Lithium jump starters: What's the point of a Cigarette lighter adapter?

[JEDI]

I have one of those small lithium jump starters. (10k mAh battery/max 400A)
it came with a male cigarette lighter adapter which plugs into my car's cigarette lighter.

the cigarette lighter plug in my 4 cylinder car has a 10A fuse.
jump starting a car is like 300A+!
no way can i jump start my car via the cigarette lighter.

so What's the point of a cigarette lighter adapter?

 

[pauldun170]

I have one of those small lithium jump starters. (10k mAh battery/max 400A)
it came with a male cigarette lighter adapter which plugs into my car's cigarette lighter.

the cigarette lighter plug in my 4 cylinder car has a 10A fuse.
jump starting a car is like 300A+!
no way can i jump start my car via the cigarette lighter.

so What's the point of a cigarette lighter adapter?

Got one of those as a gift several years ago.
Sits on the shelf still in the box waiting to be re-gifted.
Never used it

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Are you sure the Cigarette Lighter adapter isn't to simply be able to run low power workloads off the battery back? My Noco has cigarette lighter adapters for two purposes.

1. Charge the pack off a 12V source.
2. Run 12V accessories like a cell phone charger or similar off the battery pack.

 

[Motostu]

It might be a way for you to maintain the settings in your car when you have to change the battery?

 

[kt]

I have one of those small lithium jump starters. (10k mAh battery/max 400A)
it came with a male cigarette lighter adapter which plugs into my car's cigarette lighter.

the cigarette lighter plug in my 4 cylinder car has a 10A fuse.
jump starting a car is like 300A+!
no way can i jump start my car via the cigarette lighter.

so What's the point of a cigarette lighter adapter?

It's used for charging your jumper battery pack when your car is running off the alternator. RTFM.

 

[VirtualLarry]

It's used for charging your jumper battery pack when your car is running off the alternator. RTFM.

No, they DO sell models that don't ship with normal battery jumper cables, that claim to be able to give you a jump via the cig lighter. I assume that they just trickle-change the battery through the cig adapter, which can't be very useful.

Mostly "AS SEEN ON T.V.".

 

[mindless1]

The vast majority of those Li-Ion jump packs are severely overrated, and "IF" they can even deliver 100A or more (at a cranking voltage, current at short circuit is meaningless), need a cutout circuit to keep from damaging themselves after a few seconds cranking.

Thus the best way to use them is on a drained, not electro-chemically compromised, dead battery, where you put the jump pack on and let it get some charge back into the primary battery, waiting as long as your patience allows (minutes or more).

This can work through a lighter outlet if it isn't terribly corroded, and of course is electrically connected in your off or aux vehicle ignition switch state (keeping fans, lights, radio off etc), but obviously not as well as having a higher amp capable direct connection to the battery through clamps.

10k mAh battery/max 400A

So 4 x 18650 cells in it, or equivalent flat packs. No real need for direct connection to the battery for something that low capacity, it's going to be one of those "one shot" types where the only hope for all but the smallest engines in warm weather, is getting charge back into the primary battery, or of course if it wasn't very drained in the first place.

It's easy to market the Li-Ion for small size and low cost but then you get low performance. It costs roughly 3X as much to get same true capacity from one as just using a SLA battery instead, but can still be handy to recharge a phone, keep vehicle memory when swapping the primary battery, or long lasting flashlight for emergencies if it has one built in.

 

[MrSquished]

The vast majority of those Li-Ion jump packs are severely overrated, and "IF" they can even deliver 100A or more (at a cranking voltage, current at short circuit is meaningless), need a cutout circuit to keep from damaging themselves after a few seconds cranking.

Thus the best way to use them is on a drained, not electro-chemically compromised, dead battery, where you put the jump pack on and let it get some charge back into the primary battery, waiting as long as your patience allows (minutes or more).

This can work through a lighter outlet if it isn't terribly corroded, and of course is electrically connected in your off or aux vehicle ignition switch state (keeping fans, lights, radio off etc), but obviously not as well as having a higher amp capable direct connection to the battery through clamps.




