Rugged Geek ??

[3whlLefty]

I did a search but got no good hits so here's my question.

I bought this jump pack several months ago and have never needed to use it. Lucky me I guess. I turn it on and the display shows 100% charged. Now I want to do a trial run so I hook it up to my car per the manual and can't get past the flashing red light. I had the ignition turned on or off and made no difference. Does this need to detect a dead or low battery to work? Also, what does that power switch do? The flashing red remains the same with power on or off.

Any clues to what I'm doing wrong? I would like to know that it can really work when I need it. Thanks.

[UtahPete]

I did a search but got no good hits so here's my question.

I bought this jump pack several months ago and have never needed to use it. Lucky me I guess. I turn it on and the display shows 100% charged. Now I want to do a trial run so I hook it up to my car per the manual and can't get past the flashing red light. I had the ignition turned on or off and made no difference. Does this need to detect a dead or low battery to work? Also, what does that power switch do? The flashing red remains the same with power on or off.

Any clues to what I'm doing wrong? I would like to know that it can really work when I need it. Thanks.

WHAT 'jump pack'? Makes a difference.

[SPECTACUALR SPIDERMAN]

Where did you buy it, did you call place of purchase or manufacturer? that's always the best place to start.

[Highwayman2013]

No instruction book? Could be you reversed the polarity. I got a jumper from Cycle Gear and sometimes use it to charge my phone.

[UtahPete]

Here's their website; https://ruggedgeek.com/

[3whlLefty]

This is the very one Lamont sells. I may have bought it from another vendor.

I did use the manual. Not much help there. Every demo I've seen uses a dead battery. I'm attempting a trial run before I have a dead battery. So now the ??? Does it need a bad battery in order to do it's thing? I'm a bit reluctant to run a good battery dead just to prove that the thing works. I hope that makes sense.

[UtahPete]

This is the very one Lamont sells. I may have bought it from another vendor.

I did use the manual. Not much help there. Every demo I've seen uses a dead battery. I'm attempting a trial run before I have a dead battery. So now the ??? Does it need a bad battery in order to do it's thing? I'm a bit reluctant to run a good battery dead just to prove that the thing works. I hope that makes sense.

Short answer is 'no' it doesn't need a dead battery to give you a jump-start. Is this your Spyder you're trying to jump-start, or is it a full-size auto battery? Lead-acid? AGM? Brand? Age? Help us out here; what exactly are you trying to do? This is for jump-starting a vehicle with a dead battery, not for recharging the battery.

For the benefit of others, this is the product he has; http://www.lamonstergarage.com/rugge...ster-approved/

[Bfromla]

This is the very one Lamont sells. I may have bought it from another vendor.

I did use the manual. Not much help there. Every demo I've seen uses a dead battery. I'm attempting a trial run before I have a dead battery. So now the ??? Does it need a bad battery in order to do it's thing? I'm a bit reluctant to run a good battery dead just to prove that the thing works. I hope that makes sense.

For safety reasons it very well could need a LOW battery at minimum, as I read it has sensor to determine proper polarity so they would presumably also have a programmed min/max voltage range to operate in. (Be unconditional & visit a auto parts store likely to have dead battery on hand & see if u can borrow for test)Unlikely these limits are in manual but some hint of it yes. & surely there is a 800#you van Call? (Also recommended to recharge the unit every 3months)Found 1 review may have clue of something else:
MALFUNCTIONING UNIT

Todd Mallery on Aug 28, 2017
Update - Customer service contacted me and made sure I was taken care of. I now have a unit that works properly and all is well. Communication was excellent once contact was made.<br><br>I haven't been able to use the battery, it was bad out of the box. No word from Rugged Geeks support. I was hoping to have a replacement on its way by now. Will update when I have good unit to test.

[Fatcycledaddy]

I did a search but got no good hits so here's my question.

I bought this jump pack several months ago and have never needed to use it. Lucky me I guess. I turn it on and the display shows 100% charged. Now I want to do a trial run so I hook it up to my car per the manual and can't get past the flashing red light. I had the ignition turned on or off and made no difference. Does this need to detect a dead or low battery to work? Also, what does that power switch do? The flashing red remains the same with power on or off.

Any clues to what I'm doing wrong? I would like to know that it can really work when I need it. Thanks.

Per the manual it requires a draw to get off of the red light. See below. I would take it that turning on the key and the headlights should be a draw enough to get past the red light.

geek.JPG

[Chupaca]

I have seen where you should be able to disconnect your battery and jump it with the pack. Now mind you on a modern car you will get a series of warning lights go off till the computers reset and the clock and stuff will need to be reset etc. You could better do it with the spyder and only have to reset the clock....

