Jump Starter - Noco GB50 big enough?

[Kannon Fodda]

My Toyota C-HR is giving me grief. Not driving long enough during lockdown that it's engine battery doesn't get proper charging especially as the Hybrid system keeps cutting in so there is no ruining engine / alternator to top off the engine battery. Dumb system that the Hybrid bit may be full, but the main engine's electronics don't have the juice to start it. So a jump starter is essential for backup.

If I'm going to buy a jump starter I want it to be capable of also doing my PVC (even though a flat battery on that seems unlikely what with the battery master and stuff).

The Noco units seem to be the favoured brand according to a few recent threads. But gosh they are pricey compared to a lot of other brands. The GB70 seems to be recommended for motorhomes, but I wonder if that is because many have the bigger engines in your A Class and RVs? The rain forest has the GB70 out of stock and it's also another £50 compared to the GB50. Whilst it seems accepted the GB40 isn't enough for the diesel, but for the 2.3 130 diesel Ducato 2019 would the GB50 suffice?

Is there an alternative, cheaper make that is tried and tested that would be recommended?

 

[Ernesto]

I have the Noco GB40 1000A for my cars and van as a backup - it will do a 3lt diesel so shoudl be fine for a Ducato
They aren’t the cheapest, but key thing is they dont discharge gradually overtime which means you dont have to keep on charging them up constantly. A flat jump starter is as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike
Can get power to your car normally? A CTek battery conditioner would be ideal solution ?

 

[R32Paul]

We bought a DBPower 600A 18000mAh one which works a treat on both the MH and any cars we have used it on.

 

[Kannon Fodda]

Unfortunately the battery charger / conditioner isn't going to be a solution. Motorhome goes on the drive so the car is out on the road somewhere. That trailing lead for power won't be convenient - a reason why the next car can't be electric yet that would be ideal for the smaller mileage trips I generally do for work.

 

[Clarky]

I think you will find your auxiliary battery is cream crackered.
How do I know?
I have a Lexus with much the same system and have just had to replace mine.
The aux battery isn’t charged in the usual way with the hybrid system, there is no alternator or starter motor.
I did some research on the internet and found the small aux batteries don’t seem to last long.
I ordered a OEM replacement from Tanya Batteries which was delivered in a couple of days. Cost was £174 delivered. There are cheaper alternatives but I wanted an original Yuasa.

Richard.

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[Clarky]

Should have said.....
the Noco GB70 seems to work well and is advised for larger diesel engines on motorhomes.
I got one to start the car when the battery started to fail and it worked well.
On a Toyota/ Lexus you don’t need loads of power to start it as you aren’t cranking an engine only powering a few relays and things so any 12v source will do.

Richard.

 

[Kannon Fodda]

I think you will find your auxiliary battery is cream crackered.
How do I know?
I have a Lexus with much the same system and have just had to replace mine.
The aux battery isn’t charged in the usual way with the hybrid system, there is no alternator or starter motor.
I did some research on the internet and found the small aux batteries don’t seem to last long.
I ordered a OEM replacement from Tanya Batteries which was delivered in a couple of days. Cost was £174 delivered. There are cheaper alternatives but I wanted an original Yuasa.

Richard.

I have come to that conclusion, especially when I have tried to put they C-HR on charge, yet the charger said it was full. And if I haven't driven for 3-4 days, chances are I'll need to jump it. As the car has only done 14k miles in over 3 years, even replacing the battery doesn't fill me with confidence the same thing won't happen again. At moment I'm running around with the old lead-acid leisure battery (lithium upgrade) from the MH in the car boot and jump leads. So it's new battery and a jump starter.

 

[Derbyshire wanderer]

While the Noco 50 would be fine for most situations you will find that the 70 will always do what you need. Well worth the extra cost for being able to start a diesel with a completely discharged battery.

 

[Clarky]

I have come to that conclusion, especially when I have tried to put they C-HR on charge, yet the charger said it was full. And if I haven't driven for 3-4 days, chances are I'll need to jump it. As the car has only done 14k miles in over 3 years, even replacing the battery doesn't fill me with confidence the same thing won't happen again. At moment I'm running around with the old lead-acid leisure battery (lithium upgrade) from the MH in the car boot and jump leads. So it's new battery and a jump starter.

I found the same thing......my ancient charger showed that the battery was fully charged after a short time. I swapped the battery and all is fine again.
The daft thing was, I didn’t even know that the car even had another battery. It was hidden under the floor of the boot. I just assumed the big lithium battery powered everything and that was showing a full charge on the dashboard display.
A bit of YouTube has added a huge amount to my knowledge of hybrids.

Richard.

 

[Revolvor]

We bought a DBPower 600A 18000mAh one which works a treat on both the MH and any cars we have used it on.

I have one of those for a few years. I've charged it periodically and never let it go below 90%. I've never used it to start an engine, but have used the USB function.

A couple of weeks ago, I checked the charge and found it won't switch on. The display lights up when the power supply is connected, but everything else is dead, though I think the battery-start function is showing 12 volts. Whether it would provide the right current, I don't know. Quite disappointing, as it wasn't cheap, but is well out of warranty.

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[Lenny HB]

Kannon Fodda & Clarky are you guys saying that a Hybred is not suitable for us Motorhomers who go away for 6 to 8 weeks a time leaving the car on drive?

A Hybred did have some appeal to me but just gone off the idea.

 

[Clarky]

Kannon Fodda & Clarky are you guys saying that a Hybred is not suitable for us Motorhomers who go away for 6 to 8 weeks a time leaving the car on drive?

A Hybred did have some appeal to me but just gone off the idea.

No, never had a problem before the last few weeks of cold weather.
Like you we leave the car for 5-6 weeks when we go away and it has always started immediately.
This time though it had hardly been used and when it was it was with lights, heater fan, wipers etc.
Left in a cold garage for a week and the small battery, now over 5 yrs old, wasn't happy. We all know batteries don't like cold weather.
Applied a 12v charge and it started straight away but a couple of weeks later the same thing happened.
New battery fitted and all is OK.
At least with a hybrid the auxiliary battery doesn't have to crank over the engine, only supply enough 12v to supply the relays and gubbins (technical term) to allow the main high voltage battery to come on-line.

Richard.

 

[Kannon Fodda]

All the while a vehicle is just sitting there, there will be a drain on the battery from alarm / immobiliser and such like. I'd think any vehicle would struggle with 6 to 8 weeks without the battery having some external charge source. But a fortnight should be doable, and at the moment mine doesn't even want to do a week.

The engine doesn't seem to start in the traditional sense that you hear the starter motor turning it over, it just kicks in, no doubt from the hybrid battery. But the hybrid battery and engine / aux / starter batteries are clearly separate circuits. Seems perhaps odd but the power gauge for the hybrid can never drop to fully empty, the engine will cut in to start charging it, even if you are sitting idle in traffic. But only if the engine is running will that aux battery get an alternator charge, and therein is the problem if your trips are all shorter distance and infrequent. If that aux is dead, there isn't enough power to allow the hybrid systems to initiate.