Noco Jump starters

[stefcio007]

Been looking for one ever since my car decided it would not start even though I had a new battery. Even though it was a rare occurrence luckily my co-workers was able to come out and give me a jump...at 2am. Just want it for peace of mind.

All the other brands I have seen negative reviews, from the battery capacity being less than stated to the units bursting into flames (yes there were photos).

This brand I have only heard mostly good things about.

Has anyone used one before?
I noticed JB and SCA have started stocking/selling them.

What do you think? They cost about as much as a new battery, but the time lost out on the road would be annoying if I can't start my car.

[NTF6]

I have the GB40 and it is brilliant, used it many times, never needed it on my car but lots of times on other peoples cars. The look on their faces when I pull it out, they say I won't start it with that!

It's never failed to start a car, plus you can charge phones, laptops etc and it also has a torch and flashing roadside warning lights.

It sits in my boot with my other best tool, a battery powered wheel nut rattle gun.

[stefcio007]

Cool, thanks for the anecdote.

[stefcio007]

Bought one from a reputable seller and received next day. I'm impressed with the build quality of the thing. A few months ago I watched a tear down and analysis of the circuit inside which convinced me to spend a bit more money on this one than a generic one.

With the cold weather coming I'm hoping that I won't need to use it this year but nice to have that security. Last year it was sometimes 1*C when starting my car...

[Crazy Dazz]

Fantastic pieces of kit, but can you really justify the expense?

I'm also highly dubious about some of the claims. I've seen units claiming 4 THOUSAND amps, but still seem to have the same piddling wires.
Not only do I call BS on their claims of 50kw, but you'd vaporise those wires with that kind of Juice.

[stefcio007]

Mine was $150 which is reasonable in my opinion. The Noco units have thick cables compared to a lot of the other brands which is reassuring. Yeah, a lot of units make some wild claims that are totally unrealistic, but also who needs 4,000 A? My Focus only pulls at most 400A when cranking. Remember, it should only deliver that sort of power for a short amount of time so the cables won’t heat up much.

I finish work at 6am and I just want to go home and sleep at that point and not wait around for RACV to come, or if I finish early at 3am either.

[stefcio007]

Just a bit of an update.
I’ve used it to successfully start two other cars so far.
One was a car where the battery was literally cooked and spilling liquid, some guy stuck in the car park. Told him you should replace your battery ASAP.
Other car was garaged for a a few weeks.

The only car I couldn’t start was an Audi S3 that was garaged for 3 months and had an absolutely flat battery, even using jumper leads connected to my running car would not start it. A new battery fixed that car but curious as to why I couldn’t start it. Maybe the battery was so flat it was a dead short?

[slowsnake]

Originally Posted by stefcio007

Mine was $150 which is reasonable in my opinion. The Noco units have thick cables compared to a lot of the other brands which is reassuring. Yeah, a lot of units make some wild claims that are totally unrealistic, but also who needs 4,000 A? My Focus only pulls at most 400A when cranking. Remember, it should only deliver that sort of power for a short amount of time so the cables won’t heat up much.

I finish work at 6am and I just want to go home and sleep at that point and not wait around for RACV to come, or if I finish early at 3am either.

Have you seen the diameter of a 400A arc welding lead?..


Cheers Billy

[slowsnake]

Originally Posted by stefcio007

Just a bit of an update.
I’ve used it to successfully start two other cars so far.
One was a car where the battery was literally cooked and spilling liquid, some guy stuck in the car park. Told him you should replace your battery ASAP.
Other car was garaged for a a few weeks.

The only car I couldn’t start was an Audi S3 that was garaged for 3 months and had an absolutely flat battery, even using jumper leads connected to my running car would not start it. A new battery fixed that car but curious as to why I couldn’t start it. Maybe the battery was so flat it was a dead short?

Won't start if you connect earth lead to a battery with a dead cell, if you jump start from your car you connect earth direct to motor of car being started, it will fire up and run on alternator!


Cheers Billy