Time to give up the old style jump start pack

[Donald]

I have a LiIon jump pack in my truck but also have an older Clore JNC 1800 peak amp jump pack with a SLA battery. Battery is shot. I think new battery is about $60. About half (or less) the cost of a large LiIon jump pack. Maybe I don't need two. Is SLA battery technology for a jump pack history and I should move on?

 

[1maniac]

I had the same issue with an older jump pack, those SLA batteries dry up eventually and will need replaced. instead I replaced the jump pack with a new NOCO GB70, and a nice NOCO hard shell carry case and am very happy. It has performed well in hot and cold weather even after sitting in my car's trunk for almost 11 months w/o being charged.

 

[danez_yoda]

nothing wrong with SLA. You dont need the same exact battery that same with the unit. you can get another lower cost brand that is not tied with it Just match the terminals, voltage and Ah rating and you'll be fine. They are all very similar to each other. Check the reviews for "too cheap" versions. you can find the value middle ground. How may jumps does it need to provide anyway. Most likely < 5 in it's entire life. The battery wil likely die from old age not abuse.


I've done this with my UPS and it works fine for far less than APC wanted for the batteries. Been working for a few years.

 

[samven]

I have both too. The traditional AGM jumper has been relegated to the house for jumping the tractor and brush mower. It needs to be topped up too often to be reliable in the trunk where it was often forgotten and found later sitting at 50% where it would never have started the car. Watch Project Farms test of LiIon jump packs, it was an eye opener for me. Some of the highest cost respected packs placed rather low.

 

[CR94]

Originally Posted by danez_yoda
nothing wrong with SLA. ... The battery wil likely die from old age not abuse. ...
Life of an AGM will depend on how well it is kept charged.

 

[Dave9]

I felt it was worthwhile to replace the SLA in my jumpstarter AIO with light/inflator/inverter/etc, if all it did was jumpstart then maybe I'd pause longer to consider it, but I know I can get a decent jump off a 20AH SLA while most of those Li-Ion jump starter packs have ridiculously inflated CCA ratings, like around 10X their true capacity.

On the other hand, if the size or weight of an SLA causes you to keep it in a cold trunk or garage, it's going to perform worse than an appropriately sized Li-Ion pack that was small enough that you stored it in a warmer area.

Anyway I got a 20Ah SLA replacement from Chromebattery for about $40 before a 10% off coupon and free S/H so $36. Can't complain, I top it off after use or every 6 months. Well one minor issue was they included battery terminal screws but they were too short. Since my pack does multiple things, it has more than one battery cable connected, so needed longer screws. I don't recall why my original screws didn't work, maybe one was metric and the other standard.

 

[BlakeB]

I have a 6 year old SLA battery that I bought from Amazon to replace the failed original in a Campbell Hausfeld portable air compressor. The battery I bought was advertised as an 8.5 AH 12v but had identical dimensions to the original 7 AH battery. This compressor was very lightly or never used by a family member, it wouldn't accept a charge after being left in a discharged state for too long and was going to be thrown out. It was given to me, so I bought a replacement battery for about $20 and spliced into the wiring and added an SAE connector so I could charge and maintain the battery with a Battery Tender Jr. I leave the battery tender connected when not in use and recharge it as immediately as possible after use with the battery tender only. The battery tender float charges at about 13 volts and these type of batteries seem to do really well with a battery tender type charger. A quality charger is the key to long battery life I think. Anything over 5 years out of a lead acid battery is pretty good in my book.

That said, as far as jump packs go, we have a Noco GB150 that I really like. I haven't had it very long though so I can't speak for the longevity of it yet. I will say that I have jump started the skid steer with a 100% dead battery 4 or 5 times since I recharged it and it still shows 100% on the battery indicator. The dead battery on the bobcat doesn't have enough juice to cycle the glow plugs and won't even attempt to turn it over. The Noco started it with ease and the digital voltage readout lets you quickly see if the alternator is charging after you start it up. If the GB150 holds up over time, it's a winner in my book.