Thinking about making a portable charging/jumping station. Ideas?

[pgmrdan]

I did a search but didn't find anything yet so I'm asking for ideas on a portable automotive charging/jumping station. (I'm talking 12 volt batteries, not EVs.)

I have a good enough spare car battery, jumper cables, charger, Volt-Ohm Meter, dolly, tools, extension cord, etc. They're all begging to be put together into a portable charging station.

I'll keep it in my garage but I would sometimes need to wheel it up to my outbuilding where some equipment resides.

If you have made/bought one you like I'd like to see some photos and get some ideas for making my own.

Thanks!

 

[Nutfarmer]

Most portable jumper set ups are lithium batteries and for the amperage output are hard to beat with a lead acid set up.

 

[FOMOGO]

I have a Cat rechargeable jump pack that I've had for 5-6 years that I use on a regular basis. As said above, pretty hard to beat for convenience. Mike

 

[pgmrdan]

Yeah, I know. I'm talking old school. I've had the charger and jumper cables for maybe 40 years but they're in excellent condition and I want to use them.

 

[Jake M]

I did a search but didn't find anything yet so I'm asking for ideas on a portable automotive charging/jumping station. (I'm talking 12 volt batteries, not EVs.)

I have a good enough spare car battery, jumper cables, charger, Volt-Ohm Meter, dolly, tools, extension cord, etc. They're all begging to be put together into a portable charging station.

I'll keep it in my garage but I would sometimes need to wheel it up to my outbuilding where some equipment resides.

If you have made/bought one you like I'd like to see some photos and get some ideas for making my own.

Thanks!

You'll find that without a running engine, a "car" battery is kind of anemic at jump starting things. Used is even worse, as internal resistance (voltage drop at high amps) just gets worse. Outside of that, you'd need a hand truck to put it on if you're going to drag it around.

If the "stuff" you jump start will indeed light right up, there's zero reason to mess with carrying around a lead acid battery. The lithium battery starters do just fine for that, and almost fit in your pocket. (Not really, but almost...) If you're interested, I'll get you the brand/model that's the go-to in the towing section at work.

If you're carrying it, a QUALITY jumper pack with a small, low resistance battery inside of it can start most anything. It's got a handle and weighs a lot less than a battery. Again, if you're interested, I'll dig up a make/model for our favorite there too.

None of these are terribly expensive.

Or, another very low cost option is to get a solar battery maintainer (We don't use those any more, can't help with what's current), and set it up on your equipment if it's practicable (maybe not so much inside a closed shed), OR set it up on your spare battery, and keep that up near where it'll be used.

Now, if you're talking about big old diesel stuff that's hard starting in the cold and all that... That might warrant an all out solution like you're thinking. That wants a couple of big batteries in parallel on a hand truck, and fresh off a plug in maintainer, but now you're outside of the used "car" battery and back to square one anyhow...

 

[pgmrdan]

You'll find that without a running engine, a "car" battery is kind of anemic at jump starting things. Used is even worse, as internal resistance (voltage drop at high amps) just gets worse. Outside of that, you'd need a hand truck to put it on if you're going to drag it around.

If the "stuff" you jump start will indeed light right up, there's zero reason to mess with carrying around a lead acid battery. The lithium battery starters do just fine for that, and almost fit in your pocket. (Not really, but almost...) If you're interested, I'll get you the brand/model that's the go-to in the towing section at work.

If you're carrying it, a QUALITY jumper pack with a small, low resistance battery inside of it can start most anything. It's got a handle and weighs a lot less than a battery. Again, if you're interested, I'll dig up a make/model for our favorite there too.

None of these are terribly expensive.

Or, another very low cost option is to get a solar battery maintainer (We don't use those any more, can't help with what's current), and set it up on your equipment if it's practicable (maybe not so much inside a closed shed), OR set it up on your spare battery, and keep that up near where it'll be used.

Now, if you're talking about big old diesel stuff that's hard starting in the cold and all that... That might warrant an all out solution like you're thinking. That wants a couple of big batteries in parallel on a hand truck, and fresh off a plug in maintainer, but now you're outside of the used "car" battery and back to square one anyhow...

"You'll find that without a running engine, a "car" battery is kind of anemic at jump starting things." That's odd. All of my battery start engines start without a running engine; i.e., just a battery.

I mentioned that I have a dolly. That's a 2-wheel hand truck. That's the base of what I'm talking about.

The battery I have works fine for jumping my ZTR mower, skid steer, tractors, and cars. When it fails me I'll replace it with a new battery. I also use an inverter with it occasionally.

I actually jump things very rarely because during the winter I keep a battery maintainer on each battery mentioned above all winter. But every once in a while I need a jump and the old battery works fine.

I appreciate all of the recommendations to buy something new but that's not my plan at all. All of my stuff has been well maintained and works so there's no need to buy a lithium battery jump starter. I have everything I need but I just want to make things more convenient. It's a hobby. I'm having fun.

Now, any photos of what I'm asking about? Maybe some other old-timers (like me) have something.

 

[markba633csi]

I've never built one like that but I can see the usefulness of a mobile 12v supply. One feature that would be nice is a built in float charger
so you could just roll it up to an outlet and plug it in until needed
Lead-acid batteries do generate hydrogen when charging so keep it ventilated

 

[Jake M]

I suspect that read too much into your need/want/interest in building the cart, and I over estimated your jump starting needs.

"You'll find that without a running engine, a "car" battery is kind of anemic at jump starting things." That's odd. All of my battery start engines start without a running engine; i.e., just a battery.

A good working machine uses the battery to run (mostly) the starter motor. The jump start battery has to feed the dead battery all the amps it'll take, plus the starting motor, all while keeping it's voltage up to an adequate level. It's doing a lot more work than the one battery that's installed.

But, as I said, I think I was overestimating how "dead" the typical victim might be.

I mentioned that I have a dolly. That's a 2-wheel hand truck. That's the base of what I'm talking about.

I missed that detail. I guess I'm on a roll. That does change the math. Saving the cost of a dolly would have significantly offset the purchase of a pre packaged solution. Without that... My recommendations do indeed get more expensive. Apologies for turning that into a "throw money at the problem" post. That wasn't my intention.

 

[tq60]

You can get a plastic battery box or make one from wood to hold the battery.

Make it slightly wider than the flat on the hand truck so it can have feet and be like a pallet, you slide the hand truck under then tilt and go.

You can make a frame that holds the cables.

We have Anderson connectors on most items for attaching chargers or jumping, makes for easy connections.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

 

[pgmrdan]

I suspect that read too much into your need/want/interest in building the cart, and I over estimated your jump starting needs.


A good working machine uses the battery to run (mostly) the starter motor. The jump start battery has to feed the dead battery all the amps it'll take, plus the starting motor, all while keeping it's voltage up to an adequate level. It's doing a lot more work than the one battery that's installed.

But, as I said, I think I was overestimating how "dead" the typical victim might be.



I missed that detail. I guess I'm on a roll. That does change the math. Saving the cost of a dolly would have significantly offset the purchase of a pre packaged solution. Without that... My recommendations do indeed get more expensive. Apologies for turning that into a "throw money at the problem" post. That wasn't my intention.

"The jump start battery has to feed the dead battery all the amps it'll take, plus the starting motor, all while keeping it's voltage up to an adequate level." Nope. You can either recharge the dead battery first then jump start the engine if the recharged battery won't start it or take the dead battery out of the circuit, start the engine with the jumping battery, then put the dead battery back in the circuit. If you leave a dead battery in the circuit when you start the engine you're not jump starting an engine correctly.