Portable Power Bank Assistance

[kilogulf59]

@orbital COOL. Thanks and I'll let him know. That's a pretty slick and simple setup.

 

[orbital]

+

UPS

If you have your charger connected to the LFP and your computer connected to the inverter, everything working as usual,, if the power goes out (shutting off the charger) you'll just be on the LFP power without needing to reboot at all <UPS>

I don't actually do it this way, but it's possible

also:: 30Ah will not power all day, just please understand that.

 

[Macgravy]

kilogulf59,

I was surfing around and found a site that made up their own UPS.

Not that this is gonna be cheaper, but you can make it any size you want practically.

He uses a solar charge controller.

He plugs in a 6-8 amp battery charger into the charge controller. The other end of the battery charger plugs into the 120 electrical power outlet.

That battery charger simulates the solar panel(s). He also plugs into the charge controller a SLA battery...or lead acid battery...or lithium Iron Phosphate battery. The charge controller had different charge algorithms for different battery chemistry.

Then the output of the charge controllers goes to a sine wave inverter.

Then you plug into the inverter.

It's all automatic from there.

Just as when the sun goes away the battery takes over suppling the power to the computer.

Not cheap but highly customizable.

You can use the same battery charger for almost any size of battery. You just have to give it enough time to charge larger batteries.

The inverter size would have to be at least 500VA...and with a desktop computer probably 1000VA. That would probably be 100$...or more.

The battery probably should be 100 Ahr lithium Iron Phosphate..at least...these get expensive.

A 500VA sine wave inverter is around 50$...but to be safe...you should probably get a 1000VA inverter...again much more $$$

The battery is the only thing that needs to be upgraded due to your requirement of running for 8 hours or more.

If the desktop takes 1000 VA of power then that 100 Ah battery will only last like 2-3 hours....This isn't gonna be cheap.

I have checked this type of stuff many times over many years and it really isn't cheap. Especially if you want to keep working for 8 hours.

Of course an inverters generator that puts out less than a 3% distorted sine wave would be the cheapest but how do you use that when living in an apartment?

The running times are only estimates. But with a little more time, I'm sure I can get better estimates....but you would need 3-4 of those batteries in parallel.

 

[turbodog]

Paragraphs and formatting are our friends.

 

[Macgravy]

At turbodog

You are absolutely correct about formatting. I actually typed this out in TextEdit for Macintosh & copied it to here. For some reason all the formatting disappeared.

I have attempted to correct it.

Thanks for pointing this out.

 

[BVH]

Ahh come on....formatting went out when texting came in.

 

[fuyume]

Hi, I've been in tech consulting for over 30 years now. I've done projects from one person offices to enterprise installs serving over 10,000 users, and local area, metropolitan area, and wide area networks as well. I was the founding Director of Internet Services for the first 100% broadband end-user ISP in the US.

The simple answer is a line-interactive UPS, and I only recommend APC or Tripp-Lite to my clients, as big as you can afford.

The more complicated answer is, you need to calculate the power draw of the systems you are trying to run under the load conditions you expect to run before you can determine how much battery capacity it takes to keep them running for as long as you need to run them.

For example, APC will tell you that their Smart-UPS 1500VA SMC1500C will run a 150 W load for about 1 hour (most laptops use substantially less). One of these will cost you $470 right now at Amazon. You can buy more than one, as well, and there are both smaller and larger versions, as well as models with fewer or more features.

It may be cheaper to buy two smaller units than one larger unit.

 

[fuyume]

I have a feeling that what I have envisioned really doesn't exist.

No, it absolutely does exist, and has existed in consumer product format for over three decades.

 

[kilogulf59]

Thanks to everyone. You folks were a huge help.

He did pick up something and I believe it's a UPS. Waiting to hear back now with the make and model, which I'll post.

Addendum: I heard back and this is what he decided upon: APC BX1500M Image APC APC Brand Image APC APC Brand Image APC APC Brand Image APC Back UPS 1500, Compact Tower, 1500VA, 120V, AVR, LCD, 10 NEMA outlets (5 surge) Apparently, he got a good deal on one as well.

 

[orbital]

+

20 minutes runtime for the APC. How does that help?
16 hour recharge time
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
- Everything for my computer system is on a power strip, that's one outlet on my inverter.
- My laptop charger is on the other outlet of the inverter.

