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Doomsday Lab@morilab ·
Supercapacitor + lithium jump starter (part 1): strip the original unit and re-plan the layout, remove the high-resistance main switch and replace it with a cell-to-capacitor switch, put lugs on the 25mm² leads, measure capacitor internal resistance 2.7 / 2.1; 10 × 21700 4000mAh, 2P4S, spot-welded with the AWithZ; oven paper as a heat barrier so thermal runaway can’t short; foam padding; shorting the cells straight onto the 0V capacitors draws 40-odd A (85A per the comments), clamps glow red — conclusion: must pre-charge through a resistor
Step one of the jump starter is stripping it down and re-planning the layout: wide at the bottom, narrow at the top, so the cells can only stand upright; turn the capacitors so the leads go straight out, shortening them to raise output current. The original board’s wiring was a mess and mediocre quality, so it all comes out; the original main switch has very high internal resistance, so it’s removed and replaced by a switch between the cells and the capacitors — flip it and the capacitors charge, no current limiting because the capacitors are small (big capacitors and you wouldn’t need the cells at all). The original wire is solid stuff but wasn’t secured after connection, so it made poor contact. The case cabling is nice and long enough; + and − are reversed to match the capacitor polarity; wire about 5mm dia., 25mm², re-routed with length to spare; crimp the +, and add a lug to the short − lead. Remove the original BMS and measure supercapacitor internal resistance: one 2.7, the other 2.1, slightly unbalanced. Crimping lugs: not a single strand showing, crimp one side then the other, drive the force at an angle from one side to the other, use a huge amount of force so it’s tighter than stock; with no heat-shrink this big, wrap in black tape leaving only the capacitor contact area bare. Trial-fit the −: enough room, enough slack; the cells can only go in this way, switch back in place, layout solved. There are 10 cells: 12 would make 3P4S, 10 only makes 2P4S; the spot welder joins the pairs in an instant, then three upright and one across to link them in series; oven parchment (forgot the fish paper) between them because it withstands heat, so a thermal runaway won’t short straight through — heat-shrink peels off when hot and shorts both faces; jokes that his poor welding is ‘wasting the cells AWithZ sent’. Voltage fine after welding; balance leads connected (smarter to bring them straight out); tape over the welded face against punctures, then fish paper; BMS wired (an odd shape, roughly done): two thin leads charge / discharge through the BMS, two extra-thick leads short-charge the capacitors instantly. Foam padding in the case so the capacitors sit firm and a drop won’t be too dangerous; lid snaps on tight, slight wobble to fix later. Charging-circuit test: cells shorted straight onto the 0V supercapacitors, clamps glow red, current hits 40-odd A — too dangerous, could blow, must pre-charge through a ceramic resistor and only then close the shorting switch in parallel and start. Comments: someone built 3S5P 18650 + 6 × 500F in series and it struggles to start a 2.0T (creator: voltage too low, needs 4S at 16.8V to fill the capacitors); the copper lugs are sloppy; capacitor internal resistance too high; a local warns the capacitors are too small for winter (creator: couldn’t bring himself to buy big ones, not the optimal solution).
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Building a car jump starter from supercapacitors + lithium cells — the cells store energy, the supercapacitors deliver the big current; 21700 4000mAh cells in 2P4S, 2.7V 360F supercapacitors, two together should push past 100A instantaneous, CCA estimated 500+, should start a 2.4L car; final assembly and test nextProjectsDoomsday Lab

Comments (12)

A
A99 · 7 mo ago

I made a 15V trigger board. Plug it straight into a power bank.

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审
审判者 · 5 mo ago

Your capacitors' internal resistance is too high

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c
cainiao006.9 · 5 mo ago

These copper lugs are a bit sloppy

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重
重生之末日实验室Author · 8 mo ago

Just realized the cells the AWithZ spot welder people sent me pushed 85A!!

天
天亮SAY晚安 · 6 mo ago

I also built a Li-ion + supercapacitor combo, 15 × 18650 power cells in 3S5P, 6 × 2.7V 500F supercapacitors in series giving 16.2V 83.33F, fully charged it struggles a bit to start a 2.0T car but does start it, not as clean as 6 × 2.7V 3000F supercapacitors in series.

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重
重生之末日实验室Author · 6 mo ago

Voltage is too low, should be 4 Li-ion in series, 4.2*4=16.8V to fully charge the supercapacitors

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M
Mr Rong · 8 mo ago

All wrapper, little filling

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杨
杨志华 · 8 mo ago

After the copper lugs are crimped tight

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用
用户7275040138294 · 8 mo ago

Test a small-car battery built from Boleida 30Ah cells, mainly to test the CCA cold-cranking current

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胡
胡说老王|典藏 · 8 mo ago

Is there a tutorial? Been looking at jump starters for days, your approach may be the optimal solution

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重
重生之末日实验室Author · 8 mo ago

Mine isn't the optimal solution, because I couldn't bring myself to buy big capacitors

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放
放下执念 · 8 mo ago

Buy a set of big capacitors! Your IP says you're from my area, small capacitors really don't cut it in winter!

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