I'd like to get a portable jump starter for my truck; my battery keeps dying after 1-2 hours of battery use to run my amp/stereo. I'm going to replace the battery soon (lifetime warranty). Typically, I crank it up every hour of battery use, but occasionally the battery will die or I'll forget and go every 2 hours. I figured with a new battery and jump starter I should be good to go, but I have no clue on brand, amperage, etc. Any suggestions? I plan on getting a better alternator as well, but I thought the jump starter would be a nice thing to have regardless.

'04 Chevy Colorado
3.5L I-5
68k miles
Running a Kenwood Stereo, with a 125x2 RMS amp to power front component speakers/exterior speakers
I can get battery specs later/when I get a new battery.

Brands, power, etc suggestions? Models with air compressors?


[Edited on October 5, 2010 at 12:00 AM. Reason : .]

10/4/2010 11:58:38 PM

Why not run 2 batteries in your truck?

Get a pair of optimas and you are g2g

10/5/2010 10:16:32 AM

thought about it. but that's more time and money than its worth to me (to actually set up permanently). I thought about just picking up a second battery and having that sitting around just in case... but I like the idea of a jumper instead.

The reason that going setting up dual batteries isn't worth it for me is because I only run my battery for extended periods only ~10 times/year, thus a jumper would work for that and be handy to have in case of shit

10/5/2010 10:27:40 AM

The jumper that i had was pretty useless. It had an air compressor and an inverter. I never used either one of those. If you do not keep it charged, the internal battery will die and you are left with a big pile of junk. I installed a second battery and isolated it in my van to run the stereo and all of the accessories, but when i go tailgating I just take my spare deep cycle battery from my boat with me (making sure it is fully charged). If i need a jump or more juice to run the amp and tv, i just hook it up.

I would not suggest running your starting battery all the way down, this damages the battery and shortens its life. Also make sure you charge your starting battery fully before setting off.

If you plan on running your battery dead ~10 times a year for several years, it makes much more sense to just invest in a deep cycle battery and a charger and just bring the fully charged battery with you. A good deep cycle battery will last you years, whereas the jumpstart systems will not.

10/5/2010 10:43:43 AM

Personally, avoid the ones with the little air compressor.

10/5/2010 10:47:11 AM

haha, I don't plan on running it dead, ever. what I was saying is that it sometimes dies fairly quickly (before I would expect it), when it shouldn't. it used to last 4-5 hours with no issues. but now it will die after 1-2 hours.

I don't have the time, money, skills, or location (that I like/could easily work with) to install a permanent second battery and I don't like to idea of just hauling another battery around to switch it out. I figured the jumper could come in handy anywhere and be a little less of a pain/safer to haul around and last longer than a battery... but maybe not. And getting a second battery would require either switching them out to keep it charge or buying a charger too...

10/5/2010 11:49:26 AM

Say fuck it and go buy yourself a fucking Optima Yellow Top. Fuck that jumpbox shit...a good one costs more than it's worth in my opinion. Fuck killing a conventional battery too...and fuck having to replace the battery in the jumpbox because you forgot to keep it plugged up to the charger and the damn thing sulfated to death.

10/5/2010 11:57:03 AM

haha, so you think an optima will take care of all this? and one day in the future a better alternator?

10/5/2010 12:01:49 PM

Well, if you're gonna keep deep discharging a regular starting battery, you're asking for it. They don't take too well to that kind of abuse...at all.

I'd say either an Optima Yellow Top or get you a good AGM battery. Either is built to handle long periods of discharge MUCH better than a conventional battery.

10/5/2010 12:17:14 PM

ok, I'll look into that. I try not to let it discharge more than an 1-1.5 hours at a time (I'll crank the truck up for 10-15 min), but alcohol sometimes gets in the way of my memory... or the battery dies within that time.

10/5/2010 12:32:18 PM

10 to 15 min of having the truck cranked is not going to do a lot for charging the battery. I have a 90A alternator, so 15 minutes of charging is only going to add 22.5Ah to your battery, and that is only if the alternator is at full load. At idle, a normal alternator puts out somewhere in the 20-30A range, and in that case you are only adding 5-7Ah to your battery.

A decent jumpstart system is more expensive than buying a spare battery and a charger, and in the end all you have is a dedicated jump start system. You could even buy a small lawnmower battery if you are concerned about size and price and just keep it charged via a charger and throw it in the truck when you need it.

