Those mini jump start thingies...

[Slushbox]

I'm used to starting boats, motorbikes and cars over the years with starter-packs, but left the interior light on my car for a week, which naturally, drained every electron out the battery. It's a 2.4l petrol engine.

Here's the jump-pack: http://amzn.to/1Qm3xj0

Whacked on the jump start pack, left it for 10 minutes to charge the car battery a
bit and then turned over the engine. It turned over twice then everything died.

I'd blown an 80 amp alternator fusible link situated on the battery connector. A real bd to find, and had to get them from China. Turns out it's a Mitsubishi Lancer type, common on Jap cars. Dealer said 'not in stock'. Man in China gets them to me in a week. I now have three spares.

Seems absolutely flat battery blew the fuse, but it's never happened before. No, the jump leads were not on backwards.


Fusible link : [pic] http://i49.tinypic.com/24mb8t4.jpg [/pic]

[Mr2Mike]

Slushbox said:

I'm used to starting boats, motorbikes and cars over the years with starter-packs, but left the interior light on my car for a week, which naturally, drained every electron out the battery. It's a 2.4l petrol engine.

Here's the jump-pack: http://amzn.to/1Qm3xj0

Whacked on the jump start pack, left it for 10 minutes to charge the car battery a
bit and then turned over the engine. It turned over twice then everything died.

I'd blown an 80 amp alternator fusible link situated on the battery connector. A real bd to find, and had to get them from China. Turns out it's a Mitsubishi Lancer type, common on Jap cars. Dealer said 'not in stock'. Man in China gets them to me in a week. I now have three spares.

Seems absolutely flat battery blew the fuse, but it's never happened before. No, the jump leads were not on backwards.


Fusible link : [pic] http://i49.tinypic.com/24mb8t4.jpg [/pic]

Sounds like you had the positive jump lead connected to the wrong side of the fuse, I don't see how it could have blown if you were connecting directly to the battery.

[Slushbox]

Mr2Mike said:

Sounds like you had the positive jump lead connected to the wrong side of the fuse, I don't see how it could have blown if you were connecting directly to the battery.

Yes and no. The design of the fusible link is such that if you connect straight to the battery, as I did, the juice goes through the alternator fuse to the smaller connector which is the alternator cable (small nut), as well as the starter solenoid 'fat' cable (under the larger nut).

Forewarned is fore-armed. Given I jump start a vehicle about once every five years, I'll probably have forgotten all of this by then.

These fusible link + battery terminals seem common on older Mitsus and newer Suzukis. No fuse = no go, as it feeds everything, including the central locking.

Fortunately, all this happened at home.

[V8RX7]

Slushbox said:

Whacked on the jump start pack, left it for 10 minutes to charge the car battery a
bit and then turned over the engine.

You shouldn't leave them on - it uses more battery - you want a quick instant power to start it, not to help the old battery.

If the battery is totally dead it can be helpful to remove it to aid jumpstarting.

If the large fuse goes I just repair with tin foil.

[e21Mark]

V8RX7 said:

If the battery is totally dead it can be helpful to remove it to aid jumpstarting.

This.

A seriously dead battery acts as a resistor.

[MajorMantra]

Sorry to bump my old thread, but I thought I should report back. I ended up buying the second power pack in my OP, this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B012CSYE5Y/ref...

I charged it up and stuck it in the boot of my Eunos and have been carrying it around for months. Tried to use it yesterday and... nothing. The pack wouldn't turn on at all. Stuck it on charge overnight and it's still as dead as a dead thing. So yeah, maybe don't bother with that one?

Sigh.

[V8RX7]

Thanks for the update.

My Dad's Clarke 4000 has finally died too - after pretty much, daily use for at least 10 years he's not complaining and bought another one.

[CABC]

MajorMantra said:

Sorry to bump my old thread, but I thought I should report back. I ended up buying the second power pack in my OP, this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B012CSYE5Y/ref...

I charged it up and stuck it in the boot of my Eunos and have been carrying it around for months. Tried to use it yesterday and... nothing. The pack wouldn't turn on at all. Stuck it on charge overnight and it's still as dead as a dead thing. So yeah, maybe don't bother with that one?

Sigh.

no longer available. that does look as though it may have been cheap yet with lots of added bits. Reckon it's worth getting basic quality with these things as you'll only need it after it's been in the boot for months.
i chose DBPower based on Amazon reviews... i just prey it works if/when i need it.

[finlo]

I bought a Floureon one a while back and finally got a chance to use it yesterday, it fired up a dead 3.0L V6 Mondeo no problem.

[skyrover]

What's the opinion on these things?