[JayBros]

Per the manual it requires a draw to get off of the red light. See below. I would take it that turning on the key and the headlights should be a draw enough to get past the red light.

geek.JPG

Turning the ignition key on my bike just lights the small LEDs front, rear and fenders, perhaps not enough draw to turn off the red light. Headlights come on only when the engine starts. Just a guess.

[Peteoz]

Lefty,
You are correct in that in needs a “dead” or low charge battery. Ask me how I know.....no, don’t bother. I have been through this and have a response from the manufacturer that I will try to find. Effectively, if the battery you are trying to use for your test is fully charged then the charger sees no reason to work !

Pete

[UtahPete]

Turning the ignition key on my bike just lights the small LEDs front, rear and fenders, perhaps not enough draw to turn off the red light. Headlights come on only when the engine starts. Just a guess.

The draw will come from the difference between the voltage on the jump-starter and the (lower) voltage on the 'dead' battery. It will also come from the car's starter motor once you try to start the car from the jump-starter.

[Peteoz]

Here it is......and as it recommends, if you want to test the Geek, disconnect your battery completely and connect the Geek direct to your battery cables. This info is NOT in their guidelines, but they are now looking at adding it as they have had this query several times...

Peter,

Thank you for the additional information. Here are a couple points that may help us solve the problem:

• It does not work to test these cables on vehicles with fully charged batteries. The way the Intelli cables work is they will sense for a dead or low battery and transmit power only once that’s sensed. The max voltage on our jump starter when fully charged is approximately 12.6V, however a fully charged vehicle battery could be as high as 13V or more. So if you connect our jump starter to a fully charged vehicle battery, it won’t allow power to flow since doing so would only mean power would flow from the higher voltage source (car battery) to the lower voltage source (jump starter) which would be dangerous as you don’t want power flowing back into the jump starter unless it is through the charging port. So for the 2 Hyundai vehicles, this is likely what’s happening and it is doing as designed here. A better test here, and one we do often, is to disconnect the vehicle batteries completely and connect the jump starter direct to the battery wires from the vehicle.
• As for jump starting your Spyder: In this scenario, it should have worked for you, but my question here is: Did you try starting the bike, or did you not try as the light hadn’t gone green? In certain cases the accessory draw isn’t enough to turn the light green, especially if the battery on the bike/vehicle still has some charge as the accessories are likely being powered by that. That said, as soon as you hit the starter button, the draw from the starter motor should make the jump starter kick in and provide the power needed. In other words, the light doesn’t have to turn green to use the jump starter, just connect it as you would and start the bike/vehicle. The draw from that will be enough to kick it in and it should work for you.

I would this helps explain the situation. The intelliboost cables work great in 99% of situations, but with batteries that are partially or fully charged, the green light can sometimes lead to confusion as it won’t come until the starter is engaged due to the vehicle batteries powering the accessories. We will be updating our manual to better explain this, but I hope this email helps.

Please let me know if there is anything further I can help with,

Thank you again,
Samantha

[Csh72]

I did a search but got no good hits so here's my question.

I bought this jump pack several months ago and have never needed to use it. Lucky me I guess. I turn it on and the display shows 100% charged. Now I want to do a trial run so I hook it up to my car per the manual and can't get past the flashing red light. I had the ignition turned on or off and made no difference. Does this need to detect a dead or low battery to work? Also, what does that power switch do? The flashing red remains the same with power on or off.

Any clues to what I'm doing wrong? I would like to know that it can really work when I need it. Thanks.

Just unhook the battery and hook the rugged geek straight to the battery cables. I tested mine like this and it started a 2004 Chevy Avalanche in twenty degree weather.

[Peteoz]

Just unhook the battery and hook the rugged geek straight to the battery cables. I tested mine like this and it started a 2004 Chevy Avalanche in twenty degree weather.

Gee, I wish I had said that.....

[pegasus1300]

Gee, I wish I had said that.....

[mustangbob]

this past October when bringing the motorhome home from the seasonal site I rent the battery was dead, I used the geek to start it, let it charge for about 10 min and the rv started. So I know it will work for a spyder. I know this isn't what was asked, just a plug for a good product.

[Fatcycledaddy]

Turning the ignition key on my bike just lights the small LEDs front, rear and fenders, perhaps not enough draw to turn off the red light. Headlights come on only when the engine starts. Just a guess.

OP said he was hooking it up to his car, not his Spyder.

[3whlLefty]

I sent an inquiry to Rugged Geek and got back the same answer that Peteoz posted. I don't have a Spyder right now and the car I was testing on is a BMW X3 and I'm not about to disconnect the battery on that electronic wizardry. I will try it later on my older Subaru.

It's good to know that so far my jump pack looks healthy. Thanks for all the helpful ideas. Paul