Less cumbersome jumper cables

Just detailed my ORP, and in doing so removed a bunch of stuff and in going to place it back for storage inside the vehicle, I'm realizing how cumbersome and unwieldy my jumper cables are. They're those standard thick yellow ones that have some serious gauge to the cable. Just wondering if technology has progressed to a more packable, tighter set of cables that can be more easily stashed somewhere inside the vehicle....let me know if you've found a set.

 

You can always get one of those lithium car jumper boosters. Cost a bit more but can fit in your glove box. Just make sure you keep it charged.

 

yeah for sure, at some point i will, but remembering to keep it charged will be the issue, eventually will get one to add in addition to cables, but likely never in place of

 

Yeah, mine is a 2000 amp lithium ion, works great.

 

Get a

$100 NOCO GB40 : 1000A UltraSafe Jump Starter – 12V Lithium Battery Booster Pack, Portable Jump Box, Power Bank & Jumper Cables - for 6.0L Gas and 3.0L Diesel Engines

NOCO GB40, there's no real point to having a set of cables anymore. I keep mine in the glovebox, it'll hold a charge for a few years easily. Bought one the day after I drove my truck into a mine and the battery died. Haven't used it on my own trucks since, but have helped out 7 or 8 people in the few years I've owned it. It's compact and portable, you don't need to move cars around to use it, and you can jump yourself if there's no one around. It's worth the money.

 

I have this as well. I charge it once a year. It always maintains a charge greater than 75% even with one charge a year. Better investment IMHO over jumper cables.

I bought it on Amazon prime day two years ago for $65, they normally go for $100. Prime day is next week, might as well get one they always drop down to around $60-$70.

 

I also have one. The brand is Rockford. In addition to being able to jump start a car, it comes with a charging port, cables, and adapters that can be used to charge almost any portable electronic device. I rarely use it but I live by the motto “I would rather have it and not need it then need it and not have it”.

 

I concur with the posts above. That Noco unit was a fantastic purchase. Have never needed to ask someone for a jump since. Used it on my wife and mother in laws car to get them out of a pinch.

 

You guys are terrible influences. Purchased!

 

My wallet doesn't like you guys anymore...my 4R does though!

 

I have this one:


You don't have to charge it or keep it charged, it charges itself on the nearly dead battery of your vehicle in a minute. I have used it a few times on my older vehicle and on my wife's Rav4 just 3 days ago...

 

That’s crazy tech, do they all work like this?

 

No, the others need to be charged and once they discharge, you have to charge them again. The one I have has capacitor inside that charges itself once you connect it to a nearly dead battery. i learned about it on Scotty Kilmer's youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq3ihYJ4rbE

 

I purchased two of these after watching many reviews. They are available on Amazon.

https://www.audew.com/Audew-2000A-P...y9n1Xfr0PLiw01OByNMw2RK839_IAnohoCTZAQAvD_BwE

Review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN8A2nIMUWA

 

Well, that was enlightening.
I wasn’t too surprised the Harbor Freight unit was junk, but the underperformance of the Noco was a surprise.

BTW, right now there is a 30% off coupon on Amazon for the Audew unit.

 

yeah it looks like the Noco is a NoGo... I still like the one I have because I don't need to keep it charged. Maybe if I need a second one, I will try the Audew..

 

I bought this one last year and have used it a few times on other vehicles. Works great

 

My 2000 amp lithium ion is a GB70. Its never given me any problems, and it has lots of capacity. It will definitely start a cold diesel with glow plugs. Up here in Canada where winters are cold for 5 months of the year, you need the extra mojo from a bigger unit. I knew intuitively that a GB 40 wasn't going to cut it, so these tests don't surprise me. What does surprise me is that the capacitor models arent really the silver bullet that Scottie believes them to be, but then, in a warm place like Texas, I'm sure they're fine.

 

Yeah, horses for courses... the Scottie one works really great for me. I used it a couple of times on 2 different gas vehicles. I also tested draining the battery on my kia sedona until there is not even a light that comes on.

 

It’s when batteries have to perform in the cold that it gets serious.

 

Will the pack that you like start an '04 6.0 powerstroke? It can get to -20 or more here in the winter & even with replacing the batteries every 3 yrs & a blockheater with working glowplugs it can be hard. Especially if you have to leave the truck without access to the block heater power (wife's work refused to help her!) for a few hours.
She has been there 15yrs & they refused to let her plug into any of the light poles that I know can be equipped with outlets...
I just leave my diesels plugged in during the winter but was recently told that was bad also...?
I find this all interesting!

 

I got 2 different Nocos and so far I’m happy with them. We also use them as a portable battery when camping, and charge via cheap solar panels

 

I haven’t personally done this but Noco claim it will. If you want to be sure buy the next size up. Overdo it for whatever extreme situation you need to put it through. That’s why I went with a gb 70 for everyday civilian use. Really, a gb 40 should suffice, but you just know that manufacturers tend to exaggerate the prowess of their products, and ratings are almost always highly optimistic.
It is hard starting diesels in the cold, but the new ones in good tune seem to be much better. As they get older, though, they do get hard to start. I remember in the old days in northern Ontario a lot of diesels would have quick connect couplings on their cooling systems to enable one vehicle to connect to another to warm it up.

 

I have traditional jumper cable, but also purchased

$100 NOCO GB40 : 1000A UltraSafe Jump Starter – 12V Lithium Battery Booster Pack, Portable Jump Box, Power Bank & Jumper Cables - for 6.0L Gas and 3.0L Diesel Engines

NOCO GB40. It comes with soft bag, but I spent another $17 to get hard case. Great product for reasonable price. Definitely recommend to have one.

 

That's a great review video, and I love instrumented tests and measured data. Interesting to see some of the Amazon brands outperform the NOCO. I am curious to understand how none of them approached their advertised "2000" or "1000" cranking amp rating- perhaps it is a theoretical or idealized figure.

Also, (and this is just a personal thing) though it is nice to see healthy competition, I am a little more inclined to trust the NOCO series over the lifetime of ownership. Though they are built in Hong Kong, NOCO is an American company that has been doing business for over a hundred years. The Amazon brands just seem a little too fly-by-night for me to trust, especially as an essential in the backcountry.

Having said that, I did buy an Amazon battery bank just for charging GoPro batteries and other junk. It has an integrated solar panel that will slowly trickle charge to keep itself topped off. I'm pretty happy with it, but I don't consider it an essential.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088F83MZ2?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share