# Portable Jump Starter



## BigTerp (Apr 5, 2016)

Anyone have any experience with these? I just rewired my MotorGuide 12/24 volt trolling motor from 12V to 24V to get more power (that is DESPERATELY needed). In doing so I will be pulling power from my starting battery instead of just the trolling motor battery. I did not want the expense, and more importantly, extra weight and lose of storage space of getting a third battery. I know it's not the best for battery longevity running a 24V motor this way, but I'm OK with that. What I'm not OK with is running the starting battery dead and being stranded. So I ordered one of these from Amazon yesterday. I got the 8000mAh one. Reviews have people starting 4.8L V8s and Tundras with it, so it should be more than enough to jump my 1994 50/35 Johnson jet if need be. It'll live in my wife's car who recently took a job that involves a 1-1/2 hour drive one way, just in case she needs it, and get thrown in the boat when needed.

https://www.amazon.com/DBPOWER-8000mAh-Portable-Starter-Battery/dp/B013UJ2JDS/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1459870346&sr=8-5&keywords=portable+jump+starter


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## KMixson (Apr 5, 2016)

I have not dealt with those small ones but I have dealt with the the larger "Jump Boxes". We have the one I have in this link at work and it does an excellent job starting anything we have including class 8 trucks and big diesels. It will also handle the 24 volt systems. I do see ads for some that claim you can jump start vehicles by plugging into the cigarette lighter socket but I am skeptical of that claim. I do know some vehicles have diodes in the wiring which will not let power run back to the battery in the vehicle from the cigarette lighter. Also it seems to me that if you have enough power to start your vehicle through the cigarette lighter socket it would fry the wires with the amperage needed to start the vehicle. I would not try that myself. 

https://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/p/SORJNC1224#


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## RiverBottomOutdoors (Apr 5, 2016)

Battery technology is getting crazy.


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## BigTerp (Apr 5, 2016)

RiverBottomOutdoors said:


> Battery technology is getting crazy.



Agreed!! After rigging my trolling motor the way I did, I was really concerned about running the starting battery dead. Came across the jump starter I linked and figured a iPhone sized jump starter at $40 would never work, but the reviews speak for themselves. I want to run the battery dead on my trucks 5.4L V8 just to test it out!!


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## Catch Release Repeat (Apr 5, 2016)

Almost 500 reviews and getting a 4.6 out of 5 is pretty impressive. Watched the video too and wow. Makes me think I don't need an on board charger just this to save my ass!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## turbotodd (Apr 5, 2016)

We all have them at the shop. They make jump starting a dead machine a breeze, as long as we can get to the battery. Some of the bigger diesels crank a little slow but they'll start.

Any way you can put a recoil start on your motor, if for no other reason, but for peace of mind?


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## lovedr79 (Apr 6, 2016)

my buddy has one. i was skeptical at first but it started his van right up. much easier than jumper cables!


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## BigTerp (Apr 6, 2016)

turbotodd said:


> Any way you can put a recoil start on your motor, if for no other reason, but for peace of mind?



I'd like to, but I don't see a way to do so. The flywheel doesn't have any grove or anything that would accept a rope.


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## lovedr79 (Apr 6, 2016)

wrap enough rope around it it will bite.


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## BigTerp (Apr 6, 2016)

lovedr79 said:


> wrap enough rope around it it will bite.



I'll definitely give this a try. Would be good insurance to have a manual way to get it started if need be. Would you wrap the rope around the teeth of the flywheel, or around the smooth grove above the teeth?


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## richg99 (Apr 6, 2016)

I just bought a larger (18,000 size) unit similar to what the OP posted.

https://www.amazon.com/18000mAh-Portable-Emergency-Starter-Charging/dp/B015O7AK62?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00

I haven't had to use it yet. I hope I NEVER have to use it, too.

We shall see.

Oh, I also bought one of these volt-meters for $5.00. I stick it into my cigarette lighter and I can check my on-going voltage at a glance. I pull it right back out as I don't want it drawing power when I don't need it richg99

https://www.amazon.com/Zeltauto-Cigarette-Lighter-Digital-Voltmeter/dp/B00VL9JZ0K?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00


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## BigTerp (Aug 12, 2016)

Well, the jump starter just paid for itself. For some unknown reason, my truck battery was dead this morning. My wife had already left for work so I thought I was screwed. But remembered I had the jump starter in the boat from fishing over the weekend. Hooked it up and it started the 5.4L V8 on my F-150 without a problem. Stopped at the gas station on the way to work, and it wouldn't turn over again. Threw the jump starter on the battery and she started right back up. Took all of 45 seconds each time. Still had 75% power after those two jumps. Its with me at work charging on my computer right now since it looks like I have a dead battery and will need it again later today. The nice thing is that it takes the same charger type as a cell phone (MicroUSB) and can use USB or a regular cell phone charger to charge. Going to buy another to keep in both my wife's and I's vehicles.


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## richg99 (Aug 12, 2016)

Glad it worked for you. Maybe I need another one also. Won't help me if the boat is 20 minutes away and I need it at home.


