Reddit mentions: The best jump starters & battery chargers

FUCK YES to making festivals a larger part of your life. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made :) I don’t know about the best shoes for dancing, but I always wear Vans to shows and festivals and I’ve never had an issue with my feet hurting. I think they’re a great option :) As for things to take the night of or after partying I would recommend a multivitamin, tylenol and a smoothie. The best thing you can really do to help yourself out is to eat lots of fruits and veggies in the days leading up to an event (or all the time!). Also constantly drinking water. I’ve tried a lot of extra supplements and misc. vitamins but they all are kinda extra and not needed to me. Also I constantly eating Cliff bars at festivals even when I’m not hungry. I feel better usually when I really really load up on calories. Healthier ones though!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07LCBRQK5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Just bought this air mattress this year so haven’t tested it longterm, only used it for one festival so far. It stayed inflated well for the first 2 days and then we just topped it off with some more air for the remaining days and it worked great for us. Super comfy and it’s nice being higher off the ground. We put the air mattress in the tent before we inflate it, way easier. No air pump needed we use a car plug adapter and an extension cord. Its super easy to run your car for 5 minutes to inflate it. Make sure you pay attention to the number of prongs on your plug so you don’t buy the wrong adapter or extension cord too! For camping without a car nearby this method won’t work obviously but we always have the car by us.

https://www.amazon.com/Foval-Power-Inverter-Converter-Charger/dp/B01H2XD2DY/ref=sr_1_3?crid=QOQ31WLDSSM1&keywords=outlet+car+adapter&qid=1562429828&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011&rnid=2470954011&rps=1&s=gateway&sprefix=outlet+car+a%2Caps%2C149&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Sundome-4-Person-Tent-Green/dp/B004J2GUOU/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=coleman%2Btent%2B4%2Bperson&qid=1562429920&s=gateway&sr=8-3&th=1&psc=1

My boyfriend and I purchased this tent 2 years ago and its made it though a decent amount of festivals. No signs of wear or damage. I know you mentioned a black out tent. I’m assuming to help sleep once the suns up? The heat usually gets me out of the tent before the light, it gets so unbearably hot once the suns up. You said you’re not new at this though so I’m sure you already knew that! :)

For staying cool I would recommend a cooling towel. Get it wet in your cooler ice water and it’s great to keep around your neck. Also small hand fans are a GAME CHANGER for guys and girls. It’s shocking how much they help honestly. Sitting with your feet in a small pool, bucket, or cooler when you’re hanging out at the campsite is super nice too. Just fill with water and some ice cubes and it really helps cool your body down!

https://www.amazon.com/Amajiji-Chinease-Japanese-Nylon-Cloth-Festival/dp/B07FMCF4G1/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?keywords=hand+fan&qid=1562431437&s=gateway&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Cooling-Instant-Chill-Athletes-Workout/dp/B00XKLYWFU/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=cooling+towel&qid=1562431333&s=gateway&sr=8-6

Hope this info helped you out!

I know your question was about water, but I'd like to rebut that article in general. I'll make sure to focus on water for you though. (TL;DR: I see The_Prepared is already here, and the article you already found is my suggestion.)

Here, I shall make some useful alternate suggestions:

Article Title: Well, I see the lies have already begun. Hey, I know of an article with almost the same name that's actually useful!

• Pedal power fail socket: Dumb. For that price, buy a solar panel, a decent charge controller, and a battery. Find a nerd if you aren't one, hook them up (safely, standard internet advice disclaimer here), and you get power without needing to pedal, and also storage. If you want to charge your phone, use a 12v adapter, and if you need 120v power for something, you can get an inverter. It's pretty easy to hook it all up, there are a lot of resources, search for "DIY solar generator". Here's one I made for a good friend. This will be about a hundred times as useful to you, at only a slightly higher price.
  
  
• Crappy GMRS radios: You can tell this article is BS because they actually think the "23 mile range" claim has some kind of validity. Emergency comms for preppers generally means a Ham radio license, those walkie talkies are only marginally better than toys. All the same, they're cheap, and can't hurt. I have a pair.
  
