For those who do not know, to start the engine of a conventional car, a battery with a capacity of about 60 Ah is required. Such a battery is capable of producing inrush current in the region of 500-600 A, although for a short time, but this time is enough to start the car. A car starter consumes an average of about 150-200 A.
It happens that in winter a car cannot be started because the battery capacity from frost is reduced, and the engine freezes so much that it is very difficult to crank it, not something to start.
One author suggested that in such cases, use a device called powerbank. It is designed to power various electrical devices, with it you can charge tablets, mobile phones and other equipment. Such a device is a small battery, as well as an inverter. As a battery, a lithium-ion or lithium-polymer component is used here. This allows you to make the battery as light and compact as possible, which can not be said about lead acid. All this is in a small, beautiful building. In appearance, one can’t even imagine what this miniature and elegant device is capable of.
Materials and tools for starting the engine from powerbank:
Need to buy a powerbank, the author of this device cost $ 65. In principle, nothing more is required, the device already has all the necessary outputs, it only needs to be connected to the car. The connection is due to the powerful terminals that come with the device. Using these terminals, a powerbank is connected instead of a regular battery.
Engine starting process:
Step one. Powerbank device specifications and features
Inside the device there is a powerful polymer battery of 12 volts, the capacity of which is only 12 A / h. In theory, the capacity of such a battery is too small to be able to start the engine.But the peculiarity of the lithium-polymer battery is that, despite such a small capacity and size, it is able to produce a huge inrush current. So, for example, to start the engine, a powerbank can give out 200 amperes of starting current without problems, but this is far from the limit, its maximum is as much as 400 amperes! And such power can even be in your pocket.
Another interesting point is the charging of the device, unlike a conventional car battery, to charge a powerbank you need a power source of only 5V. There are also two 5V outputs, one on 1A and one on 2.1A. In the presence of a charge indicator of the built-in battery, as well as a powerful flashlight with three modes, working on the microcontroller. In addition, there is a direct output from the built-in battery.
So that the device can be connected to the place of the battery, powerful clamps are included. There is also a charger for a 220V network, a USB cable for charging mobile phones, and a wire that allows you to charge a powerbank from the car’s cigarette lighter.
Externally, the powerbank has a very cool design, bright and beautiful colors.
Step Two We connect powerbank to the car
Before connecting the device was tested, namely, the load was checked, which it can withstand without harming itself. The device was loaded for 5 minutes with a load of 800 watts and at the same time it survived perfectly. If you close the device, it still will not burn, since it has built-in protection. There are diodes on the terminals that do not allow current to flow back into the device and thereby protect it.
To connect the device, you need to disconnect the standard battery and connect to the powerbank terminals, observing the polarity. According to the author, such a power source rotates the engine and starts it without any problems. In total, 5 attempts were made to start the engine, and this was possible without any problems. With such a load, the device feels quite normal, there is only a slight heating. According to the author, $ 65 is not such a large sum for the acquisition of such an interesting and useful thing.
Step Three Device Testing Video
In this video you can see how the device connects and works.
Cost: ~ 3249