So 4 x 18650 cells in it, or equivalent flat packs. No real need for direct connection to the battery for something that low capacity, it's going to be one of those "one shot" types where the only hope for all but the smallest engines in warm weather, is getting charge back into the primary battery, or of course if it wasn't very drained in the first place.

It's easy to market the Li-Ion for small size and low cost but then you get low performance. It costs roughly 3X as much to get some true capacity from one as just using a SLA battery instead, but can still be handy to recharge a phone, keep vehicle memory when swapping the primary battery, or long lasting flashlight for emergencies if it has one built in.

I've had this thing for almost a year https://www.lowes.com/pd/Schumacher...kh2mLL_IPmHqOIfjhIcaAv48EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

It has saved me a couple times, including once when the battery was dead enough to the point it wouldn't even attempt to turn in the slightest.

 

[JEDI]

I've had this thing for almost a year https://www.lowes.com/pd/Schumacher...kh2mLL_IPmHqOIfjhIcaAv48EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

It has saved me a couple times, including once when the battery was dead enough to the point it wouldn't even attempt to turn in the slightest.

interesting.. 800A peak/400A cranking

now i have to check the docs to see what the cranking power of my 400A jump starter. (i assume the 400A is peak since they usually market the biggest #)

 

[mindless1]

I've had one of these since about 2003, got a new $37 battery for it around '14:

Xantrex XPower Powerpack 400 Plus

DC-to-AC power onverter/air compressor

www.crutchfield.com

However the inverter isn't very powerful, the inflator slow, the flashlight dim (incandescent, though I could change that if worth the bother, still enough to see what you're doing), so it's really just a box with a built in charging circuit for a 20Ah SLA battery.

Since I have a separate battery charger for other purposes, if I had to do it over again, I'd just get the same battery that my lawn tractor uses, throw it in a plastic ammo box, then use the jumper cables I have in the vehicle anyway.

 

[mindless1]

interesting.. 800A peak/400A cranking

now i have to check the docs to see what the cranking power of my 400A jump starter. (i assume the 400A is peak since they usually market the biggest #)

It's probably around 1/3rd to 1/2 that in ideal conditions, far less when cold.

Project Farm did a recent review of a few larger than that. Keep in mind when watching, that if the voltage drops too much, it may still be able to crank but not fire spark plugs.

 

[shortylickens]

its a power source for gadgets.

You cannot jump start thru your cars cig lighter. thats not how hit works. That port is a power OUTPUT, not an input.

And it doesnt matter cuz the cords are way too thin to provide that kind of current safely. Thats why the jump starters and jumper cables are big and have those metal teeth. Lots current.

Do Cigarette Lighter Jump Starters Work?

Cigarette lighter jump starters aren't really jump starters at all, but whether they actually work is a different question.

www.lifewire.com

.

 

[sdifox]

its a power source for gadgets.

You cannot jump start thru your cars cig lighter. thats not how hit works. That port is a power OUTPUT, not an input.

And it doesnt matter cuz the cords are way too thin to provide that kind of current safely. Thats why the jump starters and jumper cables are big and have those metal teeth. Lots current.

Do Cigarette Lighter Jump Starters Work?

Cigarette lighter jump starters aren't really jump starters at all, but whether they actually work is a different question.

www.lifewire.com

.

Your standard cigarette lighter is limited to 5A anyway.

Also, op's dongle is a male so it is for charging the battery pack.

 

[mindless1]

^ Typical lighter outlet used to be 15A, some moved to 10A, but nothing I'm aware of is as low as 5A except possibly an aux outlet instead of the primary.

Even so, at 5A you can still get a useful charge into a battery that'll take a charge... just takes longer. Ignoring charging inefficiencies, if it was going to take 300A for 6 seconds to start a vehicle, that's 6 minutes to put charge in. If the more typical 15A, only 2 minutes.