Recommendations for portable jump starter packs

[soviet_merlin]

Can anyone recommend a jump starter pack? Basically a portable battery pack with jumper leads to start a car if the battery is too low.

Needs to be able to start at least an RB25DET.

They tend to look something like the below.

I have a Unigear A6 jump starter pack bought from Justjap. They don't sell it anymore. Likely because it doesn't actually work. It was advertised to be good for <= 4l engines but wasn't able to start a ~2008 4 cylinder BMW when we tried it. So I very much doubt it'll do any good on an RB.

Now I'm looking for something that actually works.

Thanks!

[PranK]

I bought the Noco GB40 (1000A) forever ago but it just lacked enough power to start our X5 (diesel 3L straight 6) but could do a few good attempts at my 335i. 

Then I upgraded recently to the GB50 which is 1500 Amp. Its proper capable of starting either of my cars now. The little one will be fine in my daughters XV I think though so not totally wasted.

I'm surprised yours doesn't work if it is truly 2000 Amp! 

[PranK]

Woops, thought the pic was of your model but it doesn't appear to be. Ignore my last sentence.

[Nyoom]

I've got an older version of this supercheap one https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/sca-sca-compact-jump-starter-12v-1200a-6-cylinder/631666.html?cgid=SCA01060201

I've kept it in my car for like 5 years and jumpstarted plenty of gtrs at events. Only thing I don't like about it is that the leads don't detach from the pack so the wires always have tension on them in the stored position. It gets about 3 jumpstarts per charge or I plug it in to charge like every 6 months

[soviet_merlin]

5 hours ago, PranK said:

Then I upgraded recently to the GB50 which is 1500 Amp. Its proper capable of starting either of my cars now.

Hah, you make it sound like it gets a lot of use in your household. BMW life, eh?

I very much like the sound of this one. Especially the supposed 1 year battery life. Might grab one at the next opportunity.

Thanks for the tip!

[soviet_merlin]

5 hours ago, PranK said:

Woops, thought the pic was of your model but it doesn't appear to be. Ignore my last sentence.

Yeah nah, mine is like this.

It's really not very good.

- It's round which makes it awkward to place in engine bay without rolling around

- The charge doesn't hold for very long and need to recharge every few months

Might work for self defense though as it has some serious heft to it. And I guess can use it as a torch and pretend it's a huge Maglite.

[soviet_merlin]

3 hours ago, Nyoom said:

I've got an older version of this supercheap one https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/sca-sca-compact-jump-starter-12v-1200a-6-cylinder/631666.html?cgid=SCA01060201

I've kept it in my car for like 5 years and jumpstarted plenty of gtrs at events. Only thing I don't like about it is that the leads don't detach from the pack so the wires always have tension on them in the stored position.

Thanks for the detailed review Jairek! Much appreciated. This has definitely proven itself on RBs then. Also quite affordable.

I'll have a think about it. Though I'm leaning towards the one that Prank mentioned. It has a bit more oomph, longer battery life and is actually a bit smaller in size. Not that the latter comes as much of a concern in the wagon.

[PranK]

1 hour ago, soviet_merlin said:

Hah, you make it sound like it gets a lot of use in your household. BMW life, eh?

I very much like the sound of this one. Especially the supposed 1 year battery life. Might grab one at the next opportunity.

Thanks for the tip!

Do you want to borrow it? I don't mind sending it to you. It doesn't get *that* much use! 🙄

[Duncan]

Since i always have cars with flat batteries, I use one of these, expensive thou at 880rrp

https://www.projecta.com.au/products/IS1500/12v-1500a-lithium-jumpstarter

In my experience pretty much any of those square ones like you posted in the first fill start a skyline as long as the jump pack is properly charged, they are a simple, low compression engine. Just remember to let the fuel pump prime at ON  for 3 seconds before you hit start

[soviet_merlin]

7 hours ago, Duncan said:

Since i always have cars with flat batteries, I use one of these, expensive thou at 880rrp

https://www.projecta.com.au/products/IS1500/12v-1500a-lithium-jumpstarter

In my experience pretty much any of those square ones like you posted in the first fill start a skyline as long as the jump pack is properly charged, they are a simple, low compression engine. Just remember to let the fuel pump prime at ON  for 3 seconds before you hit start

Duncan! Why do you do this to me? I'm a sucker for buying good gear that is way more capable than my actual use case requires. You have the excuse of basically being a Nissan fleet manager

Their slightly lower spec emergency charger looks really promising:
https://www.projecta.com.au/products/IS1400/12v-1400a-prof--jmpstrtr

I very much like that it shows the current car battery voltage when it's connected. And their rapid recharge mechanism to bring the jump starter power back up by leaving it connected for a while after jump starting the car. And they have a pretty detailed spec sheet with their chargers.

Do I need a jump starter capable of starting 7l petrol and 5l diesel engines? Hell no.
Do I want one? You bet I do.
Am I going to spend $500 on a charger that best case I'm never actually going to use? It's very much starting to look like it.

/edit: Looks like one can get this one for $350 at repco. So actually not too bad.

[soviet_merlin]

14 hours ago, PranK said:

Do you want to borrow it? I don't mind sending it to you. It doesn't get *that* much use! 🙄

All good, but thanks for the offer Christian! Not using it is the best case scenario. For me it's just something to have in the car for peace of mind.

[GTSBoy]

Yeah, they're a difficult thing to take for a test run unless you routinely and habitually suffer flat batteries already. If I bought some for my girls (for example), I'd be damn sure to find them dead flat in the spare wheel well having been forgotten about and never used for 2+ years.

I keep jumper cables. They don't go flat.

[The Bogan]

+1 for jumper leads (with surge protection) for "in the boot essentials"

Also, if parked up, I always connect my 7 stage trickle charger thingie, whether the battery is connected in the car, or if the battery is sitting on a bench in the shed

All the electronical thingies in modern cars put a slow but steady drain on batteries when parked up with the battery connected 

The little battery in the Harley would drain out in about 7 days because of this

I also run up our cars that are daily driven on the trickle charger every few months, it apparently 'de-sulfers" the batteries or something (electronical black magic) and makes them last longer

The older batteries do sit in the de-sulfer zone for a while, but they do keep on working fast and hard on start up

The OEM battery in the Mrs Mitsubishi ASX is around 10 years old, parked up outside all year, and does alot of short drives, I truly believe it has only lasted this long because the occasional runs up on the charger

A good trickle charger is money well spent, even if you only let it run through all of its cycles occasionally 

[soviet_merlin]

I ended up getting the Projecta 1400A jump charger. Repco had it at 20% off and it came to $350. Also a set of jumper leads with surge protection just to be sure.

It seems a solid piece of kit. Comes with a case, a USB-A to USB-C cord and a cigarette plug charger. No wall charger though. It shows the battery voltage when you connect it which is neat. So far it inspires confidence. Will report back on how it holds up when I actually get to use it one day.

     

[Butters]

Ordered myself a gooloo , so far so good. 
$180 - https://gooloo.com.au/products/gt4000s?variant=44378290651382

 

 

[soviet_merlin]

18 hours ago, Butters said:

Ordered myself a gooloo , so far so good. 
$180 - https://gooloo.com.au/products/gt4000s?variant=44378290651382

That looks like really good value for money. Plenty of power to start a Nissan Unimog

Looks like Noco did well in the testing in the video as well. Only skipped through the video but he has some slides with results at the end.