if you want to know what's really going on down here, turn to www.klvi.com and listen for a few hours to the live stream. Clearchannel claims to be streaming it, but I don't have the battery time to check. They're the only source of our news on what's going on in the world, and we're not expected to get power back for up to a month.
It's horrendous. Major loss of electrical infrastructure. Flyover surveys reveal approx. 30 to 50% loss of large trees. If you had a tree in your yard on the north side, it may very well be in your bedroom right now.
Entery has to rebuild main transmission lines all the way down the LA-TX border. Plus, the damn at Dam B (can't remember the official name... Steinhagen Lake?) is allegedly broken and they're having to release all the water, which may flood thousands downstream.
Situation is very disoriented. Many people did not leave and unless they were prepared with food and water (like us), they're running out. Anger beginning to build at officials, but they don't know exactly who to be mad at because of lack of news. I think it's because everyone is so isolated. The ONLY source of news on what's going on is coming from KLVI radio station, so everyone sits around and listens (and calls in) to this station all day.
Men with chainsaws have spent last 2 days clearing roads to make them passable. Huge majority of roads in Hardin, Jasper, Newton, Jefferson, and Orange counties had huge trees across them, but people are being self-sufficient and clearing everything except the trees on the power lines (about half of them. lol!).
DPS (state police) won't enforce blockade of Hardin County, so Hardin Co. officials said on radio tonight that they're letting people back in starting tomorrow. This should cause MUCHO tension, as other counties are still enforcing blockade (Jefferson, Orange).
Please ping people to this question: I have limited battery power left on laptop. Have a generator with 300 watt inverter and tractor battery. Question: Does that battery have to be a marine battery, or is tractor battery sufficient. I'm scared of plugging this thing into the inverter until I get some kind of idea of what I'm dealing with. NOTE: I will not hold anyone responsible if I fry my computer by doing something based on your advice or input. :-)
Will check back tomorrow to see if anyone has advice. The tractor battery only has the following info on it: Everstart 12 volt (from walmart). Inverter is "Travel Power 300 watt."
I am going to bed soon. I almost feel like starting a thread with your question, but you'll get too many replies.
I am stealthly pinging people -- hoping one will know.
Hey Glock .. can ya help Nita Nupress with her question?
I don't know what you're planning on doing with the battery, but the only functional difference between a marine battery and a tractor battery is that you can run a marine battery *way* down without damaging it. A tractor battery will have problems after a deep discharge, and it's not a good idea to run it down past 30-50% charged.
In terms of charging them, there's no difference. Anything you hook up to them to draw power will never notice the difference.
Nita--Your tractor battery will run the inverter fine.
Be careful to check and look for the + (positive) on the battery and wire it to the + on the inverter, it is normally the tip.....the connection on the side of the inverter (if this is a cigarette lighter plug-in type) is normally negative.
Also, be sure the battery is full of distilled water, if it is a non-sealed type. In an emergency (like you are in!) you can use whatever water you have at hand. Just be careful, that's strong acid in the battery.....
Keep us posted.
Prayers UP!
(Thank God you're BOTH safe)
Blur
If you need more power later, you can also recharge your tractor battery with your car and some jumper cables. Connect the cables to the tractor battery first, red to the + side of the battery, black to the -, then connect the red to the car battery and the black to something metal but not painted on the engine. That will minimize the risk of getting a spark near the battery. Run your car for about 15 minutes and the battery will be about a quarter to half charged
I did do a Google search on Steinhagen Lake news and got no results, however Livingston Lake has minor problems and is undergoing a massive controlled release of water. 80,000 Cubic Feet Of water a second for 4 days. That is about 75% what the Mississippi flows at St Louis. It will flood a lot of homes.
Best of luck and stay safe!
That should work until the battery runs low.
Hook the red lead to the plus post on the battery, black to minus.
Plug in your laptop and try it...
(BTW, you don't need a marine battery, but they are built to survive more charge/drain cycles over their useful lifetime than the tractor battery.)
12V Tractor battery should be OK with a 12v invertor.
Ironic to have to go from a tractor battery 12v DC to an invertor to 120v AC to a laptop DC charger to a laptop battery, ins't it.
Over the long term (weeks of recharging) a car battery (or the tractor battery) won't do nearly as well as a deep cycle solar or marine (fishing) battery because the car battery plates are smaller and thinner, but short term it will do fine.
Tractor battery more rugged than car battery - which helps too. Lawn/garden tractors are sometimes 6 volts, that might be the only problem.
Have you been able to travel at all from your current location? I'm worried about all the structures in that area, including your home. The storm was still packing a whallop when it reached Jasper.
You should be fine. And you should get at least 24hours of run time for you laptop if the battery is fully charged. Anything else you run off the inverter will subtract from that. If you were using the whole 300 watts then that battery would not last long. But the inverter will not use much unless you load down the output with larger current loads.
You also have all but one peice of what you need to have an everlasting amount of small power. You should look into buying at least a 5 watt 12 volt solar battery charger. With that you could keep charging your battery from the sun.
A marine battery is better for this situation because it is designed to be discharged in the manor you will be doing so.
As such it will have a longer life. But for the amount of time you will using the Car battery this should not be a big problem.