A friend has been in Florida for several weeks. I tried to start his 6.8L Power Stroke today and it was very weak and wouldn't start. I used my Audew 2000A battery pack and it worked.

I let the battery charge for 60 seconds or so and it turned right over when I turned the key.

This is a big engine and I am impressed it worked as well as it did. When I began, the power level on the unit was 93 and it was 68 when I was done.

Impressive!

I have the Audew 1000, but haven't had to use it yet. I charge it every 6 months just to keep it ready. Supposedly mine will start a 6.0L gas or 4.5L diesel.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Impressive!

I have the Audew 1000, but haven't had to use it yet. I charge it every 6 months just to keep it ready. Supposedly mine will start a 6.0L gas or 4.5L diesel.

Conventional wisdom is that lithium batteries are happiest right around 50% state of charge for long-term storage. Keeping the battery "topped off" will reduce the overall lifespan of the batteries.

I keep mine charged between 50-70%, and that's still way more juice than I would needin an emergency.

I think there's a general misconception on how these work. You aren't recharging the vehicle's battery with the 60-second wait, what you are doing is energizing the capacitor in the little black housing that plugs into the side of the battery pack. When the time comes to start the vehicle, the capacitor discharge helps provide the high starting current needed to turn the engine, and power the ignition/injector pump/etc. The capacitor is why a tiny little LiON battery pack can do the job that usually requires a much more powerful lead-acid battery.

I haven't dissected one yet, but I suspect what I'd find inside the battery pack would be the same 18650 cells that power flashlights, laptops, and cordless tools.

I got the Audew a couple years back when it was Project Farm's top pick. I used it regularly when I dragged my feet replacing an eleven year old battery in my Tacoma and it worked great. Not a tough job on four cylinders but I didn't want to throw in a new battery in a long cold winter.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Impressive!

I have the Audew 1000, but haven't had to use it yet. I charge it every 6 months just to keep it ready. Supposedly mine will start a 6.0L gas or 4.5L diesel.

Conventional wisdom is that lithium batteries are happiest right around 50% state of charge for long-term storage. Keeping the battery "topped off" will reduce the overall lifespan of the batteries.

I keep mine charged between 50-70%, and that's still way more juice than I would needin an emergency.

That's for lithium batteries discharged and charged frequently such as cell phones. Batteries that sit for months on end without discharging or recharging have a negligible affect on battery life when charging 2x per year.

I want maximum starting ability which could mean multiple attempts to start (e.g. jump, adjust something, jump, adjust something, jump).

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Impressive!

I have the Audew 1000, but haven't had to use it yet. I charge it every 6 months just to keep it ready. Supposedly mine will start a 6.0L gas or 4.5L diesel.

Conventional wisdom is that lithium batteries are happiest right around 50% state of charge for long-term storage. Keeping the battery "topped off" will reduce the overall lifespan of the batteries.

I keep mine charged between 50-70%, and that's still way more juice than I would needin an emergency.

That's for lithium batteries discharged and charged frequently such as cell phones. Batteries that sit for months on end without discharging or recharging have a negligible affect on battery life when charging 2x per year.

I want maximum starting ability which could mean multiple attempts to start (e.g. jump, adjust something, jump, adjust something, jump).

I'm not so certain your distinction between frequently cycled batteries and batteries in storage is correct.

For storage (long term storage), temperature and state of charge have a pretty big effect on battery lifespan and usable capacity. Enough of an effect that my batteries on my drone will command itself to self discharge to 50% if the battery isn't used after 10 days.

Both my Dell and Lenovo laptops have battery management that keeps that battery at 50% if it determines that you are plugged in all the time and using outlet power, to try to preserve the battery. As far as the laptop is concerned, bring plugged in all the time means that the batteries are unused and should be put into storage mode.

Tesla has their default state of charge capped at 70-80% to extend battery life.

While not exactly a peer reviewed science journal, this site, Battery University, seems to suggest that you are losing 10-20% of your overall capacity per year by keeping the pack fully charged (also depending on temperature).

The 6-month reminder to recharge my three packs isn't so much to top off 20% or so, but to have chance to discover a failed or failing unit before I need it, as has happened once so far. Not to mention that riding around in the temp extremes of a car parked outside then in a garage through four seasons is a pretty hostile environment for any unused battery.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
I'm not so certain your distinction between frequently cycled batteries and batteries in storage is correct.

Perhaps, I could've written it better. The gist of what I was getting at is that when reading technical information one has to learn what to filter out. What I was trying to impart was filter out lithium ion battery information pertaining to frequently charged items such as cell phones.

There are several things bad for lithium ion batteries such as extreme heat and extreme cold. While storage plays a role in overall battery life, the charging algorithm plays a bigger role in overall life. Excessive heat from charging rate, excessive heat from overcharging, number of charge cycles, etc. are much worse. That's why one needs to filter out frequently charged and frequently overcharged items cell phones and laptops from discussions on a jump starter.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
For storage (long term storage), temperature and state of charge have a pretty big effect on battery lifespan and usable capacity.

Agree that it's one of the factors, but not the only factor

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Both my Dell and Lenovo laptops have battery management that keeps that battery at 50% if it determines that you are plugged in all the time and using outlet power, to try to preserve the battery. As far as the laptop is concerned, bring plugged in all the time means that the batteries are unused and should be put into storage mode.

You've taken a nugget of information and assumed it's the entire picture. They're primarily doing this because of the damage continuously charging a laptop battery will do and they've chosen a percentage to store.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Tesla has their default state of charge capped at 70-80% to extend battery life.

You're taking a nugget of information and conflating it again. Tesla is saying what they are doing with their battery management circuit, but the more pertinent question is what is Audew doing with their battery management circuit? In other words, when the Audew unit shows 4/4 bars does that mean that it's charged to 100% of their desired battery charge or does it mean that it's charged to 100% battery's actual capacity?

Since Audew knows better than either of us the actual design of their battery management circuit, desired charge level, and battery's maximum charge level. From the owner's manual FAQ:


As long as we're discussing storage of lithium ion batteries, I recently upgraded my motorcycle to having a lithium ion battery. Since motorcycle batteries typically spend a good portion of their life in storage (e.g. winter in the north, summer in the Gulf Coast, etc) I pulled out my owner's manual for it and here is what it had to say:

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
While not exactly a peer reviewed science journal, this site, Battery University, seems to suggest that you are losing 10-20% of your overall capacity per year by keeping the pack fully charged (also depending on temperature).

If you're referring to Table 2, that seems to fit with the owner's manual stating that charging 4x per year, storing in a vehicle under varying temperatures, etc. will result in a a 3 to 5 year life. The pertinent thing that table 2 cannot answer is when the battery is stored at 40% Can you actually jump start a vehicle? Probably a small engine, but not the 6.0L gasoline / 4.5L diesel truck motor Audew advertises.

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
The 6-month reminder to recharge my three packs isn't so much to top off 20% or so, but to have chance to discover a failed or failing unit before I need it, as has happened once so far. Not to mention that riding around in the temp extremes of a car parked outside then in a garage through four seasons is a pretty hostile environment for any unused battery.

Great point, and one of the reasons I charge mine every fall and spring. Also, I really want to avoid the damage caused by charging it in the middle of summer when the battery is already hot. I guess I could charge it fall, winter, and spring and be closer to the owner's manual.