Cold crank amps and jump battery requirements?

[dreadlocks]

Always have jumper cables even if you got a jump pack.. also keep in mind cold temps kill jump packs, so if your battery is struggling in sub-zero temps the jumper you left in the back is gonna struggle too.. I keep a Jump pack at home charged up, and at work charged up.. but I don't carry one in the vehicle, I carry jumper cables.. pretty much every time I've needed to jump in last decade or so was because a cold snap revealed my starter battery was due to be replaced.

I used to not care about jump packs cuz all my vehicles were manual.. but then I bought a modern manual with electronic e-brake and found out the hard way you cant push start it when you cant unlock the wheels.. then I bought one just so at least I could get the damn brake disengaged, had to find someone else with jumper cables so we could chain two pairs together because I parked it at work where nobody could get infront of me.. if you got an electronic e-brake then a jump pack is pretty damn good idea.

 

[john61ct]

Yes of course carry cables

but the kind of planning I'm talking about, solo travel far off grid, can't count on another vehicle coming by maybe for months

 

[dreadlocks]

then you should have another battery to jump off of no? no big house bank, or dual winching setup or solar or genset or none of that? If your gonna try so hard to go someplace nobody's gonna find you for months then I'd have much more self reliance than a jump pack.. but I suppose having quad redundancy of some sort at that point would be worthwhile on just about anything.. at some point you still got your feet and can almost always walk out, unless you go all 'Into the Wild' w/no pre-planning.

 

[1pieceatatime]

If you want to spend a ridiculous amount of money you can buy a lithium starter battery with a failsafe built in...

AUTOMOTIVE LITHIUM BATTERIES

Our Lightweight Lithium Car Batteries have our new WIRELESS RE-START technology and FULL Battery Management System (BMS) for safest longest life.

antigravitybatteries.com

 

[67cj5]

I have learned the hard way out in the Aussie bush that what can go wrong will go wrong which is why every thing that is on my Van has multiple backup systems, Be it power sources or Compressors, Jumper Starting etc,

I got 4 x 12v power sources plus the Noco's and a 2000w Genny that also has an 8Amp Charger built in, If the Battery won't start it I have the Noco GB150 and the Noco G26000 26A Smart Charger that will Charge or Start it and I can Start the Vehicle Via a 38A Normal Charger plus I have heavy duty Booster Cables and I have a lot of solar options as a backup plan, It might sound like a lot of gear but the only thing that takes up Room is the Genny and the Jerry Cans,

 

[john61ct]

Yes, the point is to learn so that your design suits **your** use case

forum discussions won't give you the answers

so much as provide resources for you to come to your own conclusions

 

[67cj5]

Trying to find the perfect power setup is a mine field and most of us get sucked in to buying the wrong gear early on in our quest, I started off with a 15w panel that the instructions said stick it in the sun and connect the Croc clips and you would never have a flat battery ever again, Well I did that and it Killed both batteries because of over voltage, I thought it was because the batteries were a couple of years old so I bought a new pair of batteries and within 6 months they were dead too and no where did it say a word about needing a charge controller, I still have the panel today.

6 years down the track I bought a 100w panel and life was good until I bought other gadgets and the power needs rose, So I ended up with 6 X 150w panels, Then I sold my 4x4 and bought a Van and now the 6 150w panels won't fit on the roof, So now I bought 2 X 120w Foldable panels, ???

After all of the above I bought the Noco GB150 first because there was no way was I going to keep having to up grade my choice of Jump Packs, I was thinking about buying the Daddy of all Jump Packs being the Noco GB500 but at over 2000 dollars the GB150 makes more sense,

No doubt at some point in our off grid lives Murphy's Law will ruin well laid plans and you might not need the all singing all dancing version at xx$$$$ but do ya self a favour and buy the one that has the Shock and Awe Factor because the one time you need it you will have the means to get your self out of trouble,

 

[Buddha.]

I hate the alligator clips that came with mine(can’t remember brand). They’re cheap plastic that pop apart when you try to do anything. I was was trying to jump start a lawn mower out in the field when It was 90F+ and the dam things kept flying apart. I was mad enough to kick a puppy. I ordered a replacement one from amazon that looked like they were better constructed. The picture on the add was wrong. They arrived and were identical to the old ones.