jumper box

[LDB]

Not sure what you call them but they are self contained with a battery and jumper cables so you can jump start without needing help from another vehicle. I thought one would be a good idea. Those of you that have them, what brand do you have? Would you buy that one again? What do you suggest as the minimum size for a gasoline van? Any other comments or suggestions?

 

[Dakota]

I'd just go for a nice long heavy duty set of jumper cables. You can almost always find someone to help you out. Stay away from the short and cheap ones

Not sure how often you would need to recharge those self contained jumpers, I do know you have to plug em in to charge em

 

[LDB]

It's that "almost" I'm hoping to avoid. I figure if I did need a jump it would be the one time nobody was available. I think the charge should last at least as long as I'd be away from home and I could top it off when I came back. I believe some of them plug into the 12v socket in the van to charge as you drive along as well.

 

[jaminjim]

Don't know about the brand. Google Image Result for http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51WrweLmtPL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

 

[Darmstadter]

I've got one from Black & Decker--electromate. Never had to use it for a jump start (probably just jinxed myself). It has an air compressor on it, which I've used to inflate the tires, air matress, etc. It has some other feature on it that I've never used. Plugs into standard outlet to recharge. It ran around 100 bucks.

 

[greg334]

Leo,
Just wondering why worry about it if you have a new van?

You should just get AAA with RV and save on weight.

By the way I have one of those branded booster packs made in China, it started my truck and cost $125.

 

[LDB]

I've got roadside assistance from GM however if I get an offer and need to roll right now their roadside or AAA or even cables and finding a willing helper are going to cost time I don't have whereas one of these is as quick a solution as possible. That's my reasoning for thinking about one of these.

 

[greg334]

Well Leo, it is somewhat of an overkill in preparedness, even by my standards because if I am not mistake you got a new van.

The idea would be justified if you have no other batteries on board and like to run the battery down playing you Xbox or watching DVDs on your big screen tv.

I would get a pair of batteries for the truck, put them in a place out of the way, hook them up like turtle has talked about in other posts to keep them separate from your main battery. You will never have problems.

 

[LDB]

I'm going to get a nice system put in when I can get up to Espar, hopefully before too long. It probably is preparedness overkill but I figure for 20 pounds and 80 bucks it would be worth a ton in both weight and money if it saved me one time from being unable to start the van to get to a load. Yes, I do have a new van but even with everything being new I can see Murphy spying from the horizon looking for an opportunity.

 

[chefdennis]

If you are using a "battery bank" (1 or more seperate batteries to run your interior toys) with a "isolator" you can "jump" a dead starting battery right at the isolator with a single 10 inch cable connectted from the charging lug for the interior battery to the charging lug of the dead starting battery.....

 

[Turtle]

If you are using a "battery bank" (1 or more seperate batteries to run your interior toys) with a "isolator" you can "jump" a dead starting battery right at the isolator with a single 10 inch cable connectted from the charging lug for the interior battery to the charging lug of the dead starting battery.....

Not if you have the house bank properly fused. Now, if you didn't bother to fuse the house bank connection from the isolator, as most people fail to do, and instead just have a cable going directly from the isolator to the house battery, yeah, you can jump it right at the isolator.

If it's properly fused, the cranking amps required will flat fry a 200,300, 400 amp fuse when pulling from the house bank. If it's fused, and you still want to give it a shot, it would be best to jump the isolator and leave it sit there for at least 15 minutes, having the house bank "charge" the cranking battery, and then give it a crank. At that point there should be enough amps in the cranking battery so that the amps being pulled from the house bank through the fuse to supplement the cranking battery should be minimal.

Other (better) alternative is to simply get some jumper cables long enough to reach from the house bank to the cranking battery. In most cases, if you need a jump, someone will be right there willing to help. On those rare occasions that no one is willing or available, you can jump from the house bank.

Don't connect anything to a battery, including an isolator, without fusing it as close to the battery terminal as possible. Don't do it. I'm tellin' ya. AC current will quickly smother its own short. A short with DC current is brutal and unrelenting. Even heavily insulated battery cable can be worn through very quickly if it rubs on the vehicle frame or through an opening. If a short develops, the battery bank's total number of cold cranking amps will be poured into the short, and it won't stop until the battery bank runs dry. If you're not grounded when it happens, it'll only melt the van at the point of the short or blow a hole out of the bottom of the van. If you're also grounded when it happens, it'll fry you like a cartoon character.

I've got four batteries, 800 CCA each, 3200 amps total. You betcha mine's fused.

With some jumper boxes you can get several jumps between charges, but they are supposed to be recharged after every jump.

 

[chefdennis]

300 amp 6 gauge cable with a fuseable link cable from the starting battery to the isolator and also from the lead 6 volt battery in the house bank...and also from the alternator to the isolator, and i have jumped my van more times then i wanted to at the isolator until i final broke down and bought a new starting battery.

As far as DC shorts, yeap they cook everything in the house....i spent many a day alying on my back under the dash of Jeep CJ 5's and CJ 7's after guys wired in their own accessories back in the mid 70s as a AMC / JEEP flat rate mechanic. Insulating around any opening in body metal that a wire runs through is a must...

PS: I had to find the paperwork, but the starter on my truck is a Prostarter hightorque 4.4/1 gear reduction mini starter that draws between 80 and 90 amps...a bit higher when hot because of the heat buildup....the starter cable never even gets warm when it was jumped.... without looking it up, i think the new generation GM GAS motor starting motors draw less then 200 amps