# Micro-start portable battery



## Motorhomersimpson (May 9, 2005)

Hi, I have just visited my local motobike shop and was shown this portable battery pack, it is so small/compact but has a lot of power.

It will be useful when camping needing emergency/back-up external power supply, also to start engines with a flat battery, the XP1 will power your lap top or tablet (I was told it will run most items for up to 10 hours), short time recharge. The XP-3 is smaller but doesn't state it will power lap tops but all the same accessories same as the slightly bigger one.

Click the link below to read about it (the Micro-start web site isn't up and running yet) you will need to put in the search box (top right) ..... Micro-Start .... (it won't link direct) - (I have used this dealer for all my motorbike accessories of late and they have always been excellent to deal with if you need to talk to them, friendly and helpful)

>>>Click Here<<<

I have some videos here of the Micro-Start I have found on youtube:

>>>Click Here<<<

And this one:

>>>Click Here<<<

Seems a good idea easy to carry, both units come with a case to protect and keep all the bits in place.

MHS...Rob


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## richardjames (Feb 1, 2006)

Is this it?
>>power pack<<


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

Well, the price should tell you something, and the over-enthusiastic user reports.

The output for jump starting vehicles is quoted at 400A. From a 44W battery pack. 

So I might as well give up now and retire, full-size batteries and chargers are obsolete, this thing does it all.

You can't return it by post if it is faulty by the way.....

I'm not sure if the 'users' are paid for their testimonials or just too embarassed to admit they were suckered into buying one. 

Peter


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## Motorhomersimpson (May 9, 2005)

richardjames said:


> Is this it?
> >>power pack<<


Hi Richard appears to be the same but that may only work on 120v (as it's listed as dollars), I did read somewhere that they (Mirco-Switch) had to get the XP-3 made in Europe because they couldn't find a company in the US that would make them 240v for charging.

I know the one I was shown was for the UK specific.

MHS...Rob


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## richardjames (Feb 1, 2006)

Motorhomersimpson said:


> richardjames said:
> 
> 
> > Is this it?
> ...


The link on your first post does not work for me


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Jump leads are easier and cheaper AND actually work, they can be attached to your leisure battery to start your MH.

So if this gadget is SO good how come we are all still lugging huge great lead acid batteries around in our vehicles.

Snake Oil I reckon :wink:


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## gaspode (May 9, 2005)

Mrplodd said:


> So if this gadget is SO good how come we are all still lugging huge great lead acid batteries around in our vehicles.
> 
> Snake Oil I reckon :wink:


Simple - cost.

Lithium batteries are hugely more efficient than lead acids. They're used extensively on aircraft and racing cars/bikes due to their vastly superior power to weight ratio. If one were fitted to a M/H as a leisure battery it would probably be a third the size and weight of an equivalent lead acid battery. It would have a longer life, be much quicker to charge and immune from spillage and fuming (but not explosions of course :wink: ).

So what the **** are we waiting for?

They would cost £1000+. 8O

I agree that the device in question is blown up out of all proportion and at a measly 44w/h won't last long on any meaningful task - but definitely NOT snake oil.

They are the future - but not quite there yet for M/H use.


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## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

Plus, they have a nasty habit of catching fire. 8O 

tony


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## K9d (Apr 1, 2013)

GEMMY said:


> Plus, they have a nasty habit of catching fire. 8O
> 
> tony


Is this based on the TV report a few days ago about batteries "catching fire", the report was ended with the info that the batteries in question were shorted across the terminals, any battery will react badly to being shorted. 
It was just another stupid media scare story.


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

gaspode said:


> Simple - cost.
> 
> Lithium batteries are hugely more efficient than lead acids. They're used extensively on aircraft and racing cars/bikes due to their vastly superior power to weight ratio. If one were fitted to a M/H as a leisure battery it would probably be a third the size and weight of an equivalent lead acid battery. It would have a longer life, be much quicker to charge and immune from spillage and fuming (but not explosions of course :wink: ).
> 
> ...


Do the math as the Americans say.

The battery is rated at 44Watts.

To give 400A at say 10V would be 4 kilowatts.

Where is the power coming from ????

There's no magic about Lithium and Lithium-Ion batteries, they've been around for years, but high discharge current batteries they are not.

They also have some rather nasty habits, some of which were shown in that documentary, but not all. They are more prone to thermal runaway than all other battery types and in some low-current applications they will literally 'go to sleep' and not produce a discharge current when called upon.

They are banned from almost all aircraft unless very small, this goes back some years to onboard fires well before the Dreamliners were thought of.

They need extremely close voltage control for charging and protection again over-discharge.

Commercially they are not used in many applications as they are expensive, not available in high capacities and need a bundle of extra electronics.

We have done chargers for some large underwater applications, which I cannot go into detail about, but they were vastly over-complex and shelved. Imagine a 110V battery pack X 4 made up of hundreds of individual cells with voltage monitoring applied to EACH CELL, then put four of them into a sub-sea vessel.

They certainly aren't the answer, they are more toxic than Nicad or Lead-Acid as well.

They are not 'vastly more efficient' than other batteries, but they are more compact, lighter and the individual cell voltage of 3 volts means less intercell connections in a given size of battery.

Peter


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## gaspode (May 9, 2005)

listerdiesel said:


> Do the math as the Americans say.


Yes Peter, I "did the math", here's what I said about the item linked by the O/P.......


gaspode said:


> I agree that the device in question is blown up out of all proportion and at a measly 44w/h won't last long on any meaningful task





listerdiesel said:


> Commercially they are not used in many applications as they are expensive


Precisely the point I was trying to make surely?

My comments also addressed the suggestion that lithium battery technology is "snake oil" which quite clearly it is not (although the marketing spiel for the device in question may well contain some "verbal lubricant"). :lol: :lol: :lol:



gaspode said:


> They are the future - but not quite there yet for M/H use.


Have a read here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery


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