Battery Booster packs

[Porcupine]

I have a question about those battery booster packs.

Mine is a 700AMP, and has a power point (cigarette lighter port) and USB port for accessories.

The one day that my Exploder battery died I used the power pack in the morning, it worked great and again later the same day.....Nothing. No boost, nothing, no clicks. I thought for sure that something happened to the booster pack. Then I got to thinking. If those small booster cables on those packs and ever got loose in people's trunks or anywhere they could arc and cause some real havoc. Hence it's not possible to check any output voltage UNLESS there is a resistant load that would allow it to activate. I would go so far to call it an :"exciter voltage" same principle as an alternator.

The truck battery had 2VDC. The OCV on the battery pack was 0.06VDC (you read that right). This tells me that the electronics inside the booster pack is designed as idiot proof in case the cables did manage to arc against something and prevent issues from happening.

My question is: does anyone know the required load voltage that has to exist on the target battery in order for the booster pack to deliver its package?

I'm thinking a minimum of of 9VDC. Not sure.

[thcardoc]

I don't expect to see any kind of circuit protection on a jumper pack. First they work exactly as any jumper battery would be expected to. I often use mine as the power source for my smoke machine.

I can't explain why your voltmeter made the pack look dead. Think about this for the moment. If the pack was really turning itself off with no load, exactly what kind of a relay would have to be inside of it for the pack to be able to do that? From there a semi-conductor device capable of controlling that much current would be very expensive and require external cooling, and a relay capable of carrying the kind of current a starter would draw should make enough noise to be heard, neither are observed visually or otherwise.

Even still if your booster pack really needed some type of load to turn it on, your ignition switch should have done that all by itself. Or you could have turned on any other light(s) to provide a load to make it turn on. No matter what there should have been current flow the moment a proper connection was made.

It's likely some error occurred in the measurement if the pack wasn't genuinely dead. Corrosion on the jumper pack leads may have provided some insulation and prevented a true reading. There may even have been some type of a glitch in your voltmeter or maybe one of your voltmeter leads is failing.

[Porcupine]

Well Cardoc time for me to eat crow.
I do like my theory better, of a next-to-no OCV, but your answer was correct.I took a volt meter down the the store where I bought the booster pack and tested the output OCV. Even at minimal charge it was at 12.5 VDC.

I guess my board has blown. The sad part is it's cheaper to buy another unit than to TRY to buy a replacement board. Most of this stuff made in China has no parts available.

Even though it won't serve as a booster pack any more it still has a power point and USB port, so it still has other uses.

[thcardoc]

Originally Posted by Porcupine

Well Cardoc time for me to eat crow.

I keep this handy for just such occasions...When one fixes cars for a living everyday has the potential to teach you something you didn't know (yet).
http://bertc.com/subfive/recipes/threecrows.htm

I do like my theory better, of a next-to-no OCV, but your answer was correct.I took a volt meter down the the store where I bought the booster pack and tested the output OCV. Even at minimal charge it was at 12.5 VDC.

I guess my board has blown. The sad part is it's cheaper to buy another unit than to TRY to buy a replacement board. Most of this stuff made in China has no parts available.

Even though it won't serve as a booster pack any more it still has a power point and USB port, so it still has other uses.

Sorry about your luck with the jumper pack, they are a great invention for us, but pretty expensive to own and have to replace. I figure I'm about due to replace mine this year. At five years old it's showing some signs that the end is near.

[Porcupine]

Don't rub it in but when someone is wrong it's always best to admit it. Conversly when some is right, I do try to keep it down a wee bit.

[thcardoc]

Totally agree. Wasn't trying to rub it in, heck I keep the crows recepie handy for myself. For the times when one has to eat crow, you might as well make the best of it. Now would that be red wine or white wine? Hmmm

[Porcupine]

Beer only. Either Becks or Stella and a batch of tooth picks for the feathers in my teeth

[KA9MOT]

Deleted....

I know what I am trying to say, but can't describe it properly. It made me sound like a moron.

[KA9MOT]

Originally Posted by Porcupine

Mine is a 700AMP, and has a power point (cigarette lighter port) and USB port for accessories.

Porkie, the 700A specification on that thing is marketing hype. Cables and battery connectors alone it probably could not deliver 50A to a load. At 700A you should be able to throw the battery away and use it in it's place. Think about it, it has a very small Gell Cell in it.

A dead battery is 12V. A fully charged 12V car battery is 12.6V with a load, more than that with no load.
At 2V you tried to draw a couple of hundred amps through that booster pack and killed it.

Just FYI.

[Porcupine]

Originally Posted by KA9MOT

Porkie, the 700A specification on that thing is marketing hype. Cables and battery connectors alone it probably could not deliver 50A to a load. At 700A you should be able to throw the battery away and use it in it's place. Think about it, it has a very small Gell Cell in it.

A dead battery is 12V. A fully charged 12V car battery is 12.6V with a load, more than that with no load.
At 2V you tried to draw a couple of hundred amps through that booster pack and killed it.

Just FYI.

Hey Steve, as always I did not receive the TGG email prompt for your last reply on this post. Silly TGG.


I agree with your last comment regarding MY car/truck battery that had 2V and it killed the booster pack. Too much high-end demand for a short period.
These booster packs are designed to be an assist to a low voltage main battery, not to replace it
On the outside of the pack it states AGM updated version of lead acid. When I took the pack apart it clearly indicated lead acid, not gel-cel.
Believe it or not the cables and clamps were really not that bad with respect to their heavy-dutiness. They are designed for a short term burst of current not long term usage. So in essence they should do the trick "As Designed".
Yes, 12volts is considered dead but we have all seen cars start at 12v and sometimes just below. I think the lowest I have seen is 11.5. My eyes were like saucers when I saw that 2v on the meter.

BTW I lucked out. I called the callcenter that sold these products and pleaded my case to buy a new circuit board. Needless to say made in China so no parts to be found. Plus when I was in the store yesterday they were on sale so I bought a new one.
So now I have 2 one for a booster pack and the other can still power 12 volt items for camping and USB stuff.

Note to self. I really hate that off shore junk. Why can't the North American Industry start building OUR stuff again?

[thcardoc]

Originally Posted by Porcupine

Note to self. I really hate that off shore junk. Why can't the North American Industry start building OUR stuff again?

They could if consumers didn't price shop them right out of business.

[Porcupine]

I have what I think is MY answer to the problem. I have sent countless emails to local chain brand name companies here in Canada regarding that very situation. But to do so we need to start another new thread.

On this forum we have to be very carful of what boundaries we cross. After all this is primarily a car forum. That said there are a lot of automotive related products that are made off shore and we are, and were, capable of making them here. Most of you know the answer. The question is: How do we, as a group, convince the big names?

I might add this is not about politics but rather our free enterprise system and capitolism

[thcardoc]

I made it out to one of the conventions in Las Vegas two years ago. All of the tool booths, insurance salesmen and those kinds of activities were on the second floor. On the first floor were representatives from the parts manufacturers from all over the world. When you walked up to the guy who was selling radiators, his prices were by the shipping container for a given vehicle make, model, year, and engine. The entire first floor of Mandalay Bay's convention center was filled with these five foot booths. In some of the contracts the prices were different depending on the percentage of defects the purchaser was willing to accept. Now if we were talking 2-5% that would be one thing, but you could buy his radiators really cheap if you were willing to accept a 25-30% chance of defects.

One O.E. radiator sells at $350, an aftermarket wharehouse sells their version of it for $200. Even if one out of three that they sell is indeed bad, they have plenty of room to still make good money from what I saw them paying per unit!