Anyone have a booster pack?

[Cam]

I purchased one of these NOCO GB70 units with the idea I could carry it around with me in the SLC in case I needed a little extra juice to jump start the car.

https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GB70-Ul...0&qid=1557446720&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

I've read reviews where people have been able to start their cars even with a completely dead battery. Figuring that's the worst case scenario, I decided to test my unit out on my SLC with the battery completely removed similar to what's shown in this video:

On a fully charged pack I get about a half a second of whirring then nothing. I'm wondering if anyone else has a similar type of booster pack and can run a similar test. I'm not sure if it's an issue with the battery pack or whether there's a separate issue with my starter - still need to run a voltage drop test. However, with the Optima hooked up I can start the car just fine. The optima's currently measuring 13.X volts and the NOCO is measuring 11.8 volts.

 

[Lance]

The booster I have apparently will read if the battery is in place. If not, it won't provide charge. Some safety provision.

 

[Cam]

This NOCO unit has that safety as well but you can bypass it in case of a completely dead battery.

Do you know what your unit reads when it is fully charged? I suspect my unit may be a dud as it isn’t able to hit 100% charge. Trying to troubleshoot with NOCO but working multiple possible error modes. I *think* even at 80-90% this unit should work, it’s advetised as being able to jump 40 vehicles on a single charge.

 

[Nick]

Not sure if this is of any use to you, but I have a SIP pro 800LI l starter pack, it is a little bigger than the small ones, and was recommended to me by a friend who ran a garage and used one all the the time. Earned it's keep already however, if I remember correctly, if the battery is really dead it will not start it and gives you an error code

https://www.toolstoday.co.uk/sip-pr...mzjk2KfugGFtcYegOZtwqOP4IJNcIyLRoCHrwQAvD_BwE

 

[Will Campbell]

If the NoCO is putting out 11.8V, it's too discharged. It should have 13-14V if fully charged- see your manual, and I bet it says something like that.

Also, agree that most of them want to see some kind of battery there before they will output.

I can start my car (LS7,Ricardo) with a dead battery and my LIon cell charger, but only if it's fully charged.

 

[Ed Davis]

If you can hook 2 batteries in line and it cranks you need a bigger battery.
I went with a 1100.cca and it starts every time

 

[Neil]

Make sure that the two batteries are in parallel (- to - and + to + ), not in series or you will fry the starter and everything else with 24 volts.

 

[Cam]

If the NoCO is putting out 11.8V, it's too discharged. It should have 13-14V if fully charged- see your manual, and I bet it says something like that.

Also, agree that most of them want to see some kind of battery there before they will output.

I can start my car (LS7,Ricardo) with a dead battery and my LIon cell charger, but only if it's fully charged.

One of the things I’m trying to chase is whether these battery packs should have more than 12V. The manual states 12V/15A as its output rating. It’s advertised as peak 2000A but I assume that’s instantaneous and only lasts for a fraction of a second, marketing gimmick.

For those with these battery jumper packs, can you measure the voltage at full charge so I can compare?

Thanks,
Cam

 

[Randy V]

These booster packs and many others like it are good for only one thing in my opinion -
They will excite a battery that is sulfated or down in voltage enough to elicit some life out of the system.
There is simply *no way* that you can expect anything this small to support the estimated 50 to 200 amps of current necessary to turn an engine over and still energize the fuel and ignition systems.
If you were to manage to pull say 100 amps through those small conductors, I think the wiring insulation would soon be in a puddle on the floor..

 

[Cam]

These booster packs and many others like it are good for only one thing in my opinion -
They will excite a battery that is sulfated or down in voltage enough to elicit some life out of the system.
There is simply *no way* that you can expect anything this small to support the estimated 50 to 200 amps of current necessary to turn an engine over and still energize the fuel and ignition systems.
If you were to manage to pull say 100 amps through those small conductors, I think the wiring insulation would soon be in a puddle on the floor..

Did you watch the video I linked above? In it, they start a car multiple times while having the battery completely disconnected from the electrical system. The leads on this NOCO GB70 are about as thick as any standard set of jumper cables that I’ve seen.

 

[Randy V]

When I first went to view it, it said video not available, but I was able to view it this time and it is impressive. The Noco Genius line was one of the first out with Battery chargers that actually worked properly on AGM / Gell Cell batteries.
The booster packs I was actually referring to are much smaller and may hold 8 C-Cell batteries and fit in your glove box. Similar to this one. You’ve probably seen dozens of pop-up ads over the past couple of years for these and even smaller “pocket size” booster packs. Cabling is far too small to conduct the current needed to start an engine as was demonstrated in the video.
I own a similar boost pack to the one demonstrated only it was made by Stanley and have had it for 5-6 years now. Impressive in it’s own right and had similar heavy cabling, I don’t think I would try starting an engine without having a battery as a buffer. Mine will only stay energized for 30 seconds at a time - then the timer expires and it disconnects. If the vehicle is running when the timer expires, the alternator could easily go into a voltage overload condition and the resulting spikes can destroy sensitive electronics.
At any rate - it was the smaller units I was speaking of and similar (even smaller) than the one I picture here..

