The neatest portable jump starter I've ever seen

[Old Henry]

My son, who works at Rocky Mountain ATV*MC a few miles south of here, gave me this itsy bitsy jump starter for Christmas today. It's like the size of two cigarette boxes lined up end to end. And only weighs 12 ounces! I thought, "No way that teensy thing is going to start my car." I've been carrying an Instant Power jump starter in my trunk that's almost as big as my battery and weighs in at 13 lbs! I was so incredulous that I disconnected one cable on my battery, clamped this micro starter to the two battery clamps, and started my car right up! I couldn't believe it.

In addition to starting the car it has jacks and adapters to charge any electrical equipment from a cell phone to a laptop computer and can be charged from an AC adapter or a 12 volt lighter adapter. It also has a very high power LED flash light in it. In all fits in a nice zip up carrying case that can fit in your glove box.

In researching the secret to the power of this little box I learned that the battery is a Lithium Polymer battery. I learned long ago the amazing power to weight and size ratio of such batteries in radio controlled planes that I fly. Amazing. Almost miraculous. That teeny battery pushes all of the necessary starting amps through 10 ga. wire to the clamps!

I can chuck the huge heavy bulky jump starter now and keep this little gem in my glove box or arm rest console.

Oh yeah, it's a TUSK brand charger/starter sold by Rocky Mountain ATV*MC for about the same price as the monster one here: https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p...d-Jump-Starter I checked a half dozen other sources and they were all more. There's a cool demonstration video on the site. My son said another guy he works with there had a bad battery in his truck and used this little box to start his truck about 50 times before he replaced the bad battery.

Here's a picture of the TUSK in front of my Instant Power box:



Here it is tucked under the handle of the big box to help with the size comparison:

[Kahuna]

Very Cool, Henry

[my4dv8]

Yep they will even start a diesel , but only just.. Ya just gotta remember to keep them topped up . Very handy item to top up the cellphone or what ever appliance is running low.
Started our shoe box today when the battery let us down.

[A bones]

That's why we love Santa Claus.:

Thanks to the computer my wife snooped and found I had looked at the price of anti-roll (sway bars) for my OT grocery getter. I would not have made the move... They are under the tree now!

A Happy Healthy New Year!

[Step-down]

Henry
Can you apply it to our 6 volt systems as well as the 12 volt. If so I can finally take that spare 6 volt battery out of the trunk .

[Kurt in NJ]

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At work they tried some, yes they would even start diesel cars, amazing power for the size -----just one minor problem ---it was a good thing they were charging on a metal desk with no papers nearby when they caught fire

I would think it would demand too many amps trying to jump 6V and blow the fuse in the jumper harness---they did that several times with diesels trying to crank too long

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by Step-down

Henry
Can you apply it to our 6 volt systems as well as the 12 volt. If so I can finally take that spare 6 volt battery out of the trunk .

Originally Posted by Kurt in NJ

At work they tried some, yes they would even start diesel cars, amazing power for the size -----just one minor problem ---it was a good thing they were charging on a metal desk with no papers nearby when they caught fire

I would think it would demand too many amps trying to jump 6V and blow the fuse in the jumper harness---they did that several times with diesels trying to crank too long

My car that I started with it is 6 volt. The battery was disconnected so it wasn't running through that. As soon as it started the voltage regulator was clicking off and on so I shut it down. Starting a 6 volt system would probably be best with an assistant to clamp the jumper on right when you want to start then disconnect it immediately upon starting.

There is that risk of fire when charging a Li-Po battery. I'm surprised their instructions did not say to charge on non-flammable surface. We always had to be cautious of that when charging our plane batteries. I will always do that.

[ricklove]

Many thanks for the info. I just ordered one for my wife for a "post-Christmas" gift.

[34PKUP]

Yep, neat little buggers. Bought one at Walmart a while back and it's not their cheapest.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Whistler-J...upply/47722680

[sidevalve8ba]

My son gave me one of these things for Christmas and I was wondering if they were any count. Now I know. Good to know about the fire hazard possibility too. I'll keep it charged and handy.

[Old Henry]

[QUOTE=Old Henry;1212115]My car that I started with it is 6 volt. The battery was disconnected so it wasn't running through that. As soon as it started the voltage regulator was clicking off and on so I shut it down. Starting a 6 volt system would probably be best with an assistant to clamp the jumper on right when you want to start then disconnect it immediately upon starting.
[QUOTE]

I'm thinking I may still be able to jump start my 6 volt by myself with this little gadget by running my heavy duty jumper cables from the battery into the car then hooking the gadget up to them as I'm ready to start the car and disconnecting them as soon as started from where I'm sitting. I used to do that with a spare 12 volt battery I kept in the trunk and it worked pretty good except that the battery was a deep cycle RV battery that didn't seem to have as much in the way of cold cranking amps as a real battery.

I'll try it and see and let all you 6 volters know.

[keith oh]

Hey Prof. I have a portable starter that is smaller, simpler, easier to hook up, never catches fire and requires only one person with a little umph. It is called a crank. Of course I am so old it almost seems a normal procedure. Old V/8s start automatically set in spark retarded position so don't have to worry about getting kicked like we did on Model As and Ts. Now everyone has to have power windows, steering, brakes, and shifting. Just reminiscing.

[jimTN]

http://www.amazon.com/Tusk-Portable-.../dp/B00TJ80DQU

Amazon at $81+

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by keith oh

Hey Prof. I have a portable starter that is smaller, simpler, easier to hook up, never catches fire and requires only one person with a little umph. It is called a crank. Of course I am so old it almost seems a normal procedure. Old V/8s start automatically set in spark retarded position so don't have to worry about getting kicked like we did on Model As and Ts. Now everyone has to have power windows, steering, brakes, and shifting. Just reminiscing.

Of course, a slight incline and a little shove works great too. I do that whenever possible. But, it doesn't work on snow covered surfaces or level ground by myself where I seem to need jumped the most. Also, I learned from what could have been a bad injury not to try and push start the car in reverse on an incline pushing and steering with the driver door open. It's not as easy to jump into a car rolling backwards as it is one rolling frontwards. I almost couldn't get a foot up on the running board to jump up and keep from getting knocked down by the door and run over.

[Byron Warwick]

I am wondering if that is the item being advertised at Home Hardware store here in Canada. I have always wanted something to carry with me , that is light weigh and portable. i'll look into it more. Thanks Henry.
Byron W.

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by Byron Warwick

I am wondering if that is the item being advertised at Home Hardware store here in Canada. I have always wanted something to carry with me , that is light weigh and portable. i'll look into it more. Thanks Henry.
Byron W.

It looks very similar to the Power Bank sold by Home Hardware here: https://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/i...t=jump+starter

The main difference I see is that the Power Bank uses a Lithium Ion battery instead of the Lithium Polymer battery that the Tusk uses. Not much difference but some. Here's the difference: http://www.geckoandfly.com/17003/por...-pack-charger/ Both batteries are rated at 12000 mAh.

I know for R/C airplanes Li-Po batteries have the highest power to weight ratio so I'm happy with my Tusk that uses that kind of battery.