Ok, I went to our local Canadian Tire and they have a wide variety of power packs, and a very handy reference manual on display. Has a chart that shows you how long each pack will run certian appliances. The 600 pack will run a fan for 1.2hrs, and a 300w ceramic heater for 6 minutes. So, that doesn't seem very practical.
Any RV parts source will have smal 12V fans. If you want dual, solder or crimp 8 X 1.5V batteries to a male cigarette lighter plug. Electronic parts houses sell the battery holders for just a few bucks. It would be fun to run that off a deepcell in the swamp!
FantasticFauna wrote: Ok, I went to our local Canadian Tire and they have a wide variety of power packs, and a very handy reference manual on display. Has a chart that shows you how long each pack will run certian appliances. The 600 pack will run a fan for 1.2hrs, and a 300w ceramic heater for 6 minutes. So, that doesn't seem very practical.
Excellent info! That confirms that I won't be buying one of those battery packs. Thanks for looking into it further.
68 Me & DW
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06 F150 Screw 6.5' Bed, 4x4, 5.4, 3.73
04 Tahoe 23RB-GL Honda EU2000 Parallel Cables "I hope you like Guinness, Sir. I find it a refreshing substitute for...food." Col. Jack O'Neill, Stargate SG-1.
FantasticFauna wrote: Ok, I went to our local Canadian Tire and they have a wide variety of power packs, and a very handy reference manual on display. Has a chart that shows you how long each pack will run certian appliances. The 600 pack will run a fan for 1.2hrs, and a 300w ceramic heater for 6 minutes. So, that doesn't seem very practical.
Excellent info! That confirms that I won't be buying one of those battery packs. Thanks for looking into it further.
That makes two of us. There is one that's a 1200 that would do the trick, but it's so big it comes with a cart to wheel it around.
I also forgot to mention that these units state they need more than 25hrs to fully charge.
FantasticFauna wrote: Ok, I went to our local Canadian Tire and they have a wide variety of power packs, and a very handy reference manual on display. Has a chart that shows you how long each pack will run certian appliances. The 600 pack will run a fan for 1.2hrs, and a 300w ceramic heater for 6 minutes. So, that doesn't seem very practical.
Excellent info! That confirms that I won't be buying one of those battery packs. Thanks for looking into it further.
That makes two of us. There is one that's a 1200 that would do the trick, but it's so big it comes with a cart to wheel it around.
I also forgot to mention that these units state they need more than 25hrs to fully charge.
I'd never buy one again. Upon further research, I learned there are two kinds of batteries, starter and deep-cell, which is to say, thin plates and thick plates. A power pack tries to do both jobs and it does neither. After only one year it discharges to less than 11.9v. in only one day rather than two and must be hooked up to a car battery for proper voltage. If you want a booster, don't run the charge down and you're okay. If you want a power supply, as said above you want a deep cell and either a voltage converter (better) or an inverter (sucks 5 watts of power to run). I'm converting my power pack to a booster and buying a deep-cell at Costco for $58.00 and a voltage converter at Radio Shack for $20.00, and a battery box for $10.00. The power pack I have now (a 400W) is only 18 ah and the deep cell is 85, a massive difference. Here is a great article with tons of information:
http://www.templetons.com/brad/burn/burn-power.html
Definitely check the ah on your model before buying and think about it!
* This post was
edited 05/16/08 07:53pm by tplife69 *
The PowerDome has been fully charged and left overnight to clear the dreaded "surface charge" before measurement. The voltmeter says the output is now 10w. I'm done, stick a fork in me!
Off to Deep-cell Battery City!
tplife69 wrote: The PowerDome has been fully charged and left overnight to clear the dreaded "surface charge" before measurement. The voltmeter says the output is now 10w. I'm done, stick a fork in me!
Off to Deep-cell Battery City!
I feel your pain. I hate it when you spend good money on a product that ends up being nothing but an expensive paper-weight. Maybe you can get a few bucks back out of it in a yard sale...
tplife69 wrote: The PowerDome has been fully charged and left overnight to clear the dreaded "surface charge" before measurement. The voltmeter says the output is now 10w. I'm done, stick a fork in me!
Off to Deep-cell Battery City!
I feel your pain. I hate it when you spend good money on a product that ends up being nothing but an expensive paper-weight. Maybe you can get a few bucks back out of it in a yard sale...
Thanks for your heads up and comments. I still have a decent booster battery, but like any RV'er knows, it's not a power supply! I'm still ahead in $ if you consider a good C cell is $1.50/per and 6 makes a stereo times X 3 X @camping trip...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TKHMWK 28 amp hour rating AGM plus a 14" fantastic fan @ 1.2 amp hour = good nights sleep, maybe several good nights sleep.
A deep cycle battery would have more amp hours, but I plan on putting this on the floor of my car and charging up as I drive each day and I really don't want a deep cycle battery with charger cables attached sitting on the floor of my car.
I'm looking at this setup
http://www.kr1st.com/powerpack.htm
Using a Costco Optima AGM battery in the Group 24 size and the W-Mart $7 battery box. 55 Ah,3 times the AH power and true "deep-cycle" operaiton, heavier than my WEGAN, but no larger in size and quick-disconnect setup after drilling a couple of holes.
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