Tannin
Senior Member
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2008
- Messages
- 209
- Location
- Huon Valley Tasmania
- Car Year
- 2007
- Car Model
- Forester
- Transmission
- Manual
Did I write about my Thumper before? No? then it's time I did.
A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, it was 2004 and Tannin bought a brand new Forester. Not too long after that I took it down to my brother's place on the other side of the state to have a second battery fitted. (My brother was parts manager for a Ford & Toyota dealer back then.) When we opened the bonnet up .. trouble! We had the second battery kit from Piranah, designed for the Forester, but this was the very first example of the (then) new model and the ABS controller was right in the middle of the place where the battery stuff had to go. We looked at it and scratched our heads, but short of moving the ABS system, it simply would not fit. We didn't fancy doing that, specially not to a brand new car, so in the end we sent the kit back to Piranah and my brother said he would send me a "Thumper".
I'd never heard of such a thing, but it's a made-for-purpose portable second battery. It duly turned up at my place a week or two later and I nearly died. $700! (Just under, I think. Lots, anyway.) But given the circumstances, I couldn't really send it back and say it was too dear, I don't want it, so I just swallowed hard and wrote the cheque.
It fits perfectly into the footwell behind the driver's seat. To begin with I charged it from the cigarette lighter plug in the centre console, but that wasn't all that satisfactory. Apart from haviing cables around to get in the way, it battled to hold a charge if I used it much (even though all it has ever done is charge laptops and cameras and things, plus a bit of lighting, I've never had a fridge on it).
The problem is the cabling. A lighter socket and the crappy connectons ciggy lighter plugs give you just don't cut the mustard for this sort of thing. I got a sparky to run a proper charging cable from the ignition switch under the floor. Miles better! The Thumper worked very well for many years. Completely fuss-free power when you need it, plus the peace of mind that comes with knowing you have another battery to start the car with if you somehow flatten the main unit. I have only ever needed the Thumper to start the car once where it mattered - in the Sunset Country, a very, very long walk from anywhere - and it kicked first go. That alone was worth the $700!
After a few years, it gradually began holding less and less charge (or so I thought). Actually, the battery was deterioriating slowly (as batteries always do) but most of the problem was cigarette lighter leads again, this time on the outlet side. The Thumper has both cigarette socket and Hella socket outlets (err .. one of the former and three of the latter, if my memory is any good) and I'd always used the cigarette lighter socket. I found that my laptop was getting more and more fussy about the low voltage the Thumper was delivering, and I could only get a couple of hours charging a night before it crapped out.
One day, I did what I should have done in the first place and spent a few hours wiring up proper heavy-duty leads top use the Hella plug sockets. Hey Presto! It worked much better! Obviously, I was getting some horrendous voltage drop over the crappy cigarette lighter plugs and leads, which was why the laptop was complaining about "bad mains". Not the Thumper's fault at all.
But all good things come to an end and after seven or eight years of faithful service, I decided to buy a new one. The old Thumper wasn't holding enough charge anymore. So I got hold of the manufacturer in South Australia and they told me that they could refurbish the old one if I liked - put all-new packing in it and make it good as new for less than half the price of a brand new one. Why not?
So I shipped it to them, they repacked it - better than new actually, it's about 25% more powerful than it ever because they have better materials now - and with decent luck my Thumper will go on giving great service for another 7 years.
Blue Apple make them in South Australia. Visit them at https://www.homeof12volt.com I'm more than happy to give them a plug: good product, and excellent service.
A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, it was 2004 and Tannin bought a brand new Forester. Not too long after that I took it down to my brother's place on the other side of the state to have a second battery fitted. (My brother was parts manager for a Ford & Toyota dealer back then.) When we opened the bonnet up .. trouble! We had the second battery kit from Piranah, designed for the Forester, but this was the very first example of the (then) new model and the ABS controller was right in the middle of the place where the battery stuff had to go. We looked at it and scratched our heads, but short of moving the ABS system, it simply would not fit. We didn't fancy doing that, specially not to a brand new car, so in the end we sent the kit back to Piranah and my brother said he would send me a "Thumper".
I'd never heard of such a thing, but it's a made-for-purpose portable second battery. It duly turned up at my place a week or two later and I nearly died. $700! (Just under, I think. Lots, anyway.) But given the circumstances, I couldn't really send it back and say it was too dear, I don't want it, so I just swallowed hard and wrote the cheque.
It fits perfectly into the footwell behind the driver's seat. To begin with I charged it from the cigarette lighter plug in the centre console, but that wasn't all that satisfactory. Apart from haviing cables around to get in the way, it battled to hold a charge if I used it much (even though all it has ever done is charge laptops and cameras and things, plus a bit of lighting, I've never had a fridge on it).
The problem is the cabling. A lighter socket and the crappy connectons ciggy lighter plugs give you just don't cut the mustard for this sort of thing. I got a sparky to run a proper charging cable from the ignition switch under the floor. Miles better! The Thumper worked very well for many years. Completely fuss-free power when you need it, plus the peace of mind that comes with knowing you have another battery to start the car with if you somehow flatten the main unit. I have only ever needed the Thumper to start the car once where it mattered - in the Sunset Country, a very, very long walk from anywhere - and it kicked first go. That alone was worth the $700!
After a few years, it gradually began holding less and less charge (or so I thought). Actually, the battery was deterioriating slowly (as batteries always do) but most of the problem was cigarette lighter leads again, this time on the outlet side. The Thumper has both cigarette socket and Hella socket outlets (err .. one of the former and three of the latter, if my memory is any good) and I'd always used the cigarette lighter socket. I found that my laptop was getting more and more fussy about the low voltage the Thumper was delivering, and I could only get a couple of hours charging a night before it crapped out.
One day, I did what I should have done in the first place and spent a few hours wiring up proper heavy-duty leads top use the Hella plug sockets. Hey Presto! It worked much better! Obviously, I was getting some horrendous voltage drop over the crappy cigarette lighter plugs and leads, which was why the laptop was complaining about "bad mains". Not the Thumper's fault at all.
But all good things come to an end and after seven or eight years of faithful service, I decided to buy a new one. The old Thumper wasn't holding enough charge anymore. So I got hold of the manufacturer in South Australia and they told me that they could refurbish the old one if I liked - put all-new packing in it and make it good as new for less than half the price of a brand new one. Why not?
So I shipped it to them, they repacked it - better than new actually, it's about 25% more powerful than it ever because they have better materials now - and with decent luck my Thumper will go on giving great service for another 7 years.
Blue Apple make them in South Australia. Visit them at https://www.homeof12volt.com I'm more than happy to give them a plug: good product, and excellent service.