  
• Cell phone: It amuses me that the article states "we have a strong suspicion", thus confirming they did no actual journalism or research . In the event of a disaster, 2G will be exactly as non existent as it is now. They also chose the Nokia because of a meme! What's their next memetic indestructible suggestion? A Wiimote? Gamecube? At least you could bludgeon an intruder to death with a Gamecube. My suggestion: Use your regular phone, because it works with the existing infrastructure. Text messages tend to work better in disasters, because high call volume stresses the network, and texts are a tiny amount of data. Also, stay off the phone unless you really need to use it, because someone else might be in a life threatening situation and need to call for help.
  
  
• Ultimate survival kit: I disagree with premade survival kits because they use low quality items, most of them won't actually be useful, and if you build your own, you have more familiarity with the equipment and usage. If you want a pre made kit, look at the contents, buy it in pieces, and test every piece before you put it in your kit. At least then you'll know how it all works, and be familiar with exactly whats in there.
  
  
• Glowy keychain thing: I mean, i like glowy things, but the only real use for this is if you want to take a photo and post it on /r/EDC and then get flak from them because it's not even tritium, which incidentally doesn't need charging and would work far better for the purpose the article suggests anyway.
  
  
• Waterbricks: No argument here, but The Prepared has a really awesome article about this and I'm not going to type words that they have already covered in great detail. (I see they've already found this thread, anyway.)
  
  
• Condoms: Pretty fair point there. They expire, so rotate them like any other perishable prep item. I'd say probably stock conventional ones because no one wants a hurricane baby, and some unlubricated ones for assorted other purposes, but don't plan on using them for stuff. If you need something waterproof, do not think "I'll just put a condom on it when I need to!". If you can think of it in advance, figure out a proper solution, and leave the condoms for in a pinch fixes you didn't anticipate.
  
  
• Hand crank radio: Sure I guess? I'd rather have a radio that uses rechargeable batteries, and then use the solar rig from my first bullet point to charge the batteries. Anything with a hand crank will put out a really tiny amount of power and requires you to effort. Once you stop cranking, you're running off of the way-too-tiny battery in the unit, whereas solar is a huge amount of power that requires no effort, which you can then use to charge lots of batteries and then just swap them. Or run the radio off of a 12v adapter directly. For the radio itself, You want AM/FM/NOAA Weather Radio at a minimum, and an argument could be made for shortwave, because it can cover huge distances (I'm in central Alberta, Canada, and can easily pick up Radio Havana Cuba on shortwave). Again, a Ham license and some equipment of that sort would also be useful if you want to get into that.
  
  
• MRE's: Sure, though ask a soldier friend what they think of them, and what they do to your guts. I'm personally going to stick with Mountain House or similar. Also, there's an article from The Prepared on this topic, too. (Hey mods, just so you know I'm not paid or coerced in any way to suggest this site. I gain nothing from them, it's just the best information I've found, and it's convenient to link them instead of type a whole lot.)
  
  
• As seen on TV "Tactical" Flashlight: No! Ask nicely in /r/flashlight, or pick something that meets your needs from Here. Thrunite tends to be inexpensive, high quality, nice features, and nice light, if you're looking for a brand suggestion. Fenix and Nitecore are also solid choices.
  
  
• 1911: Limiting this one because too much politics and heated debate. I love 1911s, but .45 is a bit big for an infrequent shooter, but a 9mm clone like an STI Spartan, or perhaps a Jericho (Baby Eagle) in 9mm, or a CZ, would work nicely.
  
  
• Casper Mattress: Wait, that's an ad, never mind. I couldn't really tell the difference.

Multipurpose waterproof match case. I prefer this case because it's not much bigger than other waterproof cases, but has other stuff built into it. I put waterproof matches in it along with the striker strip from the package. The whistle is good for signaling. The other functions are marginal, so I supplement them with the actual things, which consist of a signal mirror, lensatic compass, and emergency fire starter.

A stove and solid fuel. I was pretty impressed with this particular one when I received it. It's stainless steel, well constructed, and you can store four fuel tabs inside of it.

A multitool and a fixed-blade knife. I don't have either of these specific models, but they seem pretty decent.

A folding shovel. These are good for burying waste, helping a car gain traction in the winter, etc.

A self-adhesive bandage. This is a three-pack. The single one cost $4 locally. Buy this one and leave the other two in your medicine cabinet. Wrap the remaining one around a piece of cardboard and put it in your emergency pack.

