Lorry Battery subject, best 'Booster'

lisan

lisan

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My old Daf has had issues starting in this frost and my poor lil petrol car will not jump start it. So was looking at buying one of those power packs to jump start it.

Any recommendations for one that will start a big vehicle that will not cost the earth?

Thanks
 
ha! must be the time of year... everyone seems to be having battery problems!

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I recently bought a reasonable one from Machinemart,for about £100. I am surprised you cant jump start. You need to connect the jump leads and run your car at a fast tickover for about 15 minutes. Dont just connect up and try straight away.Also ,contrary to popular belief,a quick shot of easystart in the air intake is not going to harm your engine.
 
Mike007, my car battery really is a pathetic little one! Could'nt get it going Wed, but YO'd dad but his diesel golf and it went first time! But don't like to rely on other people. Also bought some easystart too and its been firing up on the first turn, but just a hassle keep running it every day!
 
If you google, machinemart and look at their catalogue,they have a range of chargers and boosters. Roadrunner 8/13,s can be swines to start in the cold. It is the Cummins engine that is fitted.Is that what your one is?
 
ill be intersted to see the replys to this as im having the same problem.

i brought the best battery pack i could from halfords but it didnt even touch it!!

i now jump mine from my 1.3 diesel little run around, it takes about 10 minutes of charging first but then jumps it fine.
 
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My old Daf has had issues starting in this frost and my poor lil petrol car will not jump start it. So was looking at buying one of those power packs to jump start it.

Any recommendations for one that will start a big vehicle that will not cost the earth?

Thanks

[/ QUOTE ] most of the jumper packs only have a tiny batery inside and are fine for starting small cars but will struggle with bigger diesels you can get commercial ones but they are 100s of pounds, I have a CTEK xs7000 charger which is fully automatic and can be left on all the time so it keeps the battery fully charged its best because it fully charges and conditions it,, a boost charger is ok in an emergency but slow long charging will be best.. hope this helps
 
My battery booster pack was from Machinemart, cost about £150 but you can flick the switch between 12 and 24 volts so it's a bit more versatile than the 12 volters.
 
If it's because your battery is getting low and not used very often and IF you are near an electric power point invest in a Optimate.
I have one on my motorbike battery which is small and use it on my large 2.1 Diesel Mahindra Jeep battery, keeps them both in tip top condition,fully charged and ready to go and tests the battery every hour. About £34 from shops, worth it's weight in gold!
It is NOT afull on powerful battery charger or starter as such, it is a trickle charger so don't expect it to charge up with in a short time, it is designed to be kept on the battery 24/7, either or or off the vehicle and is also an optimiser and stops the plates sulphating on little used batteries.
Have a look, worth investigating if your battery is not used very often.

http://www.gear4bikes.com/acatalog/Battery_Chargers.html


Hope this helps, Oz
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Mike007 mine is a Roadrunner with Cummins engine - any tips for starting it?! I replaced both batteries last year, have had an isolator switch fitted and still have to use EasyStart every time now the temp's have dropped. It actually has some small 'choke' type system installed which pumps EasyStart type of substance through to engine so I have to plug that once first before starting engine.
 
As others have said, get a decent 12v/24v charger-booster from Machinemart. Keep the battery well topped up and give the lorry a decent run. Short trips and neglect kill them, cold weather also makes them poorly.

They aren't idiot-proof as ours got fried by a friend who borrowed it
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I would reccomend that your mechanic services the injectors at some stage. They wear out and require reconditioning. Its not a particularly big or expensive job. The main thing though is to run it regularly in cold weather. Daily if possible. If you can ,a trickle charger continualy keeping the battery up ,is a fantastic thing. Otherwise a good booster charger is very handy. ALWAYS SWITCH IT OFF BEFORE DISCONECTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Batterys give off a very explosive gas and any sort of spark can cause a serious explosion.Dont be afraid to use easy start if necessary,but dont use too much.
 
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Did you use heavy duty jump leads?

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Yes, very heavy duty ones. Have always managed to start it first time with a jumpstart from a normal battery, but my car only has a pathetic little one!

must have been the rubbish car battery as the yard owners dads diesel car starts it first time
 
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As others have said, get a decent 12v/24v charger-booster from Machinemart. Keep the battery well topped up and give the lorry a decent run. Short trips and neglect kill them, cold weather also makes them poorly.

They aren't idiot-proof as ours got fried by a friend who borrowed it
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Was planning on giving it a decent run to Somerford and back but bloomin weather has scuppered that one!

Had it to Barton and Osbaldeston this week and will take it the Long way round to the lesson at Barbaras tomm and get a booster ordered from Machine Mart!
 
I read a similar thread on here yesterday and felt terribly guilty cos I have done the classic horse owner thing and let my lorry (a VW LT35) stand there for about 3 weeks without exercising it, through all the cold weather....
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So I went out today fully expecting to have to get my friendly local (very local!) lorry mechanic out to help me start it but bless it, little lorry started fine
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Not first time but I wouldnt expect that, but started well and ran beautifully on our little trip to town and back
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Which makes me even more gutted I have to sell it
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but at least I can honestly say how totally reliable it is
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I had the same prob
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so today I went out, and brought two brand new batteries, had an Isolator fitted and BINGO
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lorry checked over and all o.k
happy happy happy
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no more kicking tyres cus it won't start.... for now anyhow
 
Ive worried about this too, I cant get my wagon off the yard to go anywhere because of the awful weather. The yard is an ice rink and the lane is just as bad. I started it last week and moved it backwards and forth to make sure my brakes hadnt stuck (Iveco) couldnt risk anything else, and let it run for about 20 mins. Does this drain the battery more??
 
Running it for 20 mins should put back some charge ok, but if you want to be sure the batterys are ok and you have electric avaliable where its parked you could get a battery charger and give them a overnight trickle charge , If you only have a 12volt car charger disconect one of the leads and charge one at a time, remember to turn off the charger before you disconect it , fully charging will help extend the life of them also good idea to charge the leisure battery if your living has one
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Thanks for that, didnt really know what to do for the best. More snow today so it looks like its going to be stood for even longer now. Not sure YO would appreciate me hooking up to their electricity all night so looks like its fingers crossed on it starting. Weather really getting me down now, I advertised my wagon as Im just not using it in October, no real interest but got 2 calls this week. Had to put both of them off as I cant get the wagon off the yard. Ah well
Thanks again.
 
Ssuming the vehicle starts within about ten seconds, No. it doesnt drain the battery and will certainly have put charge in.Providing of course it is running at a fast tickover and the charge light is out.
 
I have two solar panels that sit in the front window facing south and you plug in like a mobile phone charger to something connecting to the battery (not sure of the intricacies as my friend suggested it and wired it up for me. They are about a 12 by 9 inches and I have never had any problems with starting my lorry since I have had them. They cost about £80 for the two.
 
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