Don’t Get Stranded by a Drained Battery!
Welcome to our “From Problem to Product” blog, where we tell the stories behind the inspiration for some of our most popular product designs. We share how a problem we faced out there riding inspired the Mountain Lab product that provides a solution.
MINI BOOST 12V 1000A: Don’t Get Stranded by a Drained Battery!
The Problem: Dead Battery, Going Nowhere
The old days of cycling the choke, working the throttle and yarding on a pull start (or thrashing a kickstart) until your limbs are about to fall off are over. Thank gawd! Anyone who has rebuilt a pull start recoil or replaced a kickstart shaft knows what we’re talking about.
Most powersports vehicles today use an electric start system. The reasons are pretty obvious: on smaller engines they are convenient and require no effort or strength, and larger displacement engines would be physically difficult or impossible to start manually.
This transition has been supported by modern fuel-injected engines that require only a minimum of electric power to operate the fuel pump and ECU, along with the improved efficiency and reliability of modern batteries and starter motors.
However!
The downside is most powersports vehicles are manufactured now without a backup manual starter. This means for riders who are taking their vehicles off-trail or into remote areas, there is a real risk of becoming stranded if the battery drains to the point that it cannot power the starter.
The majority of 450+ cc displacement dirt bikes do not offer a kickstart, leading snowbike riders to know better than anyone the importance of having a battery booster on hand, lest they become stranded
This is a bigger concern for powersports vehicles than it is for cars and trucks, because powersports vehicle batteries are more vulnerable than automobile batteries, for a few reasons:
- Lower amp-hour capacity
- Sensitivity to cold temperatures
- Greater exposure to vibration, water, dirt and temperature swings
- Lower tolerance for periods of inactivity, between rides for example
Now, a battery failure isn’t such a big deal when you’re at or near home. But this becomes a legitimate safety concern when your ride takes you into remote areas that have:
- Little to no cell coverage
- Limited traffic or help around
- Harsh environmental conditions
- Rugged terrain
When you’re riding in the backcountry or far from other people and help, the ability to reliably start your vehicle is a lifeline!
The Product: MINI BOOST 12V 1000A Battery Booster
The solution to this problem is to carry a battery booster (or jump starter they are sometimes called). A battery booster is a compact, portable power bank that can be used to jump start a vehicle with a drained 12V battery.
There are many of these products on the market already, and readily available. However, they are nearly all designed for use with automobiles, which results in a product that is generally bulky, too heavy and far overkill for what we need them to do.
The primary objective in designing the MINI BOOST 12V 1000A Battery Booster was to create the smallest, lightest possible unit that could reliably jump start our small powersports vehicle engines.
We don’t have the luxury of throwing a large battery booster in the trunk or under the back seat and call it good. When we’re recreating away from home, we’ve got to either stash a battery booster in the limited vehicle storage spaces we have available or, worse, carry it on our body.
Sometimes the only choice is to carry important gear on our body
So it HAS to be small and light. The MINI BOOST is amongst the smallest and lightest available, with the boost unit coming in at a measly 260 g (9.2 oz.) or 446 g (15.7 oz.) including the intelligent cables.
The intelligent cables do add some bulk but they provide important safety protections, which include protection against:
- Reverse polarity
- Short circuit
- Over current
- Over temperature
- Over discharge
- Over charge
- Over voltage
- Reverse charge
Aside from the primary purpose of jump starting a vehicle with a drained battery, we also wanted to include some added functionality that can really come in handy when riding in the backcountry or away from civilization. These include:
- Powerbank capability for charging other important electronic devices (phone, satellite comms, gps, radio, etc)
- Flashlight (one that actually shines in the direction of the battery leads for hooking up in the dark)
- Protective carry case
The MINI BOOST 12V 1000A Battery Booster provides a powerful 1000 amp boost that can reliably boost any gasoline engine up to 3.0 L displacement. That’s enough for the most powerful side-by-side vehicle engine and even some small cars.
The 6000 mAh capacity is sufficient for up to 10 boosts on a single charge, which is more than enough to get you safely home when your battery is running low.
And here’s one final feature of the MINI BOOST that not all battery boosters provide!
In the case of a zero (or very low) voltage battery condition (which will happen when a battery is fully drained or very close to it), many other brand boosters will read this as an incorrect connection condition which will prevent the user from being able to boost the battery! Imagine how defeating it would be to try to use your battery booster in the backcountry only to discover that it doesn’t work on a fully drained battery.
To solve this, the Mountain Lab MINI BOOST features a manual override button that will allow the user to boost even a fully drained battery. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
A big part of the enjoyment of riding is the feeling of freedom and exploration. But that can be diminished when you’re worried about making it back home. For your enjoyment and safety, it’s important to be self-sufficient and prepared to handle the most likely problems you might encounter out there.
Carrying a small, lightweight battery booster like the MINI BOOST 12V 1000A can give you the confidence to keep going, knowing that you’re ready in the event of a battery drain issue.
– Pat Winslow, Mountain Lab Product Manager