Replaced the Battery in my Portable Jump Starter

JoLin

Vice Admiral
Joined
Aug 18, 2007
Messages
5,146
Have a 4 year old Stanley 500 (1000 peak) amp jump starter. I like it because it has a built-in air pump, 12v cigarette lighter-type outlet and a USB port. I noticed this year that even after a full charge, only one of the 3 led 'charge status' lights would light up. Thought about replacing it with a new lithium-ion jump starter, but they're a little pricey. I wondered if I could replace the internal battery instead. After watching a youtube video, I unscrewed about 20 screws from the back of the case and it came apart. The rectangular battery was sitting right there. I undid the terminals and lifted it out.

I googled a replacement battery specifically for the Stanley. They're available but kind of expensive. I did a more generic search and found batteries at better prices. One thing to know is that these batts come in different physical sizes and have a variety of terminal types. I measured mine carefully and found several suppliers of the one I need, which has a "NB" (nut and bolt) type terminal.

Yesterday I put the new battery in and the status button lit up 2 of the 3 charge indicators. Hmmm. Plugged it in overnight and now it's showing a full charge. I'll keep testing it to make sure it'll hold the charge, but looks like it worked.

Replacing the Stanley jump-starter costs $75-80. with tax. I got the battery for $36. shipped and spent an hour swapping it out.

My .02
 

JoLin

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Aug 18, 2007
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5,146
Oh, well. Guess you'll just have to classify it as an urban legend :)
 

Bayou Dave

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Dec 13, 2012
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1,780
My 5 year old Chicago portable jump starter wouldn't charge fully either. When it needs charging I just take all the screws out, split it in half and put my battery charger on it. Charges it fully pretty fast.
 

bigdee

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Jul 27, 2006
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2,665
I have done that on a 10 year old boost box (a black & decker) got battery off of ebay. I found a battery with same physical size but with higher amp hour rating. I also used the same vender to replace the battery on my generator and a emergency light.....I was surprised how cheap the batteries were. BTW those small lithium jump boxes are fantastic, Wally world had a clearance on them for $10 last year,wish I had bought several....always keep in it in car and carry on boat. I have used it to jump start a Kubota diesel tractor!
 

Alumarine

Captain
Joined
Feb 22, 2005
Messages
3,684
My 5 year old Chicago portable jump starter wouldn't charge fully either. When it needs charging I just take all the screws out, split it in half and put my battery charger on it. Charges it fully pretty fast.

Often you can just hook the charger clamps directly to the booster clamps to charge those types.
Sometimes you have to turn the master power switch on the booster to on.
 
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