Cost: £140 + £30 for the hard case

Date of Review: 15^th September 2024

The Sales Pitch from Noco

1,500 Amp UltraSafe Lithium Jump Starter

The GB50 is an ultra-portable, lightweight and compact lithium-ion jump starter for 12-volt batteries. With it, you can safely jump start a dead battery in seconds – up to 30 times on a single charge. The Boost XL is safe for anyone to use, featuring spark-proof technology, as well as reverse polarity protection. The GB50 lithium jump starter integrates with a high-output 200 lumen LED flashlight with seven light modes, holds its charge for up to one year and features a USB battery pack for recharging personal devices on the go – up to 6 smartphone recharges. Hot and Cold LED indicators of the internal battery determine when your Boost is outside operating temperatures to help protect your batteries and devices. It’s rated at 1,500 Amps, and suitable for use on gasoline engines up to 7 liters and up to 4.5 liter diesel engines, such as a car, van, boat, SUV, truck and more. Included with the GB50, the new HD Precision Boost Battery Clamps easily connect to any 12V lead-acid battery from lawn mowers to trucks, USB charging cable, microfiber storage bag, our 1-year hassle-free limited warranty, and free lifetime customer support.

Compact, yet powerful lithium jump starter rated at 1,500 amps up to 30 jump starts on a single charge.
An ultra-safe and mistake-proof design with spark-proof technology and reverse polarity protection, which allows it to safely connect to any battery.
An ultra-bright 200 lumen LED flashlight with 7 light modes including SOS and emergency strobe.
Recharge your personal devices on the go, like smartphones, tablets, e-watches and more – up to 6 smartphone recharges.
Designed for gas engines up to 7 liters and diesel engines up to 4.5 liters for small diesel cars, SUVs, boats, trucks, ATVs, motorcycles and more.
New Feature: Hot and Cold LED indicators of the internal battery operating temperatures to protect your batteries and devices.
New Accessory: Includes HD Precision Boost Battery Clamps designed to easily connect to any 12V lead-acid battery from powersports to trucks.

Source: NOCO – 1500A Lithium Jump Starter – GB50

What You Get:

A basic kit held in a cloth bag. The booster, bag, the clamps, cigarette lighter plug, and charging cable. I purchased this a couple of years ago from Amazon.

I paid an extra £30 to get the branded NOCO hard case.

Product Description:

The booster has a solid feel, with heavy duty and very well made clamps. The bag is cloth with a draw string top. The clamps would cause a scratch to the unit eventually if stored in the bag as they can move around. There is a small cigarette lighter plug which takes a USB A connection. The cable is USB A to USB C. The cable can be used to charge the power bank, and then swapped around to provide a USB C power fitting. There is only one outlet for auxiliary power supply, that is the ‘USB OUT’ (A) connection.

To charge the power unit you will need to have a suitable power supply (max 2.1A) with a female USB connection.

The booster has solid plastic bungs for the openings of the various connections. The size is just under 8″ x 3.5″ and 2″ tall.

There are three press buttons on the top of the unit. Press the on button and the lights will come on to advise the charge state. The light button below the power button will turn the 200 lumen lights on depending on the cycle of button presses. On is 100%, 50%, 10%, SOS, blink or strobe. The last button with the “!” is to force the unit to provide maximum power to a dead battery.

USB in for charging and next to it is a USB out, both 2.1A Between the lights is the main power connection for the clamps. The clamps are a tight fit and need a firm push to fit with the male plug end also having a cover. The clamps are held together with a little plastic block. The clamps are heavy almost as heavy as the unit itself. Strong springs and the metal is top quality copper. The jaws are edged with teeth and will bite to the battery terminals and not slip off.

The hard case is a sturdy double zipper and fits the pack perfectly. The cables are held in place by an elasticated side which allows the cables to be held securely in the upper part of the case. The outside is easy wipe down and should survive a trunk height drop quite easily.

Instructions:

A multi language little booklet is here:

Testing Environment:

The unit has hardly any use since i purchased it, I charged my phone, just to make sure it worked. As lithium batteries don’t like being run to empty Every six months or so, or at the start of the car show season I top the battery up with a mains charge. I pressed the buttons to make sure all is good. The unit travels in the trunk of my car during the summer. Over the winter the is stored in the garage, never going below freezing as there is a radiator and dehumidifier.

