NOCO Battery Jump Starter - Any Good?

[Still Afloat]

My bigger boat with a 115 Evinrude uses two Marine cranking batteries. One for the engine and the second for accessories like the fish finders, nav lights, etc. If the main cranking battery were to go dead I have a set of jumper cables in the boat. A battery switch would be a good upgrade.

Just don’t get the idea of jump starting with your LiFe trolling motor batteries as most are not rated for cranking current.

 

[airshot]

This posting got me thinking....I have other toys besides my boat...a side x side atv...these newer electronic ignition engines need a good charge to activate the ignition system, pull starts/ pushes won't happen without at least 12.4 volts. Been an issue for a few years now that many don't realize. Even low batteries won't activate the ignition system. This thought makes me wonder what type of systems these newer outboards might have ?? Read your owners manual carefully !!

 

[airshot]

My bigger boat with a 115 Evinrude uses two Marine cranking batteries. One for the engine and the second for accessories like the fish finders, nav lights, etc. If the main cranking battery were to go dead I have a set of jumper cables in the boat. A battery switch would be a good upgrade.

Just don’t get the idea of jump starting with your LiFe trolling motor batteries as most are not rated for cranking current.

If my start battery goes down, I would use my house battery which is still agm. However you bring up a very good point !! My reading has shown the the LifePo4 manfgrs are working on a high load so it can be used to start, but I would certainly want to ve absolutely positive before I used one.....mistakes on any type of lithium battery quickly becomes a very hot topic !!

 

[KMixson]

I have a NOCO GBX75 that I use to jump diesels at work up to 7 liters. These diesels have two Group 31 batteries, and this jump starter has no problem starting the diesel engine.

 

[LDUBS]

I've also wondered what the chances are of starting any motor bigger than about 25 HP with a hunk of clothes line. Don't think the odds are in our favor.

As for carrying a jump start boxe, think that's a pretty good idea. Although a decent set of oars onboard isn't a bad idea either.

A year or so ago an elderly relative asked me to start his truck for him after it sat all winter with a dead battery. He had this cheesy looking smallish jump starter unit. Wish could remember the name. It was a name brand. Schumacher maybe. Told him this is a waste of time. I'll jump it with my truck. He said, NO, this ALWAYS works! OK Tom if you say so. Guess what? That 360 ci engine with an old dead battery spun over just fine and started right up! I've not had a lot of luck with these things, but if you buy the right one they seem to work really well. That said, you gotta remember to keep the thing plugged in when not using and of course add it to your laundry list of stuff to put in the boat when you head out.

Seems like though this may be overkill. Is it that hard to flag down another boat for a tow in?

I've towed plenty of guys broken down. Refuse payment & instead tell them to return the favor to someone else sometime. I have a TM battery I can use if the starter battery dies. If I didn't, I think a jump starter would be a good thing. Might mean someone wouldn't have to interrupt their day to tow me back to a ramp that could be miles away.

 

[flatheadsteve]

Noco makes good stuff I wouldn't hesitate to purchase. I run a noco on board charger on both boats. I have a lot of stuff on my cranking battery on the big boat( lights, radio, 10" chart plotter, pumps for livewell, baitwell and wash down, led lights for night fishing etc) I keep a set of jumper cables on board that reach from the trolling motor battery to the starting battery just in case.

 

[Still Afloat]

This posting got me thinking....I have other toys besides my boat...a side x side atv...these newer electronic ignition engines need a good charge to activate the ignition system, pull starts/ pushes won't happen without at least 12.4 volts. Been an issue for a few years now that many don't realize. Even low batteries won't activate the ignition system. This thought makes me wonder what type of systems these newer outboards might have ?? Read your owners manual carefully !!

Depends on the motor. I know the EFI Suzuki motors under 30hp are designed to pull start or crank start. Seems like the Zuki manual said something along the lines that the first pull or two charges the system so it should start on the second or third pull. I think the smaller Mercs in the same class have a similar feature but, I’m not 100% sure on that.

 

[Still Afloat]

If my start battery goes down, I would use my house battery which is still agm. However you bring up a very good point !! My reading has shown the the LifePo4 manfgrs are working on a high load so it can be used to start, but I would certainly want to ve absolutely positive before I used one.....mistakes on any type of lithium battery quickly becomes a very hot topic !!