Like I mentioned, if you have a your charger connected to your LFP, you're basically running your computer system off the LFP charger...
If the power goes out; you'll seamlessly be running on the LFP alone, without any aspect of you system needing to reboot.

That will run for hours till the power is back on.

 

[kilogulf59]

Apparently, his biggest concern was not losing his work when the power goes out, not necessarily working through an outage. This way he can save and shut down safely. Either he or I got something mixed up. Why the long recharge time? I have no idea...

 

[Got Lumens?]

I use an APC 1500 to power through AC power outages. It has 2 internal and two external batteries, connected.
There are more solutions than I can list. I can say using the internal laptop/or tablet display will maximize your off line AC power back-up sources. You can hybrid by allowing back UPIS to power internet and router/modem and use laptop/tablet powered by a vehicles 12v system.,
GL

 

[Poppy]

We have a cigar lighter power inverter that looks something like this.

It is probably packed away in one of my daughter's suitcases up in the attic.
Following this thread, I thought that perhaps I would get another inverter for the car. I could use it to charge my laptop, etc.

Instead, I bought a 12V to 19.5V car adapter designed for my laptop.
I figure that it will be more efficient than converting 12v to 120v and back to 19v

Granted it won't run my router, I guess that's another bridge to cross.

 

[kilogulf59]

I got a DC/AC power inverter many years ago and it stays in my trucks center console. Suffice it to say I have bad lungs. When I need to use my nebulizer, I NEED to use my nebulizer. Plus, JIC I need it when I'm out and about, not that I travel much. It's come in handy several times over the years. I wouldn't be without one.

 

[TD-Horne]

@TD-Horne Holy Cow. Is there such a critter like that or is this something that one has to make up on his own?

If you do a internet search for 12 volt ATX power supply you can find them as a factory built off the shelf product.

Now, we have folks in the area who have to run sump pumps, especially in the rainy season. Those people usually have a simple gasoline generator that they can hook up is need be. For them, a few hours sans power is a big deal.

There is a device that goes by different brand names that uses the Venturi Effect of water pressurized by a reliable public utility to draw water out of a sump and expel it outdoors. One model is the SumpJet® Water Powered Backup Emergency Sump Pump. When the water level in the sump rises past the set point a valve operated by the float opens allowing the utility water to pass through the Venturi Tube.

The physics of the water flow through the restricted waterway of the tube causes the sump water to be drawn into the flow of Utility water. These function at about 2 gallons of sump water for every 1 gallon of municipal water ejected out of the house. The device is a lot cheaper than a generator, requires much less maintenance, is much more reliable, due to it's mechanical simplicity of having only one moving part, and will generally outlast any generator you might buy by a factor of 10 times as long. When the same principal of operation is used to take water from a shallow well it is often called a jet pump.

Fire departments call these devices eductors of which they use 2 types. A salvage eductor is built to move a large volume of water but only to a high enough lift to get it out of a basement or similarly shallow place.

A water supply eductor is used to draw water from a more distant or lower place and must be operated at much higher pressure to achieve a lower flow than it's salvage counterpart.

Tom Horne

 

[kilogulf59]

@TD-Horne thanks for the detailed explanation and very interesting. The only problem is we all have wells. No power, no water.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Up and running but still experimenting. Using an extension cord to use a 500W compact heater inside (not kosher) and tailgate cooked rice with an induction cooktop.

 

[Got Lumens?]

Up and running but still experimenting. Using an extension cord to use a 500W compact heater inside (not kosher) and tailgate cooked rice with an induction cooktop.

Pretty crafty.
Does that battery You use for the inverter only charge when the truck is running?
I would be adding one of those inexpensive 25w solar powered battery chargers to keep the battery topped off for when You need it.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

300 Watts of solar (which really results in 250W+ for the most part) on top of the shell.

I will not get the truck's alternator involved; too many reports of malfunction doing that (on diysolarforum).

We got a toaster oven rated 1150W but the 1200W inverter shut it down because it was actually 1290W; so returning it

 

[Got Lumens?]

300 Watts of solar (which really results in 250W+ for the most part) on top of the shell.

I will not get the truck's alternator involved; too many reports of malfunction doing that (on diysolarforum).

We got a toaster oven rated 1150W but the 1200W inverter shut it down because it was actually 1290W; so returning it

Look into the tabletop ovens, the ones used to roast turkeys. The one we have has a Low 900W setting. It bakes, fries, and slow cooks in the bottom half. They are a life saver for when holidays come or when your stove oven breaks, had that happen.