Thoughts on mains car battery boosters?

[JOEPRO]

Out of interest are your batteries then showing a good state of heath once started and charged?, or can you not justify having healthy batteries on all your cars and just need to get them fired up as and when using knackered batteries.

Well I have around 12 - 15 batteries and yes most of them are known good and test as such.

The one in this red car is only about 2 years old but has been abused by letting the car drain it so it's likely dead now and will test very poorly. I'll charge it overnight first.

Generally I keep good batteries in my cars even if they sit around as I hate having to deal with dead batteries and it's also risky jump starting or messing with them as even old MBs can have alot of sensitive electronics in them.

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

Do you think a 1996 Surf with the 1KZ-TE engine would be like this?

It is electronically controlled, so it's possible, but if I recall correctly the 1KZ-TE is indirect injection...

In which case there's probably not much to be gained from a system like that, compared to in a direct injection engine where they can caw back some efficiency by even-ing out the remaining the slight inconsistencies between cylinders that are left after adjusting for the injectors themselves.

 

[JOEPRO]

OK so on alot more thinking and searching I have decided to return the Ring charger. It's not much better than my old steel battery charger and doesn't have enough power to jump a car. Not much merit having it around then really.

I ordered one of these 700amp mains booster which seems to be very good value at the minute with the euro rate. Dublin based outfit and worked out £170 with delivery. So for an extra £80 over the ring I'll have a proper boost starter should I require it on occasion and also a very strong adjustable 12v power supply for long diagnostics sessions on my cars. I like the timer too so you can charge and leave it to knock off itself. Unlike the ring.



At least also this a jump starter that will serve my classics for life so long as I have 230v mains connection! (Whereas battery boosters have a limited lifespan)

Not sure how long it'll take to get here but I'll report back when it does.

 

[MattF]

Do you think a 1996 Surf with the 1KZ-TE engine would be like this?

3rd gen, possibly. Wasn't like that on 2nd gen's though, in my experience.

 

[voipio]

OK so on alot more thinking and searching I have decided to return the Ring charger. It's not much better than my old steel battery charger and doesn't have enough power to jump a car. Not much merit having it around then really.

I ordered one of these 700amp mains booster which seems to be very good value at the minute with the euro rate. Dublin based outfit and worked out £170 with delivery. So for an extra £80 over the ring I'll have a proper boost starter should I require it on occasion and also a very strong adjustable 12v power supply for long diagnostics sessions on my cars. I like the timer too so you can charge and leave it to knock off itself. Unlike the ring.

View attachment 476109View attachment 476110

At least also this a jump starter that will serve my classics for life so long as I have 230v mains connection! (Whereas battery boosters have a limited lifespan)

Not sure how long it'll take to get here but I'll report back when it does.

Hope you're not disappointed with this one. Only in the title line does it say 700 Amp. This claim is not repeated in the specifications. The spec quotes 1000 Watts max, which is 83A at 12V. The ammeter on the front (top?) panel only goes up to 120A.

700A at 12V equates to over 8kW, so way more than a 13A plug is rated for.

 

[JOEPRO]

Hope you're not disappointed with this one. Only in the title line does it say 700 Amp. This claim is not repeated in the specifications. The spec quotes 1000 Watts max, which is 83A at 12V. The ammeter on the front (top?) panel only goes up to 120A.

700A at 12V equates to over 8kW, so way more than a 13A plug is rated for.

Does this spec read better? It is a 32amp supply it says which I have in both garages and long rubber commando extension leads I made so I could use that supply.

A 32amp 230v supply should support 7500watt or so. Which is alot better than a 13 amp plug!

660/100A 12/24V Starter/Charger | START660 | Sealey

1 Year Guarantee - Heavy-duty starter/charger for professional garages, workshops or bodyshops. Caters for all requirements from cars right up to light commercial vehicles.

www.sealey.co.uk

 

[JOEPRO]

Cancelled the claimed 700amp one and going to collect a new Sealey 660 which is the biggest they offer and runs off 32amp plug.

