Powerpack / Generator?

[She]

Has any one ever use one of these? I need some sort of power but not a lot and I saw these. I have a place to recharge them. My job is &nbsp;one where I drive a lot so I can do it while Im working.&nbsp;<div><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Duracell-DPP-600HD-Powerpack-Starter-Emergency/dp/B000TKHMWK/ref=pd_sbs_ol1" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Duracell-DPP-600HD-Powerpack-Starter-Emergency/dp/B000TKHMWK/ref=pd_sbs_ol1</a></div><div><br></div><div>I saw this too.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Humless-Roadr...r_1_21?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1316987393&amp;sr=8-21" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Humless-Roadr...r_1_21?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1316987393&amp;sr=8-21</a></div><div><br></div><div>Seems to be up my alley but wanted to make sure with you techo guys since I&nbsp;don't&nbsp;run blue blood with techo thingies. LOL Thanks <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></div>

 

[Wild_E]

2nd try at answer..ggrrrr..<div><br></div><div>I have one similar to one of these they are both good and bad. Mine I got at Canadian tire on sale for only $70 with jumper cables, look around in stores for sales before you buy this one.</div><div><br></div><div>2nd, why get this, just get a deep cycle battery and hook it up to your alternator, then it can recharge while you drive! New deep cycle batteries are about $100, and you can go around to use electric bike shops or Golfing places and pick up a used deep cycle for $10 and up. They will work just about as good as the power pack.</div><div><br></div><div>Mine only powers the laptop for about 2.5-3 hrs, then it is dead and needs to be recharged. I recharge mine one of 3 ways;</div><div>+ take it into someones/customers place place in charge mode for up to 6hrs, + recharge using inverter as you drive,&nbsp;</div><div>+ use a 5 watt recharging solar panel, it takes 2-3 days depending on the sunlight.</div><div><br></div><div>Deep cycle batteries that are no good for running electric bikes or Golf Carts are still very good for running lights and a laptop. They can also be recharged in the same manner as above if needed.</div>

 

[She]

I was thinking about the deep cycle battery(and still am)but the car I drive for work is not mine. So the battery I was afraid wouldn't get charged long enough in the van because I would be staying around the area. On that note how long should a battery take to recharge from driving?&nbsp;<div>I like your idea about the golf course as&nbsp;there's&nbsp;one in town. I may do that and go over there.</div>

 

[Wild_E]

There are a lot of variables in how long a battery takes to charge, some with only half a charge (try not to go below half!) take from 2-6 hrs, depends on so many variables.&nbsp;<div><br></div><div>If you drive the car all day for work then just put the battery (any-type) in a small box, recharge as you drive. If the&nbsp;re-charger&nbsp;is hooked up to the cig lighter, try to turn off while you start it up. If you can hook the cables to the battery terminal you can just let it run even while starting.</div>

 

[She]

OMG can I really do that? I mean I&nbsp;wouldn't&nbsp;connect the wires to their battery but I can def. plug a charger in the cig. lighter!!! I could do that everyday. What kind of charger should I be getting? Oh this is great LOL really excited about doing that. LOL Thanks

 

[Wild_E]

I have a 400 watt inverter that I can recharge my batteries with. Some power packs also have an option to recharge right from the Cig Lighter.<div><br></div><div>My larger powerpack has that option but can only be charged for 6 hrs in total from the Cig Lighter and seems to not get the full charge that using the inverter or regular power plug does.</div><div><br></div><div>I have seen inverters up to 600 watts that can be plugged into the Cig lighter, any larger than that and you need to direct wire to the vehicle battery. My little 400 watter can be directly&nbsp;plugged in or hard wired onto the battery.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>A little clumsier setup would involve an inverter, battery charger and a deep cycle battery,&nbsp;</div><div>get two cheaper used deep cycles, I picked up two for only $40 each</div><div>use one in the evening, then swap out different battery each day or depending on use every two days. (those are smaller fit in electric bike deep cycles, so no more weight than the battery pack, just harder to carry)</div><div>Look for a battery charger that could plug into the Cig lighter directly, it has been years since I have seen this though!</div><div>good luck</div>