Disposable antibacterial wipes.

Antimicrobial silver gel. Like Neosporin, but better. Stays on a wound for multiple days without covering, and the colloidal silver is a strong antimicrobial agent. See the oligodynamic effect.

Dust masks. This is for a 50-pack, but for half the price, you only get 10 at a local store. These help prevent you from spreading germs if you're sick, and keep you from inhaling macroscopic particles if you're in a dusty/dirty area.

QuikClot sponge bandage. This helps to stop bleeding from major injuries. Along with an Israeli battle dressing you have two great ways to help stem major bleeding, separately or combined.

Local anesthetic for stings. Good for numbing injuries other than stings, too.

Sterile pads, 4” x 4”.

Sunscreen.

Cigarette-adapter power inverter. Good for charging small electronics.

Hand warmers.

Work gloves and watchcap.

All of the following are probably best bought in stores or scrounged up around the house:

Toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, all with obvious uses.

Aspirin, for heart attacks and pain, ibuprofen for pain, anti-histamine for allergic reactions, and Imodium or off-brand equivalent for diarrhea. I can't stress having Imodium enough. Having cramps and shits can render you unable to do anything for long periods of time, even more so than other ailments.

A disposable razor can be used to shave to keep up appearances, or to shave the area around a wound for better bandaging.

Maxi pads and tampons can be used as intended as well as to prevent bleeding from wounds.

Toilet paper. Wrap it around a piece of cardboard to save space.

Bandanas or an old shirt can be used to make a sling, protect yourself from the sun, filter macroscopic particles out of water, filter dirty/dusty air, etc.

Hot chocolate with caffeine added can be used to help stay alert.

Lighters are a must-have to start a fire.

I also have a Ziploc bag containing about ten cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly. They're great firestarters.

Cash. Keep various bills and coins in an amount that you think is suitable for emergencies.

Maps. Carry folding maps of your area, state, and surrounding states.

I think that covers everything that I have. There's a lot of redundancy, but it all fits in my bag, so I'm happy with it. I'm definitely interested in hearing thoughts as to what can be added or changed.

I used to puncture (not open) cans of veggies, like corn, drain 1/3 the liquid, and heat them in the engine compartment of my car while driving. Think I moved beyond that.

Hard pretzels are consistently the one snack that's with low/no oil. Still would check ingredients. Not quite WFPB, but widespread, vegan and low fat. Still, I find snacks like these don't give good satiety and I keep reaching for them. Easy energy.

Taco Bell is vegan with modifications. Enough oil in it though but food on the go. The two easiest and cheapest things to order is thus:

• Bean Burrito. Make it fresco (means replace dairy/cheese with pico de gallo).
  
  
• Crunchy or Soft Taco. Make it fresco. Remove Beef. Add black beans.
  
  Grande meals composed of this are huge and cheap. Check your orders before leaving. Some locations really are bad at screwing it up.
  
  Some equipment I recommend in your situation:
  
  
• A good chef's knife for chopping and prep work and a short knife (2-3") for peeling and other work.
  
  
• a foldable mat to do chopping on. These are cheap and much easier to clean and portable than wooden blocks.
  
  
• A collapsible silicon colander. Portable. To clean greens. I don't use a salad spinner much anymore, takes up a lot of room and I don't want my greens that dry.
  
  
• Like before, a collapsible silicon bowl for salads and other prep plus to microwave and eat direct from. Easier than constantly tossing paper plates.
  
  
• small glass jar (from marmalade or anything used) to mix dressing with.
  
  For much of your cooking, a microwave will actually be enough. Oatmeal, potatoes, rice, beans. Sure spaghetti and the rest will work too with practice.
  
  Panfrying and searing isn't a major requirement in the WFPB kitchen and much could also be done in a conventional oven. You can get a toaster-oven for around $50 if you stay in the same room consistently although I don't think it's necessary. You can get yourself an countertop cooktop for $50-100, but the room will unlikely have ventilation or an outdoor, so this or toasteroven can backfire if smoke occurs.
  
