Power Outage, How many Lumens, How many batteries? (for lights and more)

[StarHalo]

- need to get some kind of night lights for the kids rooms that run off batteries. I ended up just tail standing my SC62w and SC600 which worked ok, but would prefer something more dedicated to the task
- kids normally sleep with white noise MP3 playing... Need to get some little battery powered thing for this. They had trouble going down because of this. Maybe a little radio tuned to static would do the trick.
- my UPS that powers my NAS, router, wifi died after about an hour. Damn AGM batteries. Need something much better than that.
- caught in the evening with cell phones around 25% which wasn't good at all. I have three portable power banks so we were ok. But I feel exposed here.
- wife complained it was hot because the AC was out... Not sure I can do anything about that other than a full home genny.

- Pak-lites if they can work with that low level of light, would definitely avoid li-ions around the kids in the future

- Battery powered fans, cooling and white noise

- UPS strips are just for giving you enough time to finish up whatever you're doing and shut down everything normally

- Not-entirely-portable power packs can hit 20,000 mAh, which is many full recharges for any phone

- More battery powered fans, and don't forget the evaporative towels; these make even a lousy fan feel like good air conditioning

 

[rpm00]

Lots of good ideas here. Need to find some battery powered fans and those towels.

 

[StarHalo]

Need to find some battery powered fans and those towels.

Bluemax provided the link for the fans, which he has tested and recommends. I provided the link for the towels, which I have tested and recommend.

 

[Treeguy]

Hi Treeguy! :wave:

I'm glad to see that you finally got one of those lanterns. If you find that you want to run it on high, then you may want to look into some Tenergy NiMH D cells. I saw one review that stated average battery life is only five hours.

I think that you'll still be tail standing some of your Indestructible 2AA lights. I guess time will tell, eh?

The lantern I got was brand new but not in the box. It was a leftover from a charity raffle at a choir concert my wife sang it. For the life of me I cannot find any specs on the light other than 400 lumen high and 280 hours low. That's it. I might just turn it on high and see how long the included Rayovac batteries last. My guess is not very long.

I'll probably skip rechargeable D cells and just use the Duracells I have. But you never know. (I did finally get some AA Eneloops and a charger, so I'm not a total Neanderthal.) I figure if I only run the light on medium, which is a very comfortable level, I'll get plenty o'time out of the Duracells I have.

As for my AA Indestructible, I'll just keep throwing it down the street until it dies. :laughing:

 

[bluemax_1]

There are several pros and cons to rechargeable D's to consider:

Cons:
- greater initial cost of rechargeable batteries AND a charger
- no advantage over disposable alkalines at low current draw levels.

Pros:
- increased runtimes over alkaline cells at high draw levels
- reusable over and over, which ends up recouping the initial cost vs disposable alkalines especially in any device that is used regularly
- the MOST important pro to me; unlike alkalines (especially if left in any device that sees infrequent usage, eg. emergency lighting), rechargeable NiMH don't have a tendency to leak. If you have a power outage, the LAST thing you want is to find your emergency lighting messed up and non-functional because the alkaline batteries in it leaked and corroded everything inside.

For the last reason, I have low self-discharge rechargeable D's in my lanterns (and battery operated fans). I know that even if they haven't been used in a while, they're ready to go AND I won't find a corroded mess from alkaleaks.


Max

 

[StarHalo]

I ran across one of these in the warehouse today: a 5" fan powered by 4xAA batteries OR USB cable OR A/C. Run it off regular Eneloops or alkalines, or plug it into a cellphone power pack, or plug it into an inverter/genny line, or rig a battery pack for a DC in plug. As mentioned all the time over in the radio thread, a good power outage radio has lots of power options in case anything goes wrong with any particular power source; it's nice to see a fan that follows that same emergency preparedness design. ~$10 with color options.

