How is it that my standard automotive jumper cables have very thick wires and the new lithium packs use wires that are comparatively much smaller than the old style cables? Do they both do the same job of starting a vehicle with a severely depleted battery? Or does the lithium pack only work on a battery that is less depleted but you need cables if it's depleted past a certain point?

Check the actual wire gauge of your jumper cables. Don't be fooled by thick insulation. Copper "looking" cables aren't necessarily solid copper. Far from it.In a jumper type situation, its all about the difference in voltage between the jumper battery and the battery being jumped. The new lithium batteries are pretty good at initial surge voltage which helps a lot in a jump situation.I was totally amazed once when my li-ion portable battery booster actually jump started an older GM V8 diesel with totally dead wet cell batteries. (2-12 volt starting batteries from the factory)Chum lee

Chum lee wrote:I was totally amazed once when my li-ion portable battery booster actually jump started an older GM V8 diesel with totally dead wet cell batteries. (2-12 volt starting batteries from the factory)Chum leeThere are varying degrees of "totally dead".The small packs depend on the internal battery still being partly functional. They also depend on the stricken vehicle being fairly healthy so it will start right away.I bet you wouldn't have fared so good if they had gone OPEN.....so that they couldn't help supply any current at all.OR if it was -30 F and the engine was about 10 years beyond needing a tune up.

One of differences would be the length of cables carrying the power. My jumper cables are 25' long and made of very heavy cable. I do have a couple of booster units and their cables are maybe 2' long if you pull hard. Shorter cables don't need to be near as thick/heavy.Bill

Cable length, that's the long and the short of it. 12 volts isn't a lot of juice. It doesn't take much fall-off due to wire resistance to cause trouble. My jumpers are 20 feet long and double aught wire -- essential for cranking a diesel. My booster box, the leads are at most 12 inches. That makes much smaller wires very feasible. And they are.

I was able to start my motorhome (8.1L V8) with the battery pack only (no automotive battery). Amazing things they are.

Performance difference between jumper cable and Lithium pack

Sam_Spade
Explorer
May 02, 2019
Chum lee wrote:

I was totally amazed once when my li-ion portable battery booster actually jump started an older GM V8 diesel with totally dead wet cell batteries. (2-12 volt starting batteries from the factory)

Chum lee

There are varying degrees of "totally dead".

The small packs depend on the internal battery still being partly functional. They also depend on the stricken vehicle being fairly healthy so it will start right away.

I bet you wouldn't have fared so good if they had gone OPEN.....so that they couldn't help supply any current at all.
OR if it was -30 F and the engine was about 10 years beyond needing a tune up.
Chum_lee
Explorer
May 02, 2019
Check the actual wire gauge of your jumper cables. Don't be fooled by thick insulation. Copper "looking" cables aren't necessarily solid copper. Far from it.

In a jumper type situation, its all about the difference in voltage between the jumper battery and the battery being jumped. The new lithium batteries are pretty good at initial surge voltage which helps a lot in a jump situation.

I was totally amazed once when my li-ion portable battery booster actually jump started an older GM V8 diesel with totally dead wet cell batteries. (2-12 volt starting batteries from the factory)

Chum lee

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Performance difference between jumper cable and Lithium pack

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