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?
I just received this one today for my wife’s car, there was a $30 coupon which has since expired. It is exactly like my other one, maybe a hair heavier which accounts for the slight boost in capacity. Have yet to try the compressor, which only works with the jumper/battery bank, not from 12V socket or car battery. Comes in a nice hard case/foam inserts to protect the accessories.
I bought the same one as chinooker in post 24. It didn’t start my Caddy 4.6L V8 northstar so I left poor feedback on Amazon. They immediately contacted me, apologized, and overnighted another one. It performs perfectly and will spin the living daylights out of my engine. They asked that I please keep the original for my inconvenience. After about 4 charge/discharge cycles the original is now just as stout as the replacement. Helluva CS experience, the old one now resides in my 99 Tahoe 5.7L V8 and has started it twice when battery was so flat that no interior lights or anything else would come on. Tahoe has an electrical gremlin that fully flattens brand new battery if not started every couple of days. I now have 4 of these li-ion devices (3 different brands), one in each vehicle, and swear by them!
I bought several on clearance sale at Walmart and they perform as expected. The key to safe operation is to read and follow the directions precisely as outlined in the instructions. Simple stuff…