 

[Rick NJ]

The idea of having no power should be considered for beyond just a few days. If your power will be out for more than 7 to 10 days the quantity of batteries is no longer a good solution. You must consider what your needs will be and try to supply those needs with the simplest solar solution that fits your budget.

Actual experiences from the Halloween Storm (7+ day outage ) and the Sandy Storm (11+ day outage, no gasoline) were not encouraging for solar based solutions.

Storm is not often associated with nice sunny days. Depending on local weather, solar panels may be under inches of ice and snow. That problem was rather evident during the Halloween storm a couple of years before Sandy - days of snow with 6 to 8 inches of snow followed by ice covering everything. Granted, it is better than nothing, but probability of sunless days after storm is high.

I arranged my emergency lighting based on SLA's charged using my car, plus portable stuff that I can use car cigarette lighter adapter to charge, or take to the local library to recharge. The storm Sandy has local public facilities (library and coffee shops) well experienced with setting up for near-by citizens going there for recharging. I ensured I also have very low power LED lighting so it can last over a week - low power but some light to avoid total darkness. Those are based on Eneloops and LiIon cells and I am equipped with car-adaptor chargers.

My main "unaddressed issue" really is heat - HVAC (gas-heat) doesn't work without electricity. I am considering some kind of portable heaters, but thus far I have been dragging my feet on that.

 

[H-Man]

Thank you for sharing your observations.

I have been a proponent of "auto-on" emergency lighting, I believe that I first suggested it here, and there was a bit of follow-up discussion of it.
I have a few that plug into an outlet, and have a light sensor so if the room is dark enough, it'll come on. If the power fails, they'll come on, but only if the room is dark enough. This saves the batteries when the outage occurs during the daylight hours. I'd like to suggest that you pick up that style for the rooms that it would be appropriate.

I'm a propent of always on lights. I have a light dim enough I get a year of run time out of 2AA cells, I'll eventually wedge an XP-E2 or XPC into it with a resistor providing a low current switch bypass.

 

[bluemax_1]

I ran across one of these in the warehouse today: a 5" fan powered by 4xAA batteries OR USB cable OR A/C. Run it off regular Eneloops or alkalines, or plug it into a cellphone power pack, or plug it into an inverter/genny line, or rig a battery pack for a DC in plug. As mentioned all the time over in the radio thread, a good power outage radio has lots of power options in case anything goes wrong with any particular power source; it's nice to see a fan that follows that same emergency preparedness design. ~$10 with color options.

That looks like an interesting option. I'd be curious to see how long it could run on 4xAAs. The one I tested ran on 4 D-cells which hold a LOT more juice. That and the difference in the fan blade shapes. The Caframo Minimax (the model I tested) also has the ability to run off a power adapter, but the power adapter isn't included.

For $10 though, someone should definitely try this one out.


Max

 

[Treeguy]

Actual experiences from the Halloween Storm (7+ day outage ) and the Sandy Storm (11+ day outage, no gasoline) were not encouraging for solar based solutions.

Storm is not often associated with nice sunny days. Depending on local weather, solar panels may be under inches of ice and snow. That problem was rather evident during the Halloween storm a couple of years before Sandy - days of snow with 6 to 8 inches of snow followed by ice covering everything. Granted, it is better than nothing, but probability of sunless days after storm is high.

I arranged my emergency lighting based on SLA's charged using my car, plus portable stuff that I can use car cigarette lighter adapter to charge, or take to the local library to recharge. The storm Sandy has local public facilities (library and coffee shops) well experienced with setting up for near-by citizens going there for recharging. I ensured I also have very low power LED lighting so it can last over a week - low power but some light to avoid total darkness. Those are based on Eneloops and LiIon cells and I am equipped with car-adaptor chargers.

My main "unaddressed issue" really is heat - HVAC (gas-heat) doesn't work without electricity. I am considering some kind of portable heaters, but thus far I have been dragging my feet on that.

