Which Jump Starter to have

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landmark II

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I am looking to carry a jump starter for my Discovery Series 2 TD5. I am thinking to get a NOCO GB70 can anyone advise me please how well it works with a Discovery Thanks
 
That's a Lithium power unit, which is best avoided. Lithium doesn't like to be stored fully charged, doesn't like high or low temperatures, and can burst into flames if it's damaged or short circuited.

Get one that has a traditional lead acid battery, which likes to be kept fully charged, doesn't mind being hot or cold, and is completely safe to use, unless you drop it on your foot.
 
There's quite an extensive discussion of this on Anything Goes. I have a Noco GB40 that works ok but not brilliant. Others report they are really good. My suspicion is that they vary in quality a bit for some reason. I had an Audew unit that worked brilliantly a couple of times but failed completely when I next tried to use it 6 months later.
Amazon gave me a full refund after 11 months without any hassle.
I have bought a super capacitor jump starter but not had to use it yet. Worth reading up on these. They work completely differently. No battery to go flat. Ideal for partially discharged battery or one where a single cell has died.
Don't dismiss the lithium units out of hand. I left the Noco in the boot and used it effectively after 4 months or so without any further charging. Lead acid jump start units can be fine but seem to go flat fairly quickly unless left on trickle charge. Also too big to be left in the car for most people.
 
Lithium will be much smaller and push out a lot of current. The question is not relevant; of course it will work with a Disco 2. The question is will a lithium unit last in your application. Will you keep it charged, in my experience lithium batteries store well at full charge, but they need very careful charging and if you discharge them too far they are toast. They can and do explode but generally not if they are handled carefully and charged on a specialist charger. You may or may not use it enough to keep it maintained, I can't say. I think the better question is more about the options:
Lithium boost starter
Mains boost starter
High quality jump leads.
I have found a decent expensive set of jump leads to be the most useful. 2nd to that a mains boost starter/charger. The one I have (years old) takes a flat battery to able start in about 30 mins. In an emergency I would be more confident in getting an engine going with jump leads than any battery starter.
 
headintheclouds said:
There's quite an extensive discussion of this on Anything Goes. I have a Noco GB40 that works ok but not brilliant. Others report they are really good. My suspicion is that they vary in quality a bit for some reason.
Click to expand...

All of these lithium booster packs are made in China (not that in itself is a bad thing) but they aren't built to be sturdy, or long lasting. You only have to look at the cables used, or the crocodile clips, or the connector used to join the cables to the main unit to know these things simply aren't designed to last.

If you're lucky, the cables will be 8 gauge silicone multi-strand wire and the crocodile clips will be suitable for taking starting currents, but not many are so equipped.
The connectors used to join the cable to these units often leave a lot to be desired too.
I've seen various connectors used, all of which are 'borrowed' from the RC battery world.

Blue connectors are usually EC3, rated at 60A, or the larger EC5 (rated 120A), which is the best I've seen on these lithium booster packs.

Yellow connectors are XT60, rated at 60A, or XT90, rated at 90A, but still not enough for regular or heavy use.

Red plugs are call Deans connectors, and are rated at just 50 Amps, which really aren't enough to do the job in this application.


The other issue with lithium booster packs is the voltage. All the High Street booster packs have a 3S cell configuration, which means that they are technically low on voltage, even when fully charged. A lithium cell has a nominal voltage of 3.7V, there being 3 in series to give a nominal voltage of 11.1 Volts. Even fully charged to 4.2 Volts per cell, still only gives a maximum voltage of 12.6 Volts, which is the same as a flat lead acid battery.

So these lithium packs are basically at a disadvantage, even when fully charged, and are only suitable for starting a perfectly running engine, where the battery has been discharged by leaving the lights on for instance.
They are definitely not suitable for starting an engine, where the engine isn't starting promptly, as they simply aren't built robustly enough to cope with high current, for more than a few seconds.
 