 

[Cam]

Thanks for following up Randy. Yeah, I'm still scratching my head a bit on this NOCO unit; it's performance has been unlike the video. It may be too unreasonable for me to expect it'll start my car with the battery totally disconnected but I expected something better than the tiny whir I got, at least based on what's demonstrated in the video. My particular unit doesn't seem to ever reach 100% charge so I think there may be a manufacturing defect, playing around with it for another day or two before I roll the dice and send it back for an exchange. I'll try running my main battery down then supplement it with this battery pack to see if it's at least effective for that purpose. The sub 12V reading has me thinking maybe one of the internal cells isn't up to par, leading to the unit failing to reach 100% charge.

 

[Cam]

I'll say one thing for NOCO's customer service - they're exceptionally prompt with email responses. I've been getting responses from their tech folks within 24 hrs of me sending them a question and they've been really forward with information and troubleshooting help. They've offered to have me send the unit back to them at their expense in exchange for a new unit but I'm going to continue running some tests on this unit before I take them up on their offer.

They say the NOCO unit should measure between 11.5-12.5V when the booster pack is fully charged; the unit must be in the manual override mode to get this reading.

 

[Neil]

I think the "booster packs" are designed to re-charge a good battery that has been discharged to the point of not having enough charge left to start an engine. The booster pack puts enough charge back into the battery to allow it tocrank the engine over for a short time. Hopefully, the engine will fire up and then its alternator charges the battery back up to 100%. From what I've heard, you must wait for the battery to receive its re-charge from the booster pack. It was not intended to supply enough current to operate the starter by itself.

 

[Lance]

Mine is an SJS1500 unit by Jump Start Technology. I doubt they're available over there, but supposed to be good according to the reviews. It reads 100% when fully charged. Will get back with a voltage. The SJS unit is not a power source as such and is not intended to charge the car battery, only to jump / boost it enough to get the car's motor going. If I did need to run my car fridge off it, I would need to buy a set of special leads for that purpose. Safety provisions again.

 

[Cam]

I did some torture testing with the NOCO. I could only get it charged up to somewhere between 75-100% but never full.

I ran my battery down (optima yellow top) to 9.5V (as measured at the battery) and verified the car wouldn’t start. I then turned on my radiator fans, HVAC blower (max), radio, headlights, and fuel pumps. I hooked the NOCO up and started the car 5x without issue. I stopped trying after 5x, car started right up each time and didn’t want to burn out the battery pack or my starter (it didn’t get warm to the touch). You could hear the fans and pumps change in tone once the booster pack was turned on, the extra juice got everything spinning faster I’m guessing.

I gave it maybe 10-15s between turning the booster pack on to hitting the ignition for the first go, then I just stayed in the car and cycled it on and off repeatedly. It didn’t shut off automatically between starts but I only let it run a few seconds before shutting it down. I don’t know if the unit shuts down once it detects alternator voltage. After cycling it 5x I removed the booster and verified my engine wouldn’t start again, it didn’t. The NOCO was indicating somewhere between 75-100% charge after all this.

I’m impressed with the NOCO so far. I have a replacement on its way as there’s a defect with this unit that prevents it from hitting 100% charge. I’ll try disconnecting my battery with the replacement if it’s able to be fully charged. At the least, I’m confident it’ll start the car up if I ever run the battery down accidentally. Customer service has also been great - I was a bit apprehensive at first as I think the only method of contacting them is via their online portal, but they’ve been exceptionally responsive and it seems they either only have 1 customer service rep, use the same name but have multiple reps, or your case gets assigned and you work with the same person throughout.

Trouble free replacement via Amazon, the replacement is on its way even before I get this sent back to them. One day shipping via Prime, what has this world come to?

 

[Cam]

Last post on this just to close it all out. I received a replacement from Amazon and the second unit was able to reach 100% charge. I then ran the no-battery test again and while I got an extra whirr out of the starter, there still wasn't enough oomph to start the car sans battery. I'm keeping thee booster pack anyway, it's relatively small and is reported to maintain its charge for over a year.

The GB70 may be overkill, they offer a smaller unit, the GB40. I went with the 70 because it wasn't much bigger, was constructed of heavier duty cables, and is able to supply more charge/amperage. If anyone is looking for a portable booster pack I'd recommend looking into the GB70.

No sponsorship, just impressed with the product and service I've received.

 

[Randy V]

Interesting Cam.....
So are we calling BS on he guy with the video for hiding another battery somewhere?

 

[Cam]

Interesting Cam.....
So are we calling BS on he guy with the video for hiding another battery somewhere?

Hard to say, I'm sure there are a bunch of factors that go into just how much energy is required to spin start a motor (compression, # of cylinders, # of accessories, starter requirements, etc). I was very surprised to see what it did in the video and was intrigued enough to give them a shot.

At the end of the day, it's not a very realistic test so it didn't dissuade me from keeping the unit. My stress test using my half drained battery with all accessories turned on was what sold me on keeping the NOCO.