+1

When the power goes out here, odds are there is a blizzard outside, soon to be followed by clear skies and a sudden and drastic drop in temperature. Not to mention winter daylight is short and nights are loooong. During winter outages, solar charging is less than efficient, to say the least. A healthy stock of alkaleaks for devices that function on standard batteries is, on the whole, a good option.

One thing I know well from much experience with winter power outages - Simplify! Simplify! Simplify!

 

[rpm00]

I arranged my emergency lighting based on SLA's charged using my car, plus portable stuff that I can use car cigarette lighter adapter to charge, or take to the local library to recharge. The storm Sandy has local public facilities (library and coffee shops) well experienced with setting up for near-by citizens going there for recharging. I ensured I also have very low power LED lighting so it can last over a week - low power but some light to avoid total darkness. Those are based on Eneloops and LiIon cells and I am equipped with car-adaptor chargers.

My main "unaddressed issue" really is heat - HVAC (gas-heat) doesn't work without electricity. I am considering some kind of portable heaters, but thus far I have been dragging my feet on that.

Can you tell us more about this SLA solution?

Check out the Big Buddy for heat.

 

[Rick NJ]

Can you tell us more about this SLA solution?

Check out the Big Buddy for heat.

I don't know how deep you want me to go. If you want more details (such as why this, why that), let me know. These solution are designed for extended (week long and longer) outage.

The lights (6 of them) are RV/boat ceiling lights using 12xSMD5050 "flat-bulbs" with G4 connection. Each SMD is 3 LED, so 12xSMD5050 is 36 led for each "flat-bulb." They are a mix of 100-160LM bulbs and draw 100mA-120mA (1AH give me 8-10 hours for one bulb).

My 5050SMDx12 flat bulbs looks like this one listed on eBay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2W-G4-LED-L...-Home-Garden-DC-12V-Cool-white-A/151806763055


The six bulbs are divided into 3 pairs with each pair powered via a CLA (cigarette lighter adaptor). One bulb directly connects to the CLA and the other connected via a 5.1mm plug to the CLA. So, I can either use single or both bulbs in the pair as needed.

They are not permanently connected. In the "emergency light storage box" is a roll of painter's masking tape. Great for taping the light and wire to the wall. A pair of 100lm taped high on the wall or ceiling in the kitchen is not as bright as my normal lighting, but more than enough for cooking/eating/washing.

Power is from three SLAs. Two from my pair of car booster/jumper packs I have at hand (5AH and 7AH). These boost/jumper batteries is equipped with CLA socket, cradle, and battery level LED indicators, etc. Third one is a high-drain UPS battery with added CLA socket and carrying cradle.

For fast replenishment, I use what I called "open hood method." When it is not raining, I start the car, open the hood, and connect the jumper/booster's clip-cable directly to the car as if I am jumping the car. Since the car is already running, it pumps charges into the battery. For the UPS battery, I charge it via the CLA socket. According to the jumper/booster's battery level indicator, in less than 15 minutes, it will top up a half-discharged jumper/booster.

Second way is just drive to the library to recharge, there, I can charge my laptop/phones as well (and of course also charging other things along the way with the CLA inside the car). This I called my "power visits" I begin charge using converted laptop power bricks pumping in 3A into one and 4A into the other. When it gets near 14V (I have a pair of CLA plug volt meters), I switch back to the stock 1A charger that came with the jumper/booster pack.

From Sandy and the Halloween storm, I found total darkness really really really gets me. So besides the SLA based RV lights, I have some Eneloop (3xAA) based low level lights. They are just simple LED with ballast to (low) 5mA-8mA and (high) 70-80mA. Since the CLA's were savaged from old car cell phone charger, they all have a KA or MC 34063A based buck board which I took out. With these basically useless buck boards, I converted them to adjustable boost boards so the 3xAA can also power those RV lights in a pinch. I use the same buck parts for boost. So with poorly matched parts, efficiency is just around 60%. But if/when in a pinch, the 3xAA+boost can power the RV lights.

