charging battery + led lights
Submitted: Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 12:18
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stoney123
Hi,
i intend to buy an AGM to initially run laptop/lights (love watching movies by the campfire), i have a magic esky which will see me till summer.
The idea was to fully charge the AGM at a
campground each week, then go bush. Can i use my ordinary 240v car battery charger ? (low trickle), or would i need a special 240v charger.
I do not intend to charge it off car as in future will add solar capability and a fridge/freezer and a 2nd AGM. (don't want to spend anymore on car as it is old)
cheers
peter
btw: anyone know a store which sells LED lights which can plug into a lighter? have seen some long ones etc but they want $80, I could probably make my own, or just get some sort of 12v charger to charge the torch batteries. ( i hang a few of those led torches from the tarp)
Reply By: Battery Value Pty Ltd - Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 13:41
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 13:41
Hi Peter,
yes you can lug around an AGM battery for a week, and then charge it when near a 240VAC outlet.
Just note the lappy will draw around 3~4 amps while watching DVDs, so you get around 20 hours run time before it's time to re-charge. You also need to budget for the additional lights, but you can work this out easily.
The charger needs to be able to supply a voltage of 14.4V to 14.8V, to bring the battery back to full capacity.
Minimum current rating of the charger should be 1/10th of battery capacity (e.g. 10A for a 95Ah battery).
Three stage chargers are designed to do this most efficiently.
Sorry can't help you whith the LEDs.
For more battery info just
check our profile.
cheers, Peter
AnswerID:
454560
Follow Up By: stoney123 - Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 14:06
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 14:06
thanks peter,
you have supplied top answer, i always wondered why RVs ads etc were mentioning chargers with 20+amps.
I like your multi-output thingy. Would be good to be able to charge two at once. (get out of
camp grounds quicker.) I have saved your link.
fyi: I use my lappy off my spare car battery at moment. i have learnt to not have it on when charging it via the ciggy inverter. The lappy thinks its on full power if i do. So hopefully that 20 hours will become 30+.
hooroo
peter
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Follow Up By: Battery Value Pty Ltd - Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 20:45
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 20:45
thanks Peter,
if you intend to maximise your battery run time, you could boost it by ~15% quite easily and it won't cost all that much:
instead of converting the 12V up to 240AC and back to 14/15/16/18/19VDC, you could go from 12VDC straight to 14/15....DC by using a DC/DC converter.
They are pretty cheap now and offer adjustable voltages for universal use.
cheers, Peter
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Member - Desert Storm (QLD) - Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 16:07
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 16:07
gday peter,
there are so many options out there these days for power while camping. when i am away from a 240 volt outlet, i usually bring my 2kva genny and plug the car battery charger into it and charge my batteries that way. i try not to let the batteries get too low as that means having to run the genny for longer.
as for LED lights, i recently picked up an LED tube light with a 3m cord for $36 at Repco. they also had a neat little LED light that is about the size of a a pair or reading glass case. they were selling for $12 and run on two AA batteries. it also has a magnetic back, so is real handy to just slap on a tent pole for light while cooking or something.
John
AnswerID:
454584
Follow Up By: stoney123 - Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 19:56
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 19:56
Tks
John,
dont really want a gennie, i did look at them but there were no LGP gennies, just a few hits on people paying to have them converted. Hits also say get solar and gennie or solar and car. i only intend to drive at max 100kms per week. which is why no car charging, and am leaving full time so want to keep costs down. But ys a gennie would be good if i had the $$$.
Thanks for the tip on repco, i like repco!! They gave me a free voucher for writing to them and saying how much they saved me!! I just searched there website,no hits. will drop in tomorrow, more fun.
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