I have used mine to help a neighbor test start his Ford Expedition without a car battery installed. The jumper pack had no problems turning over the starter and running the engine for a few seconds. Some of the cheaper packs lack back feed prevention and can be damaged if left connected to a running car for too long.
I won’t say that every jumper pack will work 100% of the time, but I do suspect that some of the negative reviews are from people who have no idea how to jump start a modern car. First, some of the things that need to be done prior to starting are to turn off radio, AC/heat, dome lights, DRL/headlights and anything else unnecessary that might be drawing power. Next, if the battery is very dead, like even the dome lights are dark, then connect the jumper pack and let it sit for a few minutes. This lets some current flow to the battery, which will reduce it’s draw and possibly let it contribute some current during starting, depending on how low it was. Finally, try and start just once or twice and if it starts, disconnect the pack immediately. Too many times, I read or see people just connect the cables and try to start right away with lights and everything else left on and unsurprisingly, all they get is a click when they turn the key to start.
“I read or see people just connect the cables and try to start right away” - l made this very mistake today with the jumper cable ——so the result was what you mentioned.
Don’t fall for the hype. If your car doesn’t start, it’s because your battery is starting to go bad. No matter the weather. Car batteries have a life of about 5 years. Less if you cheaped out and didn’t get one with enough CCA for your size engine. You will need to fix it to sell it, so for the same money just fix your car with a new car battery.
PS - Does your car crank really slow on a cold winter day? That’s your signal the battery is shot. Don’t wait until next time when it is colder and it refuses to start. Just fix it.
Most powerbanks and jump-start boxes are generics, just different shells over the same stuff inside. The ones you mentioned are overpriced from what other folks say elsewhere.
I just use old fashioned jumper cables though the cheap ends on mine inhibit current flow. They’ll still get me or someone else going in a couple minutes and that’s good enough for me.
High heat and extreme cold are hard on car batteries. After a lead-acid battery ‘goes dead’ several times it’s not salvageable for that high-drain use any more so best to just keep a newer battery installed and avoid the need for a jump
For what it’s worth I put AGM’s into all of our family vehicles and get much less battery problems. I’m old and still use a sealed lead acid battery jump box I keep in the truck. It’s got a light and compressor. With jump starting for moms, wives and kids I found on Amazon a power port to power port set of cables with a reverse polarity protection diode. After 5-10 minutes a near dead battery ported to another vehicle has enough for that start. Their about the size of a small diameter 15’ extension cord, great for moms glove box.
Or you just have an older car and accidentally left the lights on. I wouldn’t pay over $100 for one of these today, but $50 ish is reasonable insurance against being stuck in a deserted parking lot in the dead of winter. If the car battery is completely and absolutely dead, then neither this nor a traditional lead based jumper pack may be enough. The advantage of these though are weight, size and low self discharge. A traditional pack needs to be topped up at least every month or two, but I’ve left these in the car over 6 months and they still retained plenty of charge. In contrast, the big heavy lead jumper packs I’ve had before were totally dead after being neglected for the same period. Also, low temperature has a smaller effect on lithium based jumpers versus traditional packs, so you have more CCA when you need it.
Keep in mind that the point of having these is not to avoid replacing a worn battery, but to give you that last chance to get to the store to buy the new battery rather than being stuck miles away. When possible, I like to use things till they’re actually worn out, so if I can delay replacing it until the new coupon comes out which can save me $50 on a new battery, then I can wait without worries with one of these in the car. If you are one of the 5% of conscientious drivers who always check your tires, fluids, lights, indicators and battery before every trip, then you might never need one of these. I however fall in the other 95% and prefer to just keep one of these along with a few spare fuses, bulbs and tools in the car.
Exactly, it’s an insurance. In my opinion, an insurance sold by playing on one fear.
What I do is what I call ‘self insure’ I say no to extended warranties and products like this because they are sold based on one fear. And the money I save is re-distributed to what really goes wrong. Here’s two examples.
#1) Your battery really is dead because your car is too old to shut off your headlights. It cost you $50 for your battery pack. Or you could call a tow-service to jump you for $50. It’s an even wash. But in real life, you either have a friend you can call for a free jump… or will never need one. #2) You car doesn’t start, but it’s because of one of the other million things that can go wrong. You need a tow for $50. If you were ‘self-insured’ it’s like a free tow.
So I ‘self insure’ and it has served me very well. I recommend it.
The difference is this would be a one time investment that can be used repeatedly without additional cost for at least several years. I can even help other friends or family with an occasional emergency. Perhaps I would even be the “friend” you call for that free jump! Both of your examples will incur a cost for each incident as well as a significant time delay, not to mention that it requires availability of phone service to call for help. The jumper pack, whether lithium or lead based can potentially provide near instant self rescue anywhere. I prefer to be self sufficient when possible and $50 is not much in the grand scheme of things to help facilitate that.
At 16 years and 280,000 mi. I’ve been through a few batteries and keep a set of cables handy. I’ve used them to help both myself and others as well but the power tool battery is far more convenient and doesn’t require either another vehicle or a conveniently empty parking space. It’s not the cheapest way to go but if you already have them it’s not a bad idea to make up a set of leads to go with. A single 18V Makita will start it immediately. The truck battery’s been recently changed but I’ll still carry the leads in case I need to help someone or Doh my lights.
My wife gave me a Halo Bolt, I was very skeptical. I forgot and left the key on my Kubota diesel RTV on and the battery went totally flat. I really needed it running… tried the Halo and it fired the engine after warming the glow plugs. I was very pleased. I also used in on a 30hp diesel tractor with the same results.
Have you tested it on an larger diesel engine? I like the idea of being able to jump start a vehicle with a tiny lithium pack, but I doubt any put out enough power for running 8 glow plugs for 15+ seconds and still being able to turn over a cold 6.5L engine
I have the DBPower DJS30, 16,500mAh, 600A(peak), 300A (starting) and this morning it started my fully dead (no domelight) 1995 Dodge Ram 1500 5.9L V8 truck.
I was very happy with the speed it turned over, it is an easy to start truck, tho.
We used a tiny 20C rated 2200mah 4S LiPo pack to start a 3.0L turbo diesel and it was fairly easy thing, I believe to start an engine it doesn’t actually need those crazy amps unless there is no battery or the battery is flat dead.
If the battery is just barely discharged, say you left the lights on for a couple hours then a sightly voltage bump is enough.
Some people carry this engine starter powerbank in their cars fully charged and that’s an extremely bad idea, fully charged LiPo should never be stored for extended time, much less if exposed to heat. This is why in RC hobbies the LiPo packs are set to storage mode and charged to full only when it’s ready to be used.
With the high drain 18650s available today, I’m sure that a 4s2p setup will work as an emergency starter using super high drain cells such as the Sony VTC5.
This IS the ironic thing about this battery chemistry, being intended fro use in an emergency. Perhaps non-RC LiPo packs, like portable starters, ( lower discharge C ) can be treated differently?