Of course, my phones, NiMH/LiIon charger has a CLA as well, so as needed, I can cross charge my AA's and cross charge other devices with power in the SLAs.

After my initial "design" I have since recovered some 18650 from old laptops. In a pinch, 3x18650 can power those RV lights or 1x18650 with boost. But these are kind of 5th wheel and untested under real power-out situations. I am playing around with the mix and also added some cheapo 18650 flashlights recently.

Apart from the 18650 based stuff, the above was real world tested in a 3 to 5 days power outage. I found them adequate.

 

[Poppy]

Bluemax provided the link for the fans, which he has tested and recommends. I provided the link for the towels, which I have tested and recommend.

I have seen those towels, or similar ones advertised. Do they really work better than a simple cotton towel?
If so, are they made of some kind of polyester material? Is the material hydrophobic, and does it somehow promote evaporation of the water (more than cotton) so that it gives a more rapid cooling effect?

Snapping the towel sounds like a marketing gimmick to me. Any thoughts?

LOL... inquiring minds want to know

 

[Rick NJ]

I have seen those towels, or similar ones advertised. Do they really work better than a simple cotton towel?
If so, are they made of some kind of polyester material? Is the material hydrophobic, and does it somehow promote evaporation of the water (more than cotton) so that it gives a more rapid cooling effect?

Snapping the towel sounds like a marketing gimmick to me. Any thoughts?

LOL... inquiring minds want to know

I was in Florida in a veggie market some years back. An open air area size of three to five basket ball court (no walls) but with roof. They have fans with a "water in" connection and these fans blow water mists along to cool the place. Evaporation works better than I anticipate, but I add a lot more humidity into the air.

Don't know about yours, with NJ summer humidity, my carpet have bulk up with a hump - like a long 1 inch high mountain range across the carpet. I have two such "mountain ranges" at home. It goes away (mostly) when the air gets dry.

Since my solution is SLA based. I just go to the car and get the pair of 12V in-car fan to run indoor - without water to avoid adding more humidity (unless we are near heat stroke).

 

[StarHalo]

Do they really work better than a simple cotton towel?

Yes, orders of magnitude better, no-comparison better. It's yoga mat material, PVA, so once it's wet, it stays that way for hours, like a sponge. There have been triple-digit degree days my wife has been out on errands with her cooling towel for hours, and on coming home I'll take her towel and go out - still wet, still works. Any tiny movement of air instantly feels like a stray breeze from an air conditioner, just walking does it. I've spent lots of days with one of these on my neck all around town, can't recommend it enough if you have to contend with heat.

 

[reppans]

Evaporative cooling works really well in dryer climates like out West. On the Eastcoast, if it's hot, it tends to be very humid (ie, 90+ percent humidity) - there's no where for the water to evaporate to. As a motorcyclist, I've tried evaporative vests to stay cool, but it mostly felt like wearing a clammy (insulating) blanket .

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Evaporative cooling works really well in dryer climates like out West. On the Eastcoast, if it's hot, it tends to be very humid (ie, 90+ percent humidity) - there's no where for the water to evaporate to. As a motorcyclist, I've tried evaporative vests to stay cool, but it mostly felt like wearing a clammy (insulating) blanket .

Agreed. I took some on a trip to the Northern Frontier of Bolivia. 100 degrees and 90% humidity. Total fail.

 

[rpm00]

I don't know how deep you want me to go. If you want more details (such as why this, why that), let me know. These solution are designed for extended (week long and longer) outage.

The lights (6 of them) are RV/boat ceiling lights using 12xSMD5050 "flat-bulbs" with G4 connection. Each SMD is 3 LED, so 12xSMD5050 is 36 led for each "flat-bulb." They are a mix of 100-160LM bulbs and draw 100mA-120mA (1AH give me 8-10 hours for one bulb).