  There is one product I don't necessarily recommend for the hotel with the microwave, but if you are out on the road with a car a lot, and that's a HotLogic Mini Oven:
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/HotLogic-Mini-Personal-Portable-Black/dp/B00EC7XJ00/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1550340406&sr=8-3&keywords=portable+oven
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Foval-Power-Inverter-Converter-Charger/dp/B01H2XD2DY/ref=sr_1_6?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1550340598&sr=1-6&keywords=car+inverter
  
  Consider this not for cooking but for reheating. It's a glorified hot plate that won't burn anything. I recommend the 12v with an good inverter in the car over a 12v version for the simple reason that you can use it in hotel rooms without modification. If you buy a 12v version and buy an adapter for outlets, you are much more likely to forget the adapter in hotel rooms.
  
  If it's in the running due to extra people, 2 mini size is better than one family size imo.
  
  The pyrex 6 cup they sometimes bundle with it is not spillproof so it was useless for soups and other wet stuff, but I got a 46 or 54oz glass glasslock-style spill-proof container at a local Marshalls that was perfect.
  
  There is also those Indian Heat n Eat meals. Kohinoor and the like. Many have butter but there were some vegan varieties.
  
  Also, up raw food eating. Fruits, salads, etc.

Get a service manual and go through all the general maintenance aspects of your motorcycle and learn everything about it real well. Lubricate all the cables, drive train, change all the fluids and filters, inspect and clean the battery and the battery cables and basically learn everything you can on this bike. Make sure it has good tires.

Here’s a chart which along with a multimeter will help you troubleshoot or test your battery and charging circuit. Cleaning the battery cables on both ends clears up a lot of problems.

https://m.imgur.com/a/KVGGY

I’d like to see pictures of your bike, see if you can post them here and especially if you see a problem show us a picture because that really helps a lot.

Run a full can of seafoam through a full tank of gas to help clean up the system and all the passageways inside the carburetor.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002JN2EU/ref=cm_sw_r_em_api_c_6NKYAbKYPQ8AH

If you haven’t got one, get a battery tender like this one.

Battery Tender Plus 021-0128, 1.25 Amp Battery Charger is a Smart Charger, it will Fully Charge and Maintain a Battery at Proper Storage Voltage without the Damaging Effects Caused by Trickle Chargers https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00068XCQU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_3wB7AbK953D28


Many screws on metric bikes aren’t actually Philips, they are special, here’s a set that will keep you from buggering up your screw heads, especially useful on older bikes where they are real tight.

Hozan JIS-4 JIS Screwdriver Set (NEW 3rd. Gen) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A7WAHTU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_kBB7AbGCN238A


Have fun and let us know how things work out!

I use a 35ah deep cycle SLA battery like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HC57NXC/

SLA doesn't require any venting and works fine even upside down. They can also be left trickle charging forever, which makes a great backup if the power ever goes out. I get 3-4 nights at 14/18 on BiPAP without the humidifier. Humidifiers can be used, but it more than doubles the discharge rate. I still hook up the humidifier, but I leave it set at zero. This gives a bit of passive humidity. Your trolling motor box is fine. I use a toolbox with some plastic glued in to keep the battery in position. All the wiring can go inside (just like your trolling box), with a 12v cigarette adapter on the outside. This makes for a compact unit.

A voltmeter on the outside is really handy to know how much juice you have left. Also, I leave it charging all the time, so the voltmeter lets me know that everything is 100% ready. This one I picked up has USB too:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QKDXB8E/

I use this cheap charger (The "Battery Tender" ones are recommended, just a bit more expensive):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051D3MP6/

The total cost was under $125 (plus a DC to DC adapter, which it sounds like you don't need).

Shoot me a message if you need a hand getting setup.

edit: here's some pics

http://i.imgur.com/5AQaiw9.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/sHb3sQr.jpg

Here's some good, firsthand info:

Choosing a Battery

A sample of other components

How long will a battery last with/without humidifier?

I spent a week in an RV “off grid” with the following solar setup to charge electronics and power electric blankets at night for warmth while sleeping:

Battery with three prong outlet plus USB charging ports:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MA4YVNP/

NOTE: I paid $350 for that battery, but it looks like it is no longer sold. This one looks even better for $175: https://www.amazon.com/CHAFON-Upgraded-Generator-Rechargeable-Emergency/dp/B07142Z1XL/

Solar panel to recharge battery:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N1FLGQO/

I paid $120 for the solar panel.

