Power packs

All the AAA trucks now use power packs, but I assume they use an industrial model that charges from the truck’s power port and uses a lead-acid battery. Note the word “assume”. I know not for certain.

As I recall the powerpack option,had a bit better cylinder heads(identified by 2 bumps on the casting I believe and a Rochester 4bbl carb)220 HP vs 195 HP on the stock 283,I dont know the specs on the 265 cid smallblock

TSMB - the AAA trucks are a perfect use for a power pack that gets recharged frequently. Unlike my once in never use in my trunk…

Elsewhere on this forum there’s a discussion about lawsuits because people refuse to do something as simple as check and top off the engine oil, and here’s 3 pages about the best kind of power pack and how to keep it properly charged in the vague event it will ever be needed.

What a diverse group of people we are.

@Ase, I knew a fellow who was going to charge one up(that was the size of a small book) and take it camping to run His coffeemaker or whatever,I assured Him it would not work for that function.

I have a Stanley Fat Max as pictured in a post above. It’s my third Stanley over about a four year period. After the first died before the two year mark, I bought a “fatter” one at Sam’s Club, and took the extended warranty. One year is given, the extra year warranty was something like 10% of the cost, I forget. After less than a year it died. Contacting Stanley, I was told to send it in, not to take it to Sam’s. Sending it cost about half the cost of the jumper box. THEY had to determine if it was bad. Duh, it won’t hold a charge or jump a car. It’s bad. That’s been about a year ago. So far, the replacement has been good. It was actually an updated model, and probably had a newer fresher battery than the one I returned since it was shipped directly from Stanley. It gets used at least once a day, and is plugged in most of the rest of the time. It has a maintainer type charger so it won’t over charge. They do not include an extension cord, and many cords won’t fit the tight plug-in area.

Prior to the Fat Max, I had two or three from Harbor Fright and one from AutoZone. None lasted more than a year, but at least the HF ones were cheap on sale. I even replaced the battery inside one with one of a higher amp rating for about $25.

I have seen the small lithium jumpers that one can stick in a hip pocket with the cables and clamps hanging out. They say they can jump six to eight dead cars on one charge, but when they are done, they are done. No slow down of available jumping power, just sudden death. I also question the possible flammability factor of a lithium battery of that magnitude.

I think an accessory outlet in the trunk that only comes on when the car is running to charge a lead-acid power pack would be the way to go.
Wouldn’t be too difficult to run an accessory line for this purpose.

The last time I got a jump from a AAA guy he told me that they buy expensive ones that are better than consumer grade. Whether he was telling the truth or not, who can tell.

The cycle life on lead acid wont be very good if you deep discharge them,people think those jumpers are magic,but they are not,what became of the the car battery that had a reserve cell pack you could switch to,if the main battery was discharged?(gotta love the old Diehard commercials)

Shadow, I have absolutely no doubt he was telling you the truth. Equipment available in industrial supply chains is very often superior to what’s available to the general public. But it’s also much more expensive.

When I was in industry I was able to buy a great many things from industrial catalogs (the web was nonexistant and then in its placental stages back then) that were not readily available to the general public. My guess is that the ones AAA uses have much greater storage capacity, much more control, protection circuits that don’t exist on consumer units, and can be left plugged into a truck’s auxiliary power port 24/7 without fear of any damages or heat buildup. And the housings are probably almost bombproof. They also come with very long cables of a very thick gage. Consumer units probably wouldn’t last a week on a AAA truck.

I’m guessing. I’ve never owned or driven a tow rig. But I’m confident enough to bet lunch on it.

Guys, I sincerely appreciate all the help and advice. I had a long discussion about power packs with my friend, a fellow retiree with a great deal of technical knowledge himself, today. We talked about the power storage technologies, lead/acid, nickel cadmium, and lithium-ion, and the plusses and minuses. He decided to just rely on AAA. Smart man, he is.

We then sat and spent the rest of the day watching a beaver swim, birds, and a snapping turtle with a shell at least 3 feet in length. Life is truly beautiful.

Having provided this update, I wish with your permission to end the thread and turn your time and focus to more worthy questions. You’re a great bunch. Now let’s help others. My current needs are truly too paltry to waste anymore time on. Unless of course, you know a petite blond with a large trust fund that needs accompaniment… {:smiley:

I have never bought a power pack because I have so infrequently had a dead car that the power pack would have died of old age before I used it. My 16 ’ 4 gauge jumper cables are about 50 years old and got a lot of use when I and all my friends were young and poor but they still do the job. They could be older, I found them on the side of the road. You would be surprised at how many tools a sharp eyed truck driver can spot that way.