My 5050SMDx12 flat bulbs looks like this one listed on eBay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2W-G4-LED-L...-Home-Garden-DC-12V-Cool-white-A/151806763055


The six bulbs are divided into 3 pairs with each pair powered via a CLA (cigarette lighter adaptor). One bulb directly connects to the CLA and the other connected via a 5.1mm plug to the CLA. So, I can either use single or both bulbs in the pair as needed.

They are not permanently connected. In the "emergency light storage box" is a roll of painter's masking tape. Great for taping the light and wire to the wall. A pair of 100lm taped high on the wall or ceiling in the kitchen is not as bright as my normal lighting, but more than enough for cooking/eating/washing.

Power is from three SLAs. Two from my pair of car booster/jumper packs I have at hand (5AH and 7AH). These boost/jumper batteries is equipped with CLA socket, cradle, and battery level LED indicators, etc. Third one is a high-drain UPS battery with added CLA socket and carrying cradle.

For fast replenishment, I use what I called "open hood method." When it is not raining, I start the car, open the hood, and connect the jumper/booster's clip-cable directly to the car as if I am jumping the car. Since the car is already running, it pumps charges into the battery. For the UPS battery, I charge it via the CLA socket. According to the jumper/booster's battery level indicator, in less than 15 minutes, it will top up a half-discharged jumper/booster.

Second way is just drive to the library to recharge, there, I can charge my laptop/phones as well (and of course also charging other things along the way with the CLA inside the car). This I called my "power visits" I begin charge using converted laptop power bricks pumping in 3A into one and 4A into the other. When it gets near 14V (I have a pair of CLA plug volt meters), I switch back to the stock 1A charger that came with the jumper/booster pack.

From Sandy and the Halloween storm, I found total darkness really really really gets me. So besides the SLA based RV lights, I have some Eneloop (3xAA) based low level lights. They are just simple LED with ballast to (low) 5mA-8mA and (high) 70-80mA. Since the CLA's were savaged from old car cell phone charger, they all have a KA or MC 34063A based buck board which I took out. With these basically useless buck boards, I converted them to adjustable boost boards so the 3xAA can also power those RV lights in a pinch. I use the same buck parts for boost. So with poorly matched parts, efficiency is just around 60%. But if/when in a pinch, the 3xAA+boost can power the RV lights.

Of course, my phones, NiMH/LiIon charger has a CLA as well, so as needed, I can cross charge my AA's and cross charge other devices with power in the SLAs.

After my initial "design" I have since recovered some 18650 from old laptops. In a pinch, 3x18650 can power those RV lights or 1x18650 with boost. But these are kind of 5th wheel and untested under real power-out situations. I am playing around with the mix and also added some cheapo 18650 flashlights recently.

Apart from the 18650 based stuff, the above was real world tested in a 3 to 5 days power outage. I found them adequate.

This is one of the best posts I've ever seen on this site. Thank you! Lots of great info and ideas here.

A few comments:
- I ordered a few different kinds of those 12v lights you mentioned from dx. There are tons on there. I want to make sure I get one with nice tint and then can order more. Also ordered some plugs for those to wire them up and some CLA adapters with alligator clips.
- I haven't yet figured out what I want to do in terms of batteries. Thinking of two things:
1. Some lithiumion booster packs like you suggested.
2. One or two deep cycle AGM batteries. I have a 110v car battery charger/maintainer which I think I can leave plugged in to a 12v all the time which will keep it charged. And then when the power goes out I have something to use. And then just jumpers to charge off the car when it's running?

Not sure about your fast charge at the library. The reclaimed laptop strategy is a little too advanced/risky for me. Maybe I'll look for a small 12v fast charger for the same purpose.

Any chance you could take some pictures of your setup? Very interested to see how you've laid it all out. . Thanks again!!

 

[Rick NJ]

This is one of the best posts I've ever seen on this site. Thank you! Lots of great info and ideas here.