Noco has a few LiFe cranking batteries. I use the NLP30 in the small boat and it‘s working out quite well. Here’s a few specs from the Noco site.

Battery Chemistry​

Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4)

Battery Capacity​

8 Amp-Hours / 99.84 Watt-Hours

Lead-Acid Equivalent​

32 Amp-Hours

Starting Current​

700 Amps (Peak)

BCI Size​

30

 

[airshot]

I've towed plenty of guys broken down. Refuse payment & instead tell them to return the favor to someone else sometime. I have a TM battery I can use if the starter battery dies. If I didn't, I think a jump starter would be a good thing. Might mean someone wouldn't have to interrupt their day to tow me back to a ramp that could be miles away.

I agree with your reasoning to carry one, however, after thinking on this for some time and going back thru my 60 years of being a boat owner, I can remember only one time I have had a dead battery. Yes, I do go overboard on maintenence and have always carried two batteries when I have had a bigger motor with electric start. I check my batteries often and do the maintenence needed. So now I need to consider, why should I spend the money on a jump starter that I could have used one time in 60 years ?? To each his own, I respect people for doing things to prepare for emergencies. Guess I already have the dead battery scenerio covered, don't need the extra weight of another.

 

[LDUBS]

I agree with your reasoning to carry one, however, after thinking on this for some time and going back thru my 60 years of being a boat owner, I can remember only one time I have had a dead battery. Yes, I do go overboard on maintenence and have always carried two batteries when I have had a bigger motor with electric start. I check my batteries often and do the maintenence needed. So now I need to consider, why should I spend the money on a jump starter that I could have used one time in 60 years ?? To each his own, I respect people for doing things to prepare for emergencies. Guess I already have the dead battery scenerio covered, don't need the extra weight of another.

If you have two batteries, why would you need a jump starter? That is why I don't have one.

 

[Still Afloat]

If you have two batteries, why would you need a jump starter? That is why I don't have one.

Yes, it”s kind of like wearing a belt and suspenders at the same time.

 

[jethro]

This posting got me thinking....I have other toys besides my boat...a side x side atv...these newer electronic ignition engines need a good charge to activate the ignition system, pull starts/ pushes won't happen without at least 12.4 volts. Been an issue for a few years now that many don't realize. Even low batteries won't activate the ignition system. This thought makes me wonder what type of systems these newer outboards might have ?? Read your owners manual carefully !!

What's your SxS? My 2019 Ski-Doo snowmobile has a 900 fuel injected turbo and I can rope start it with a dead battery. Maybe they make the sleds able to do this because you can die if you can't start the machine in 30 below.

 

[airshot]

What's your SxS? My 2019 Ski-Doo snowmobile has a 900 fuel injected turbo and I can rope start it with a dead battery. Maybe they make the sleds able to do this because you can die if you can't start the machine in 30 below.

Mine is a Kymco, but Honda, Polaris and others make these high tech fuel injected electronic ignituon systems that require a good strong 12 battery to fire up. Many on the trails find there engine stios and won't fire back up only to find there battery dropped below 12.2 volts. On some Honda's the transmission is electric, if it drops below 12 volts you can't shift, not even into neutral so it can be pushed.. Just curuous if any of the new fancy outboards had these issues.

 

[flatheadsteve]

Mine is a Kymco, but Honda, Polaris and others make these high tech fuel injected electronic ignituon systems that require a good strong 12 battery to fire up. Many on the trails find there engine stios and won't fire back up only to find there battery dropped below 12.2 volts. On some Honda's the transmission is electric, if it drops below 12 volts you can't shift, not even into neutral so it can be pushed.. Just curuous if any of the new fancy outboards had these issues.

I have a new yamaha 150sho and we ran the starting battery down to 11.9v one night running livewell pumps and the radio using the trolling motor to go from spot to spot so outboard never charged it the whole night. It fired right up no problem.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

Almost needed to pull those jumper cables out, yesterday AM. I'll post that saga latter, tonight. Heading out to battle the rain to get a little more fishing in.