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## BigTerp (Aug 12, 2016)

richg99 said:


> Glad it worked for you. Maybe I need another one also. Won't help me if the boat is 20 minutes away and I need it at home.



Yep. This morning convinced me enough that they are well worth $33.00.


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## Shaugh (Aug 12, 2016)

I wonder how far you could get on one hooked to the trolling motor ? I've often thought about an emergency backup for when my battery suddenly dies on an electric only lake. Has anyone ever tried it ?


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## kofkorn (Aug 12, 2016)

I have a BIL that works at a local marina. He has a similar one and uses it regularly to jump dead batteries at the marina. He won't go out for a test run without it. It's extremely portable and convenient. 

They make great christmas gifts!


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## richg99 (Aug 12, 2016)

I may be wrong, but I think you'd cook the battery quickly. They are designed for surges, not long running. You could post that question on Amazon, though.


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## BigTerp (Aug 12, 2016)

richg99 said:


> I may be wrong, but I think you'd cook the battery quickly. They are designed for surges, not long running. You could post that question on Amazon, though.



This is my thought as well.


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## richg99 (Aug 13, 2016)

I received some unfortunate news, by way of an email from the seller about the two $33.00 Amazon starters that I bought yesterday. Email portion is below.

*They should NOT be used with any auto engine over 2.5 L. *

Now, I imagine that the disclosure is lawyer-speak to keep them from being sued. I've decided to return the two $33.00 devices, and buy two more of the $100.00 items. 

I sure don't want to put my wife, or anyone who might stop to help her, in harm's way by using a smaller unit.

I just re-read the advertisement and it did clearly state the info about the 2.5 l engines. Guess I will wind up paying the re-shipping costs. Live and learn.

Just FYI....richg99

***********************************************************

"Thanks for purchasing DBPOWER Jump Starter with us, we sincerely hope this product will bring your life more comfort and convenience.

The package has been on the way to you. I'm sending you the Using Caution of the jump starter to make sure you can use it safely and properly. We sincerely hope you have an excellent buying experience from us. 

-CAUTION: All Misusing may cause damage to the jump starter (and your other equipment), or create sparking hazard.

-WARNING: ELECTRICAL SHOCK HAZARD
1. Don't jump start any engine that exceed 2.5L gas."


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## BigTerp (Aug 15, 2016)

Interesting. It's also now listed on the description on Amazon about using it on 2.4L size and smaller engines. That wasn't in the description when I bought mine a few months ago. Wonder if someone had one blowup or something?

I plan to get another one to keep in both my truck and my wifes car. Might just keep this one for the boat and get 2 larger ones for the vehicles. This one still jumped my truck (5.4L V8) 4 or 5 times on Friday. My battery was so dead I couldn't start my truck after stopping to get gas. Got it tested and it was only putting out 250 cranking amps. New battery and I'm now good to go. But this thing saved me some major headaches.


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## BigTerp (Nov 28, 2017)

Just an FYI for anyone that is still interested in these, maybe for a Christmas gift for someone. I was looking back on here to see exactly which one I bought to get as a gift for my brother and sister since they are both now driving. I've used mine a few times since I last posted about it here. Once to jump a half-ton pickup of the guy that was working on my roof and just last weekend to jump an SVU in the University of Maryland parking lot after the football game. Both times it jumped each vehicle without issue. I throw it in my boat every time I head out. Thankfully, I haven't had to use it on the boat yet. A little more expensive then it was when I bought mine, but worth it IMO.

https://www.amazon.com/DBPOWER-8000mAh-Portable-Starter-Flashlight/dp/B074VY2SF2/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1511892941&sr=8-12&keywords=dbpower


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## richg99 (Nov 28, 2017)

Yep, I now own three of them. One for my wife's car, one for my van, and a much smaller unit for my boat so I can jump the 50 hp engine.

I'd be careful to buy one big enough for whatever engine for which you have a need. Amazingly, they seem to jump much larger engines than they are rated for, but I still wouldn't want to be undersized and have one blow up when you used it. 

I mark my calendar to charge each one on a separate day each month. I have yet to find any of them under 100% when I go to charge them, but I put them on the charge for 20 minutes anyhow.

Yesterday, the day for charging my boat unit came up. I was hauling the boat down the road, so I just plugged the USB charger into my car and charged it while driving. Pretty slick devices!


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## BigTerp (Apr 18, 2018)

Finally got to test mine on my boat over the weekend. Fished the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania for 2 days. Friday there were no issues. But Saturday we fished from early morning until dark and I was on the trolling motor pretty much all day. When we would get into them instead of throwing the anchor, I would just keep the trolling motor on constant and hold us were we wanted to be. Typically that was on full power in the current to keep us from drifting down river. I only have 2 group 29 batteries in my boat that run my 24v trolling motor. One also serves as the starting battery and the other has all my accessories hooked up to it. By evening the trolling motor and all accessories were still running fine, but there wasn't enough juice to get my motor turned over. Jump starter worked perfect to get it cranked. Was so confident in it that we ran to another spot to fish until dark knowing that the motor wasn't going to start back up. Jump starter got it started after we caught another dozen fish and got us back to camp.


