Cheapest + longest storage life car jumper? Series of alkaline batteries?

[MrPlow]

I've been thinking of carrying a backup jumper setup for my truck or van when venturing deep into the hills with no cell reception. But, I'm cheap and don't wish to buy a dedicated unit. I've seen some youtube videos where guys jumped their engines using a set of 1.5v alkaline batteries in series to boost the charge enough for a start, or also by using battery packs from cordless drills.

Seeing as how a Duracell battery is extremely reliable and can sit in storage for many years without issue, wouldn't this be a lot more reliable than a unit with rechargeable batteries and all other sorts of components that can fail?

Is there some truth to being able to jump start from such a small power source? Sometimes it's hard to tell if youtube videos are blowing BS out their BS holes.

Basically, I would only need 9-10 C or D batteries, some tape, and some wire. I could cycle the batteries out for other devices so they don't go too long towards the expiration date. I would hope this would provide enough charge to get a semi-dead battery lively enough for a start, possibly even in cold weather.

 

[Nick1994]

D batteries at Walmart are $8 for a 4 pack, so $24 for something that I doubt would work.

This is $55 and will last a long time. My brother and I got cheap jump starters 5 years ago from Walmart and his still works awesome. Mine unfortunately went swimming in a wet trunk (submerged).

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[AutoMechanic]

I’ve always had good luck with my old Diehard from 1983 that my dad bought new at Sears it still works today. For my mobile units despite the low ratings on YouTube the Vikings are what we use and I have had absolutely no issues out of them ever we used them in school and I really liked them so I bought one for personal vehicles.

 

[BeerCan]

If you are in a situation where you need a jump I would not want to rely on a bunch of D cells taped together.

I know the jump packs I use will hold a charge for about a year. Every January I charge them, so I am fine with that. Or I charge them after use. I have one that will start my 6.7PS. Could't image standing in the cold with a bunch of duracells, tape and wire trying to start it.

 

[Chris142]

There is no way that a few D cells will start a car.

 

[MrPlow]

Well, the D batteries would be free to me. My father, who is losing memory really bad, picks up packs of batteries every time he goes to Costco. He has a huge bin of unopened battery packs because he forgets he already has them when he's at Costco. Every time I visit, I empty the bin of whatever batteries I need. haha

I'm not sure how legit this is, but this is one of quite a few instances of guys using smaller batteries to charge a car battery. It looks like his setup took 10 minutes to run the current down and charge the battery enough for a start.



A Duracell can easily last 7 years + in storage. I might do a little test and leave me truck lights on while monitoring the battery voltage for when it gets below 12.4 volts or low enough that the engine will not crank over. I'm usually very anal about making sure my electrical components are in working order before driving deep into the boonies, so carrying a free set of Duracell batteries for a rare issue is more appealing than carrying something that needs maintenance, has limited lifespan, and costs a lot more than tape and wires.

 

[92saturnsl2]

Alkaline batteries have far too high an internal resistance to an effective starting battery. They are among the worst chemistries for supplying high current, the voltage will drop to nearly unusable levels under the load of a starter.

Now if you have 11.8V and are right on the threshold of turning the engine over, maybe they would put the lead acid battery over the top, just enough to crank. But in general, it's a load of BS.

In the video I watched above, he seems to suggest the alkaline cells are discharging at 2.2 amps. At that level of discharge, it would pull each alkaline cell below 1.0V in a matter of minutes. A typical alkaline cell would be good for around 500mah at that current and that's only if you can discharge it well under 1.0V per cell, which you can't because very quickly the voltage of the alkaline cells in series will equal that of the starting battery and then you're not accomplishing anything. Not going to put much of a dent in the capacity of the starting battery.

Nimh or especially NiCd would be better suited if you wanted to use standard C/D cells, but you'd be much better off with a lithium ion pack designed for the purpose.

 

[MrPlow]

Alkaline batteries have far too high an internal resistance to an effective starting battery. They are among the worst chemistries for supplying high current, the voltage will drop to nearly unusable levels under the load of a starter.

Now if you have 11.8V and are right on the threshold of turning the engine over, maybe they would put the lead acid battery over the top, just enough to crank. But in general, it's a load of BS.

In the video I watched above, he seems to suggest the alkaline cells are discharging at 2.2 amps. At that level of discharge, it would pull each alkaline cell below 1.0V in a matter of minutes. A typical alkaline cell would be good for around 500mah at that current and that's only if you can discharge it well under 1.0V per cell, which you can't because very quickly the voltage of the alkaline cells in series will equal that of the starting battery and then you're not accomplishing anything. Not going to put much of a dent in the capacity of the starting battery.

Nimh or especially NiCd would be better suited if you wanted to use standard C/D cells, but you'd be much better off with a lithium ion pack designed for the purpose.

Thanks for the reply! It's more of a quick charge than a direct jump to the starter. I'll mess around and test this one day I have time. I'm still skeptical, but there are plenty of folks who have videos or make claims that this actually works a long as the car battery is not fully drained.

