A Simple Set up

[Starlight]

Solving my power resource issues has been a real learning curve for me.
I am not an electrician. Uh... amps... whhaaaaat is that? Anyway -- I'm learning. I think I can use solar garden lights for basic lighting needs. I have my heating solved. But I can't figure out the best way to power my laptop.

The battery will have to be placed in my van... so no lead acid battery.
I found a video where a guy used power boosters ($6. a piece) to replace his car battery, and he spoke how fast they would recharge. And instead of weighing 60lbs... weighed 5lbs. This would make it portable for me to set up a solar panel away from my van, then bring it in at night.

Any feedback?

I have a dedicated 12volt outlet at the rear of the van, and I'm wondering if it would be safe to recharge the laptop battery off the alternator. Would it burn out?

Then I saw a setup where the guy placed a diode on the power line -- which he said would keep power from reversing. So........ necessary??

I'm keeping my eye out for solar panels on craigslist, etc and really need to understand the simplest way to set up a small power station. And then there was the guy who made an "all in one" set up with lithium ion batteries.

This would make it so easy, but I can't find a price on the batteries.

Break time... time for a beer.

 

[akrvbob]

It's not that hard:

1) Buy a marine AGM battery. Put it on the floor board of the passenger seat.
2) Buy a continuous duty solenoid of 100 amp or more.
3) Run a 4 gauge cable from the positve post of the starting battery to the solenoid.
4) Run another 4 guage cable from the solenoid to the positive post of the AGM marine battery
5) Run a 10 gauge wire from the solenoid to the power in line of the radio.
6) The solenoid may need to be grounded to the frame, but some are self grounding

That's it. Your charging your house battery off the engine and there is no danger of running the starting battery down. Ideally you would put a fuse on both ends of the 4 gauge wire.

If you are boondocking this is the easist way to get into solar:
http://www.amazon.com/Instapark-PowerBox-Fold-n-Go-Solar-powered-Controller/dp/B007VWW8X2/
Bob

 

[Starlight]

Thanks, Bob. This helps.
The 10 gauge wire to the "radio in line"? is this a grounding wire? or... is it the way to provide power to the electrical system, and to the 12volt outlet...? is there an "out wire" and an "in wire" --

Do I understand, then? Use an adaptor for the laptop charging, and the power will come through there? I'm glad to do without a noisy inverter running, frankly.

I'm getting there, I'm getting there.

 

[05kas05]

that 10 gauge radio in wire engages your solenoid when the key is turned on so your alternator can charge both batteries then when the key is off it disengages the solenoid so your only drawing power from your house battery.
you then will need to wire what ever you want to power of the house battery to that battery, you can get a 12 volt receptacle and wire it to run your charger or you can wire an inverter in or lights and such.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

The 10ga wire goes to a positive, not ground. It needs to be one that is NOT hot (powered) when the key is off, such as the radio would be normally. Frankly, I suggest using a tester to find a location in the fuse block under the dash. (there's always some open ports there). Hot with key on...no power with key off...plug in 10 wire. Now, your starting battery is safe while the house battery(s) serve your needs.

I don't have a link for you, but The River (Amazon) has 12 volt chargers for most laptops for about $20-25.

Hope that helps.

---

`
05 got in there while I typed...I'm a SloMo.

 

[05kas05]

you might want to look into this kit from dfna here is a link http://www.dfna.info/dual-battery-kit.html
when i was looking into doing the dual battery set up this was brought to my attention from another forum member .
I read what it consisted of and decided to order it now some might say it is the right way and some might say it is not
what i can tell you is i only run a few lights,a fan, and a pump for my sink and in the near future i might add a small 400-600 watt power inverter for those moments when i might need one.
So far it is working great with no problems as of yet and it was an all in one kit with everything i needed and the instructions were clear and it was very easy to install. if you look down a couple of posts to my carquest battery
thread there is a some more info on this very subject that might also come in handy for you.

 

[johnny b]

Laserhacker is obviously well versed in electronics and electricity. http://laserhacker.com/

If you are unsure of what you are making I would advise staying away from capacitors.
Go with Bob's advice and keep it simple. (and safe)

BTW...those $6 caps were a onetime deal he got from a clearance sale, used, 2 years ago. A supercapacitor of that size today is at least $60-100, and you need 6 to make his 14v setup.
I've seen little tiny capacitors pop like party favors when hit with reverse polarity; I'd hate to see what one of those big ones would do if it blew up!

 

[Starlight]

Thank you all for your input and clarifications. I was hoping I'd found a light-weight solution with the capacitors idea. Ah well.

I happened upon a video about using a UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) for its inverter. As the story goes, when the battery is gone, the UPS is pretty much trashed and replaced. Might be a good way to get a pure sine wave inverter on the cheap. One video showed the difference of pure and non-pure sine wave. "Modified sine wave" things buzz and/or run roughly, even use more power, though they say it doesn't really do harm. So, if I go that route, I'll have that as a resource for a less noisy one.

I guess I'm being cautious because I've seen comments about the 12volt outlet burning out, and I surely don't want to waste my electronics with the damage.

I'll need a solar panel to top off the battery to full charge, so would that mean I need a diode between the house battery and the van battery? when I've got a charge cooking on the house battery?

I'll probably end up having someone install all this for me, but I'd better know myself what's what... what I need... and how much it will cost. If I work it right, I may be able to pull the parts together cheap cheap.

 

[akrvbob]

There was a time when Modified Sine Wave (MSW) inverters all buzzed but those days are gone. Today any decent MSW inverter will do a great job with no problem and no risk to your equipment. I use a MSW for all my devices and I have never had a problem. I do have a 2000 watt Pure Sine Wave (PSW) but i just use it for a microwave which wanted very clean power.
Bob

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I guess I'm being cautious because I've seen comments about the 12volt outlet burning out, and I surely don't want to waste my electronics with the damage.

I'll need a solar panel to top off the battery to full charge, so would that mean I need a diode between the house battery and the van battery? when I've got a charge cooking on the house battery?

Most 12 volt outlets and plugs are cheap crap, hence their high failure rate. But it IS possible to find good ones that hold up. The ones from Blue Sea Marine - widely used in the boating world - are very high quality. They are available from Amazon.

Diodes are simple solid state devices that function as one way valves.

If you hooked a solar panel directly to a battery, when the sun goes down, current from the battery would flow back through the solar panel and give it a faint glow in the dark. The battery would be discharging.

These days, most charge controllers have the diode built in, so a separate one is not necessary. If the charge controller you buy DOESN'T, then you'll need to add one to the circuit.

As far as your engine battery is concerned, if you use a diode type battery isolator between it and your house battery, it will also prevent the solar panel from charging the engine battery. So will a solenoid or manual battery switch, which most of us consider superior to the diode style isolator for technical reasons.

Regards
John

 

[Starlight]

Thank you all very very much. This is the info I was needing.