Booster pack problems

[dave j]

Hi all, I have a Clarke booster pack that has been invaluable over the last few years, I haven't used it for a while so thought I would give it a charge to prepare for winter. Problem is though when I plugged it in the charge light blinked briefly but went straight out and it didn't charge. It wont charge at all.

Its totally flat so is no use right now. Has it had it? Anyone had an issue like this before and fixed it? Otherwise I am going to have to buy another.

 

 

 

[doobietoo]

had one did the same.... if you let them go flat they are usually scrap although I have read that if you can charge them slow enough you can get them going again.... not succeeded yet but its still in the garage for the day they bring out a machine that can fix it .....

[Noel Tidybeard]

the battery is like a golf cart or mobility scooter and can be replaced

 

my charger no longer works so it gets charged of a smart charger

[cobblers]

They aren't very well made, as above the battery is just a cheapo little SLA like a mobility scooter. If you've left it  flat for ages it's probably fucked.

 

There might be a fuse in the charger/charging circuit that's blown because of the surge from charging a dead flat battery, or the charger itself could be shafted. Stick a multimeter on the terminals of the charger (if you have one, but they are £3 so no excuse not to!) and see if there's 14-15v coming out of it.

 

Worst case just connect it to a running car for half an hour and it'll charge off the alternator.

[purplebargeken]

Annoyingly I have lost a couple of these starter packs due to forgetting to keep the fuckers charged. I did look at getting another battery but it wasn't worth the hassle. 

 

I might get one of those new fangled ones that were shown on the forum. 

[Des]

Obvious answer would be the fancy modern lithium numbers, third of the size / weight for a given capacity, negligible self discharge so unfussed at sitting on the shelf for ages then happy to deliver all of the amps and voltages whenever you demand, I'll pop up a pic of a fucked piece of shit one later.

[michael1703]

I've got one of these chargers, it has reclaimed lots of batteries which I thought were too far gon, cost £50odd but it's reclaimed at least £300 worth of batteries in the two years I've had it

 

[omegod]

Wouldit be possible to leave these things in the boot on a permanent 12V charge, wire in a spare cig lighter type affair  ?

[oldford]

I've lost the charger to mine, so I set the switch to on and connect a normal battery charger to the main leads.

 

It's not a Clarke one, so yours may be different.

[dollywobbler]

Wouldit be possible to leave these things in the boot on a permanent 12V charge, wire in a spare cig lighter type affair  ?

 

That would certainly work with the older-type ones, but wouldn't be recommended with the new, smaller lithium-ion type as it's not good to keep them at 100%.

[alf892]

I've lost the charger to mine, so I set the switch to on and connect a normal battery charger to the main leads.

 

It's not a Clarke one, so yours may be different.

Yep........I have to do that on my Sealey one now because I used the charger for something else and cooked it. I only use a very old trickle charger but it works OK.

[Formula Autos]

I've managed to revive one in the past, though it was a long process. Basically it involved charging up, running down what power there was in it by connecting an inspection light to the leads, and repeating a dozen or so times (it might even have been more) until it held enough charge. Leaving the LED lights on the front of the Clarke Booster pack itself took days to discharge it, hence using the old-school filament bulb inspection light, which drained it much more quickly.

 

Having said that my previous booster pack (an el-cheapo non-Clarke one) died and couldn't be revived, so this doesn't always work.

 

I've known frost kill them in the past as well, so they're probably best not left in the boot over winter. Mine lives in the understairs cupboard now, rather than the garage, to prolong its life.