No battery to charge, it's just capacitors which fill up off the dying remains of your battery and then launches it into your starter circuit all at once.

http://www.jaycar.co.uk/capacitor-based-12v-300a-j...

[Toaster Pilot]

skyrover said:

What's the opinion on these things?

No battery to charge, it's just capacitors which fill up off the dying remains of your battery and then launches it into your starter circuit all at once.

http://www.jaycar.co.uk/capacitor-based-12v-300a-j...

Sounds dangerously awesome

[eliot]

V8RX7 said:

Thanks for the update.

My Dad's Clarke 4000 has finally died too - after pretty much, daily use for at least 10 years he's not complaining and bought another one.

Take a look inside it, you should find it contains a bog standard sealed lead acid battery which can be purchased cheaply.

[V8RX7]

eliot said:

V8RX7 said:

Thanks for the update.

My Dad's Clarke 4000 has finally died too - after pretty much, daily use for at least 10 years he's not complaining and bought another one.

Take a look inside it, you should find it contains a bog standard sealed lead acid battery which can be purchased cheaply.

We've tried using huge truck batteries in the past and they don't last long - I've looked at the battery spec and it shouldn't work as well as it does.

[laters]

finlo said:

I bought a Floureon one a while back and finally got a chance to use it yesterday, it fired up a dead 3.0L V6 Mondeo no problem.

I have had a Floureon 1200 start pack I picked up on ebay for a few months now.
I charged it when it arrived and used it to charge our phones and usb devices so I could cycle the battery a few times.

Since then its lived in the storage box in the boot of the car & I haven't had to use it on my car but it has started 2 cars & its level gauge still shows 3/4.
I will be using it to charge our usb devices so I can give it a full discharge charge cycle.

So much easier than getting the jump leads out & when I needed to change the diff fluid used it to power the pump to get the old fluid out and the new fluid in.

[Cliftonite]

eliot said:

Take a look inside it, you should find it contains a bog standard sealed lead acid battery which can be purchased cheaply.

When mine failed (after 15 years!) I was unable to find a replacement battery of similar capacity / performance that was cheaper than a new Clarkes jump start!

If you know better, tell me! I still have the original casing to fill!

[V8RX7]

Cliftonite said:

eliot said:

Take a look inside it, you should find it contains a bog standard sealed lead acid battery which can be purchased cheaply.

When mine failed (after 15 years!) I was unable to find a replacement battery of similar capacity / performance that was cheaper than a new Clarkes jump start!

If you know better, tell me! I still have the original casing to fill!

They do sell the battery separately for £75ish but after 10+years the rest of Dad's was wrecked.

I usually buy a "return" for IIRC £100.

[MajorMantra]

Bumping my old thread. I have yet to get around to buying a replacement for the one that turned out to useless (this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Original-portable-functio... ) and I still want one of these.

One thing I have noticed browsing Amazon is that a huge proportion of the reviews of these jump starters carry a disclaimer to the effect they were written in exchange for a positive review, and are therefore pretty worthless.

Can someone point me to a currently-available sub-£50 unit that won't turn out to be worthless crap?

[DapperDanMan]

AutoExpress did a review last year

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/927...

I would have one in each car just to be safe but I tried a GeniusBoost which oozed quality unfortunately it didn't work on a V6 Diesel. So when you buy one and find it works in a variety of situations from a 4 pot to a V12 let me know

[urquattroGus]

I'm always really suspicious of the lithium jump packs.

They claim to output huge currents etc, but when you look at the small spindly gauge of wires, you wonder, how can it be!

I have then seen videos of people putting a clamp meter on the wires, and usually the current delivered is a fraction of what is advertised.

I'm also loathed to trust a cheaply made and unknown item that could cause a small electrical fire in the worst case scenario.

Wanted to buy one, but have been put off for those reasons. Until someone like Sealey or Ring sell them I don't know what to trust.

Sealey have just realised one that is more of a capacitor type system which looked interesting.

[Riley Blue]

DapperDanMan said:

AutoExpress did a review last year

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/927...

I would have one in each car just to be safe but I tried a GeniusBoost which oozed quality unfortunately it didn't work on a V6 Diesel. So when you buy one and find it works in a variety of situations from a 4 pot to a V12 let me know

There's one on offer in Lidl this week that looks very similar to the best buy in that group test, the Lidl price is around £35 I think. I was given the AutoExpress best buy, it has been brilliant at starting my Riley, even after several months of it standing in the garage. I can't fault the jump charger, it does exactly what it's supposed to do, every time.

http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-2491.htm?actio...

Edit: link added.

Edited by Riley Blue on Wednesday 30th November 16:22