Power Pack Jump Starter

An AGM battery would be my first choice depending on whether a lithium would be over-amped.

Down here a stranger begging a jump-start is common. Up there I can see it now...

"Pardon me have you any Grey ..."

(strike that)

"Can you jump me?"

"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU PERVERT!"

j-d wrote:

shastagary wrote:
the down side i see in the jump starters is the batteries in them do not last very long I've seen some that do not last a year before they will not hold a charge. if they are charged regularly that may help but i see a lot of dead ones around. it might be the cold winters here that do them in early in my area.

Agreed, and the cost of a new SLA (Sealed Lead Acid) battery is about the price of another jump start pack. Mine is a Horror Fright unit. Paid $40, they're now about $65 and a new battery was about $30. It's a bigger SLA than many of these packs have. Only reason I did the repair instead of replace: Mine is Starter, Power Pack and Compressor, so I felt it was worth fixing.

The ones we're discussing here are not SLA batteries.


For all the warnings posted, I am not too concerned. It cost $29.49. It has already proven that it can jumpstart my durango. And if some time in the future it fails, then I rely on my backup (AAA) like I did before I bought it.

shastagary wrote:
the down side i see in the jump starters is the batteries in them do not last very long I've seen some that do not last a year before they will not hold a charge. if they are charged regularly that may help but i see a lot of dead ones around. it might be the cold winters here that do them in early in my area.

Agreed, and the cost of a new SLA (Sealed Lead Acid) battery is about the price of another jump start pack. Mine is a Horror Fright unit. Paid $40, they're now about $65 and a new battery was about $30. It's a bigger SLA than many of these packs have. Only reason I did the repair instead of replace: Mine is Starter, Power Pack and Compressor, so I felt it was worth fixing.

Hi,

77f or 25 c is the testing temperature. Hotter than that and charge voltage needs to be reduced. Colder it needs to be increased. In fact at -40 voltage should be about 17 for charging.

Lifespan is reduced at higher temperatures because the speed of the reaction is approximately double for each 10 degrees C (18 f) of the rise. The acid rips into the plates twice as fast. So, yes, inside a car may reduce the lifespan.

Rule of thumb, batteries last longer in the cold, so long as they are kept charged, preventing freezing.

fj12ryder wrote:
So there is kind of a "sweet spot" temperature wise with these things? I've known that cold weather is hard on batteries, but never really considered hotter weather being an issue. How hot would be too hot? In a closed car during the summer reduce it's life expectancy?

My logic is if I haven't used it for jumpstart in a month, I'll recharge my cell, etc., on it and then recharge it. That way it gets use and regular recharge.

My other one is over a year old and still works great.

the down side i see in the jump starters is the batteries in them do not last very long I've seen some that do not last a year before they will not hold a charge. if they are charged regularly that may help but i see a lot of dead ones around. it might be the cold winters here that do them in early in my area.

DrewE wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
So there is kind of a "sweet spot" temperature wise with these things? I've known that cold weather is hard on batteries, but never really considered hotter weather being an issue. How hot would be too hot? In a closed car during the summer reduce it's life expectancy?

What kind of battery are you talking about? The effects of temperature on various chemistries is rather different.

For lead-acid batteries, their capacity and current surge capability goes down when the temperature goes down (and as it gets colder engines require more power to start as the oil is thicker etc.), so the battery needs to be in better condition overall in cold weather for it to do its job. However, the rate of self-discharge also goes down very considerably, and with it the rate at which the battery ages chemically, so for plain storage colder is generally better. The rule of thumb I recall is that the rate of self-discharge roughly doubles or halves for every ten degrees celsius of temperature difference. Lots of geeky information may be found here.

Empirically, car batteries seem to typically require replacement sooner for vehicles that are in hot climates than for those that are in comparatively cold climates. I don't know if that trend continues for extremely cold (as in truly arctic) climates.

NiCd batteries don't have too much capacity or current change at lower temperatures. I don't know offhand how Li-Ion batteries or NiMH batteries do. Chemical reactions in general slow down at lower temperatures, so most batteries will have reduced capability in the cold.

When I asked I was referencing the Lithium batteries that have been talked about in this thread. I know lead-acid batteries will not work as efficiently in the cold, but was curious about how the power pack jump starters will perform.

The temperature here this morning was about 48-50 degrees F.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Yup. Seen many a Ford lover pushing a Chevy with a chain...

Suppose it could look this way, at first glance. But know for a fact that in San Diego in the early 70's, you could have seen a Ford truck behind a GMC, with a larger rope. And in this case, the Jimmy (My best friends, even with his bad choice of vehicles...) had lots it's Master Cylinder. And a tall handsome, with just a dash of stupidity, owner of a Ford (Now have an 04 CC Allure.), was following him to a local gas station (remember when they usually had old time mechanics around, that would actually help vs rob those who did not know as much? (Reference the early 70's, and besides tall and handsome that I might be, I was young and foolish too:)! Still learning how much I had to learn, about all sorts of things:)!). - using the Fords brake to stop both vehicles. (And yes, the Ed, the local mechanic and all around gear head - did have my best friend do all of the work. First time he'd ever bled a brake system too. So, we did learn along the way!!).

So, when you see what you think your seeing, may it's not what your seeing:)!

(And I do still chuckle a the short run commercial where a Chevy was in a disaster zone, and pulled a non running Ford out of the wreckage of buildings... CLASSIC!!)

Best to all,
Smitty

lead acid does not like cold weather and reaction surge capacity goes down

the new lithium jump start packs are supposed to be less cold weather 'discharge' use sensitive, BUT do not recharge it when cold, bring it into the house and let it warm up before recharging

but cold oil in a cold engine, makes for harder cranking, more amps to the starter...PERIOD, regardless which battery type is being used