A few comments:
- I ordered a few different kinds of those 12v lights you mentioned from dx. There are tons on there. I want to make sure I get one with nice tint and then can order more. Also ordered some plugs for those to wire them up and some CLA adapters with alligator clips.
- I haven't yet figured out what I want to do in terms of batteries. Thinking of two things:
1. Some lithiumion booster packs like you suggested.
2. One or two deep cycle AGM batteries. I have a 110v car battery charger/maintainer which I think I can leave plugged in to a 12v all the time which will keep it charged. And then when the power goes out I have something to use. And then just jumpers to charge off the car when it's running?

Not sure about your fast charge at the library. The reclaimed laptop strategy is a little too advanced/risky for me. Maybe I'll look for a small 12v fast charger for the same purpose.

Any chance you could take some pictures of your setup? Very interested to see how you've laid it all out. . Thanks again!!

Thank you for the kind words! I spend a good bit of time considering options, so I am glad my solution is reused.

re: "- I ordered a few different kinds of those 12v lights you mentioned from dx..."
- Some nifty things about the G4 connector,
-- you can easily soldered wire directly onto the pins so you can skip the socket altogether.
-- G4 pin and spacing is also the same as regular jumper-pins like those on a PC motherboard. G4 can plug into the female jumper pin-headers - 3 pins-holes female with the center one skipped. The jumper pin sockets make a good G4 socket if you don't mind it being shorter.
-- The "floppy power plug" from an old PC power-supply (4pins) is also a perfect socket for it. Test your light with a 9V battery first to see if yours support polarity reversal (lights either way), and mark your plus if it does not. 6 of mine supports reversal and 2 does not. You just plug the G4 into the yellow & black skipping over the red and black. If your's doesn't support polarity reversal, make sure the + is on the yellow and you can use your floppy power out as a "light socket" for light inside your PC case when needed. Great when you are messing around with plugging in cards.

re: "...to wire them up and some CLA adapters with alligator clips. "
Suggestion to keep in your stock, cardboard paper like the ones in the back of a writing pad.
- Cut a 1inch by 2inch strip and hole-punch a hole at either end each about 1/2 inch to the edge. So the two holes are about 1 inch apart.
- When clipping lighter weight wires, just loop the exposed part of wire through the hole and clip it to the cardboard.
The cardboard paper holes keeps the gator-clips an inch apart and prevents them shorting.

For heavier wires:
- Cut out a 2inch square sheet
- on one side, lets call that the top-side, use paper hole-punch and punch two holes. One on the upper left and the other upper right each about 1/2 inch to the corner.
- Fold the bottom half toward the top so the sheet now looks like a 90-degree angled bar.
- feed your wire looping once through the holes and then alligator clip.
The 90-degree folded angle (folding top-bottom) prevents the cardboard from folding in on itself left-right. It thus prevents the gator-clips from folding in on each other and shorts. The weight of the wire will pulling them together without the 90 degree fold.


re: "- I haven't yet figured out what I want to do in terms of batteries..."

First of all, UPS (uninterrupted power supply, not the shipper). UPS typically lists their recharging time on their spec sheet and it is typically 24hrs+. So even though they can be brought to the library for the "power visits", you can forget that one for fast charging. The juice it took in is small unless you plan to sleep at the library.

I choose to use "car starter/booster" because they can be clipped to cars. "Open-hood charging" is just about the fastest way I can think of recharging the SLA's. Auto battery is the best (Glass Mat or gel) since I know for sure I can car-charge them. I have to accept that the SLA's in the starter/booster is whatever kind they put in and may not be the deep-discharge kind. So, I am using the battery up each time I deep discharge them.

