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Portable Battery Charger Recommendation

I

itznuthin

Member
I have a 2016 RT and I always ride and camp in remote areas. My battery seems fine (but who really knows). Rather than replace it on a schedule, I'd rather carry a charging unit. This way I have a device with me I can also use to charge my cell phone, Kindle, etc. while traveling. If I cannot start my bike I can hook up the portable battery charger and jump it. I see a lot of these units on Amazon, but none seem to have the connections I want.

I have an SAE cable strung from my battery that I use with my plug-in charger when my bike is in my garage. I would like to buy a portable charging unit that has an SAE cable option so I can plug it into the existing SAE cable attached to my battery. This way, if I ever need to use it I won't have to pull my battery out. I can't seem to find any with SAE cables. Anyone use one of these devices? Any recommendations? Tried to do a search on this topic but couldn't find anything.

Thanks, Don
 
It sounds like what you are looking for is actually a portable battery booster/jumper, not charger. Boosters need heavier cables than trickle chargers, so you wouldn‘t use the existing cable/plug for the trickle charger.

If it’s a booster you’re after, I highly recommend the NOCO GB-series.
 
There's at least one thread in the Similar Threads pane below that discusses portable battery chargers.
 
If you are trying to jump start you will need a heavier connection that the SAE plug. The SAE plug is only good for maybe 15 amps so you won't do much other that do a slow charge through it. If you have time, overnight you can buy a Battery Tender with an SAE plug but they will charge maybe a couple amps depending on the model.
 
I have a smallish Zero Gravity. Never used it on my bike, but it has started cars with no problem.
 
PGlaves said:
Look at what "Zero Gravity" has to offer. I carry their LiIon battery booster and have hardwired the harness on both of our G310s.

https://www.techbatterysolutions.co...kU1UBcJxjTm5br6nunuCqs9B30H8JRvxoCGEcQAvD_BwE
Click to expand...

Paul, this is what I was looking for. Another response said that I wouldn't be able to use my SAE connector that is attached to my battery for my trickle charger. He said that connection couildn't handle jumping the battery. What do you mean by "hardwiring the harness" to your G310. Is this something that came with the Zero Gravity. I'm clueless when it comes to this stuff. Thanks, Don
 
PoorUB said:
If you are trying to jump start you will need a heavier connection that the SAE plug. The SAE plug is only good for maybe 15 amps so you won't do much other that do a slow charge through it. If you have time, overnight you can buy a Battery Tender with an SAE plug but they will charge maybe a couple amps depending on the model.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I had no idea that a device to jump a dead battery needed a different connection than my trickle charger.
 
ITZNUTHIN said:
Thanks, I had no idea that a device to jump a dead battery needed a different connection than my trickle charger.
Click to expand...

The more amperage transfer the larger the wire needs to be to carry the load. Trickle charge is minimal amperage draw while a dead battery amperage pull would be a small wire melter.
OM
 
Omega Man said:
The more amperage transfer the larger the wire needs to be to carry the load. Trickle charge is minimal amperage draw while a dead battery amperage pull would be a small wire melter.
OM
Click to expand...

In other words, a trickle charger (as the name suggests) is adding a small amount of current to your battery. Because the current is only trickling in, a small gauge wire will handle it. The trickle charger is effective at charging your battery despite its minimal current, because it typically has a long duration of time (usually days/weeks) to charge it.

When you have a dead battery on the road, you usually don’t have time to trickle charge your battery. You need to boost it quickly so that you can get the engine started, get back on the road, and let the alternator do its work of recharging the battery. When boosting (or jumping), you are really just trying to give your starter enough current to operate and get the engine started again. You’re not trying to recharge the battery.

Your starter draws a LOT of current but for a brief period of time. In order to get that current to the starter at the rate it is demanding it (i.e. quickly), you need to use a much thicker/heavier gauge wire. Surely you have seen and likely used old-fashioned jumper cables - - big heavy duty wires, right?

In a nutshell, that is why your tiny trickle charger cable won’t work for this application.
 
ITZNUTHIN said:
Paul, this is what I was looking for. Another response said that I wouldn't be able to use my SAE connector that is attached to my battery for my trickle charger. He said that connection couildn't handle jumping the battery. What do you mean by "hardwiring the harness" to your G310. Is this something that came with the Zero Gravity. I'm clueless when it comes to this stuff. Thanks, Don
Click to expand...

The starter will draw maybe 50 or more amps. So a much heavier connection to the battery is needed than for heated gear or battery charging at only a few amps. The Jump start pack comes with a set of clamps that plug into the unit. But they require accessing the battery posts. This may mean remove the seat, or a plastic panel, or more. But they sell as an accessory what they call a "Clampless Starting Harness". It is two wires, at least 10 gauge and maybe 8 gauge. The harness has two ring terminals to connect to the battery posts and a special connector on the other end that plugs into the jump start pack where the clamps would otherwise plug in. The positive lead is also equipped with a big diode allowing current to flow from the jump start battery to the bike/car but not the other way. They come in at least two different lengths and the connector varies for which AntiGravity unit you purchase.

See: https://antigravitybatteries.com/productline/accessories/micro-start/jump-starting/

I have one of the 16" harnesses wired to the battery in each of our G310s. If I need to jump either bike I just plug the harness connector into the jump start pack.

As an added feature the jump battery pack also has a USB port so if you screw up and run your phone down you can operate and charge your phone.
 
I carry the same Anti Gravity jump starter Paul Glaves shows. I purchased mine direct from the company because there's a few cheap copies out there.
https://antigravitybatteries.com/productline/micro-starts/

If I have to use it to jump start the bikes I'll use the provided alligator clips.
If you don't want to carry the alligator clips they sell a heavy duty pig tail that you leave connected to your battery all the time.
https://antigravitybatteries.com/productline/accessories/battery/

This picture shows my XP-3 and jumper cables I used to carry.
XP-3 Anti Gravity (2).jpg
 
I like the NOCO GB products because in addition to multiple USB and other charging ports, it has a built in flashlight as well (with various emergency strobe options.)

The optional NOCO GB accessory cable takes it a step further by including an SAE plug adapter. That way you can also attach your trickle charger, without having to have two sets of cables attached to your battery.

https://no.co/gbc009

https://no.co/products/power/jumpstarters

.
 
I have the smallest Antigravity Micro Start that can do everything from jump start cars to charging phones. It sounds like this is what you’re looking for.

I rarely carry the Micro Start these days, as my 2016 RT has multiple Powerlet sockets, and I have a pigtail connector sticking from under the seat. There’s also a USB connection in the right glove box. Charging smaller devices on the road hasn’t been a problem. Remembering to charge them... well, that’s a different story :)

YMMV.
 
Sincere Thanks

I want to thank all of you who responded. I really appreciate the knowledge you shared. I clearly didn't understand a few key facts, but I do now. I'll be ordering the AntiGravity Micro Start EP-3.
 
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