I don’t know if it is the cheapest solution, but it worked wonderfully and didn’t require ANY complicated integration, just plug together and done! If the solar panels did not keep up the charge, my backup plan was to run the generator built into the RV to charge up this battery, but it was never necessary!

This particular battery pack comes with an LED light, kind of a flashlight with a gigantic battery. I originally thought that was silly, but I ended up liking the feature for off grid living -> if you get up in the night and need a bit of light, toss the light switch and you can see what you are doing.

After my “off grid” camping trip, I turned the setup into a UPS for my computer, and it works great for that also. Plug the battery into a wall outlet, and computer into the battery, and when the power goes out, the computer still runs off of the battery for a few hours. I even used the solar panels to charge it back up during a 20 hour residential power outage a couple of weeks ago.

What I learned: normal computer UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) batteries are lead based which is heavy and clunky, and this battery pack is lithium ion so smaller and lighter. But lithium ion costs more for the weight savings.

This is basically what I have. I bought a different battery and inverter because I have an account at batteries Plus but this is a widely accepted quality battery and a decent inverter. I would recommend buying at least the battery local as shipping them is expensive.

NOTE I did not include fuses/breakers in this list but you definitely should build these into your design.

https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Polycrystalline-Starter/dp/B00DCEKKQ0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1487256044&sr=8-2&keywords=renogy+100w+starter+kit

https://www.amazon.com/Trojan-T27-AGM-Group-Purpose-Battery/dp/B00NY0RAW4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487256242&sr=8-1&keywords=trojan+12volt

https://www.amazon.com/34-97-2-15-17-ENERGIZER-Inverter-charging/dp/B01N5LUMDF/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1487256346&sr=8-16&keywords=500w+inverter

Depending on what you really want to power this may be way more than you need. You really should start by figuring out the load you want to power and then design your system around that number. This is a great little tool for figuring out how much power the devices you want to power will use and it's certainly cheaper than buying too much system and finding out you could have done what you wanted with half as much as you bought.

https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487256555&sr=8-1&keywords=killawatt

I'm certainly not an expert at solar but am learning so feel free to PM any other questions.

Has a much bigger battery, has an AC inverter. Only issue is the inverter is rated up to 120w. This mean you can run a laptop and other small devices but don't expect to get to run things throughout the weekend. Much better than what op linked. However w/ the panel it's almost 4x the price.

It sucks that the solar panels cost extra but if you were to buy now, the 25w panels are on sale. I would get two and hopefully get up to 50w (under optimal conditions).

It would be nice for car camping or a camper. If it's a permanent or even semi permanent installation, It would be better to purchase a larger panel, solar controller/charger, deep cycle large capacity battery and an inverter.

100w panel ($120) - https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Monocrystalline-Solar/dp/B009Z6CW7O/

Simple Charger/Controller ($15) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074WZB5XY/

AC inverter ($35) - https://www.amazon.com/POTEK-Inverter-Converter-Charging-Smartphones/dp/B01B3ZQG4O/

100Ah SLA Battery (Apprx $100) - Autoparts/Big Box Stores

Ends up being a $270-$300 investment. That's not bad. If you were to buy the monoprice system w/ larger solar panel, it would be close to $300 and it wouldn't anywhere as efficient as if you were to make your own system. Only thing are sacrificing is portability and weight. A 8Ah battery will be much smaller and lighter than a 100Ah+ SLAB but won't last anywhere as long. If you have a rainy/cloudy week, good luck.

you probably want to use leds for the lighting as you can very cheaply aquire and run some 12v leds straight off the battery without needing an inverter.

Same goes for a cell phone charger. Use a 12v car charger.

If those are the only 2 things you need to power you'll have plenty of juice in that battery.

Why that battery in particular?

If you're getting a solar panel you'll need a charge controller, and neither of those will be super portable anyway.

Consider a 12v 7ah sealed lead acid battery.

They are super cheap for their capacity.


As far as the solar panel, something like this would work.


it includes a charge controller.



here's a couple images of one of the solar power kits ive put together.

http://i.imgur.com/nfA1GnO.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/rQKQ1uD.jpg

4 x 12v 7ah SLA batteries
1 10 watt solar panel

1 charge controller (much better than the ones that are often included with inexpensive panels

1 200w inverter


I can run just about anything with this setup.

