So set the wayback machine to 3 weeks ago and I attended a car meet.
Marzy and I took the Disco Vette and we had a great time.
He was impressed the airconditioner worked as well as it did.

So it's time to go home, jump in the car hit the key and nothing...
battery indicator showed 8V. Damn.
Discovered the positive had come loose form the battery and it would discharge but not charge.(welcome to quantum tunneling)

So the guy with the awesome Camaro had this little box no bigger than a cellphone said try this, I've never used it.
I hooked it up, waited 30 seconds and hit the key.
VROOM! it spun up the vette like a new battery.

So now I have 2.

You CAN'T hook it up backwards. It will alarm at you.

This one was $32 shipped. 2000amp
It lives in the vette. Along with a complete emergency toolkit.






This one was $59 and lives in my daily driver.
It's 7000 amp.

I've got one, don't recall the brand. Have made use of it a few times helping others. Always toss it in when I take the Midget out, now, after getting stranded a couple times.

I bought a GooLoo GT4000 a couple years back; that thing is fantastic. It has a heating element for extreme cold weather starts and a override in case voltage is too low for normal jump. It can start larger engines multiple times with ease. Paired in a carry case with a small tire compressor, it goes with me everywhere.

I assume these are like the ones I have and they require charging up every so often.
If they set too long the will drain off.

quote:

Originally posted by gjgalligan:
I assume these are like the ones I have and they require charging up every so often.
If they set too long the will drain off.

I have gooloo 4000s in each of my cars, I leave them there, every 6 months I take them in for a top up.
They usually show 95% charge or better after 6 months.

quote:

Originally posted by gjgalligan:
I assume these are like the ones I have and they require charging up every so often.
If they set too long the will drain off.

I have a Tacklife T8 that hasn't been charged in over 4 years and is still at 96%, despite being used several times and living in my car 24/7/365.

My friends are getting the 4000s for Christmas...

I have 2 of the 4000 series, sure beats pulling out jumper cables and positioning the cars.

I've had a couple battery packs. In 2023 I picked up this one since the prior one wasn't quite working. The "boost-mode" seems to work better.

https://a.co/d/2mJtp6Z


I have a couple cars that I hardly drive ( I should more) but if they sit the phantom loads will drain they batteries. Batteries are least 10 years old. So, just this month I put solar panel battery keepers on them. The cold crank amps may have diminished over time but keeping them topped off with the trickle charge keeps me from disconnecting the batteries altogether.

https://a.co/d/dlLbWNf

https://a.co/d/5KJjZZI

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SigSentry,

I got into these when I had to call a wrecker for a car battery drawn dead by charging cell phones and listening to music while parked waiting for a venue to open. I figured the wrecker would pull out the jumper cables as per standard practice for the past century, but he used the portable lithium pack to start the car instead. Why can't I do that? I remember thinking when running the credit card for the service at three or four times the price of a new unit. Shortly thereafter, each of our cars have had a porta-pack in it. Check that the charge is good every six months or so, and you'll never have to beg/pay for a jump again.

As for which one...thay all seem to be made by the same outfit in China. I have found little to differentiate the various models available on Amazon. But, I'm sure you can find people who will insist that Brand X is waaaaay better than Brand Y.

Yes, thanks. You may recall I have a NOCO, a kind gift from a forum member, just got it the day you and Mars visited, hadn't yet charged it up at the time.

AH! I mustahave missed that!

Well every car I have is getting one.
When I get my Honda back it'll get one too.

When jumper cables are used, besides the possibility of mistakenly hooking them up backwards, hooking them directly to the battery can sometimes cause an arc or spark. It is better to make the last connection on a metal part of the engine as a ground, but this isn't always feasible. A "smart" jump box with polarity protection eliminates both of these. But you don't want it too "smart." Some "smart" boxes and battery chargers won't work if the battery is completely dead ... which is the reason you need them in the first place.

I haven't had a dead battery myself for a good 25 years, but sometimes stuff happens. A neighbor needed his car jumped off when he left a door ajar. I didn't have my cables, but he had some. It went mostly without incident, but he did ask me to start and run my car, which I refused. I'm not risking frying my alternator or worse for anybody's car.

After this, I put one in every car we have.

What do you all recommend for a heavy duty pickup truck with a 6.6/7.3 gas engine?

Get the 8000.

^^^

I found one made by Fanttik in the trunk of a car in the junkyard.

Not sure how old the battery is, but it will still crank an 8.3L V-10.

Should be able to start most anything else with ease.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
A "smart" jump box with polarity protection eliminates both of these. But you don't want it too "smart." Some "smart" boxes and battery chargers won't work if the battery is completely dead ... which is the reason you need them in the first place.

Most of the jump boxes now have a "smart overide"

Are you sure you hooked it up right? Then press the button. It will provide voltage and bring the battery charge up, if miswired its on you.

Thing to remember, new car alternators are typically sized to maintain a charge not bring up a dead battery. Charging a fully discharged battery will stress the alternator.

I have the NOCO 40 suggested here. Had to use it already.

These packs are great I have one in each personal vehicle and my work truck. You don’t even need to wait 30 seconds in my experience, just hook it and turn it on. I’ve only jump maybe 5 vehicles with mine though so small sample size. I do agree try to remember to bring them in every 6 months or so to top em off.