What am I missing? That linked Amazon booster appears not to share much - brand, nor appearance - in common with the booster depicted here. Is the browser on my iPad stuck in some kind of cache hell, preventing me from seeing a truly comparable Amazon-listed product?
@RedOak I think they’re relying somewhat liberally on the “for similar” statement. Both boosters offer 12,000 mAh, and are capable of jumping a car. But yeah, the Amazon one also has a flashlight. And a second USB port. And a display, and a couple other I/O ports.
@RedOak the only place I found this specific jumpstarter is on the manufacturer’s website, where it’s listed at $99.99, so this is an even better deal… for something of unknown quality. I get the feeling a car battery might fry this thing on the first use, but it could charge your phone a bunch of times. I do like that it has a car charger so you can charge it with your car and then use it to jump start your car. Or use it to jump start the car and then use the car to recharge the jumpstarter. Either way, it’s basically free energy. This could be the key to my perpetual motion device.
I paid 10% more for the leopard print one a few weeks back. Such a sucker. In the intervening time, however, I did use it to jump a friend’s car and can confirm it worked.
@katbyter these only work if your car battery has JUST died, it won’t work if the battery has been dead longer than a few hours.
I just went to Napa Auto Parts and bought a professional jump box that roadside assistance drivers used for around $150
For me it was a worthy purchase as I had an electric shortage somewhere that drained my battery if I didn’t drive somewhere for a few days.
It only takes seconds attach the jumper cables wait about a minute then your car will start, one time car sat for two weeks while on vacation and started right up when I used the jump box.
If you do buy one only buy the jump box don’t get the one with air compressors as for some reason they tend to break quite quickly
@Bumplepimp Do you really want to know, or just want to beat your chest and fling poop?
Lead acid batteries have a specific power of 180w/kg, modern lithium polymer have nearly 500w/kg. So 2.5x as many CCA, energy density is also 2-3x as high so full car battery made of Lithium Polymer cells would be half the size.
But most importantly, the car battery is made to run the electronics (including the headlights) for a short while when the car is not powered. The Jump Battery is not intended to do that at all, merely have enough energy to start the car a few times.
@Bumplepimp@hodr Most batteries are optimized for energy density, however the manufacturer can trade off energy density for power density.
Conceptually, it is very simple. They put in electrodes with much more surface area. To make space for the additional electrode material, they put in less of the goo that actually stores energy.
The copper and aluminum electrodes in LiPo and LiIon batteries are excellent conductors of both heat and electricity. Increasing the amount of electrode material, also improves thermal and electrical characteristics. For extreme power densities, not only will the electrodes have a larger surface area, they will also be thicker.
I am more familiar with Lithium Ion batteries. Several years ago, Panasonic’s highest power density battery had one third of the energy density of their regular battery, but it could pump out a hell of a lot more current.
There is also a simple way to increase power and energy density at the same time. Instead of rating the battery for a thousand cycles, rate it for 50 cycles or less. This also involves redefining 0% and 100% charge. On a new battery, it is possible to use a different charging curve with a higher voltage for 100%.
An unfortunately common technique for really impressive specs is to put whatever the marketing director wants on the label. ie. Lie.
@Bumplepimp For what it’s worth, I bought a lesser spec’d no-name one from China (I believe it said 300CCA w/ 3000mah) with the intent of starting my quad with it since the battery died years ago and I don’t use it enough to justify buying another battery and have it die on the battery tender.
It worked good for that purpose, but I also had opportunity to use it on a 1.6L Escape and it had no issue starting the engine (and I completely disconnected the car battery).
Hmmmm… sitting on the fence with this one. More cranking amps than a Starbucks triple soy latte and about the same price, but no smiley face in the foam.
Got one of these in a Fuku - still sitting on the bench next to my front door.
It’s a neat idea (the car starting part) - but who seriously expects to find this with a charge after, say, 3 months, if you don’t pull it out and top it off every other week?
@Pufferfishy a lot of vehicles now have power plugs in trunks or in the back storage space of the hatch so you could just have this charge whenever you’re driving. And lithium batteries don’t have the sort of slow discharge that alkaline batteries do. You can come back to one weeks later and still be above 90%.
@Pufferfishy I have a RavPower jump pack that I bought in 2015. It sat in my car for something like two years before I needed it. Still had almost a full charge.
Either you guys have had much better luck than I have with power packs or I haven’t had one that’s truly been Litium-based because here in FL they die in a matter of weeks left in a vehicle.