 

[She]

Ok this is what Im planning(at least in the beginning.Im def going to add a battery to the alternator cause your saying I'd get more power that way. I found this on this site and with the pics and directions I think this is going to work for me.&nbsp;<div><a href="http://vandwellers.org/isolator/index.html" target="_blank">http://vandwellers.org/isolator/index.html</a><div>I also have a friend who might do it but Id like to learn how do it myself.&nbsp;</div><div>Im not sure if I can ride the van everyday for 2 hours though so I may not get all the power I need. So with that in mind I think I need a 2nd source and will use the power pack,it will be easier for me to charge. Laptop batteries will be charged while Im driving(work car). I have 2 batteries for my laptop and won't be staying on more than 1 hour a day( I hope,we are weaning here LOL)<div>I will be using a lot of those hand crank lights also &nbsp;a radio.</div></div></div><div>I just need more juice in the summer for a&nbsp;dehumidifier.&nbsp;Its small though only uses 72 watts. Oh of course a fantastic fan.</div><div>Also if I have the battery under the hood can I also add &nbsp;a solar trickler when its not running? Thanks again.</div>

 

[Wild_E]

hand cranked lights get old fast, do not work well need cranking every 5 min or so.<div>Just get some overheard battery lamps, get the 4AA models and look for a solar battery charger for it, we have at Canadian Tire a model that charges 4AA batteries, so there must be in the US as well. It is only $35 here</div><div><br></div><div>Solar, the answer is depends on the model. I have the smaller 1.5 watt that maintain the battery, they also charge after about 1 week, stay on dash.</div><div>5 watt, can go on dash and ontop of vehicle, depending on the manufacturer, read the info on box.</div><div>1 hr a day on laptop... ROFLOL.... good one, just coming here to read and answer questions Is 1 hr...</div>

 

[She]

I just ordered a solar powered charger for AA ,AAA ,C and D batteries. Def. will look for those lights. Gee Im all most there. Now I just need a van LOL and the bad part is I cant do it until I come back from vacation at the end of Nov. If I could , I'd use the money from that instead. That's how bad I taste it.<div>&nbsp;And yeah I know 1 hr a day who I'm fooling ...def. not you. LOL&nbsp;</div><div>Thanks for all your help <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></div>

 

[blars]

I have seen inverters up to 600 watts that can be plugged into the Cig lighter, any larger than that and you need to direct wire to the vehicle battery. My little 400 watter can be directly&nbsp;plugged in or hard wired onto the battery.

<br><br><font size="2">Depends on your Cig ligher, but some are fused at 20 Amps or even 10 Amps, and that may be shared with other things like the radio.&nbsp; 20 amps will give you 240 Watts maximum before you blow the fuse (if your inverter is 100% efficient), 10 amps only 120 Watts.&nbsp; Cig lighter sockets are not designed for high power, I would not recomend over-fusing them, nor trust plugs not designed for high current.&nbsp; This is a safety issue.<br><br>The cigarette lighter plug on medium-sized inverters is for use when they aren't at full load.</font><br>

 

[4x4tour]

Ditto to what Blars said... He's the RV/AC guru around here...&nbsp; <br>

 

[Wild_E]

ok, thanks been using it for 7 yrs now,,<div>thanks again</div><div><br></div>

 

[sputnik]

