Jump Start / Power Pack as battery

[esox_xtm]

Got to mousing thru the deals yesterday and stumbled on one of those jump start gizmos. Did a little more poking and and looked at several more. Some had AH ratings over 10K.

It occurred in my little pea brain that if I don't draw the massive amount of current required to turn a motor over and just use it as a rechargeable power source for, well, just about everything. Probably power your flasher and camera for a week plus do lights, charge your phone and whatever. Obviously, you'd have to fuse every output so you don't accidentally fry anything but stuff won't draw more than it needs. Or maybe I'm on the wrong track...

Anyone considered this (I can't be the first), have any experience, opinion or professional advice? The one I saw was a Li deal, fits in your glove box, weighs under 2# and was just over $50.

Like this one: Got a jump?

Thoughts?

[sweth]

Not designed for long term low current draw. Go dead rather quick when using in this application. 

[esox_xtm]

And as I think about it over coffee probably not a lot of recharge cycles either.... 

[32footsteps]

I've used the same one for the past 9 years running lights, charging phones, running fans, etc.  The thing is still humming along.  It's also gotten me ho,e a few times when my truck battery took a crap.  Heavy use in the winter on the ice, heavy use in the spring running lights and a blower fan when we cook maple syrup, goes with me in my boat, my wife uses it to run lights in her booth when she goes to craft shows....  Maybe I'm just lucky in that the sucker has been discharged and charged many, many times and it's primary use has been doing things that theoretically should kill them. 

[missoulafish]

what model is it 32?

[esox_xtm]

I'd be interested in knowing that too 32. Perhaps he has a "real" one with a bigger SLA battery in it. I had an old Prestone one that had been abused when I got it. I continued the abuse till the battery played out. I believe that had a 17 AH SLA Yuasa inside and weighed appropriately.

[midwest_rodworks]

I took apart a Stanley fatmax jump-starter, and it had a 12V 35ah SLA battery. I plan on using that to power lights and accessories in my Eskimo flipover.

[32footsteps]

I had to do some searching since it's not at my house right now but it's a Schumacher XP400.  Nothing fancy or expensive about it.  I think it was around 30 bucks or so when I bought the thing.  Maybe I just got one that won't die but that sucker has been through a war.  My grandpa had a high end jump starter that I was given when he died but that one went kaput within a few months and was much heavier.  The only maintenance that I've had to do on the older one I have is to take a piece of emery cloth and wipe the rust out from inside of the 12v outlet. 

[esox_xtm]

Yep. Probably not Li based batteries. This from a "battery charger" forum on the XP400:

"After 5 years of use, we've found the 3 batteries were no longer holding their charge, mostly through not recharging them often enough, but Schumacher customer service were helpful in providing us with information that allowed us to easily refurbish the units. Its simple to take the screws out of the case, measure the battery size and search on eBay for replacements. We were able to get 12v 7ah lead acid batteries for very reasonable cost and much prefer rebuilding these rather than needing to recycle an obsolete sealed unit."

Bold added by me.

[chilly-willy]

Had same idea my self about the Bruton resync 6000 it is a littioum polymer battery able to charge cell phones 4x etc other electronic several times.  There is also a Bruton heatsync they sell for it that is like those dewalt and milwaukee heated jackets mine has a solar pannel to charge it out doors but all and all it works awesome for the 39.99 I paid for it.. and best part is they ran it on sale 29.99 cheaper yet were I bought it at cabelas.. but all and all I think your right it's a great idea ..

[esox_xtm]

 Some had AH ratings over 10K.

I'll correct myself here before someone else catches my error. milli AH over 10K. That would make the battery a 10 AH. Must have been a little foggy...