Local sealey agent have one in stock so going tomorrow morning to get it

 

[voipio]

The Sealey Start 660 seems better rated than the Pacini one.

 

[JOEPRO]

The Sealey Start 660 seems better rated than the Pacini one.

32amp plug also has another benefit. Most people don't have that plug in their garage so won't ask to borrow it

 

[JOEPRO]

That's what I'm thinking, the battery may be kaput here.

I tried this new lidl proclaimed 500amp jump pack on it, no good either.

View attachment 476083

Clamp meter says 270amp.max current was output

View attachment 476082

I'm pretty sure my other older jump pack would start this car but it's lent out so I'll get it back this weekend and try it for sharts and giggles and out a clamp on it.

As comparison on this post. I put this same dead battery into a 3.2L m104 cwr of mine. Same engine as the red car which is 3L m104.

Just because I happened to be working at this car today.

And the Noco can turn the engine over no problem.



Car was actually trying to start up and firing. Which is funny as it's had no fuel tank and fuel pump open to air for about 4 years.

 

[Gritineye]

Surprised you dont have a battery condition tester, it gives an indication of SOH & SOC, how accurate I dont know but I have found it saves flogging a dead horse.

Like in the link below,

Battey Tester for sale | eBay

Find great deals on eBay for Battey Tester. Shop with confidence.

www.ebay.co.uk

Do these work with a leisure battery, camper van type?

 

[arther dailey]

So, with my tractors I am thinking rotating batteries , week on my truck taking a good charging then chuck it on tractor , next one swapped over for a week and so on , making sure I have a known good battery chucked in the back(incase) . lot of faf but it would stop the batteries dying a early death although chiropractic charges may nullify any savings.. I am going to try and see if by parralel (?) charging some of the dead ones can be brought back to life. live in hope ect..

 

[chrismac]

Do these work with a leisure battery, camper van type?

I am no expert sorry my cheap one covers a range of types, I find it very useful for seeing how much the battery has lost in percentage the state of health, and then the joy it brings when I use my noco charger with its healing function and it brings the percentage back up!! do the leisure batteries have a CCA I remember the one I had on my caravan was a sort of duel purpose type, it was brilliant as a jump starter.

The tester asks for the Cold Cranking Amps and must measure the resistance, I doubt the leisure battery has CCA figure on it so not sure it will be of use,

 

[chrismac]

So, with my tractors I am thinking rotating batteries , week on my truck taking a good charging then chuck it on tractor , next one swapped over for a week and so on , making sure I have a known good battery chucked in the back(incase) . lot of faf but it would stop the batteries dying a early death although chiropractic charges may nullify any savings.. I am going to try and see if by parralel (?) charging some of the dead ones can be brought back to life. live in hope ect..

I have watch a few videos on youtube where guys have attached the positive and negative from an inverter welder to a battery to take it back to life, (this is a welding forum after all) they gave it a good boiling but cant remember the outcome!!! not tried it myself

 

[m_c]

I have watch a few videos on youtube where guys have attached the positive and negative from an inverter welder to a battery to take it back to life, (this is a welding forum after all) they gave it a good boiling but cant remember the outcome!!! not tried it myself

If a battery has been totally drained, then left for a while, the chances are it won't accept any charge and have high internal resistance.
When they reach that point, the quickest way to get them to accept any charge, is by using a high voltage (usually less than 30V) to break down the sulphation and force some current through the battery.

I've done it using a bench power supply, with current limiting set to around 1/5th of the rated Ah, so that if they do start accepting charge, the current limiting cuts in and avoids cooking the battery. Success rate can vary, as if the sulphation is bad enough, they just won't take a charge or short out plates.
Provided a battery takes a charge, you can try a de-sulphator on them, which essentially pulses the battery with high voltage spikes to try and breakdown any sulphation (and is most likely what the Noco charger is doing).

