Posted on 07/05/2018 9:00:49 AM PDT by Alberta's Child
I'm looking for some input on a piece of equipment I will be using for business and travel.
I need a portable power supply that can serve two functions: (1) charge small electronic equipment (mainly a phone and/or a laptop computer) when I have no access to power; and (2) provide power for electronic equipment for hours at a time when I am working in a location where I do not have power.
Item (2) is what is driving my need here. I will be working on several projects where I may need to set up a small digital video camera in locations that are sheltered from the weather but do not have electric power. In my line of work I would ideally love to have a power source that will run a digital camera or iPhone for 24 hours between charges.
I'm finding a wide range of options in the automotive, travel, and outdoor sections of online retail sites, and I'm not sure where to even begin with all these comparisons. I want to buy something that has a good track record for durability over time. What kind of wattage, voltage, etc. should I be looking for?
If there's something out there that has enough power to jump-start a full-sized pickup truck in an emergency, that would be a huge bonus!
These devices are not what they say they are. 20,000 ma hours is 20 amp hours. I’m familiar with them and they are not 20 amp hours. They have 2000 ma hour LI batteries in them.
S- Thank You for enlightening Me about an item that I never knew I needed;)
AC- if Squantos says it’s good and dependable then go with it!!!
Check out boltpowerusa.com. D28 has a lot of options. D29 has more power but doesn’t have the voltage and power adapter options of the D28.
This sounds amazing!
Mine works fine as stated ..... it resides in my black gearslinger bag on the front seat of my vehicles in the hot Texas sun and have never had it fail yet. It’s small but not shirt pocket small. At all day events I can put it into a 20 round AR TACO soft pouch on my belt and wire it directly to my phone . Can power a Nikon camera, my phone and a spare set of jabra wireless ear buds that I use the right ear bud as a bluetooth device for phone calls in loud environments . I recommend em .
if you’ll have a car nearby when you work, some of your needs could be met by a pure sine wave inverter:
True sine wave inverter required for some equipment.
Is this close?
So get a separate pure sine wave inverter that plugs into the cigarette lighter port.
Research “Yeti 1200”
Any Honda or Yamaha inverter generator, very quiet, rpms increase as power needs increase rather than constant full rpms of non-inverter generators.
Expensive but worth it, use less fuel, and again, very quiet.
See demos on you tube for both brands, and others.
Good Luck!!!
P.s. pure sine wave output from Honda and Yamaha, best for delicate electronic devices.
BBB
flr
Also charges up my FLIR RS64 scope used for eradicating Wylie Coyote’s family really fast .............
https://www.flir.com/products/rs64/
Hope yer well Bub ....
This might be close to what you want - the
Lithium Ion Jump Starter and Power Pack
Viking- item #62749 from Harbor Freight.
I bought one of these a year or so ago because my iPad has a tendency to eat battery life. I can get an extra six hours or so under heavy use. I think you could conceivably get a full 24 hours running an iPhone or video recorder. I’ve never used it to jump start anything but, according to the reviewers it seems to to work.
I would suggest picking one up and if it doesn’t come up to spec you can always return it.
It sells for $80 and although the fine print says that you can’t use the 20% off coupon on Viking branded products it still is quite a deal compared to similar items.
One of the nice things about it is that you can recharge it from the cigarette lighter receptacle in your car.
SKU 62749
Brand Viking®
Amperage (amps) 2.0A USB power
Battery capacity 12,000 mAh
Battery type Lithium iron phosphate
Cable gauge 10 AWG
Charge time 3 hours with AC adapter, 4-6 hours with cigarette lighter
AC Volts 120
Maximum amperage output (amps) 450 peak amps
Cable length (ft.) 15 in.
Product Height 1-5/8 in.
Product Length 6-1/4 in.
Product Width 3-1/8 in.
Shipping Weight 3.40 lb.
Accessories Included 6 ft. AC charger 15V/1A;17 in. 8 gauge battery cables with clamps;1 pc. cigarette charger;16 in. universal USB cable with micro USB and 30 pin smartphone connector;12V adapter;storage case
One other option would be to get a lawn and garden or tractor battery (Group size U1), for about a third of the price of a car battery (ballpark $40) and charge it when its flat with a 110 volt battery charger. This should have enough capacity to run small electronics although you would have to adapt the 12 volt output to run 5 volt USB devices.
> I will be working on several projects where I may need to set up a small digital video camera in locations that are sheltered from the weather but do not have electric power. In my line of work I would ideally love to have a power source that will run a digital camera or iPhone for 24 hours between charges.
One other thing, as a lead-acid gets colder its available capacity is reduced. A smaller battery that works fine in above freezing weather might only put our half power in the winter. One other thing about lead-acid is that tipping it over could lead to battery acid leaking out through the vent caps.
On the other hand, you do NOT want to put a Lithium Ion battery where it can be physically damaged as excessive pressure on the plates can cause fire or explosion and attempts to douse the fire with water can cause an exothermic reaction with the lithium resulting in a conflagration that burns at around 1000 degrees.
That’s probably the “modern day” version on what I had. Same brand. The one I had goes back, sheesh, I don’t know 10-15 years. Maybe more. The compressor and plug outlets were built in. During an outage, we’d run the coffee pot and maybe a window fan on it. Even a small cooler for a while. But it was about 20X the size. I’ll check this one out. Thanks.
It sounds like you have a multiuse problem.
In my van, I have a Marine deep charge battery and a Blue Seass battery link device that connects between the truck altenator and the deep battery. The device charges the marine battery but prevents back flow. This device has a swith to allow reverse current flow if necessary. It will start the van but is not for permanent use.
That marine battery is connected to an invertor that produces 110 volts off the 12 volt battery. That 110 volts can be used directly for all kinds of service.
Then a smaller battery probably lithium Ion can be charged off this system for transport away from the truck.
In the cab I bought a three way plug that is wired to the ciggarette lighter circuit that produces three 12 volt sources. They have permanent usb cables to my Garmin, my phone and my Kindle or laptop.
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