Application:

The specs for the unit says its capable of performing up to thirty jump starts on a single charge.

Results:

The buttons are a simple press to a microswitch through a flexible top cover. I went to use the unit to jump a dead car battery and this unit was dead. There was no way to power the unit on. The pressing of the power button many times did nothing. I tried the light button, nothing. I continued to press variations of buttons and eventually the lights came on. I couldn’t cycle through the functions and couldn’t turn them off. I left the unit for a while and they eventually turned off on their own.

I wasn’t able to use the power bank when I needed it. So it was useless. I can’t say if it started the car, I can’t say it managed to do anything. My experience has been bad which is a shame considering the good reputation Noco are supposed to have.

As for the thirty jump starts, it would have been nice to have had the chance to do one jump start!

Rating:

The whole point of the power bank is to have it as an emergency back up to start the car if needed. Now, if I was out in the car and had a battery failure, or I wanted to help somebody out, I would have been stranded. I can’t rate anything on build quality, looks or functions if it won’t turn on to perform its main role.

Functionality: 1 out 10

There is nothing I can add, a tool or accessory is supposed to work, the power bank has been well looked after. Hardly ever used and it cost a lot more than most others.

Conclusion:

I researched the issue of the dead power button and looked on Amazon at the reviews left for this unit. There are a number of reviews giving the unit just one or two stars saying that the unit has stopped working, dead buttons, never used etc. There is even a YouTube video on the issue to replace the micro switch on the circuit board to fix the issue(s).

The power pack itself is well made and robust as are the cables and clamps. However, a tiny micro switch that costs virtually nothing has caused the unit to fail in epic proportions. The case is excellent, the cables and clamps are quality parts. That is about the only positives I have for the power pack unfortunately.

Would I recommend it? No

Would I buy it again? No

Update:

After reading about the power and switch issues I decided to have a look inside the unit to see what is going on, perhaps a loose connection.

WARNING!

Do not mess with Lithium Ion batteries, they are dangerous. I don’t recommend this process, but if you do attempt this; I accept no liability for any loss or injuries what so ever.

I dismantled this battery pack with extreme caution and had all sorts of safety on standby. A big bucket of water in case it caught fire. The only way to put out this type of battery fire is submerge them in water as they will re-ignite otherwise.

The screws in the case are ‘tamper proof’ and triangle in shape, for a reason. To stop random disassembly.

After unscrewing the base it was time to prise apart the case. It was stuck and held in place with double sided sticky foam on the batteries themselves on the bottom of the case and then on the circuit board. I very carefully teased the two halves apart and found a connector from the battery to the circuit board. The first thing is to disconnect the connector for the circuit board and batteries to make buttons safe. There is also a rubber gasket around the edge which gives it the waterproof rating.

I could then pull the main power plug connections away from the front of the unit, again taking extreme care to not let them touch.

Now with the parts disconnected I could lift the battery pack away from the circuit board and lift the board up and out of the case to see the microswitches located on the top. I then plugged the battery and circuit board back in to test the switches. nothing. I couldn’t see anything loose.

Disconnect the battery connector again from the circuit board. I have a little can of electrical contact cleaner and sprayed a small amount onto the three micro switches and started to work the cleaner in the buttons by pressing repeatedly.

With the main power cables at the front well apart I plugged the power pack back into the circuit board. After the cleaner had evaporated I repeated the application around half a dozen times for each micro switch.

I plugged the battery and circuit board back in and tested the functionality of the least amount of draw on the battery, the light switch. After pressing with power connected the lights burst into life. I could turn them on and off a number of times, then cycled through the options. I then pressed the main power button and the charge state lights powered on, showing a full charge is still in place. Again I could turn the unit it on and off repeatedly with no issues. I then disconnected the battery pack again from the circuit board after I was satisfied it was working and could start the reassembly of the circuit board into the case and then re-stuck battery pack back in place. Great care was taken to insert the main power cables back into the front of the unit, not allowing them to touch.

For the last time the connector for the battery to the circuit board was reattached for the last time. I positioned the gasket and tightened the screws back up into the case.