Jump starter

Discussion in 'Functional Gear & Equipment' started by Airtime, May 1, 2022.


  1. Airtime

    Airtime Monkey+++

    I have equipment and a truck that seem to always have weak or dead batteries. There is something in the truck that intermittently will drain the battery in a few days or sometimes not at all. Haven’t figured it out but given I do not drive the truck every day, I never know if the battery will be full or dead when I go to use it after sitting a week or 2. I have other equipment that have weak batteries that need replacement but I just haven’t done it yet.
    So, I'd lug around full size lead acid batteries and jumper cables to start stuff. That got old.

    I watched a YouTube channel called Project Farm that tests things, sometimes his test methods are very good, other times less good but he tries his best and far better than nothing.



    He tested portable jumpstart units and recommended the Gooloo 4000A. Weird name but what the heck.

    upload_2022-5-1_12-17-47.

    So, I bought one on Amazon a year ago, Gooloo GP4000 which I think superseded the 4000A. I was skeptical a little lithium battery pack about 3.5” x 1.5” x 8.75” would remotely compare to a fully charged group size 31 lead acid, but it spins over a big cold engine just as fast. Amazing.

    Anyway, I love this thing and am super impressed (hard to do.)

    It has started my F150 5.4 liter V8 with a totally dead battery in 20 degF temps several times. Has started my truck a few dozen times with totally dead battery over the past year. Starts tractor, etc. I can get multiple starts dropping it’s charge indicator just 1 bar out of 4. After the engine starts, the unit will disconnect automatically after about 10 seconds. Once my battery was so dead that when the Gooloo disconnected the engine stalled because the electrical couldn’t keep the voltage high enough. The unit lets you press a button that then will charge the vehicle battery enough to engage the starter or keep the engine running when it disconnects. Once you learn how to use it, it is fantastic.

    As a prepping item, I used to strongly recommend always having jumper cables in your vehicle. But now, I’d say this little guy can suffice and it takes less space than a set of high quality cables. It also makes you independent from needing another vehicle with a good battery. It charges from a USB so it takes a day to really recharge but that also means you can recharge it from a USB jack or cigarette lighter adapter in the car. Sweet.

    AT
     
    Last edited: May 1, 2022
  2. Gator 45/70

    Gator 45/70 Monkey+++

    I have something like this Keyed on the tractor, More like an anti-thief measure but the battery doesn't drain either.

    disconnect.
     
    Tully Mars, SB21, sec_monkey and 4 others like this.
  3. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    Battery technology has really been improving. When I was driving (before health issues negated it) I always carried a Shumacher jumper unit, a lot bigger and heavier, but always worked. Just had to recharge every month or so. If I was driving today, I'd definitely be checking out these lightweight lithium battery units.
     
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  4. oil pan 4

    oil pan 4 Monkey+++

    Yeah I put a battery disconnect switch on my wife's old car.
    If the battery is being drained, now you are beating up the alternator to try and make it charge the drained battery every single time you run it.
     
    SB21, sec_monkey, duane and 1 other person like this.
  5. duane

    duane Monkey+++

    My snowplow truck is a 1999 F-350 and some thing has gotten wet in circuit board by the fuses. If kept inside for a few weeks its OK, but set outside in rain or run in rain and when you turn off key, blower motor etc will still run and a day later even if you turn everything off, the battery is dead. Ford dealer doesn't want to touch it, local mechanic traced it to circuit powering relay when key is on. Put a battery disconnect on it and a little 5 watt or so solar trickle charger that sets on dash and plugs into cigar lighter. Sometimes don't run it for a few months, put about 300 miles on it last year. That solved my problems and the battery lasts a lot longer too. Trickle chargers will keep battery charged, make them last a lot longer, keep them from freezing and help out alternator. Love the little solar ones with a controller, don't know about 1 or so watt ones that just connect straight to battery.
     
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  6. CraftyMofo

    CraftyMofo Monkey+++

    Years ago, Cadillacs used to have a problem with cooling fan relays getting stuck in the “on” position. The fan would run the battery down. Might be worth looking at replacing the relays.
     
