Snap-On Tools showed me their new supercapacitor-based jump cart called the KrankKART. The KrankKART takes the place of a battery based jump cart to get vehicles with dead batteries started. Instead of using a battery based system that has to be left plugged-in to AC power and constantly maintained, the nickel-carbon based superconductor will hold its charge for 1.5-2 years untouched and will last through 500k recharge cycles.
One of the unique features of the system is how it recharges. The device plugs into a vehicle using either a NATO connector or alligator style clamp connectors. After jump starting a dead 24v vehicle, the device is left plugged in while the alternator of the now-running host vehicle recharges the supercapacitor in 5-35 seconds depending on the host. Other advantages over traditional jump carts include temperature insensitivity, portability and the ability to consecutively jump an entire fleet of vehicles.
The unit needs no AC power. Just keep a fresh battery around or plug it into a running vehicle for a 30 seconds to recharge the supercapacitor once a year or so and you're fine. Snap-On reps tell me the system has 3000 amps of cranking power; enough power to cycle most engines more than five times and will even get the turbine going on an M1 Abrams main battle tank.
The whole thing is pretty compact and was designed to be deployed in one of Snap-On's custom designed wheeled hard cases. The self-contained system weighs less than 100 lbs. and is about the size of a suitcase. Snap-On reps say traditional jump carts cost between $6000-$7000, so the roughly $5000 KrankKART KBI800038 represents a value along with an increase in capability and reduction of maintenance needs for deployed units.
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