Lotus Elan

Power Bank

PostPost by: elanfan1 » Fri Jul 14, 2017 4:15 pm

Don't drag him into this!
Steve

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PostPost by: mbell » Fri Jul 14, 2017 6:27 pm

denicholls2 wrote: Yes, you could implement a protection circuit to prevent reverse flow.


I believe that the device have such a thing included in the jump leads, i.e. a very big diode. The user guide say to remove the jump start very quickly after engine starts. I.e. It not designed to ever be recharged by the car.

Mine has some "cleverness" to the jump leads, they only become live when its is connect to the car and connect the correct way around. I suspect connecting one of these in reverse would be an extremely bad thing to do. I assume that for a good quality one the engineers have correctly calculated and spec'd the requirements for the leads but I wouldn't be so sure a bout a very cheap knock of one....

For me the long and short is they work, i.e. they start the car, they hold there charge well, USB charging ports are useful, they are small + light enough to carry in the car and can be used for other uses, e.g. when camping or to run a car lift. Where as the old lead acid ones often struggled to start a car for me, would normally be flat when you needed them and are too/big heavy to carry around with you.
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PostPost by: Chancer » Fri Jul 14, 2017 6:34 pm

mbell wrote:
denicholls2 wrote:
For me the long and short is they work, i.e. they start the car, they hold there charge well, USB charging ports are useful, they are small + light enough to carry in the car and can be used for other uses, e.g. when camping or to run a car lift. Where as the old lead acid ones often struggled to start a car for me, would normally be flat when you needed them and are too/big heavy to carry around with you.


Thankyou for that practical experience, having already bought one chocolate teapot (sounds like you did as well!) its of great value, I will get one one day.

Now they need to make one in a fire resistant box for Elan owners :)
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PostPost by: el-saturn » Fri Jul 14, 2017 8:11 pm

i prefer regular boosters, advantages: they are spare batteries and have A/hr and not just 10 seconds of a couple 100 Amps, if it's just U in the vehicule the extra weight of yr wife would be MUCH more!! - my wife weighs in at 65kg!!!! in the british BTCC thats a hell of a lot of punishment (in certain cases like a wife) AND disadvantages: more weight, less avant garde and limited rpms before she has to run!! sandy - enjoying a lovely unwooded austrian chardonnay!
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PostPost by: nmauduit » Fri Jul 14, 2017 8:29 pm

denicholls2 wrote:
mbell wrote:They can be very dangerous.


Yes, you could implement a protection circuit to prevent reverse flow.


on the issue of adding safety rather than lightness, it also comes at a cost : the voltage drop of a suitable large diode is likely to be in excess on 1V, possibly close to 2, so you start with a perky 13.6V and end up outputting barely 12.0V to your discharged system...

see for instance (though picked at random after a net search) forward voltage drop and ON resistance :
http://www.vishay.com/docs/93510/vs-400urseries.pdf
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PostPost by: Davidb » Wed Jul 19, 2017 5:12 pm

I have one and it works OK-not as well as the lead/acid booster pack that I bought fifteen years or so ago that I finally wore the cables out! That unit started various cars, tractors, boats etc and just wouldn't quit.
The new unit will only give a brief boost as mentioned and then you have to wait for it to recover before trying again if the car doesn't start. They are so small you can tuck one away in an Elan and it is there if you need it.
'65 S2 4844
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PostPost by: mbell » Wed Jul 19, 2017 6:58 pm

Like with the lead-acid type there a lot of variance on these depending on battery size and quality. I have a large high quality one, AntiGravity Batteries Micro-Start XP-10, where as my lead acid was a cheap small unit. So my experience with the new one has been a lot better than with the old style.

Use mine at the weekend, not run the car in ~2 months ( :oops: ), hooked it up at the solenoid and took quite a bit of turning to start as still figuring out the cold start routine for it (standard two pump doesn't work well). I then had to have a second start as it stalled out as I was running around trying to shut the bonnet. Once running i just drop it on passenger seat just in case I need it while out.
'73 +2 130/5 RHD, now on the road and very slowly rolling though a "restoration"
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PostPost by: vstibbard » Sat Jul 29, 2017 10:58 pm

Hi All,

I've had one for a few years, when fully charged it lasts for ages, and many starts, I originally bought it to support the little battery in my 26r to power the dry sump oil pre-heater and cold starts. In interim its been doing sterling service giving an old split screen kombi that comes out every few weeks a helping hand, it has an older battery that seems to struggles during the winter months priming fuel pump, the lithium jumper battery almost makes the engine feel like its jumping out of the car, its never failed to start it.

Money well spent, light, sits in glove box....

Cheers

V
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