Power inverter

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Trumar

Trumar

Active Member
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136
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Hemel Hempstead
Need so advice to help me work in my garage.
My garage where my series 2a swb 1971 is parked is to far from my house to run electric. I only really want to run 2 x led ceiling lights so as I can work on my truck in my garage when ever I want. Does anyone know of a power inverter that I can charge at home and then take to my garage and plug me lights in and let me work for at least 2/3hrs or more. Or do you have another way I can do this?
 
If it's just lights you're after - and this could be 'saturday night' talking but - what about some cheapy 12v strip lights to hang off the garage ceiling and run them off your 2a battery? Then take the battery back to your house to charge as and when needed. Not quite what you asked for, but just a thought.
 
Solar panel charger, old car battery and 12v lighting internally, with possibly a securityn light as well.
As others have said, a small genny then for 240v lights and power tools when doing work.
 
Bantam1 said:
Solar panel charger, old car battery and 12v lighting internally, with possibly a securityn light as well.
Click to expand...

That's the way I do it.

I've a 50 Watt solar panel, charging a 50 Ah lead acid battery, using one of my PWM5 charger controllers.

The lighting as taken care of my a couple of 5 Watt LED bulbs, for normal illumination, and brighter LED strips when I need to work on equipment that requires more light.
The battery will give a full evening's light, and still recharge in a couple of hours of sunshine the next day.
 
If you want a portable solution, then Google Solar Generator. There are many different types available, at various prices, capacities and with various output types.

I built one a couple of years ago, which has 220V AC, and regulated 13.2 V DC and 6 USB outputs, which charges via solar or AC wall adapter. I designed this for power while camping, but it's handy when there's a power cut at home too.
 
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An inverter won't be any use - it still needs a power supply. Cheapest way is to take the battery and tools home with you and charge up, then run LED lights. I have a rechargeable LED work light and it runs 12 hours off a charge. My series is converted to a camper, one of the first things I did was fit decent LED interior (and underbonnet) lighting. We don't have a garage so I use this when I'm working on it.. Solar panel on the garage roof plus big battery works well but you don't want the panel getting nicked as you will have a £100 on the roof.
 
Hippo said:
I have two of these torches for working on the car. You van get similar hanging ones anorl. Last for 10 hours on a full charge.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/37-LED-R...MILLION-CANDLE-POWER-FLASHLIGHT/303637808316?

Solar would be nice but it depends if you would get the use out of it v setup cost.
Click to expand...
I've got some of those torches. They were a bit cheaper when I bought mine. They last for ages and ages. One of mine is held together with sticky tape because I succeeded in lowering a trolley jack onto it and crushed it. I thought I'd destroyed it, but it was taped together and it's still going five years later. I have a friend in Scotland who's a keen amateur yachtsman and he swears by them on his boat too.

Those portable power supply thingumajigs look very nice, bristling with sockets and USB ports, but are quite expensive for what you get. If you got a battery, a solar battery charger and an inverter you could probably do the job much more cheaply, if you don't mind the sight of untidy wiring and crocodile clips everywhere.
 
Brown said:
Those portable power supply thingumajigs look very nice, bristling with sockets and USB ports, but are quite expensive for what you get.
Click to expand...
They are, which is why I built my own.
Brown said:
If you got a battery, a solar battery charger and an inverter you could probably do the job much more cheaply
Click to expand...
Do away with the inverter and use 12 Volt LED lighting, and save energy boosting 12 V to 240 V AC, only to for the voltage to be taken back down by LED bulb's internal drivers ;)
 
Nodge68 said:
They are, which is why I built my own.

Do away with the inverter and use 12 Volt LED lighting, and save energy boosting 12 V to 240 V AC, only to for the voltage to be taken back down by LED bulb's internal drivers ;)
Click to expand...

I'm sure your kit looks wonderful!

