Off Grid Power Supply

Submitted: Monday, Jan 31, 2022 at 13:11
ThreadID: 143170 Views:4781 Replies:4 FollowUps:6
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Hi all. Looking for some advice on some off grid camping. We have an air bed that is designed to be plugged in to 240v power over night and when it starts to go down a sensor starts up a silent secondary pump to avoid waking up on the ground. Looking at doing some off grid camping and have an inverter to inflate it initially off the car but would this secondary pump require much of a power supply to run in the bush? Is there some kind of formula or rule of thumb I should be using to know what specs I need?
Thanks in advance
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Reply By: Peter_n_Margaret - Monday, Jan 31, 2022 at 15:31

Monday, Jan 31, 2022 at 15:31
What are the electrical requirements of the pump? They will be on a label.
How long per night would the pump run (in minutes)?
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome
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Reply By: ian.g - Monday, Jan 31, 2022 at 17:33

Monday, Jan 31, 2022 at 17:33
Would be cheaper to buy a good self inflating mattress.
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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Monday, Jan 31, 2022 at 17:48

Monday, Jan 31, 2022 at 17:48
...or any type of air mattress that doesn't leak, Seems a bit bizarre. Design an air mattress that doesn't hold air and then add an automatic electric air pump to solve the problem? Weird.

Cheers
Greg

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Follow Up By: Michael H9 - Tuesday, Feb 01, 2022 at 09:06

Tuesday, Feb 01, 2022 at 09:06
The pressure will go up and down according to temperature, usually down as everything cools overnight. I've started many a night on different inflatable mattresses with the pressure just right only to find it sagging in the morning when the air inside has cooled down. It must be a smart mattress. :-)
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Follow Up By: Bob Y. - Qld - Tuesday, Feb 01, 2022 at 11:01

Tuesday, Feb 01, 2022 at 11:01
An air mattress must surely be the work of the Devil! On the other hand, self inflating mattresses are almost perfect.

We took a double self inflater on a 10 day trip down the Birdsville Track, to Muloorina & Level Post Bay, to see the water in Lake Eyre, back in 2011. Good, comfortable sleep every night, temps down to single digits, but being a double, it was a team effort each morning to roll it into a manageable size. 2 singles would be the preferred arrangement, I’d suggest.

Bob

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Reply By: Gronk - Monday, Jan 31, 2022 at 20:25

Monday, Jan 31, 2022 at 20:25
Run it at home for a couple of nights without the 240V connected and see if it actually goes down at all. Problem solved if it doesn’t.
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Reply By: Matt_1983 - Monday, Jan 31, 2022 at 21:42

Monday, Jan 31, 2022 at 21:42
Thanks for the great advice. Will definitely set it up in the loungeroom over the weekend and see how it goes without power. If it doesn’t hold up then I’ll look at other mattresses. Thanks again everyone
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Follow Up By: OzzieCruiser - Monday, Jan 31, 2022 at 23:35

Monday, Jan 31, 2022 at 23:35
Hang on - agree it should not go down and does seem a weird arrangement but as it has a pump as designed why not make it work - a pump to fill a mattress is not going to use much power - find out how much likewise if it is only going to kick in when the sensor detects a lowering of pressure then there will not be much power consumption at all.

I suspect a small inverter - say max 600w will probably do (depends on pump draw) - $120 or so on ebay and you wont need pure sine wave but get one anyway to make it more flexible to use. An inverter that size will not use much power itself when on and the pump only running occasionally will not use much - probably only a couple of Ah overnight out of a good 12v aux battery.
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Tuesday, Feb 01, 2022 at 17:06

Tuesday, Feb 01, 2022 at 17:06
.
As Bob says........"work of the Devil".......... spends all night leaking down and pumping up, then you wake up to a flat battery. The Devil and his friends!
Cheers
Allan

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Follow Up By: Member - shane r1 - Thursday, Feb 03, 2022 at 21:32

Thursday, Feb 03, 2022 at 21:32
Yep try it out at home , sleep on it , because without weight on it it possibly won’t leak much at all.
Other than that it sounds too complicated, I like to keep things simple.
And have slept on various air beds . we have 2 singles the width of a queen so a fitted sheet works well on them , 2 singles like this has a lot less affect bouncing the partner around.
Good luck
Robbo
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