portable jump starter?

[Marty Levenson]

Wondering if anyone can suggest a portable jump starter. Thinking of keeping it in the car over the winter, and in the boat during the summer. When on the mooring or cruising I always worry about the batteries. Any tips what amperage I should look for, or other features?

Thank you.

[sastanley]

The new breed of Lithium Ion jump starters are supposed to be pretty cool. They are capable of short bursts of high amperage but are light and compact.

For about half the price, you could buy a 10w solar panel with a controller for the start battery on the boat.

Duracell jump starter - http://a.co/gDv79sY

10w panel - http://a.co/231AV0w
controller - http://a.co/bSlwhVN

[joe_db]

https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GB20-UltraSafe-Lithium-Starter/dp/B015TKUPIC/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1506513436&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=jump%2Bstarter&th=1

I would get something like this. I don't have any experience with that brand, but the guys at the Western Auto have some similar batterieshttps://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GB20-Ult...2Bstarter&th=1
and they started a Ford F250 diesel with it

[goodoldboat]

charging system

I have one of these on the boat , because I always worry about dead batteries .

If I needed to use it how would I hook it up across both batteries and set the battery switch to all ?

[Al Schober]

Personally, I no longer worry about my start battery. Back when I had the A/B/Both system, I did - and had to!
Present hookup has a separate house bank and starting battery. Starting battery (Gp 24) serves the engine and starter - period. House batteries serve everything else.
Alternator output goes to the house bank. When it comes up to voltage (13.5 or so) a voltage sensitive relay closes and allow charge current to go to the start battery.
I've been using this system for at least 10 years and it works for me. If I ever need a 'jump start' for the engine, I can find a way to get one of the house batteries moved into position and connected. I don't feel I need a special 'jumper battery' or wiring and switches dedicated for that purpose. After all, I rarely need them.

[ndutton]

My on board battery management is very similar to Al's without the automation. Along the intent of the title of this thread, I have a jump starter, it's just not portable.

[sastanley]

Mine is even more manual than that. I NEVER use the start battery unless the house bank is dead (and it never is). I have a 5w panel with cheapo charge controller to keep up the start battery. If all of those fail, I can sail home, or maybe try a crank start.

[Marty Levenson]

lithium

What appeals to me is using a booster for both the car and the A4. I have a good house battery/start battery set up on the boat, but when we cruise I worry about the fridge draw biting me in the ass when we stay an extra day shore-tied in some nice bay.

The compactness of the lithium devices is starting to make sense for both applications. Looking at reviews on youtube is enlightening: mostly they don't reach the power levels they claim to, and the power leads wouldn't be skookum enough to support those levels if they did. Still researching.

edit: btw, genius boost gets terrible reviews, but I have no direct experience with it. There are also starting to be a new type of capacitor booster that works the same way, charges faster, holds charge longer - but costs more.

[GregH]

I've had the Canadian Tire Genius Boost for a few years and it has worked perfectly for getting the ol Subaru going, as well as my Dakota in mid-Jan cold snaps (-20/25C). One of those products that maybe is a "YMMV"

[The Garbone]

I do the 50 watt panel with controller on all the boat batteries. Figure if I spring a leak having house and start amps for the pump is a good idea. After about 4 years of owning the boat I am waiting for our house string ( mix matched set that were old when we got the boat) to die but they keep going on and on. Panel does a great job.

I do have a 650amp jump pack with air pump, light and usb ports that I have used to jump my lawn mower and pump up bike tires. Never had to use it on the boat.

[joe_db]

Honestly the biggest use I would ever get from one of these is for a car. The last time I was stuck with dead batteries on the boat was because of a hurricane. We pounded hard enough trying to get upwind the case cracked and the acid leaked out
I use a house and start battery and have had very good luck with this setup. The only way to dead batteries is if someone left a bunch of stuff on AND used the emergency manual parallel switch at the same time.