 

[Gritineye]

I am no expert sorry my cheap one covers a range of types, I find it very useful for seeing how much the battery has lost in percentage the state of health, and then the joy it brings when I use my noco charger with its healing function and it brings the percentage back up!! do the leisure batteries have a CCA I remember the one I had on my caravan was a sort of duel purpose type, it was brilliant as a jump starter.

The tester asks for the Cold Cranking Amps and must measure the resistance, I doubt the leisure battery has CCA figure on it so not sure it will be of use,

Thanks I thought that would be the case.

 

[jmp49]

I also have a wheely round 630a 12/24v thing besides the old trusty analog shelf one, I got it when the recifier inside went bad on old trusty and let out its magic smoke so I thought it had charged its last battery forever, but being a tinkerer I put a new rectifier in and fixed it later. Round the barn on concrete floors its not bad to wheel the monstrosity into position and it has its own parking space worked out now, and life became even better when I cut the croc leads off and fitted it with a anderson connector so it works with everything else I have for jumping/charging so a lot of the time I don't have to move it to use it.
I was amused when it arrived and the higher settings that are more capable of boiling a battery if forgotten are timed duration only, with a oldschool mechanical timer. You can hear it ticking like a bomb until a actual dinging bell rings inside the machine and it turns itself off. Its so mechanical it works even when its unplugged. It'd probably survive a nuclear war unscathed its so heavily built inside with just a transformer, a massive rectifier and the mechanical timer with two control knobs on the top.
Wiltec brand, I'm not sure they have that brand in the UK though, its another vevor/chinese branded stuff mark. Few years old now, still working ok. Nice to have options...

And to update, I killed the big orange battery charger mentioned above trying to start a tracked machine on 24v. I took the back cover off to investigate and the rectifier has blown and its trying to charge things at 7v, so probably one of the diodes has failed. On close inspection it appear to be only rated for 12v 100a, and so was operating at quite a bit more than its rating. Maybe chinese amps are bigger and 100a is fine there.
The exact replacements are on ali express for 20 quid, but I have opted to blow the budget and throw caution to the wind and ordered a 400a rated one at 40 quid delivered instead. I'll probably get it, peel the labels off and find 100a capable diodes on it though.

 

[jmp49]

Hope you're not disappointed with this one. Only in the title line does it say 700 Amp. This claim is not repeated in the specifications. The spec quotes 1000 Watts max, which is 83A at 12V. The ammeter on the front (top?) panel only goes up to 120A.

700A at 12V equates to over 8kW, so way more than a 13A plug is rated for.

After a bit of reading round today, the 700 probably referred to the battery size it was supposed to be suited to, ie 700ah, the manufacturer of mine has updated their info the same, so probably been caught out and forced to do so.
The reason I have put a bigger replacement rectifier in mine is because the rectifier failed before the fuse blew. I have gone looking for my original purchase and I've had it a lot longer than I remembered though, its been solid until we abused it extra hard trying to start this machine which was feeling particulary recalcent and required lots of cycles of glow plugs etc while lines were being cracked off bleeding things etc. Hopefully with a overrated rectifier, it'll last another 8 years or so of abuse, and hopefully blow the fuse correctly this time.

 

[Dragnet]

For something to be connected continuously, I've just built this Everyday Practical Electronics kit ("Clever Controller for a Dumb Battery Charger") which does everything I want, and can be powered by a conventional magnetic flux limited transformer charger. They sell PCBs of a good quality, and you just have to follow along with the article. I have SLAs and flooded batteries, both 6V and 12V. I haven't any problems with leakage (surely there's a problem if the cars are using such significant power that a battery is flat within a week of no use?) but I like to keep any batteries on the shelf topped up once a month.

 

[Justme]

I have a number of classics with draining batteries this time of year. Impossible to keep up with at times. Thinking of one of these from Lidl NI in this Thursday

View attachment 475798

May also be useful for diagnostics to keep a good voltage in the car in use without engine running. But likely too undersized for my engines.

Even to get a discharged battery a good boost / fast charge so the auto chargers can start their charge.

I bought one a few years back. Stopped working but forgot to take it back under warranty. Its now a door stop till I get time to open it up & see if its fixable.