But I have this one, so I will give it a go. Appreciate the comments.
@Pufferfishy I have a Stanley branded lion one and charge it after every time I use it… but it could start my truck in winter after it had been under my seat for nearly a year.
the older bigger heavier nicad ones, I tend to re-charge them quarterly.
I have the blue one, bought it a month or so ago. Finally had an opportunity to try it the other night.
The specs say “up to a 3.0 liter engine”, well I tried a 3.9 liter engine, and it was not enough.
Considering that is the smallest engine in my stable, i guess i have a really nice phone battery…sigh.
@swechsler I only know the plane answer - currently the TSA site is saying that power banks are fine in carryons but NOT allowed in checked bags. However under batteries it says it’s limited to 100 watt hours which is 20,000 mAh at 5 volts so this as 12,000 mAH @ 5v should be good to go online. (I’ve flown with one this big before without an issue but TSA is notoriously fickle by location and agent so not going to base anything on one experience )
There is a way to calculate how much power you’ll get in return…
Take the mAh of your laptop and divide it by 12,000 and it’ll tell you (ie 1.5 means it’ll give you 1 & 1/2 full charges while 0.20 will only give you about 20%)
If your looking for something decent to power a laptop get one specificity made for larger devices usually in the 30-50,000 range.
These PB are mainly for phones, tablets and smaller devices
I bought this more for lawn mowers. It sucks when the mower battery is dead and I have to go get my extension cord, set up my battery charger and try to jump it that way. My cars are all 4 cylinders so I hope it will work for them as well. I just wonder how long it takes to recharge. Does anybody know?
@lpsisrl yeah, I have actually driven my car into the back yard to jump off my mower…
/giphy you might be a redneck if…
I think this is a great idea, and due to the small size of the battery I don’t think it would be a problem if it was discharged for more than a few hours.
Just wanted to drop in and say I bought this Jan 08 2020 and I had to use this for the first time today Sept 25 2020 and it worked! Jump started my 2013 Honda CR-V.
Specs
What’s in the Box?
Price Comparison
$59.99 (for similar) at Amazon
Warranty
90 days
Estimated Delivery
Monday, July 13th - Thursday, July 16th
@jsh139 I don’t really care about this, but I just couldn’t stop watching.
Poor Viking.
@GeckoD You should watch more of Project Farm’s videos. Lots of really useful testing, like for duct tape:
FWIW, he does not accept any “samples”, as not to cloud his results.
@GeckoD @narfcake I love his videos! But my wife hates his voice. Whenever I start one she yells “Oh no! I hate him! Watch that when I’m not around.”
@GeckoD @narfcake @tweezak Run the vids at 1.75X speed for more annoyance.
@GeckoD @narfcake @tweezak I think he used to voice the “buy NOW!” commercials…
@GeckoD @narfcake @TheMonkeyKing
@jsh139 He does a pretty systematic and unbiased review of the things he tests.
In for one:
/giphy mainstream-preferable-parrot
@PhysAssist I really like his reviews and tests.
FOR EXTERNAL USE ONLY
(unless you want to change your eye color)
@alacrity Perhaps I do… Change my eye color to what?
@DoctorOW typically a nice frothy red.
Wow reviews are decent
@Stallion I take that back… (For Similar) is not the same. Shady move, Meh.
@Stallion please point me to some reviews thank you!
@Stallion @thismyusername look over there.
gesticulating wildly
Ok, where’s my liter to gallon calculator? Anyone know how many gallons a 1998 Tarus engine has?
@eeterrific If it’s anything like the Taurus, it has a 3L engine. If you actually have a 98 Taurus though, just park it in a fire.
@eeterrific I know you were trying to say Taurus, but everyone knows that the 1998 Taurus doesn’t exist anymore. So no gallons
@eeterrific According to American Standard, there are 3.8 liters in a gallon.
What am I missing? That linked Amazon booster appears not to share much - brand, nor appearance - in common with the booster depicted here. Is the browser on my iPad stuck in some kind of cache hell, preventing me from seeing a truly comparable Amazon-listed product?
https://www.amazon.com/Nekteck-Starter-Portable-External-12000mAh/dp/B01MDUQRSO/?tag=meh0ec-20
@RedOak nope that is the link they posted…
here I can out do them…
Compare at $199.99 VALUE
https://www.amazon.com/GrantMaya-12000mAh-Portable-Emergency-Flashlight/dp/B07ZXWM95K
@RedOak I think they’re relying somewhat liberally on the “for similar” statement. Both boosters offer 12,000 mAh, and are capable of jumping a car. But yeah, the Amazon one also has a flashlight. And a second USB port. And a display, and a couple other I/O ports.
