Battery Info

[LouNY]

For the last 20 years it's been hard to buy good jumper cables, most of them are only #10 wire and some even smaller with lots of plastic coating on them.
#4 welding cable makes a good jumper cable.

 

[airbiscuit]

Not to hijack this thread, but this has me thinking about buying a new battery charger (and potentially spending Eddie's money). I want

Automatic (no overcharging)
Car Starting ability
Multiple amperage modes
Reasonably priced

Considering this one

Amazon.com

 

[ultrarunner]

My go-to jumper cables came from a tow truck supply in 1985 and I have both versions... one that has clamps on both ends and one that plugs into a receptacle in the grill of my service truck.

My brother was having trouble using his jumper cables and he told me the cable got really hot... Nice thick insulation on 10 gauge wire...

He was going to toss it but I said it could still work if you connected two batteries with one vehicle running for a few minutes before trying to start the other one..

The worst ones I have seen were aluminum in a road safety kit...

 

[airbiscuit]

When I was a teenager, a friends car needed a jump, but all any of us had were cheap jumper cables. connected a set, and no bueno. Connected two sets, and success!

 

[ultrarunner]

When I was a teenager, a friends car needed a jump, but all any of us had were cheap jumper cables. connected a set, and no bueno. Connected two sets, and success!

In high school it seemed several had marginal batteries...

Sometimes creativity is needed and I found a short length of barbed wire along the road but only enough for one connection so pressed the vehicle chrome bumpers together for the negative and it worked...

I had a VW bug for a short time and got real good at solo push starting and jumping in when I couldn't find a strategic incline to park...

 

[EddieWalker]

Not to hijack this thread, but this has me thinking about buying a new battery charger (and potentially spending Eddie's money). I want

Automatic (no overcharging)
Car Starting ability
Multiple amperage modes
Reasonably priced

Considering this one

View attachment 2095191

Amazon.com

This is what I have in my cart, but I haven't committed to buying it yet. I'll probably wait until I have all my taxes paid, and then make my final decision.

Amazon.com

 

[EddieWalker]

On the battery charger. How many amps is ideal for jump starting a dead battery? The link I just posted to on Amazon is rated for 200 amps. There are others on Amazon rated for 250. Is more better?

 

[airbiscuit]

My current battery charger has a 75 amp starter mode, and that generally works.

 

[EddieWalker]

The old one I'm using has 50 amps, and it's borderline. 200 amps would be a huge improvement, but am I going too far?

 

[ultrarunner]

When you jump from a good battery you might have 800 amps of boost or more if engine running.

Some of the jump packs provide phenomenal amps for the size.

 

[airbiscuit]

I have two jump starters like this in our cars. At first I was skeptical, but they outperform my older, more expensive more bulky, and less powerful jump starter. It starts my vehicles and tractor just fine.

 

[Fallon]

On the battery charger. How many amps is ideal for jump starting a dead battery? The link I just posted to on Amazon is rated for 200 amps. There are others on Amazon rated for 250. Is more better?

50-75 amps is good to charge a dead battery. That will get a low battery to starting in 5-20 minutes. 200 amps is usually towards heavy equipment or starting the vehicle off the charger without waiting for the battery to charge.

My 5/10/30/75 amp charger has been fine for me for a decade or so. I just picked up a 200 amp charge as I needed on that did 6v as well. Only does 20 amps on 6v though. Got the old-school dumb one with the mechanical timer so I could abuse it as a general 6 or 12v power supply for testing gear without smart electronic objecting.

 

[Popgadget]

After watching the project farm video on jumpers, I got this one-

Amazon.com

Haven’t found anything it wouldn’t start.

 

[airbiscuit]

You can't go wrong with Project Farm!

 

[Popgadget]

You can't go wrong with Project Farm!

Agreed. Better than Consumer Reports……

 

[LittleBill21]

you don't jump with 50 amps, 50 amps is a charge, you need 20 minutes or so to give the battery some times to charge, depending on the size.

just buy a jump pack. so much more convenient.

something like this.

https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GB40-Ul...56d0e36d47207&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

 

[airbiscuit]

That one is low capacity. Buy one with 4,000 or 5,000 amps

 

[LittleBill21]

That one is low capacity. Buy one with 4,000 or 5,000 amps

LOL, This one big enough for you?

https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GB250-U...1fb7fe418bdba&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

 

[Too many Kubotas]

50-75 amps is good to charge a dead battery.

And here I've been told that to resurrect a battery it should be charged at a low amperage (about 1-2 A) for a day or two before stepping up to 10 A or so.

Of course, I suppose it depends on if the goal is to save the battery or start the vehicle.

 

[ultrarunner]

Here is my go to pair…