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I have a Tacklife lithium starter, I've had it two or three years and it has paid for itself easily. On a full charge it will start a dead car half a dozen times. It keeps its charge for ages, I last used it to start a neighbours car last September and it's still at 95%. Lead acid starters may have certain benefits but the size and weight of them is a disadvantage in my mind. My 109 is a bad starter and flattens its battery in a about three weeks if I leave it connected, The Tacklife starts it easily, much better than a fully charged heavy duty battery does. I don't keep it in the car though cos really cold weather isn't good for them. Anything with a lithium battery has a risk of busting into flames and that includes your smart phone. The internet is full of horror stories but mostly because of abuse. I have never had a lithium battery fail catastrophically and I don't know anyone who has.

Col
 
Nodge68 said:
Big Clive did a teardown of a NOCO, OK not the same model, but you might not want to bother, and use a lead acid based booster pack instead. ;)
Click to expand...


We had one at work, it very quickly ended up in the skip, I am sure for home it would have been fine but for commerical use no good.
 
lynall said:
We had one at work, it very quickly ended up in the skip, I am sure for home it would have been fine but for commerical use no good.
Click to expand...

I've been asked to repair a few now, all of them are simply not up to the task, like I said, they're using RC model battery connections to carry starting currents, which these connections while good in the RC world, simply aren't up to the task of starting vehicle engines, at least not many times until they're done.
An absolute waste of money IMHO.
 
Nodge68 said:
I've been asked to repair a few now, all of them are simply not up to the task, like I said, they're using RC model battery connections to carry starting currents, which these connections while good in the RC world, simply aren't up to the task of starting vehicle engines, at least not many times until they're done.
An absolute waste of money IMHO.
Click to expand...

I never used it myself, did ask the day guys what it was like? okay was the non commital response, then literally days later I saw it in the skip, so obviously not that okay!
I perefer to use another vehicle for jump starting, thinking if the batteris can start this one then they are capable of starting another.

They must have their uses, as I see quite a few posiitve posts.
 
lynall said:
I never used it myself, did ask the day guys what it was like? okay was the non commital response, then literally days later I saw it in the skip, so obviously not that okay!
Click to expand...
I a commercial environment, no, they're no good.
lynall said:
I perefer to use another vehicle for jump starting, thinking if the batteris can start this one then they are capable of starting another.
Click to expand...
A lead acid battery is designed to carry starting currents, over and over. A pouch lithium pack, while capable of decent currents in itself, all the required support components aren't up to the task, so mosfets and diodes fail, as these components were never designed to deliver such huge currents. Same with the plugs, cables and connectors, it's all just marginal, which means the service life is short.
lynall said:
They must have their uses, as I see quite a few posiitve posts.
Click to expand...
They are ok for Mr average, to start a car where the battery is flat due to leaving the lights on. If a vehicle has trouble starting, then a lithium booster pack simply isn't up to the job, which a lead acid based booster wouldn't have trouble with.
 
Nodge68 said:
I a commercial environment, no, they're no good.

A lead acid battery is designed to carry starting currents, over and over. A pouch lithium pack, while capable of decent currents in itself, all the required support components aren't up to the task, so mosfets and diodes fail, as these components were never designed to deliver such huge currents. Same with the plugs, cables and connectors, it's all just marginal, which means the service life is short.

They are ok for Mr average, to start a car where the battery is flat due to leaving the lights on. If a vehicle has trouble starting, then a lithium booster pack simply isn't up to the job, which a lead acid based booster wouldn't have trouble with.
Click to expand...

So you saying they sheeite:D
 
Horses for courses and not for everyone. They are definitely not the be all and end all but I think they have a place. I would spend my cash on a decent set of 6 metre jump leads long before any jump start pack but I don't regret buying the Noco I have. It all depends if you can park on your drive, where you park for work etc.
 
rob1miles said:
I had considered getting one. I got 3 mins into Big Clive's video and decided "no way, this is junk"
Click to expand...

What's sad, is I could actually build a better one than those expensive commercially made booster packs, for about the same money. But I still think lead acid is the best chemistry power source for starting an engine, which is why almost all cars use lead acid batteries to start them.
 
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