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Car Battery Jump Starter - Flat!

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Came to use it for a neighbour's car last time, to find that the12v  jump starter itself is spent!

Cardboard box full of 3-pin adapters in the house, but which one?!

No info on the jump starters moulded case, and the only symbol next to the input shows centre-positive.

How should I pick the right/best one?!

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Could you Google your jump starter see if there’s a picture of it with the charger or some info on it’s electrical needs that you can match up with a charger you have ?

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29 minutes ago, *Wallace* said:

Could you Google your jump starter see if there’s a picture of it with the charger or some info on it’s electrical needs that you can match up with a charger you have ?

Yes, I'd thought of that, but unfortunately there's no brand name/label on it.

It's identical to this one - https://www.amazon.co.uk/PORTABLE-STARTER-COMPRESSOR-BATTERY-BOOSTER/dp/B00IDCMLFE - except for the large sticker under the controls. Stickers do dry up and fall off, of course....

 

 

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Typical!

The bit of information I need off the plug is the very bit that's been damaged!

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Can’t you match it up with one you have with the look of it ?

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3 hours ago, *Wallace* said:

Can’t you match it up with one you have with the look of it ?

It's not the "look of it" that's the problem, Wallace!

It's the "Output" details I'm after. I guess I'm looking for 12v or above in order to charge (in effect) a 12v battery, which does narrow my boxfull down a bit, but there's also the milliamps rating to consider. Perhaps it doesn't matter (?!) but my choices range from 50 mA upwards.

 

Edit : tried one, hasn't burst into flames yet, so far so good! Will obviously keep eyes on it...

Edited by RiffRaff

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On 09/08/2020 at 09:57, RiffRaff said:

 

Cardboard box full of 3-pin adapters in the house

 

I too have a box full of these and there's constant pressure to throw away that 'box of useless stuff'. But the joy of finding one that is suitable for a current (pun intended) task which would otherwise have been thrown away many years earlier is priceless.

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1 hour ago, max said:

I too have a box full of these and there's constant pressure to throw away that 'box of useless stuff'. But the joy of finding one that is suitable for a current (pun intended) task which would otherwise have been thrown away many years earlier is priceless.

Ah yes....ain't that the truth!

I've found a couple of 9v jobs, three 10's, a 13.5 and a 6.5 as well. Lord knows what most are for.

A few years ago I had the bright idea of labelling the use for the wallwarts as I got them, but like most good ideas...erm...

Anyway, the lucky guess for the battery booster pack has seemed to work OK... 12v 200mA. The worrying aspect is that it has "Philips" embossed in the casing, which must've belonged to some other piece of electronic gadgetry, long gone!

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I'm a qualified electrical engineer with many years experience. I've even worked on the design of alternator electronics for vehicles but I must confess I have no idea what this discussion is all about. If my car battery ever went flat I would connect a 12 volt battery charger to it and inject a few amps for an hour or so. The connection used big croc clips straight on to the battery terminals. What are these 3 pin adapters you are discussing? What do they adapt and to what and what is the adapted output applied to? Please explain.

It's the 200mA bit that intrigues me. Surely that isn't the battery recharge current? Is it the mains current? 1 amp battery current at 12 volts corresponds to 50mA at 240 volts. That's 50 mA mains current per amp of recharge current. So are you working on having 4 amps battery recharge current? All these figs are approximations of course. 

Edited by woolyhead

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1 hour ago, woolyhead said:

I'm a qualified electrical engineer with many years experience. I've even worked on the design of alternator electronics for vehicles but I must confess I have no idea what this discussion is all about. If my car battery ever went flat I would connect a 12 volt battery charger to it and inject a few amps for an hour or so. The connection used big croc clips straight on to the battery terminals. What are these 3 pin adapters you are discussing? What do they adapt and to what and what is the adapted output applied to? Please explain.

It's the 200mA bit that intrigues me. Surely that isn't the battery recharge current? Is it the mains current? 1 amp battery current at 12 volts corresponds to 50mA at 240 volts. That's 50 mA mains current per amp of recharge current. So are you working on having 4 amps battery recharge current? All these figs are approximations of course. 

1. It wasn't my car.

2. I've haven't a battery charger or jump leads.

3. I was intending to use a battery booster/jump starter - call it what you like - but it was as flat as my neighbour's car battery.

4. You recharge a battery booster box/jump starter by using a 3-pin wall wart.

5. I couldn't find the specific wall wart that came with the booster box, and was hoping that someone would reply with specifications, so I could find an alternative in my spares.

6. You're a qualified electrical engineer, but you've never come across a car battery booster box?!

7.  See https://www.amazon.co.uk/PORTABLE-STARTER-COMPRESSOR-BATTERY-BOOSTER/dp/B00IDCMLFE. Hundreds of others are available.

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