1 led uses .18 watts at 12v (give or take, depending on the circuitry). &nbsp;Except for the new high-power fancy ones, they should all be run at 15-18ma, the lower you run them the longer they last, but you of course get less &amp; less light too. &nbsp;You can commonly find 5-6 led models that are battery operated (AA or AAA's), I have some here over the dinette that I converted to run off my 12V system, 1 bank is plenty for reading. &nbsp;They use so little that it would really beat the handcranks if you got the solar charger that WildernessReturn mentions and some of those new Eneloops type batteries (IF it does NiMh types, surely someone makes a solar model that does). &nbsp;They are almost as cheap as disposables now and recharge 1000 times or more, making them almost 1000 times cheaper in actuality. &nbsp;My mouse eats a charged one in 2-4 days (it's a pig, but a very cool pig), I just have 4 that I keep charged, pop a new one in, dead one goes on the charger. &nbsp;The common Eneloops is about 2000ma capacity, meaning about 6 watts capacity. &nbsp;So in theory about 6 hours of light for a 5 led model, but in practice you'll get less, maybe 75-80% (5 hours). &nbsp;They work great and have high capacity, just as high or higher than alkaline. &nbsp;For not much more money you can get the Duracell 2650ma like I have for my mouse (didn't want to change them out more than I had to), giving you 7.95 theoretical watts. &nbsp;I think there may even be a higher capacity battery out there, but they lie alot, so important to get results from real users <img src="/images/boards/smilies/wink.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><div>The other info is dead-on, skip the lighter socket if you can.</div>

 

[blars]

1 led uses .18 watts at 12v

<br>True, if it uses a resistor to drop the voltage.&nbsp; You can power 3 white or blue LEDs in series for the same 15mA at 12V with a smaller resistor, and produce less waste heat and get three times the light.<br><br>The rest of the article confuses watts, watt-hours, amps, and amp-hours.&nbsp; This makes as much sense as measuring distance in miles per hour.<br><br>There also seems to be some confusion about battery voltage or just plain math errors.&nbsp; You seem to be significantly overstating the capacity of cells, both rechareable and disposable.<br><br>

 

[beemerchef]

Hi She...<BR>I have been using products from <A href="http://www.goalzero.com/shop/p/106/?gclid=CMasn-ebzqsCFcPt7QodjiS8Sw" target=_blank>GoalZero</A>. Battery, inverter (100W as I do not need more than that) and a 27W folding solar panel. They are pricey but if you were truly interested they are good people to deal with and get a big discount always for a good cause. Let me know.<BR>I also have a Friend who has only 20% of his hearing left in one ear, his other ear is gone 100%. (I read you post BTW, reason I feel as I can write here). I will ask him how he deals with his camping as he is out not full time but most of the time and much also in Urban environment. <BR>Worth a try you know...<BR>You be well... Ara &amp; Spirit<BR><BR><A href="http://www.theoasisofmysoul.com" target=_blank target=_blank>www.theoasisofmysoul.com</A><BR>

 

[sputnik]

Actually blars, all of my LED's here are run in sets of three with a current-limiting resistor. &nbsp;Well, I have some that are run from a constant current voltage regulator circuit I made. &nbsp;But it doesn't matter how you state it, the recommended current through most common LED's is 15ma., that is EACH, not 3 in series. &nbsp;Certainly you can use a LARGER (not smaller!) resistance value to limit the current to a set of 3 LED's to 15ma. total, but they will be abysmally dim, you would gain nothing because then you would have to use more LED's to accomplish what you need.<div>I'm not certain which article to which you refer, but if you are speaking of my post, I know I have made errors in the past, and would appreciate it if you are aware of a math error or the like to please point it out to me clearly rather than ambiguously stating that there are some "errors." &nbsp;Even after re-reading the post, I am not aware of any errors in "watts", "amp-hour", or the like. &nbsp;But again, I have been wrong before, so please inform me so that I can correct them in the future.</div><div>I am also not aware of any confusion of battery voltage, so once again, please enlighten me. &nbsp;I only see that I spoke of a battery voltage of 12v. &nbsp;Unless you speak of my usage of 12v when a typical lead-acid battery should ideally be at 13.6v fully charged, in which case I would respond I was only trying to keep things simple, I am aware of that fact.</div><div>The same goes for your comment about "overstating the capacity of cells, both rechargeable and disposable". &nbsp;I do not see where I discuss the capacity of disposable batteries at all. &nbsp;Again, I am not aware of any overstatement, the 2650ma NiMH cells I have here on my desk and I use them regularly. &nbsp;I must confess, I have not personally measured the capacity of these cells, that is Duracell's claim. &nbsp;However, when researching which NiMH cells I wanted to buy I found buyer's comments from knowledgeable people who did claim to measure the capacity and stated that they indeed did live up to the manufacturer's claim. &nbsp;As stated in my post it is quite a crap shoot with these NiMH cells as to the honesty of the manufacturer's claims, and many do not supply stated capacity.</div><div>Time marches on, and there are new classes of batteries that perhaps do more than you think. &nbsp;The Eneloops and other NiMH batteries are quite popular and do what they say. &nbsp;If you know otherwise, please give us some proof. &nbsp;Specifically.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div>

