fuses one by one .

I suppose this could apply also to boats.

What modern car today does not have parasitic drain ?? A;larm systems .... radio code .... etc.

I can remember leaving cars for months while away on jobs ... now if you are over 10 - 15 days ... you can risk find your car not starting ...

 

[Snowgoose-1]

What modern car today does not have parasitic drain ?? A;larm systems .... radio code .... etc.

I can remember leaving cars for months while away on jobs ... now if you are over 10 - 15 days ... you can risk find your car not starting ...

Good point.
In my experience , the draw is over and above the usual power drain. I.e. battery dead over say 4 weeks without use. I now occasionally use a multimeter to check.

 

[Shaz77]

Yes they do the job - but you should never need it on a boat if you have a properly set up system of dedicated start battery and house battery, split charging plus a means of connecting the house battery to the engine in an emergency. I have had such a system on all my boats and never needed anything other than the dedicated start battery.

Wise people allow for the unexpected, especially on a boat. The more back ups you have the better. Failing to plan is planning to fail. I am a believer in sods law and also "what if"

 

[PaulRainbow]

What modern car today does not have parasitic drain ?? A;larm systems .... radio code .... etc.

I can remember leaving cars for months while away on jobs ... now if you are over 10 - 15 days ... you can risk find your car not starting ...

Modern car radios don't use power to retain the code, it's stored in non-volatile memory.

 

[PaulRainbow]

It took a while for me to understand how such a small item could 'start' a car ...

It doesn't. Its a 'booster charge' unit.

The box that many have to plug into the battery case - is actually a regulator / charge unit ... this then puts a minimal charge amount into your car battery to give you a chance to start the engine. If the engine is reluctant to start on turning the key - then your 'starter pack' isn't going to do it. Its also why - if your car battery is truly knackered - then the unit cannot do its job.

Compare to the units that car rescue guys carry ... usually about the size of a 5litre fuel can and many actually look similar ... wonder why !!

My Mrs left the lights on, on her car all day. The battery was so flat the warning lights went out when you turned the key, not even a click from the starter solenoid. Put my mates jump pack on it and it started fine. His was a good quality jump pack, cheap ones may not work the same.

 

[Refueler]

My Mrs left the lights on, on her car all day. The battery was so flat the warning lights went out when you turned the key, not even a click from the starter solenoid. Put my mates jump pack on it and it started fine. His was a good quality jump pack, cheap ones may not work the same.

Thats the crux ... many are cheap and the box will not fire up a dead battery. What I found was that mine has a base limit about 9v of a dead battery ... below that and its unlikely to start the car ... but if the car battery has 9v still ... then it can work.

I would suspect that your Mrs car system shut off all at about that figure ... maybe.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Thats the crux ... many are cheap and the box will not fire up a dead battery. What I found was that mine has a base limit about 9v of a dead battery ... below that and its unlikely to start the car ... but if the car battery has 9v still ... then it can work.

I would suspect that your Mrs car system shut off all at about that figure ... maybe.

She had Ford Focus at the time, i doubt that was smart enough to do anything other than run the battery dead flat, the warning light were dim when you turned the ignition on. If the battery on mine starts doing down it will turn non essential stuff off to conserve power.

 

[Refueler]

She had Ford Focus at the time, i doubt that was smart enough to do anything other than run the battery dead flat, the warning light were dim when you turned the ignition on. If the battery on mine starts doing down it will turn non essential stuff off to conserve power.

Maybe ... but I know that my mates 10yr old Mondeo ... if anything happens to battery - it needs to disconnected for over 30mins ... (recc'd 1 hour) for systems to self discharge or to apply a lead across the disconnected battery leads to speed up the discharge ....

I know its not same thing - but indicates that similar status may apply.