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## richg99 (Apr 18, 2018)

*"Was so confident in it that we ran to another spot to fish until dark knowing that the motor wasn't going to start back up. Jump starter got it started after we caught another dozen fish and got us back to camp.
"*

Now, that's confidence. Ha Ha Well done!
rich


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## eshaw (Apr 18, 2018)

How did you go about wiring your troller to run on 24v instead of 12v? Is it originally a 24v unit?


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## jethro (Apr 18, 2018)

I snowmobile a lot and this year I got my very first 4 stroke snowmobile. I have had 2 stroke sleds for 25 years. 4 Strokes are a lot harder to pull start with a rope, so I carry one of these: https://no.co/gb20
It's saved my butt a few times and I will be carrying it on the boat. The 150 Merc comes with a pull rope inside the cowling, but my goodness I would not want to try pulling it over.


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## BigTerp (Apr 19, 2018)

eshaw said:


> How did you go about wiring your troller to run on 24v instead of 12v? Is it originally a 24v unit?



It's an older Motor Guide 12/24v with 3 wires and a selector switch to go between 12v and 24v. I forgo'd the 12v and simply used the 24v wires by running one wire off the trolling motor to the + of the first battery and then the other wire to the - of the second battery. Then a jumper from the - of the first battery to the + of the second battery. This keeps each battery capable of providing 12v to any accessories that are wired to that battery only while also providing 24v to my trolling motor. I also rewired the selector switch on the foot pedal to provide momentary power in the up position and constant power in the down position instead of it being used as a selector between 12/24v.


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## BigTerp (Apr 19, 2018)

richg99 said:


> *"Was so confident in it that we ran to another spot to fish until dark knowing that the motor wasn't going to start back up. Jump starter got it started after we caught another dozen fish and got us back to camp.
> "*
> 
> Now, that's confidence. Ha Ha Well done!
> rich



HA!! Not something I want to make a habit of, but we were in the middle of the best day smallmouth fishing my boat has seen. So we HAD to fish until dark!!


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## BigTerp (Apr 19, 2018)

jethro said:


> I snowmobile a lot and this year I got my very first 4 stroke snowmobile. I have had 2 stroke sleds for 25 years. 4 Strokes are a lot harder to pull start with a rope, so I carry one of these: https://no.co/gb20
> It's saved my butt a few times and I will be carrying it on the boat. The 150 Merc comes with a pull rope inside the cowling, but my goodness I would not want to try pulling it over.



The NOCO's are nice. I have their 2 bank on board charger on my boat and love it. When/if I get another boat, it will certainly be larger than my current one with a bigger motor. Will most likely get a larger/more powerful jump starter like the NOCO. But the one I have now is nice insurance for my 50/35 jet outboard and I never hit the water without it on board.


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## Jim (Apr 19, 2018)

The NOCO failed me miserably trying to jump start my Mother-in-laws RAV4. I though I was going to be a hero but ended up having to call AAA. I keep the NOCO in my hunting backpack now to charge my cell phone or camera.  

My frustrating review if you have not seen it. https://www.tinboats.net/noco-boost-review/

Im still a little bitter. :LOL2:


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## jethro (Apr 20, 2018)

Jim said:


> The NOCO failed me miserably trying to jump start my Mother-in-laws RAV4. I though I was going to be a hero but ended up having to call AAA. I keep the NOCO in my hunting backpack now to charge my cell phone or camera.
> 
> My frustrating review if you have not seen it. https://www.tinboats.net/noco-boost-review/
> 
> Im still a little bitter. :LOL2:



Wow, that is more than a little concerning! I am going to use mine to start my outboard next time just to test it. I hope mine works.


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## richg99 (Apr 20, 2018)

I have a note on my calendar every month to remind me to re-charge the three units that I have. They are not Nocos. 

Two of them are 600 amp, 18,000 mAH units and I don't remember the other one, which is smaller and I keep in the boat.

Every time I go to re-charge, they say 100% or 98% or so. I stick them on the re-charge cycle anyhow for an hour or so. 

I, also, have not tested mine, but have seen other guys start boats with their units.


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## BigTerp (Apr 23, 2018)

Jim said:


> The NOCO failed me miserably trying to jump start my Mother-in-laws RAV4. I though I was going to be a hero but ended up having to call AAA. I keep the NOCO in my hunting backpack now to charge my cell phone or camera.
> 
> My frustrating review if you have not seen it. https://www.tinboats.net/noco-boost-review/
> 
> Im still a little bitter. :LOL2:




That blows!! Did you try and contact NOCO about it? My on board charger had one of the banks go bad after lighting struck a tree on my property. Assuming it fried the bank (among several other electronics in the house  ). Noco replaced it no questions asked.

I actually just picked up another, larger, portable jump starter over the weekend. This one will live in my truck and then on the boat when out on the water. Wanted my wife to be able to keep the smaller one in her car in case needed. This one is max 500A compared to the 300A I originally had. More appropriate for my truck and should kick over my outboard easier then the smaller one. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y5JYG93/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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