 

[lampliter]

I have no clue when it comes to juice (mountain william for electricity).<br>Someone gave me a 400 watt inverter; is there any way to test it to see if it works?<br>I travel by motorcycle---what can I use it for? Can I hook up a second battery to my M/C?. Maybe carry it in a saddlebag? I have a 12 volt plug in hooked up to some wires in my headlite---it only works when the bike is turned on---works good for gps and cell phone charging. All comments welcome and thanks. <br><br>

 

[Wild_E]

Lampliter,<div>can you make your post a new post please I think you will get a&nbsp;response&nbsp;then.</div><div>For Motorcycles, go to a dealer and ask then those questions though about the second battery. Bike have tine alternator/thingies.. LOL .. some might still not have alternators they might use alternate means to power battery.</div>

 

[MK7]

Dude, stop saying LOL in every post please, it's 2011, nearing 2012 already, thanks. The lithium battery pack is awesome but damn, $500.<br> <br> Power packs that also serves as a dead battery jump starter are made to give out a lot of cranking juice all at once.....so they won't be good for a long, constant, power source to run a TV, computer, etc.&nbsp; Deep cycle/marine batteries are the ones you'd want to run stuff for a long time.<br> <br> I would get a $50 jumper pack from Harbor Freight (emergency jumps, portable short usage) and 1 or 2 marine batteries at $90-120/each (long usage).&nbsp; My current $50 Harbor Freight pack just died after 7 years of frequent use.&nbsp; Probably due to neglect from not recharging/conditioning regularly and left in the trunk through 4 seasons for the past 2 years. I wouldn't buy a used battery b/c that may be someone trying to get rid of a bad battery. <br><br>And probably upgrade to a high output alternator including upgrading the wiring (else fire). Recharging dead or near dead batteries often is very taxing on a stock alternator, and they are bound to fail. Replacing them on the road is a pain b/c the alternator pulley usually requires an air impact wrench, although I've used an electric impact wrench and it worked. A high output alt should charge your batteries faster too. Stock is like 50-65 amps. High output, 120-200 amps or more. <br>

 

[She]

Hi She...<br>I have been using products from <a href="http://www.goalzero.com/shop/p/106/?gclid=CMasn-ebzqsCFcPt7QodjiS8Sw" target="_blank">GoalZero</a>. Battery, inverter (100W as I do not need more than that) and a 27W folding solar panel. They are pricey but if you were truly interested they are good people to deal with and get a big discount always for a good cause. Let me know.<br>I also have a Friend who has only 20% of his hearing left in one ear, his other ear is gone 100%. (I read you post BTW, reason I feel as I can write here). I will ask him how he deals with his camping as he is out not full time but most of the time and much also in Urban environment. <br>Worth a try you know...<br>You be well... Ara &amp; Spirit<br><br><a href="http://www.theoasisofmysoul.com" target="_blank">www.theoasisofmysoul.com</a><br>

<div><br></div><div>Old I know but Ara I'd really like to know how your friend deals with his deafness while he is camping. I &nbsp;tried to find other sources and came up empty handed. I'm still looking. Sorry it took so long to respond.<img border="0" align="absmiddle" src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/frown.gif"></div>