@RedOak the only place I found this specific jumpstarter is on the manufacturer’s website, where it’s listed at $99.99, so this is an even better deal… for something of unknown quality. I get the feeling a car battery might fry this thing on the first use, but it could charge your phone a bunch of times. I do like that it has a car charger so you can charge it with your car and then use it to jump start your car. Or use it to jump start the car and then use the car to recharge the jumpstarter. Either way, it’s basically free energy. This could be the key to my perpetual motion device.
@RedOak @warpedrotors
Well, I have the other three colors and was needing a fourth, so I’m buying the leopard print.
/giphy red-nominal-tinkerbell
I paid 10% more for the leopard print one a few weeks back. Such a sucker. In the intervening time, however, I did use it to jump a friend’s car and can confirm it worked.
@fondaporn Finally, real feedback.
Kriss Kross, is that your Jump Jump?
OH MY GOD THEY JUMPSTARTED GLEN!!!
Is there usbc input?
@tinkleondabeach With an Input voltage of 9V-12V not likely. USB inputs normally range in the 5V@ 2-4 amp
I only buy cheap Chinese electronics in cheetah print, so…
When I saw these initially my brain was trying to figure out why Meh was selling a selection of composition notebooks…
I bought one here last year and it was not able to jump my van. And $39 too.
@katbyter these only work if your car battery has JUST died, it won’t work if the battery has been dead longer than a few hours.
I just went to Napa Auto Parts and bought a professional jump box that roadside assistance drivers used for around $150
For me it was a worthy purchase as I had an electric shortage somewhere that drained my battery if I didn’t drive somewhere for a few days.
It only takes seconds attach the jumper cables wait about a minute then your car will start, one time car sat for two weeks while on vacation and started right up when I used the jump box.
If you do buy one only buy the jump box don’t get the one with air compressors as for some reason they tend to break quite quickly
The comments tonight need a Jump start. Scotty, we need more power!
600 Cold Cranking Amps-My ass! Then why must real car batteries be so large and heavy? Bovine Excrement!
@Bumplepimp Do you really want to know, or just want to beat your chest and fling poop?
Lead acid batteries have a specific power of 180w/kg, modern lithium polymer have nearly 500w/kg. So 2.5x as many CCA, energy density is also 2-3x as high so full car battery made of Lithium Polymer cells would be half the size.
But most importantly, the car battery is made to run the electronics (including the headlights) for a short while when the car is not powered. The Jump Battery is not intended to do that at all, merely have enough energy to start the car a few times.
@Bumplepimp @hodr Most batteries are optimized for energy density, however the manufacturer can trade off energy density for power density.
Conceptually, it is very simple. They put in electrodes with much more surface area. To make space for the additional electrode material, they put in less of the goo that actually stores energy.
The copper and aluminum electrodes in LiPo and LiIon batteries are excellent conductors of both heat and electricity. Increasing the amount of electrode material, also improves thermal and electrical characteristics. For extreme power densities, not only will the electrodes have a larger surface area, they will also be thicker.
I am more familiar with Lithium Ion batteries. Several years ago, Panasonic’s highest power density battery had one third of the energy density of their regular battery, but it could pump out a hell of a lot more current.
There is also a simple way to increase power and energy density at the same time. Instead of rating the battery for a thousand cycles, rate it for 50 cycles or less. This also involves redefining 0% and 100% charge. On a new battery, it is possible to use a different charging curve with a higher voltage for 100%.
An unfortunately common technique for really impressive specs is to put whatever the marketing director wants on the label. ie. Lie.
@hodr But do we really believe this can turn over even a lowly 4 cylinder Toyota at -10 degrees?
@Bumplepimp For what it’s worth, I bought a lesser spec’d no-name one from China (I believe it said 300CCA w/ 3000mah) with the intent of starting my quad with it since the battery died years ago and I don’t use it enough to justify buying another battery and have it die on the battery tender.
It worked good for that purpose, but I also had opportunity to use it on a 1.6L Escape and it had no issue starting the engine (and I completely disconnected the car battery).
This
Hmmmm… sitting on the fence with this one. More cranking amps than a Starbucks triple soy latte and about the same price, but no smiley face in the foam.
Got one of these in a Fuku - still sitting on the bench next to my front door.