That said, I always keep a pair of car starter/booster batteries fully charged since car with dead battery is not so uncommon. Forgetting to turn off the interior light is my biggest offense. But since I always have the pair of car starter/booster batteries fully anyway, I am always ready for power-out in that manner.

re: "Not sure about your fast charge at the library. The reclaimed laptop strategy is a little too advanced/risky for me. Maybe I'll look for a small 12v fast charger for the same purpose."
For lithium, I have 12V capable chargers (opus BT-C3400) and I have LaCrosse BC700 for NiMH (CLA adapter), both can recharge as my SLA is re-juicing from the car. I do not fast-charge lithium (beyond what the BT-C3400 does). For NiMH, I do fast-charge when they are very low. I serial 9 of them (three packs of 3xAA) so I am pumping 800mA to each at the same time. I don't even worry about overcharge because my library visits is too short to overcharge.

re: "1. Some lithiumion booster packs like you suggested."
Booster is very inefficient. I use it only "in a pinch" like when I need to do a shave at the bath-room. It made sense when I had the 3xAA battery packs supporting my supplemental dim minimal lights. Now that I added 18650 flashlights, the booster+RV_light is kind of like a 5th-wheel.

re: "Any chance you could take some pictures of your setup? "
As soon as I figure out how to post pictures. This site doesn't allow me to post pictures and I don't have a photo-site account, so I will find a way around that.

 

[Rick NJ]

[ So, I added this as a discussion in EEVBlog so I can add pictures, and re-posted the post here ]

http://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/minimalist-lighting-for-long-duration-power-outage/
I had to rehash my set up so it doesn't seem so odd there, but we can continue our discussion here. Over at EEVblog, they likely will talk more about the electronics than the lighting.
- - - - - -

This was originally a discussion from another forum about emergency light for power outage. A forum member there asked me to show some photos of my extended outage set up. Since they do not allow photo upload, so I decide to take the conversation about the photos over here to this forum.


Attached are the pictures of my minimalist set up for long duration power outage emergency lights. The lights are not for "normal" few hour long power out, but for survival lights in long outages like the storm Sandy (11+days, no gasoline, no stores, roads closed for days) and the Halloween storm a couple of years before Sandy (8+days outage with 6-12 inch snow/ice). Sandy caused >30 days outage in some areas within 1/2 hour drive from my house. My solution is from my experience of Sandy and the Halloween storm. The solution is not high-tech but minimalist set up for endurance.


[Photo 1]

I have three people in my family, so my set up has three-count for everything. As these are for emergency, and I hate to put a lot of money into something that I hope I never touch, so they are mostly done with existing stuff I have at hand. The advantage is that since most are stuff I have at hand and are in used, so I know most of the stuff are in a working state.


Along with lab bench testing, the solution was "field tested" with a 3-5 days outage and another outage of the couple-of-days type.


(1) Eating/Cooking/Cleaning lights


On the top right (photo1) are three RV/boat G4 ceiling lights wired to CLA (cigarette lighter adaptor) using 8 feet of speaker-wires. Note that they are "recovered" CLA from cell-phone chargers. I have a couple of splitters to allow 2 G4's to be connected to a CLA socket.


Power come from a pair of typical car-starter/booster SLA packs each with built in CLA out, jump cable clip, and LED power indicator. The third one is a UPS type battery with CLA (5amp) attached.


For "installing", I use painter's masking tape and tape it high up on the walls. Painter's tape gives me a very firm tape-down but can be easily removed with residue. Just one of this RV lights is adequate for cooking/cleaning/eating, but I usually use two to reduce shadows.


(2) Since what gets me during the long outage is the total darkness, I what made I called my "Forever Lights". They are on the right of photo 1 -- Calling it Forever Light is easier than telling my wife to bring me that two-box-thing with the white plugs. They are on the right side of the photo - the ones with a pair of 2xAA case (with switch) Velcro back-to-back and with four LEDs wired as two pairs of two so it can aim in multiple directions.


[Photo 2]

Photo 2 has a better view of the inside of a "forever light" - and the Toshiba laptop power bricks for rapid charging.


