Hi Guys/Gals...am wondering if of you carry a battery jump starter on board? Bought new Tabs 5.3 runabout but not really enough room for dual battery setup for offshore use as purchased an Etec which takes up the extra battery area for the oil container.
Am considering rather than moving current set up around maybe easier to carry a jump starter unit that I can store up under the bow section.
Can anyone recommend brand and model for this plus price I should be paying.
Cheers
I would be cautious of jumping any of the modern electronically controlled outboards. There is some debate over whether or not jumping risks damage to the ECU and they are generally not cheap. Some models of Etec can be rope started fairly easily apparently - might be worth looking into.
I'm also interested in this and have been thinking about it lately. I don't have a dual battery setup (and don't think it's required for what I do anyway) but I'd appreciate having some peace of mind.
Booster pack is just a battery anyhow. Much cheaper to just by a second battery.
in terms of frying ecu's. It's mostly wives tales. I've jumped heaps of cars and never had a drama. to be extra safe the vehicle your jumping to its suggested you let the battery charge up for 5-10 mins before turning the key.
cheap jumper leads are a major issue, crappy joins can give to much voltage drop and cause your electronics to go a bit haywire for a bit, but extremely rare for it to ruin ecu. I've never personally heard of one being fried from a jump start.
i notice racq website has a huge article on not jumping modern vehicle, but they just want you to call their breakdown cars.
If it was me, I'd rather take a portable battery on board, if the main one died I'd just swap em out
Best thing since sliced bread for the right boat & usage and that would be most day fishers.
Mine is a Projecta 900A and I think it was around the $200 mark.
Last time I ordered stuff I threw in an OMC pull cord for ~$5 and it also starts my 90 V4 with ease.
Well I went to the Sydney boat show today and sure enough Mini Jump Starter were operating a booth, so I picked one up. It's a very compact unit and will hold its charge for 12 months, although they recommend giving it a charge at least every 6 months. They claim it's good for 40+ jumps from a full charge and it also has 2 USB ports, a flashlight, various power sockets and heaps of adaptors so it will charge almost anything.
For what I do, it's much more practical than hauling around a second marine battery. I've never run into battery problems on the water before but there's a first time for everything, one less thing to worry about now.
I got the high capacity model which has enough juice to jump a V8 if need be (so I can use it with my car), but they sell smaller ones too.
I can tell you the Mini Jump Starter will start my petrol land cruiser 7 times with the battery disconnected.
Great piece of insurance in the boat
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The best test to try is jump starting big diesel 4x4's. That will test it out.
Darren
Did they give any special instructions about jump starting outboards?
The recommended procedure with cars is to connect the negative on the flat battery last and that same negative first when disconecting.
Darren
Instructions say connect positive clip first and negative second. There's a status light indicating whether it's connected correctly- only then will it actually supply power.Originally Posted by Darren Mc
Would this be any good for running sounders, gps, nav lights etc? Do you know the capacity of the pack?
Bremic they usually run a small AGM battery about 20-25AH.
(Not sure what's in the Mini Jump in post #6, looks too small for a 20AH battery)
You could save a lot by simply buying a battery and a set of good jumper leads but it's nice to have the real deal in an enclosed case with all the little indicator lights, a charger, sockets & buttons etc.
I also use mine on a small 12V air compressor to pump up the trailer tyres, gives it a load test at the same time.
Just last week I used it to kick start a brand new replacement android tablet battery, the tablet charger didn't have enough grunt to get it percolating.
As well as the negative connect/disconnect sequence it's advised to switch on some load prior to disconnection to soak up any spikes.
18AH according to the box.
I have always carried a super mini booster on board
good piece of gear
starts a diesel easily too
very high cranking amps
http://www.threewayworks.com.au/superminibooster-2/
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