Boating, Tech
Testing Lithium-Ion Engine Jumpers
Most boaters will not experience the benefits of a Lithium Ion main battery bank any time soon, but nearly instant gratification is possible with a portable Li Ion charger pack, some of which can even jump start a small diesel engine. Brands and models are proliferating like fruit flies, but I’m particularly keen on the WeeGo Jump Starter Pro above, which I’ve been testing for a couple of months. It is a veritable Swiss Army knife of an on- or offboard power source…
While the top photo shows the complete WeeGo Pro kit, this photo illustrates how hard it can work. Since one of the USB ports outputs 2.1 amps, I was able to top up both my iPad Mini and Samsung Note4 using the included split cable with Lightning and micro USB connectors. And remember that iPads don’t like some USB chargers and few power packs come with Apple connectors (apparently because you-know-who makes licensing difficult). Meanwhile I’m using the 1 amp USB port to top up that small (FLIR gifted) power pack that could have yet another USB device charging off it. But the particularly useful thing for boaters trying to use a laptop on a 12v boat is the WeeGo’s 19v (and 12v) outputs. This could save you having to buy and manage a dedicated or universal 12v laptop charger for your boat. Unfortunately though, laptop power connectors are extremely varied and none of WeeGo’s adaptor tips work with my current HP Pavilion (though WeeGo is looking into alternative sources). The Pro’s 18000 mAh Li Ion battery would power that setup for quite a while, I believe, and you could plug its 12v charger into the boat and thus keep everything continuously topped up with the WeeGo ready to swing into jump start action.
About Author
Comments are closed