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Stoopid Question Re: Jump Start

10K views 55 replies 28 participants last post by  Dr.Shifty 
#1 ·
I'm sure this question has probably been asked ten thousand times on our forum, but I am much too lazy to go looking for it. Is there a way to jump-start our 111 using the attached trickle charger adapter that is already sticking out the side?
Asking for a friend 😄.
He is pretty ignorant about this crap, all he knows is where the gas goes and how to make the bike go vroom vroom.
Grazie.
 
#4 ·
No.

The trickle charger lead is not beefy enough to take the starter motor load and will either melt of blow the inline fuse. However, you can get a heavier adapter lead that will do it for you. Most of the small jumper packs have a standard socket and the leads are available to plug straight to it.

Having said that, some people attach their jump starter for a few minutes so it gives the battery a slight boost, disconnect, and then can start the bike. Jump starters say not to have them connected more than a few minutes.

This is the heavier lead setup.
593810
 
#5 ·
Thank Doc.
I have....ummm, my friend has, a TackLife T6, and could not figure out how to get it to jump start the bike. The TackLife does not appear to have a male connection that would fit this heavy duty cable that you have shown. Can you give anymore information on this? Please bill me your standard Doctor consultation rates. Thanks.
 
#12 ·
Here is the Tacklife model.
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The blue plug is what you need on the end of the heavy cables instead of the Anderson plug in my previous photo. It's a standard plug on yours and the same as on my Cygnett model. An electronics shop should have the plug and heavy duty lead to make one up.

The chunky connector gadget contains safety gear to make sure the clips are not reverse polarity. When you have the permanent leads that is not necessary.

593971
 
#9 ·
One last stupid question. After reviewing the videos, it looks like it's extremely critical to make sure that the computer and the battery do not touch. Is there a reason that a rubber sheet could not be placed over the battery to ensure that doesn't happen? Any negatives to that?
 
#11 ·
The computer module is touchy about touching anything, and it's a great nuisance. Whenever I have to move mine to get to the battery I slip a cardboard box over it as soon as I get it off the cradle. I'm with you, and would like to see it insulated - so would a few members of the forum who have fried it.
 
#19 ·
You could also remove the current trickle charger plug and install in its place a dedicated plug (EC5) for the jump starter battery pack and use a converter plug assembly for the trickle charger as shown in the link below.


Tim
 
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#23 ·
I had the belated thought to chase up the Tacklife website to see if they have a direct connector harness. I found that their T6 model has this curved plug, but their T8 model has the EC5. Maybe the curved connector has fallen from favor.

I can't find a direct harness on their site.

T6
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T8
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#24 · (Edited)
OK, I found it. The plug needs to fit the AntiGravity xp-10 jump starter. If you go to the bottom of this page you will see the curved plug alongside the EC5 they use on different starters.



Edit - changed my typo of AC5 to EC5 connector.
 
#26 ·
10 is too small and is rated at 30 amps. It could take a 100 amp load for a very short period of time. But if you run into a starting problem and the bike keeps cranking it would not take long at 80-100 amps to melt the insulation.

I know our bikes have a certain length of time for cranking but if someone hit it the starter button a few times you could run into trouble. As stated by another the resistance is higher and will cause fewer amps to be supplied to the starter. Also as the wire heats up the resistance will increase the hotter the wire gets until the insulation melts.

If you are running wires out from your battery for jumping/charging you should use the same size wire that is attached to the terminals. The biggest ones that way you can jump-start or place a full-size charger on the wires and not worry about it. .02¢
 
#30 ·
I agree that a 10 gauge wire cannot withstand 1000 amps for any more than a few seconds. This type of battery booster uses a lot of marketing hype to make it look like it can but in reality the wires only see very brief spikes of amperage but its main job is to send its energy into the bikes's dead battery to increase the bikes battery voltage so it can energize the starter relay. The battery booster cannot maintain 12 volts and is rapidly dropping as you are first crank the bike which also lessens the amp draw while cranking so the 10 gauge wires don't heat up and melt. When I get these wires installed I will put a digital amp probe on them to see what kind of amps they are seeing during the cranking of the bike just to be safe. I have also seen a video where the negative cable was disconnected and this booster was attached and it started the bike with no help from the bike's battery. I don't know if I will try that with all the sensitive electronics/ECU on the newer bikes.

Tim
 
#33 ·
I probably missed the note, why did the battery go dead? BTW, I replaced the OEM lead-Acid AGM with an Earth X ETX 900 battery. The Earth X has its own built in battery management system that prevents both over charging and over discharging. Earth X makes incredible Lithium batteries and they have a line that can be used in private aircraft. Great customer service as well.
 
#34 ·
There is a battery company who has a lithium battery with a built in jump starter. I forget the brand but there is a button on the top of the battery. If it runs down over a winter layoff and won't start normally, you remove the seat (plus computer on Indians) and hit the button to put it into jump start mode.

Views on running lithium batteries in our bikes are mixed. The regulator is what's known as a crowbar regulator which sets up high voltage spikes which is OK for lead/acid etc but lithium batteries don't like it. With advances in lithium battery design and self-management the problem might be lessened, but a bit of caution won't go astray.
 
#38 ·
Hey, @SSHardball22 , I've actually done what you originally asked about - jump started (my RM) thru the little battery tender pigtail.. It ain't no thing - and you don't need all that fancy stuff the guys been talking about..

Just run inside and grab wona your wifes hair pins, the little old school flat metal ones.. Now, grab a phillips screwdriver - one that'll jab into the "female" connector on the pigtail.. Yank off the seat, now yank out the fuse on the pigtail and jab that hairpin up in it until it makes a good electrical bridge where the fuse was.. With the screwdriver stuck in the end of the pigtail's female connector, you can now clamp the "+" jumper cable to the screwdriver and the "-" cable to sumpin on the engine.. Let the contraption charge up yer battery a while.. If you try to start up before your battery can do most of the work, you'll smoke the entire pigtail.. Best to disconnect the screwdriver before attempting a start up...

Now, If your piggy bank isn't gonna belt out Battery Money anytime soon, you can semi-permanently short the fuse block with a wire - or sumpin - so you don't gotta remove the seat next time.. Then just carry around the screwdriver !


..
 
#39 ·
Ok, actually,,,, I didn't do the above.... A friend of mine did..
 
#40 ·
The Lithium Battery manufacturer with the self-jumpstart feature is Antigravity. They indicated to me, a while ago, the feature does not work with high current draw engines like the TS111 equipped with the 116 kit. I have used an Antigravity battery in my HD and was not pleased with the reliability. An EarthX is in my RM 116 and it works well. I have tested the alternator output of the Indian voltage regulator and find it is more than stable enough for the EarthX. The self-discharge rate of the EarthX is extremely low, however, I do use a Optimate Battery Charger/Maintainer whenever the RM will sit for a month or more.The web site "earthbatteries.com" will lead the curious to good information on Lithium batteries!
 
#51 ·
The Lithium Battery manufacturer with the self-jumpstart feature is Antigravity. They indicated to me, a while ago, the feature does not work with high current draw engines like the TS111 equipped with the 116 kit.
Thanks, funnily enough it was Antigravity that I linked to with the heavy duty harness for the mystery plug that the OP and I both have on our jump starters.
 
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