Yes of course a lot of stuff, not just lights, works on relatively low voltage DC supplies. But 240v ac is a kind of lingua franca that's spoken by so many UK appliances it's worth having. Just looking around at what I've got in the house, it takes a variety of voltages from 3.2 (torch charger) to 19.2 (laptop) so you'd need quite a few transformers or voltage regulators. But they've all got adaptors with UK three pin plugs. Wasting a little stepping it up and down isn't too much of a problem if you're pulling your power out of the daylight.
 
Brown said:
I'm sure your kit looks wonderful!
Click to expand...
It functions better than it looks. I just built it into what is known as an Ammo Can! It's got 4 standard USBs, 2 QC3 USBs, 2 x 13.6V regulated lighter style sockets, 3 non regulated 5.5 mm sockets for tent lighting. And a 500 Watt 220 V AC inverter, all of which can be used simultaneously or independently. The whole lot is powered by a 500 Whr 3S 15P lithium iron battery pack. Here's a couple of pictures.
Screenshot_20210126-095139_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20210126-095025_Video Player.jpg

Brown said:
Yes of course a lot of stuff, not just lights, works on relatively low voltage DC supplies. But 240v ac is a kind of lingua franca that's spoken by so many UK appliances it's worth having. Just looking around at what I've got in the house, it takes a variety of voltages from 3.2 (torch charger) to 19.2 (laptop) so you'd need quite a few transformers or voltage regulators. But they've all got adaptors with UK three pin plugs. Wasting a little stepping it up and down isn't too much of a problem if you're pulling your power out of the daylight.
Click to expand...

For just lighting, then 12volts is perfect, as it's easy to wire, and efficient at powering LED lighting.

Obviously if more voltage is needed, the stepping up to standard AC is useful, but only as and when needed.
 
Nodge68 said:
It functions better than it looks. I just built it into what is known as an Ammo Can! It's got 4 standard USBs, 2 QC3 USBs, 2 x 13.6V regulated lighter style sockets, 3 non regulated 5.5 mm sockets for tent lighting. And a 500 Watt 220 V AC inverter, all of which can be used simultaneously or independently. The whole lot is powered by a 500 Whr 3S 15P lithium iron battery pack. Here's a couple of pictures.
View attachment 229116 View attachment 229121


For just lighting, then 12volts is perfect, as it's easy to wire, and efficient at powering LED lighting.

Obviously if more voltage is needed, the stepping up to standard AC is useful, but only as and when needed.
Click to expand...

Very neat - all fits in the box perfectly.
 
Brown said:
Very neat - all fits in the box perfectly.
Click to expand...

The inside is packed, which makes working on it rather tight. I've got to replace the cooling fan, as it's failed, but unfortunately I've got to strip the whole thing down to access it, so I've been putting it off. :(
 
Nodge, How are you regulating the LiPo change from the solar?
Re power tools, you can put 2 x 12v batteries in series and do DC to DC charging or get some of the older 9.6v tools and charge off the 12v batt. I had a 9.6v Bosch drill and it was pretty good.
 
rob1miles said:
Nodge, How are you regulating the LiPo change from the solar?
Click to expand...

I'm using a solar charge controller designed for use with 3S lithium batteries. I can charge the battery at 10 Amps, which is about 180 Watts of solar panels. This could charge the battery pack in under 3 hours, in good sunlight. I use a 40 Watt and a 50 Watt folding panels for camping though, as it's easier to transport them, but they still charge my Solar Accumulator (that's what I call it), in under 60 hours of sunshine.
 
rob1miles said:
Re power tools, you can put 2 x 12v batteries in series and do DC to DC charging or get some of the older 9.6v tools and charge off the 12v batt. I had a 9.6v Bosch drill and it was pretty good
Click to expand...

Yes. That's very possible.
I use solar power to charge my 20 Volt battery power tools. I use a DC to DC converter to take the 12 Volts from my workshop solar power system, up to the 21.5 Volts needed to fully charge the power tool batteries.
 
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