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powering a radio of a alternate source

1

123kid

Active Member
Mar 6, 2012
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Im interested in getting one of these backup power supplies incase of a outtage to run my anytone at5555....I plan to run it into the cig lighter dc socket of this unit.How long do you think i will be able to operate?Is it worth it or should i just save up for a generator.The reason i didnt want the generator was noise.My local hardware store has a portable 900 watt generator for 89 bucks but its noisy as hell.This i figure can sit under my desk charged and i can switch to it when need be.
Black & Decker Portable Power Station | Wayfair Supply

or this

http://www.amazon.com/Duracell-DRPP600-Powerpack-Starter-Emergency/dp/B009YR00MI/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t
 
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All those are is a 7~10Ah lead acid battery with various connectors on it (and a small inverter). You could buy just the bare battery for under 50 bucks and put your own terminals on it for what you want to do. Grab a Deltran Battery Tender and hook it up, and the battery will always be charged and ready to go when you need it. Those jumper packs tend to sit unused and forgotten and the battery goes flat. Lead acid batteries don't like sitting at anything less than 100% charge and will quickly sulfate and lose capacity (permanently).
 
Don't know the exact math, but keep in mind, the greater the load, the less usable capacity a lead-acid battery has. A 20Ah battery has 20 hours of operation at a 1A load, but that does not correlate to 10 hours at 2A, its something less, maybe 6-7 hr. At 5A, it would be significantly less. Lead acid batteries are great for really high load, short duration discharge (like starting a car), but only decent at anything else.

A good bet would be some large AGM battery, like a Group 31 Die Hard Platinum Marine. Those are 100Ah and quite affordable from Sears. They're rebranded (and less expensive) Odyssey batteries, really quality product. Get the full size Battery Tender, not the Jr. The 100Ah battery will take forever to charge with the 0.75A BT Jr. Even the regular BT will take a while, but will get there eventually. The Group 31 can be charged at least 25A with a proper 3 stage charger, so 1.5A is nothing.
 
I agree buickid, I have seem and heard the same about the Sears line of batteries. Deka makes a large lead acid battery as well, but are expensive and weigh over 100lbs. I have used these in the past for a mobile system and they worked like a charm
byme2y8e.jpg

Like I said these are rather expensive and large, but if used properly will they can handle some load. If money is of concern then definitely go with the Sears batteries. The one I listed I had 2 of these in a jeep Cherokee and on a 12v system all stock, including the alternator, I could key my 1x2 driving 8 pill, and not get any reduction in voltage, but I had 300 amp hrs total with 2 batts in parallel.
 
One method that works, not exactly, but close, is to divide the Ahr rating of the battery by the fuse size(s) of what you want to power with that battery. The answer comes out in hours or a fraction of an hour. This will result in a shorter time of use than actually happens because the current rating of a fuse is a maximum number, not average, so the time you can actually get power from that battery will be longer. If you measure the input current when in use, you can get closer to the actual run-time. But, as 'buickid' said, the longer the draw time the shorter the 'reserve' time. The closer a battery get's to being 'drained' the faster it -will- be drained to a point where it's not useable (10 - 11 volts?). That's for a 'wet' battery, the AGMs, gell-cell type batteries behave differently. They are better in some respects and worse in others.
For larger draw situations the 'wet' batteries are easier to live with, and boy is that a relative thing! And none of it is 'cheap' in any sense of the word...
- 'Doc
 
Just to add a little more about the Die Hard Platinum/Odyssey batteries, I had 5 batteries and a 270A alternator in my little Scion xB to power the sound system I had (4x15"s walled, ~7000W RMS of amplifier). The one Group 31 Die Hard I have left after selling everything else (purchased about three years ago) still rests at 12.85V. New, fresh batteries have a resting voltage of 12.8-12.9V.

Note that I do take very good care of my batteries. I charged them with a computerized charger promptly after any major discharge event, and made sure they're fully charged whenever sitting (top em off on the battery tender at least every month). The care you put into a lead-acid battery or battery bank is directly proportional to the service life they will give you.
 
Look at leisure batteries as used in motorhomes, caravans etc. They're designed to stand deep discharge and to be stood unused for long periods.

With normal lead acid 12V batteries once you discharge them to around 10V you've killed them.
 
If your wanting to place this under the desk of your shack it mite be best to consider something like that Duracell drpp6. You also mite consider the safety of placing a lead acid battery at your feet. I'm for the most part unfamiliar with the AGM batteries but a standard lead acid will vent hydrogen gas to its atmosphere. Also if you have young curios children around that lead acid battery is a box of poison that has the potential to cause burns and even an explosion.
 

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