The "forever lights" are simple 3xAA ballasted to <10mA on low and 70-80mA on high switch selectable. Using a pair of 2xAA battery case velcro back to back, it takes 3xAA and the 4th slot is used for the ballast (trimpot/VR). The switch on the box with VR is On/Off and the switch on the other 2AA box is for Hi/Low. I keep 2 sets of Eneloop on stand-by for each of the 3 "Forever Light" - that is 18 cells in reserve. The silver batteries shown (in photo2) are Eneloop Glitter edition. At the start of an outage, I will be on my 20+ Energizers. I can afford to be lavish and set the LOW higher at 20mA. When I reach for my reserved Eneloops, that is the time when I lower the LOW to 10mA or below.


Unlike store-purchased stuff, this is tuned for endurance. No led driver or anything fancy. No power wasted except to the ballast. Just a pair of these on HI would be adequate for cooking/cleaning/eating incase my SLA's are pooped. On 10mA LOW, a set of 3AA (2000mAH) would last at least 200 hours (current draw lowers as battery drains).


(3) Since the CLA were recovered from phone chargers, the existing buck boards were remade (bottom of photo 2) as boost for the 3xAA packs to power the RV lights in without dragging around the SLA's. This was initially targeted as (better than 2AA minimag) lighting for connecting up the SLA RV lights and for connecting the SLA for charging. But I found it useful for "in a pinch" or during early parts of an outage when I can afford to be lavish - making shaving a bit easier. I have since changed that to LM2577 boost, and housed them in clear (CamCorder) video tape box. This boost solution is kind of a 5th wheel just to give me options. Boosting is awful inefficient but I kept it as option since it is already made. I have since added 18650 battery holders to them so I can use 18650 or my 3xAA. Recently I purchased some 18650 flashlights as replacement for my three 2xAA MiniMags. The 18650 flashlights will likely displace my boost solution is making less and less sense other than it is kind of fun to use. I like that wide spread light better than the battery's narrow beam. Very useful when I have to check under the hood of the car or look for something misplaced inside the car.


(4) For no-rain no-snow fast-recharge, I use what I called "open-hood method" - I connected the two car-starter/booster jumper cable to the car AFTER the car is started and let it run for 15-20 minutes. That is enough juice to light the 6 G4's for a few days. While the car is running, all my CLA chargers can be working; and the CLA-to-CLA cable can charge my 3rd SLA from the CLA on the car jumper/booster pack.


[photo 3]

(5) For fast charging during rain or snow (can't do the open-hood), I do what I called a "power visit". I drive to the library or coffee shop few towns away with power, or drive to the in-laws. I use my 15V 3Amp (and 15V 4Amp) Toshiba laptop power bricks converted to a CLA Vout plug and 5.1mm Vout seen in photo2. I can pump 3A into the SLA with the power bricks, and with a CLA volt meter, once the battery is back up to 14V (1-2hours depending on how low), I switch back to slow charging with the stock charger. At the in-laws, I use my CC/CV with my 19.5V brick and I can pump in 3A unattended. At the library, I cannot use my CC/CV boards (makes them nervous). I also don't use a DMM but instead a CLA volt meter for the same reason.


The white cable is a CLA with both a male and female 5.1mm plug. The 5.1mm are used for RV/G4 as light splitter or as power-in for charging. You can see the CLA volt meter sitting on the white cable.


To fast charge the 3xAA "forever light", I installed a power-out (white CPU fan socket/plug). When I am at a power-visit, I use my 3xAA serial charge cable (lower right hand corner of photo 3, red+purple cable). They serialize all three packs and inside the pack, 3xAA serial. I use my 13.5V 800mA power brick to charge the 9AA in serial. Proven to be able to pump 600-800mA into the AA's. The "power visits" are shorter than the three+ hours it takes to fully charge an empty cell, so over charging is not a concert.


(6) Lastly, both of my "normal" battery chargers are CLA enabled. The LaCrosse BC700 for NiMH, and the Opus BT-C3400 (Lithium, NiMH). I can connect them in the car while I am doing my "open hood" charging, or cross charge them from my SLA's.