My ford/newholland 555e will not start if the temperature is or has been below 50 degrees. If we are not by a charger/booster we are SOL. I bought one of those booster gadjets from the jungle store and thought I would share my experience. If you're stuck out in the field and need extra power to jump your battery here is something that worked for me. It was about a hundred and fifty bucks. Maybe a little less. I charged it with my smart phone charger until it had 100%. I connected it to the battery and pressed the "boost" button. I heard a relay click and boost was displayed on the readout. The 90 horse engine busted right off just like it was plugged into the jumper. The display still read 100% charge like it never happened so I would imagine it would do the same thing many times between charging. Hope it helps someone else.
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Battery booster
- Thread starter Mike-G
- Start date
Shimmy1
Senior Member
I bought a Goodall a couple weeks ago. Used it on my ISX yesterday. It had been sitting in cold storage for about a month, not plugged in. Hooked it on, it cranked like I had just shut it off hot. Expensive, but if you need a jump pack, this one will light you up.
1693TA
Senior Member
I have this one since 2020. It works well and I just replaced the AGM battery a couple of days ago:
cloreautomotive.com
Not as good as the Goodall unit for sure but it serves the purpose well.
JNC770R 1700 Peak Amp Premium 12 Volt Jump Starter - Clore Automotive
Power. It’s the calling card of a Jump-N-Carry. Absolutely reliable, get-it-done without question power. The JNC770R is no exception. Truly bringing power to the people, its Clore PROFORMER battery has been specifically developed to perform the jump starting application. The JNC770R is designed...
cloreautomotive.com
Not as good as the Goodall unit for sure but it serves the purpose well.
Welder Dave
Senior Member
The lithium battery boosters work really well. They're nice because of how small and light they are. The only negative is they aren't very good if you have to use glow plugs for a while. They only provide power for 10 or 15 seconds at a time. Boosters with an AGM battery would be better if you have to cycle glow plugs.
Also are terrible if it's cold or you need to crank on it for several minutes.
aighead
Senior Member
We've got one of these for everyone in the household now, the lithium style. Way better than keeping jumper cables around. I tried using mine on the cold tractor a few days ago but I couldn't get her to go. Seems like maybe the starter was stuck, but I didn't try too hard.
Swetz
Senior Member
I have one of those older jumper packs, which I recently replaced the battery (AGM) in. I left something in my car a couple of days ago, and it was stone dead. I put the jumper pack on it, and just barely cranked. Left it for about 10 min and the car started rite up....Had to pay my stupid tax, luckly it wasnt too much 
Swetz
Senior Member
I have one of those older jumper packs, which I recently replaced the battery (AGM) in. I left something in my car a couple of days ago, and it was stone dead. I put the jumper pack on it, and just barely cranked. Left it for about 10 min and the car started rite up....Had to pay my stupid tax, luckly it wasnt too much
1693TA
Senior Member
I carry my booster box in the front floorboard of "Krusty" always. 2ga booster cables behind the seat also. Never have had any problems with cold cranking as I usually have the truck fairly warm in the winter months. Booster cables have never let me down and don't take up a lot of room as coiled neatly to fit. I have several things around here still, or are 24VDC so sometimes both are needed simultaneously.
I like the booster box I have as the switch shuts off the cables. No sparks connecting to a depleted battery that way. Seen a couple of dead batteries explode on folks first connecting the jumper cables to the boosting vehicle, then to the vehicle needing boosted.The sudden inrush of current can, (and has) caused a depleted or weak battery to explode. One guy I know lost a full set of clothes he was wearing from the sulfuric acid splash but wasn't hurt otherwise.
I like the booster box I have as the switch shuts off the cables. No sparks connecting to a depleted battery that way. Seen a couple of dead batteries explode on folks first connecting the jumper cables to the boosting vehicle, then to the vehicle needing boosted.The sudden inrush of current can, (and has) caused a depleted or weak battery to explode. One guy I know lost a full set of clothes he was wearing from the sulfuric acid splash but wasn't hurt otherwise.
Only have had 2 batteries blow, both i wasn't near.
One on an 80s Komatsu PC220 stroke delimber. sounded like a gunshot and bowed out the panel a bit. Voltage regulatior failed issues and was charging at wayyy over ~28 volts.
Welder Dave
Senior Member
That's why I mentioned only good for 10 or 15 seconds. The lithium booster packs are extremely convenient if you just need a simple boost. They aren't very good if you need to use glow plugs first. Booster cables don't do much good if you're out in the boonies and there's no other vehicle to boost from. It's good to have them too. If it's -25 and you're trying to start a diesel machine that hasn't been plugged in or ran for a few weeks, good luck trying to boost it with any booster pack. The big AGM booster packs are good if you have several big machines and trucks but they are pricey.
The cables look good at all the connections. There is no corrosion, is there a way to check them without stripping the insulation back?
NH575E
Senior Member
Run jumper cables from the battery to the starter and engine ground. If it doesn't want to turn over good with the battery but turns better with good cables bypassing the existing cables then something is amiss.
Mine was kind of obvious but I thought I had a good enough fix it shouldn't have been the case. My tractor had the dreaded emergency ends on it and the cable wires were oxidized black as far back as you wanted to strip it. I had cleaned the copper shiny and put new solder on ends on. It started okay in warm weather but wouldn't carry the current in the cold. I had tried a new battery and starter with no real results so cables were my last hope. New cables took care of mine. Your results may vary.
My machine also had a negative cable disconnect that I eliminated with the new cables but I don't suspect it as a problem. It was just something in the loop I didn't use so I didn't see the need to buy cables to retain it.
NH575E
Senior Member
I had a battery blow in my face years ago. Battery was bad so it was outgassing pretty bad while on the charger. The charger was an old roll around 50 amp unit that was pouring the amps to it and it had a volt and amp meter in it. I had unplugged the charger before taking the clamps off the battery but the voltmeter in it was still drawing just enough to cause a spark when I disconnected the cable from the battery. The following day I disconnected the voltmeter in the charger. I have never before or since seen a charger with a voltmeter in it.
Fortunately my reflexes were very quick and there was a water hose nearby.
Swetz
Senior Member
You could do a voltage drop test. Put a test lead for the DVOM on the battery +, and one where that wire goes to the starter. crank the engine. What ever voltage you get is the voltage drop. You can do the same on the negative side. Basically you are seeing the resistance in the system under the actual system load.
Oh yes. I think you suggested this on another post about starter problems. I was having a situation where the starter would just click sometimes and I did this test on the positive side and no problem found. The p.o. had two negative cables on it so I thought it was unlikely that side. I replaced the starter and it solved that problem. I probably need something more than 850cca battery to start it in cold weather.
Swetz
Senior Member
Much debate about 1 battery vs 2. I have 2 as that is how it was when I purchased it. I am in a colder climate. NH575E has 1 in Florida, no problem. Not sure it gets that cold in Texas that you would need 2??
NH575E
Senior Member
The group 31 battery I put in my backhoe is rated at 950 CCA. It has 3/8" threaded post connectors.
My machine actually has 3 ground connection points. My starter has a 5/16" ground post on it so I had my battery cable made with a 3/8" eyelet on one end and 5/16" on the other. I have two cables connected to the starter's ground post with one going to the battery and the other going to the frame. There is a third cable connected from one of the starter mounting bolts to the cab. Since the engine and cab are rubber mounted you need all three areas grounded. I just reused the ground cables that were on the frame and cab and had a new one made for the battery to starter.