Best Jumstart unit for 4.2 diesel

My old jump starter crapped itself so I decided its time to replace it with a newer type one with a li-ion battery, something lightweight and comes in its own carry case that can be more easily stored than the old type ones, a mate came over with his u beaut unit and it failed to kick over my troopy 4.2 diesel and the starter unit ended up bulging out at one end, that sort of put me off the idea for awhile but having a good reliable jump starter is a necessity in my books so I decided to start looking around at what's available.

Looking at eBay and local shops I soon discovered that its a minefield and you have to read the fine print, many of the same units are advertised but the sellers alter the stats, have seen some of the exact same units being touted as being able to start a 4ltr diesel then another one of the same model and make saying it will start a 4.5 ltr diesel, and some state it will start diesel engines blaa blaa but when you read all the information you find that in the fine print it ends up telling you that it will start a 2.5 ltr diesel only, no good if you have a troopy or patrol etc.

It got me to thinking that lots of people have probably bought units that will not do the job when you need it the most, so it would be wise to check if what you have will actually do as it is supposed to, the quickest way I suppose is to disconnect your starter battery and try it out at home, too late to find out when you are stuck somewhere.

Can anyone recommend a compact unit that they have tried and tested and that will do as advertised?

au-fever

Why not install and auxiliary battery, run all your bits & pieces off this then your starter battery will never let you down.
These jump starters after all are only another battery with couple of cigarette sockets and USB ports that you have to charge anyway and find a slot to store it?
MHO, a absolute waste of money.

Nightjar wrote:Why not install and auxiliary battery, run all your bits & pieces off this then your starter battery will never let you down.
These jump starters after all are only another battery with couple of cigarette sockets and USB ports that you have to charge anyway and find a slot to store it?
MHO, a absolute waste of money.

The starter battery just died without warning, it was about 18 months old or so, my troopy does not get much use in the off season and that's probably the reason, I will be adding a maintenance solar panel to it to keep it topped up when I forget to run the engine, I already have a comprehensive system set up in it, starter battery, second deep cycle for running the fridge topped up with a 100w solar panel, and also 2x 45 ah roof rack mounted batteries topped up with a 30w panel that run the bits and pieces inside as I have exhaust fans on thermo switches, and also cooling fans, but none of that is really suitable for jump starting the engine without doing damage.

As far as the jump starter goes, I had thoughts of setting up a battery box on the trailer with a solar panel to keep it topped up so that I always had a fresh and fully charged battery that would do the job, dollar for dollar it would probably work out the same as getting a jump start unit that may or may not work when you need the thing?

au-fever

Hi au-Fever, a while back I remember someone talking about these Li power pacs and one bloke was vouching for a kincrome unit - apparently used it in his workshop and they started big machinery with it. I just googled it and came up with this. No sure if this is the one he was talking about but if you believe the specs it should do the job.

https://www.kincrome.com.au/multi-function-jump-start-600a

Let us know how you get on - I've been thinking of getting one myself for a 4.5L turbo diesel.

Cheers
Stingray

Stingray wrote:Hi au-Fever, a while back I remember someone talking about these Li power pacs and one bloke was vouching for a kincrome unit - apparently used it in his workshop and they started big machinery with it. I just googled it and came up with this. No sure if this is the one he was talking about but if you believe the specs it should do the job.

https://www.kincrome.com.au/multi-function-jump-start-600a

Let us know how you get on - I've been thinking of getting one myself for a 4.5L turbo diesel.

Cheers
Stingray

Hi Stingray

Yes that one sounds like the go, thanks for that, I reckon its better to pay for a well known brand item at a retail store so that way if you have issues you know you can go back to them for warranty, I had a look about and it can be bought at the moment on sale (until the 30th April) at Toolmart for $269, the description says it can start V8 diesels and all, it may be overkill but its always better to have more than less power when it comes to the crunch, the other thing is some sellers don't give any idea how long it can sit without use, the Kincrome one says it can sit for up to 6 months, if you remember to give it a charge before every trip there should never be an issue with it and you have the peace of mind knowing its ready to go.

One thing I have learnt with this game is that things "can and will" go wrong at the very worst possible time, and the more bases you can cover in regards to being self sufficient and prepared the better the outcome will be when the chit hits the fan so to speak, I will go and have a look at one today or tomorrow.

cheers

au-fever