It’s a neat idea (the car starting part) - but who seriously expects to find this with a charge after, say, 3 months, if you don’t pull it out and top it off every other week?
@Pufferfishy a lot of vehicles now have power plugs in trunks or in the back storage space of the hatch so you could just have this charge whenever you’re driving. And lithium batteries don’t have the sort of slow discharge that alkaline batteries do. You can come back to one weeks later and still be above 90%.
@DonWhiteside @Pufferfishy Ditto on the Lithium battery charge retention. Automated Defibrillators will hold their charge for months
@Pufferfishy I think I’d you charge it twice a year you’d be fine
@Pufferfishy I have a RavPower jump pack that I bought in 2015. It sat in my car for something like two years before I needed it. Still had almost a full charge.
Either you guys have had much better luck than I have with power packs or I haven’t had one that’s truly been Litium-based because here in FL they die in a matter of weeks left in a vehicle.
But I have this one, so I will give it a go. Appreciate the comments.
@Pufferfishy I have a Stanley branded lion one and charge it after every time I use it… but it could start my truck in winter after it had been under my seat for nearly a year.
the older bigger heavier nicad ones, I tend to re-charge them quarterly.
Getting the cheaper one. Was looking for a power bank to match my underwear and bedsheets anyway.
I have the blue one, bought it a month or so ago. Finally had an opportunity to try it the other night.
The specs say “up to a 3.0 liter engine”, well I tried a 3.9 liter engine, and it was not enough.
Considering that is the smallest engine in my stable, i guess i have a really nice phone battery…sigh.
@pjjtlc obviously you need two
@pjjtlc 3.9? Starting a Deutz?
@DonWhiteside @pjjtlc does that work? Could you hook up two?
@DonWhiteside @JnKL @pjjtlc Well, my truck has 2 full-sized+ batteries under the hood, so why not 2 boosters?
@fuzzmanmatt Too funny! 3.9L V-8, in an 2003 Thunderbird.
OK, folks, maybe my brain’s not at 100% capacity this morning, but could someone please answer the following questions:
Thanks!
@swechsler
Re: #3 — http://www.ptginternational.com/product-detail.asp?pi=93
@swechsler I only know the plane answer - currently the TSA site is saying that power banks are fine in carryons but NOT allowed in checked bags. However under batteries it says it’s limited to 100 watt hours which is 20,000 mAh at 5 volts so this as 12,000 mAH @ 5v should be good to go online. (I’ve flown with one this big before without an issue but TSA is notoriously fickle by location and agent so not going to base anything on one experience
)
@swechsler
Yes but only in carry on
No
There is a way to calculate how much power you’ll get in return…
Take the mAh of your laptop and divide it by 12,000 and it’ll tell you (ie 1.5 means it’ll give you 1 & 1/2 full charges while 0.20 will only give you about 20%)
If your looking for something decent to power a laptop get one specificity made for larger devices usually in the 30-50,000 range.
These PB are mainly for phones, tablets and smaller devices
@ConcealedPsych Like cars?
Talked myself into it, maybe I’ll get the leopard print back when I loan it out.
/giphy elicit-papery-person
what is the input port type? Is it USB-C?
@trickynick standard USB
I bought this more for lawn mowers. It sucks when the mower battery is dead and I have to go get my extension cord, set up my battery charger and try to jump it that way. My cars are all 4 cylinders so I hope it will work for them as well. I just wonder how long it takes to recharge. Does anybody know?
@lpsisrl this’ll only work for car that batteries that had died within the last few hours won’t work for anything longer
@lpsisrl yeah, I have actually driven my car into the back yard to jump off my mower…
/giphy you might be a redneck if…
I think this is a great idea, and due to the small size of the battery I don’t think it would be a problem if it was discharged for more than a few hours.
Can you use 2 of these to start a larger engine? Like a 6.7L Diesel, if needed? Or a smaller 4.0L Mustang Engine? I would kinda think so; but???
Mine showed up today. Guess I’ll charge it up later and see what it does.
@chienfou have now had occasion to use it twice… Worked flawlessly on the (small) cars we attempted.
Would not start my daughter’s '06 Mazda 3.
@Boston_Cowboy does it have a big ol V8?
@JnKL Not!
@Boston_Cowboy Wouldn’t start my '11 caravan
Just wanted to drop in and say I bought this Jan 08 2020 and I had to use this for the first time today Sept 25 2020 and it worked! Jump started my 2013 Honda CR-V.