With Christmas getting closer SWMBO is asking what I want, she likes to buy things fairly far in advance. Anyhow on my list of things that I've never gotten around to buying myself is a jump pack. Something big enough that I could conceivably run a small winch off of if needed but otherwise just for jumping dead batteries and stuff.
Any affordable ones out there that are really good?
Also interested in this. I want to get some for my kids for Christmas. I figured I'd watch the Black Friday deals.
I have had my Jump and Carry brand for what I'll bet is 20 years. In 2017 I replaced the internal battery which is pretty much a motorcycle battery.
https://cloreautomotive.com/product-category/jump-starters/jump-n-carry-jump-starters/
I have the 4000 but I wish I had longer cables. Available on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Clore-Automotive-Jump-N-Carry-JNC660-Starter/dp/B000JFJLP6
The noco genius series is good but i don't know how it would handle running a winch.
Some old GRM chatter on jumpers
https://www.amazon.com/Clore-Automotive-Jump-N-Carry-JNC660-Starter/dp/B000JFJLP6
You will be very happy with this!
In reply to rustybugkiller :
Thunderhead 289 of YouTube fame swears by his.
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Audew/Homepage/page/13DCCEDE-04E9-4591-B6C2-9171C5185642
Charge and throw it in the glove box. Best jump box I've ever owned. Sat for a year and got it out still 100% jumped my 350 csb x 2 and still was at 96%.
rustybugkiller said:https://www.amazon.com/Clore-Automotive-Jump-N-Carry-JNC660-Starter/dp/B000JFJLP6
You will be very happy with this!
thx. after other independent research, the JNC660 was at the top of my list already - good to see that GRM folks think the same.
chief8one said:https://www.amazon.com/stores/Audew/Homepage/page/13DCCEDE-04E9-4591-B6C2-9171C5185642
Charge and throw it in the glove box. Best jump box I've ever owned. Sat for a year and got it out still 100% jumped my 350 csb x 2 and still was at 96%.
I just watched a test of small jump starters (mostly lithium) on YouTube and the Audew did really well.
This guy (Project Farm) has an almost-shouting speaking style that makes me a bit nuts, but the testing seems legit:
I had the bigger of the 2 HF jump pack/compressors. It was great for a little over a year, then the battery died. It took about a year for me to get around to actually replacing the battery, only to discover the problem was really in the charging circuit...
I bought a Battery Tender brand from Amazon. I love everything about it except 1 thing. It uses a teeny charge wire that wouldn't even charge a phone very well That means that not only is the wire very thin and I'm waiting to trip over it and rip it, and it takes 40 hours for a full charge from dead.
Otherwise, it's a fantastic pack. It holds a charge forever and has plenty of reserve. I used it for two weeks this summer for camping; charging phones, charging LED lanterns, bluetooth speakers, etc, and it still had plenty of juice to jump start the boat with a 3.0L 4cyl. Not very heavy, sturdy build except for the charger.
This is what I got. 1200A. Very happy for two years with it. Amazon lists it for $99 now, but I think I got it on black friday or Prime day for $68
I recently bought a $60ish Schumacher from the FLAPS because I needed it.
No complaints. I use it a fair bit.
Also, a buddy had some smaller-that-a-VHS-tape thing in his glove box. it started his car, and there were no ill effects when he hooked it up backwards(!).
Woot! has the NOCO jump pack for $50. I've got a couple of their chargers, been very happy with them.
My jump pack is finally dead. It lasted several years.
I gave everyone in my family one of these.
GOOLOO 1500A Peak 20800mAh SuperSafe Car Jump Starter
It will jump everything in my fleet except the 6L diesel in the CARTA bus from completely dead. That includes the 460 in my RV.
can you buy an extended warranty on any of these ?
they do not seem to work that long if you do not leave them on a tender !
I got a small battery from a garden tractor and just put cable on it , also bought a leather purse to carry it at a yard sale :)
In reply to californiamilleghia :
There's a thread on here somewhere of me hunting down parts for my older Schumacher jump pack, similar to the one Wheelsmithy posted above. I got over a decade out of it before it finally wouldn't charge anymore.
There's not much to them, I was able to find a surplus/NOS replacement charge controller and the sort of proprietary SLA battery. When it was all said and done, it cost about 80% of what I could have bought a new one for. Depends on how much you value your time or hunting down parts, I guess.
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:rustybugkiller said:https://www.amazon.com/Clore-Automotive-Jump-N-Carry-JNC660-Starter/dp/B000JFJLP6
You will be very happy with this!
thx. after other independent research, the JNC660 was at the top of my list already - good to see that GRM folks think the same.
Before you/she buy, Amazon is doing their Prime Day sales this week. Might find a deal.
californiamilleghia said:can you buy an extended warranty on any of these ?
they do not seem to work that long if you do not leave them on a tender !
I got a small battery from a garden tractor and just put cable on it , also bought a leather purse to carry it at a yard sale :)
Mine is 2 years old. Is never on the charger because it rides around under the back seat of my truck. And will jump almost anything as long as the battery is above 75%.
Don't buy one of the big ones with a lead acid battery. I've had two of them. Both sucked. Buy one of the little tiny ones with a lithium battery.
JNC660 is the best I've used.
Don't buy one of the big ones with a lead acid battery. I've had two of them. Both sucked. Buy one of the little tiny ones with a lithium battery.
I only kind of agree with that. Since I teach automotive and electrical i sometimes talk about jump packs with students. I usually start off by saying that a car battery is 30-40lbs and costs around $100, and follow up by asking if you then put a charger, a gauge, some lights and switches, and some jumper cables on it and sell it for $70, is it very likely that the battery itself is piece of E36 M3? 'Commercial grade' jump boxes cost ~2-3 times what a good car battery costs, and when you think about that it mostly makes sense. It's not that im against a lead acid battery at all, but if you're trying to buy something for $100 that has a lead acid battery in it, what you should probably do is buy a damn car battery and put some cables on it. Only caveat is i would buy a small agm one for this purpose. You can get a small agm at walmart for <$50, and an almost-car-sized one from HF for $70.
BUT, yeah if you want something that is going to fit in your glovebox? Just don't do lead-acid at all. So, kind of agree.
In reply to Vigo (Forum Supporter) :
My issue with lead acid batteries is maintaining them. Leave it in your car or on the shelf in the shop without charging it for three or four months and when you need it it will be dead. BTDT.
A lithium battery, 3 months later, will still have enough charge to start a car. My son used his to jump his Suburban the other day. Not just once, but 6 times over a span of 2 hours. The lithium pack still had 75% charge left in it.
californiamilleghia said:I got a small battery from a garden tractor and just put cable on it , also bought a leather purse to carry it at a yard sale :)
Did the purse match the battery?
Only slightly better than above I have the bright yellow one from HF for the past 10yrs. The switch went bad so I have it hard wired but other than that it gets work done.
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