If you run your battery low, you should be plugging it into a charger at home to bring it back up to full charge anyways.

Im also not real sure on where you are drawing all of this power to run your battery dead in a few hours. I ran a TV, 1000W amp, 300W headunit, lights, and satellite receiver box off of my deep cycle battery for ~8-10 hours on saturday, and it did not die.

Your best option given you do not want a second battery is to upgrade to an optima and keep it charged, your worst option is a cheap jump start system that will be a expensive paperweight.

Either way, you should own a battery charger.

[Edited on October 5, 2010 at 1:29 PM. Reason : ah math]

10/5/2010 1:28:20 PM

I agree on all the points about how bad it is to discharge your battery and everything, but those jump boxes are pretty damn convenient. One of my neighbors has one and I end up grabbing that thing all the time to jump the lawn mower and stuff like that. I borrowed it for a couple hours last weekend so I could jump start my dad's truck and go shopping for a new battery for it without having to wonder whether I'd be able to crank it if the first store I went to didn't have the battery in stock. Great for household duties I guess.

10/5/2010 2:19:15 PM

well I know that 10-15 min of run time won't do much, but the battery shouldn't be requiring much anyways. my current battery is obviously a problem. all I'm running is the HU, a 125x2 rms amp to power front component speakers. thus after 1-1.5 hrs of use, the battery should be fine and a short charge should be sufficient... but for some reason it hasn't been.

I think I'll just grab an optima soon, then maybe a cheap jumper, and eventually a new alternator.

any suggestions on the battery? I went through optima's battery selector and all it found for my truck as a red top.

Part Number: 25 (9025-160)
RedTop®; Battery; BOXED; Group 25; Cold Crank Amps 720; Crank Amps 910; Reserve Capacity 90; Ampere Hour 44; Top Terminal; L-9 5/16 in.; W-6 3/4 in.; H-7 5/8 in.;

does this selector really mean anything?

[Edited on October 5, 2010 at 2:25 PM. Reason : .]

10/5/2010 2:25:34 PM

Not a goddamn thing. There are really only 3 Optimas to choose from, depending on your application...red top, yellow top, blue top.

The red top is designed as a straight cranking battery for automotive use. The yellow top is a hybrid cranking/deep cycle design. The blue top is designed primarily for deep cycle use (marine/RV).

10/5/2010 4:59:39 PM

Quote :

"Personally, avoid the ones with the little air compressor."

i've had one for 5,6,7, or 8 years now that i bought from Northern. it has a compressor on it that actually gets used quite often. ive had no issues with it whatsoever and i only charge it after it's used several times. it has sat in the toolbox on my truck for 6 months without any use at all.

and optima batteries are the biggest, over-hyped garbage that people waste money on when it comes to cars. optima is made by johnson controls. johnson controls is garbage.
buy an exide orbital xtreme battery if you want quality.

10/5/2010 8:33:16 PM

^May be true, but the bottom line is he needs a dual purpose battery, not merely a starting battery. See my note on AGM batteries above (my personal choice). And an Optima spiral cell beats the shit out of nothing.

10/6/2010 9:21:33 AM

You need a yellow/red top optima.

10/6/2010 2:50:53 PM

^^i agree with both of your statements. the orbital xtreme is a dual purpose battery and is applied gas mat as well.

http://www.remybattery.com/Products/Exide-Orbital-34XCD-Xtreme-Cycle-Duty-Battery__34XCD.aspx

10/6/2010 8:23:55 PM

well, I certainly can't afford either right now.

so for now, I'm going to continue on. I've grabbed a load tester from work to test my current battery.



Though, I'm not sure on the alternating green/red areas and what that means (It's not with me, so I can't read it, in case it says anything).

I assume all I can do with this thing is test the voltage of the battery then the voltage of the alternator?

10/7/2010 6:24:09 PM

You can load test the battery...basically the thing has a BIG damn resistor in it, and when you hit the load switch, it puts a nice big load on the battery. One green area should be for no-load voltage testing, the second for when you apply a load.

And that little bitty green/red scale should be for 6 volt batteries.

10/8/2010 8:56:55 AM

Grab a prius and put a system in it for parties and just let it tend it's own batteries lol.

10/10/2010 7:22:03 AM