Jump Starter

[avinalarf]

I want to get a decent battery jump starter in case of emergencies.
I have seen that the Clarke Heavy Duty 4000 gets good reviews.
So can you please tell me if it will be good for my DB9 and if it might cause me any problems jump starting the DB9 in this manner.
If you have other recommendations please advice,I am obviously aware of trickle chargers.
I have other cars so not just for the Aston.
Thanks
Steven

[stimshady]

I have one of these, I used to use it for the TVR, it worked fine.

I haven't tried it on the V12, would hope there is enough power in it to turn it over though.

http://www.motorspares.co.uk/acatalog/info_RIN_RPP...

[3200gt]

Remember if it was totally flat the battery isolator will have triggered and you would need to reset it before jump starting or you'll get nowhere.

[8Tech]

Originally I used to recommend the Sealey RS125 but there are a lot of warranty repaired units on ebay and this meant that the new ones I used to sell became worthless as buyers failed to believe they were buying effectively used ones on ebay at a cheaper price than I could buy them new from Sealey.

After that, I now stock these and find them every bit as good as the "Real" Sealey but far cheaper. In fact, they have been on back-order for a couple on months due to rapid sales in the trade.

http://www.welzhwerkzeug.com/products/product_view...

Please PM me if interested, as I now have stock at £150.00 each.

I have sold loads and not had any failures yet. It even has a torch, (not exactly a pocket one mind you!) and a standard 12V ciger lighter socket. It's 44Ah and 3600A capacity. It's also both 12V and 24V.

Beware of the cheap ones, they really are junk. I paid £90.00 for one from a very well known high street car accessory retailer and NEW, it wouldn't even crank my X5 petrol.

Cheers, 8Tech.

Edited by 8Tech on Wednesday 21st August 21:12

[avinalarf]

Thanks to you all for your advice.
Steven

[MarkW34]

I have one of these which with an inverter is useful for other purposes as well... I use it on track days for inflating tyres.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

Incidentally - halfords seem to have the same Ring one as above from Motorspares, but a tad cheaper if it's the same spec?

[MarkW34]

MarkW34 said:

I have one of these which with an inverter is useful for other purposes as well... I use it on track days for inflating tyres.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

Incidentally - halfords seem to have the same Ring one as above from Motorspares, but a tad cheaper if it's the same spec?

With link:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

[8Tech]

FROM THE SPEC ON THE HALFORDS/RING UNIT........

"for vehicles up to 3500cc."

8Tech.

[stimshady]

This post has got me thinking, i havent got power in my parking bay, but in theory could i run a trickle charger off one of these large power packs?

Obviously i'd have to charge the power pack every so often but it should work right? Not sure how long it would last for - does the trickle charge just power up when the car battery drops to a certain level of is it constantly charging?

[avinalarf]

stimshady said:

This post has got me thinking, i havent got power in my parking bay, but in theory could i run a trickle charger off one of these large power packs?

Obviously i'd have to charge the power pack every so often but it should work right? Not sure how long it would last for - does the trickle charge just power up when the car battery drops to a certain level of is it constantly charging?

MY post gave you food for thought !
That'll be a first Matt,made my day.

[stimshady]

avinalarf said:

MY post gave you food for thought !
That'll be a first Matt,made my day.

[DB9VolanteDriver]

stimshady said:

This post has got me thinking, i havent got power in my parking bay, but in theory could i run a trickle charger off one of these large power packs?

Obviously i'd have to charge the power pack every so often but it should work right? Not sure how long it would last for - does the trickle charge just power up when the car battery drops to a certain level of is it constantly charging?

You're kidding, right? You propose taking a DC power source, that is then inverted to AC, to power your trickle charger which converts AC back to DC? You are making my head explode...

Just take the portable DC source and leave it plugged into the socket in your boot if you are worried about battery charge longevity. All you are doing is placing 2 batteries in parallel to increase the overall capacity so that you can go longer without driving the car. You can't overcharge your car's battery as would be possible with a mains powered battery charger (hence why you use a smart tricxle charger instead). Do NOT use the inverter and your trickle charger !!

[stimshady]

DB9VolanteDriver said:

You're kidding, right? You propose taking a DC power source, that is then inverted to AC, to power your trickle charger which converts AC back to DC? You are making my head explode...

Just take the portable DC source and leave it plugged into the socket in your boot if you are worried about battery charge longevity. All you are doing is placing 2 batteries in parallel to increase the overall capacity so that you can go longer without driving the car. You can't overcharge your car's battery as would be possible with a mains powered battery charger (hence why you use a smart tricxle charger instead). Do NOT use the inverter and your trickle charger !!

Right, got you. So i can just keep it topped up straight from the other battery in the powerpack as that is already DC. Makes sense now you say it.

I think the correct lead came with the powerpack.

Any idea how i can work out how long the battery-pack will last before it needs a recharge?

[8Tech]

If your car has an 88AH battery fitted and goes flat in say 4 weeks, then adding a 44AH power pack will add a further 2 weeks.

As the power pack will not discharge on its own for months, just charge it, keep it in the car and use it to start the car when necessary.

[8Tech]

stimshady said:

does the trickle charge just power up when the car battery drops to a certain level of is it constantly charging?

There are trickle chargers and maintenence chargers.

A proper maintenance charger monitors the cars battery voltage and when it drops below a certain voltage, it will cut in and start charging it.
When the battery has almost approached its maximum voltage the charger will reduce the charging rate. Once max voltage is achieved, then the charger will switch off and monitor the battery again.

The best chargers are the "Smart" chargers thay can vary the charging rate as needed by the battery and many have "bulk", "restore" and "maintain" settings.
This very roughly translates into a red led showing the charger is banging a fair old charge into a flattish battery, orange led where it has reduced the charging rate and green led where the unit is monitoring.

These are great.........

http://www.accumate.co.uk/cg020001.htm

No affiliation etc etc etc. I have 4 of them on cars, bikes and a quad and they do exactly what they should, year after year.

Edited by 8Tech on Friday 23 August 22:00

[DB9VolanteDriver]

8Tech said:

If your car has an 88AH battery fitted and goes flat in say 4 weeks, then adding a 44AH power pack will add a further 2 weeks.

As the power pack will not discharge on its own for months, just charge it, keep it in the car and use it to start the car when necessary.

The only reason you might want to connect the powerpack to the car's socket upon leaving is to make sure the car's system doesn't drop below some critical voltage where things start to misbehave or lose memory, acting as a pseudo trickle charger.

[8Tech]

+1