Which 12 volt power pack?

H

Harry P

Well-Known Member
Joined
18 Nov 2009
Messages
81
Location
County Down, NI
Visit site
I want to get one to carry on the boat for back up as well as starting cars etc. I liked the idea of the Halfords Power Pack 200 with the compressor and 240 AC socket but the customer reviews are a mixed bag. What do you think of the Halfords one if you have it. Any other recommendations or advice?

Cheers in advance:)
 
Vara said:
They work on fenders.
Click to expand...

I've got the halfords one, The Compressor gets a lot of use on launching trolly tyres. I've never had to use mine onboard(I only take it on overnight trips or longer), but I like the idea of having it available.
 
Essentially, it's a 20AH battery for £99.99 on the current special offer. It's got a fancy box and a few little gizzmo's but it's an expensive and bulky way of carrying around a relatively small amount of power.

FWIW, every now and again, Lidl does a small one (7AH) for a little over a tenner. It gives the option of several output voltages and is useful for powering/charging radios and all sorts of bits and pieces on a boat. Probably not much use for engine starting, but a 20AH battery would run out of steam pretty quickly, and at least it is easy enough to carry around. I've used mine with a soldering iron at the top of the mast!
 
I've carried one for a few years, mainly to operate my high speed inflator to blow up my dinghy. I lent it to a MOBO owner in Falmouth once when he couldn't start his engine due to flat(tish) batteries and have also used it to start my own car when getting back after 3 weeks away.

It was suggested on my Diesel Engine Maintenance course as a good standby, however i wouldn't spend much over £50 for one.
 
There is one coming up on Thursday's special buys at Aldi for £35

http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/special_buys3_23514.htm


Product_detail_Wk9T5.jpg
 
Very useful back up for the car and boat.

Agree with suggestion to try Machine Mart, Screwfix etc, but most are simply 17Ah batteries, whearas car batteries and engine start batteries are more likely to be 60Ah plus.

Jump packs are lighter and more portable than a 60Ah battery though

Sorry Ah is Amp hour. So a cordless drill may be 12 volt, 2Ah, the ability to provide 2 amps for an hour (it won't though). So a fully charged 60Ah car battery has 3.5 times the cranking power of a 17Ah jump pack, and the jump pack may not have the power to start an engine with a totally flat battery.

There are people here who can provide more detail than me, because they actually understand electrics!
 
So a fully charged 60Ah car battery has 3.5 times the cranking power of a 17Ah jump pack, and the jump pack may not have the power to start an engine with a totally flat battery.
Click to expand...

What counts when it comes to engine starting is the CCA ( cold cranking amps) capability rather than Ah capacity.

normally an engine starts after only a few seconds ( or less) of cranking but take a case needing say 10 seconds .

If the cranking current is 200 amps then the Ah used is only 200 x10/3600 = 0.56 Ah

Plenty of juice therefore in a 17Ah battery for quite a few starts, even difficult ones, provided it can supply the current (amps) that the starter motor will take.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top