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  7. Thunder5Ranch

    Thunder5Ranch Monkey+++

    I do something similar on the tractors hot cables except a bit more primitive just a bar breaker like you would use on a electric fence. Put the same thing on the 2006 for truck, something kept sucking the battery dead over 2-3 weeks time. Breaker solved that malfunction.
     
    SB21, duane, sec_monkey and 1 other person like this.
  8. duane

    duane Monkey+++

    "Modern" cars are never off, always power to computer, key less entry system, car alarms, etc. If you don't run them for a few months and don't either disconnect them or trickle charge them, they will lose their charge. In addition a lead acid cell self discharges a little bit all the time, google said about 4 % a week, and I have lost lawn mower and cycle batteries over the winter. The next spring they just never seem to take a decent charge if you don't trickle charge them over the winter. In addition, taking a battery down to 0 charge and leaving it there for a few weeks, seems to pretty much do them in also. In any stand alone system, car, house,etc, it is a lot easier to make power than to store it and most battery storage systems will not take abuse and continue to have any real capacity.

    I think a good jump starter, even better if it has computer - telephone power plug outlets, would be very handy in a survival system, for recharging radios, computers, led lights, starting cars with bad gas or dead batteries, etc. Most are lithium ion now and have a good storage vs weight balance, and charge very well from solar sources. Limiting factor is that most depend on chips to control charge and discharge cycles as well as voltage conversions between battery and voltage outputs.​
     
    Last edited: May 1, 2022
  9. SB21

    SB21 Monkey+++

    I was going to mention that battery cut off switch,, but y'all beat me to it .
    About those little jumpboxes ,, I had one a while back ,, It was quite impressive. I used it 2 or 3 times on my F450 7.3l diesel dump truck ,, I was impressed how long that little battery pack would turn over that engine .
     
  10. OldDude49

    OldDude49 Just n old guy

    thanks for the info!
     
    Gator 45/70 likes this.
  11. HK_User

    HK_User A Productive Monkey is a Happy Monkey

    Battery disconnect will save your home or garage IF the varmints chew on the wires.
     
  12. natshare

    natshare Monkey+++

    That's the fun part of driving my Hyundai hybrid Tucson. No 12v battery under the hood! Instead, they made part of the lithium battery the 12v power cell, and gave it an automatic cut-off, if it's being discharged too much. If that happens, you simply press the dashboard switch to reconnect it, so you can start the gasoline engine, and recharge the battery pack.
    They do give you a pair of battery jumper points under the hood, so you can jump start it, if necessary. Similar to what you might see in a military vehicle's grill (so you don't have to pop the hood), or if your battery is in the trunk.
    Of course, the smarter cars, these days, just shut off all the 12v loads, when you turn off the car. No more leaving the headlights on, and draining the battery!
     
    sec_monkey and Gator 45/70 like this.
  13. Airtime

    Airtime Monkey+++

    Interesting about the jumper port and no 12v. battery. Makes sense.

    Yes, modern vehicles shut off high loads like headlights etc automatically. However, some of the electronic control units save a bunch of data to non-volatile memory on engine shutdown. It is so extensive that the ECM may be awake and processing data often for 10-20 minutes. If the ECM losses power during this period, data may be corrupted and a fault code may be set. I know a dozen years ago Cummins was having tons of FC1117 issues which is their lost power before all data was saved. Some manufacturers using their engines where putting battery disconnect switches on trucks. That is now a no-no in the Cummins application engineering bulletins. Most other manufacturers have similar situations.

    Now, some of you wonder about vehicles in the petroleum industry where there were mandated safety requirements for battery disconnects. Those were tweaked that the battery disconnects shall shut off all but the keep-alive power to an engine’s ecm.

    Have fun
    AT
     
    Homer Simpson likes this.
  14. Hanzo

    Hanzo Monkey+++


    I have a lithium charger. Originally bought it for my wife. I love that thing. I top it off when it drops to about 80%. Your post reminded me to check. It's been about two months since I topped it off. 95%. All good for now.
     
    SB21 likes this.
  15. arleigh

    arleigh Goophy monkey

    A diode in the alternator can fail and produce a load that will drain the battery.
    Trace it.
     
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