I guess I could also make the case that it may be worth buying one of the Amazon quick start units with 20,000 mAh of capacity at 3.7v, which also would work great for charging my camera batteries and phone when I am out deep into the bush doing nature photography. Even if never used for a jump start, it would still be of use.

 

[92saturnsl2]

Sure, I'm not saying it won't work, lots of people have videos proving it. Wiring enough alkaline cells in series, you will dump some juice into the lead acid battery. All I'm saying is that the circumstances would have to be just right for it to work -- a starting battery would have to be barely under the capacity needed to turn the engine over, which limits its usefulness.

I would not want to rely on something like that, that might only work a fraction of the time, when conditions are just right. Might be fun to tinker around with though and see just what the undercharge threshold might be.

 

[MrPlow]

Sure, I'm not saying it won't work, lots of people have videos proving it. Wiring enough alkaline cells in series, you will dump some juice into the lead acid battery. All I'm saying is that the circumstances would have to be just right for it to work -- a starting battery would have to be barely under the capacity needed to turn the engine over, which limits its usefulness.

I would not want to rely on something like that, that might only work a fraction of the time, when conditions are just right. Might be fun to tinker around with though and see just what the undercharge threshold might be.

Good point. It's not right to assume the car battery would only be just below the start threshold. I would likely only run into that issue if I left something on draining power. My more likely case of not starting would be a failing battery and/or alternator, in which case they usually work and then all the sudden become just low enough to be slow to start or just click. In which case a small charge is all I would need to get back into town. I've never had a battery just go straight to totally dead that has been in recent use, and not caused by drain with something left on. I can even pull the cables if I leave it parked for several days while camping in the backcountry.

 

[gathermewool]

Will you be stopping for extended periods of time in the middle of nowhere? If you‘re just driving through empty areas then a jump pack won’t matter. An alternator failure would be your biggest concern.

Ive had people who‘s vehicle just stalled on them while driving ask for a jump. I declined.


/

I keep a jump pack in each of my vehicles, mostly to help others without having to hookup anything to my vehicles (ie, jumper cables)

 

[Chris142]

Well, the D batteries would be free to me. My father, who is losing memory really bad, picks up packs of batteries every time he goes to Costco. He has a huge bin of unopened battery packs because he forgets he already has them when he's at Costco. Every time I visit, I empty the bin of whatever batteries I need. haha

I'm not sure how legit this is, but this is one of quite a few instances of guys using smaller batteries to charge a car battery. It looks like his setup took 10 minutes to run the current down and charge the battery enough for a start.



A Duracell can easily last 7 years + in storage. I might do a little test and leave me truck lights on while monitoring the battery voltage for when it gets below 12.4 volts or low enough that the engine will not crank over. I'm usually very anal about making sure my electrical components are in working order before driving deep into the boonies, so carrying a free set of Duracell batteries for a rare issue is more appealing than carrying something that needs maintenance, has limited lifespan, and costs a lot more than tape and wires.

If he is that bad he is a danger to others when he is driving. Went through this with my dad. You need to get the ball for memory care rolling now.

 

[atikovi]

If he is that bad he is a danger to others when he is driving. Went through this with my dad. You need to get the ball for memory care rolling now.

I see what you did there.

 

[meep]

heres the thing.... the alkalines charge the starter battery and get enough current in there for one chance to light it off. BUT, it requires that the starter battery is healthy. if the battery doesn’t have any capacity left, or if it’s sulfated, like it’s been at 0 for three days in the cold. Completely flat, it won’t work. I’d get that Amazon thing listed above.

 

[zzyzzx]

 

[MrPlow]

View attachment 37659

OK, stupid me. LOL

I forgot that it is possible to hook up cables to a tree stump and get a jump start. Or maybe if I fished for some electric eels and hooked up the jumper cables for a jump.

I always carry jumpers, but not many things to jump with when deep in the Olympic mountain forest service roads.

 

[MrPlow]

If he is that bad he is a danger to others when he is driving. Went through this with my dad. You need to get the ball for memory care rolling now.

He actually does fine for the vast majority of things and doesn't miss medication times or doctor appointments. He also doesn't get lost driving. For some odd reason though, batteries are hard for him to remember, along with olive oil. He has about 2 years of olive oil and 30 years of batteries stacked up.

This is mostly from a stroke he had years ago and doesn't seem to be progressing much worse at this point.

 

[Nick1994]

Turn on your headlights and drain your battery just enough that it won’t start. Then try it out.

 

[mattd]

You’re crazy if you rely on a bunch of D batteries to start a car while stranded in the woods.

JMO, suck it up and buy a battery pack, even a cheap one, like exampled in this thread.

 

[eljefino]

If you had a stick shift that allowed roll starting (eg not a smart key system) and you ran your car battery completely flat, a bunch of D cells might be enough juice to fire off the field current in the alternator, so you could roll start the car.

Similarly, if you have a 2nd gen prius, you only need a small 12 volt source like a drill battery to fire off the main relay, which engages the 230V-12V inverter system, bringing the car to life.

The lithium jump starters are at the best preservation level when half-charged. Goofy, I know, but it's the laws of physics.