12v devices and wires can be connected straight to the "Load" terminals on the charge controller.
Anything 110v can be plugged into the inverter.

The thing I REALLY like about that inverter is is has 4 usb charging ports that are on even when the inverter is off.

2 x 2 amp usb.

2 x 1 amp usb.

so a UPS

yes. you can buy units like that. I have a 344wh unit that I love using. $349

they make cheaper lower watt hour models.

https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Battery-Generator-Rechargeable-Inverter/dp/B01MA4YVNP/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1527307482&sr=8-6&keywords=lithium+ups

that is the one I use 500w AC limit

here is a cheaper model (200wh) $169 300w AC limit

https://www.amazon.com/Pure-Igoeshopping-Uninterruptible-Power-Supply/dp/B06XFR7PCV/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1527307482&sr=8-19&keywords=lithium+ups

and here is a really cheap one if you do NOT need UPS function (the other 2 you can hot plug ac devices while its plugged in while this one you charge up then use not UPS function)

https://www.amazon.com/COOLIS-Portable-Inverter-Generator-40800mAh/dp/B01N4H2P2T/ref=sr_1_40?ie=UTF8&qid=1527307482&sr=8-40&keywords=lithium+ups

I also have that one. it works fine but I really want the UPS function $133 100w AC limit

if you want to help me out goto todays3dprint.com and use an amazon link (I don't want to use AFLINKS here I suspect they would be frowned upon for good reason)

then click these non AF links. it helps me out. once you click an AF link for amazon I get the credit for whatever you end up buying after you click that (you don't have to buy what is linked to via the AFLINK)

If you look on your power adapter, it should tell you the watts, if not, to calculate watts, multiply volts x amps. So, for my laptop, it was 65 watts, and the Samsung fast charger is 10 watts for a total of 75 watts, so I could have gotten away with like a 100 watt inverter, but I was looking into getting a portable printer and wanted extra capacity.


I bought one like this off of amazon, worked good, but after a while, the USB port died (probably an internal fuse). But since it had "household" 110v outlets as well, it was just as easy to use the standard plugs that came with my laptop and Samsung wall charger.

https://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-300W-Power-Inverter-Adapter/dp/B004MDXS0U?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_1

This one is the same price (29.99), but 400W (400 watts):

https://www.amazon.com/Ampeak-400W-Power-Inverter-Converter/dp/B0714B231X?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_4

At the time, I didn't have much money, but I would have liked to have bought a higher wattage one, like 2000 watts, so that I could use a hot pot to heat water for tea/coffee/soup, etc. The hot pot that I currently have draws 1500 watts, for example.

Power / Inverter Question:

With out going into too much detail, let's just say my rig will be connected to shore power on most excursions, call me a weekend warrior.

Somewhere down the road I will probably add Solar but that is not within the next 1-2 years.

When connected to shore power my LED lights would still be on 12v power. So here we go...

​

1. If I am on shore power I can get an all in one inverter / charger to keep power to my batteries and my LED lights. Could I go even cheaper and just have my 12v batteries topped off by a battery charger such as a NOCO Genius ? Reason being it only needs to keep the battery charged for the LED lights. It would also then allow me to spend the budget on the best Inverter, and solar would eventually be what keeps the 12v battery charged in the future.
   
   ​
   
   
2. How long can you run LED's on battery? I know this is loaded as there are tons of factors in play. But I'm wondering if I even need a power solution like the one mentioned above if I only plan to run 6 LED's that say 2W on the package. I'd really just need them to last the weekend until I drive the rig home.
   
   ​
   
   Thanks!

How about selecting what he will eat off of the healthy list and have a contingency plan for hot food? I think I can help you out here. There are several devices to heat food even on the go. The Mini Crockpot Lunch Warmer is about $15-$20 (depending on color choice) and is great for soups, stews, (turkey?) chili, and pasta with sauce. There is also the Hot Logic Mini Oven ($30-$40 watch for sales!), which is a hot plate inside an insulated, zippered bag. You can put a frozen dinner still in the box, cooked leftovers or raw chicken or fish and it cooks/reheats slowly at a low heat. Plug either of them into the car's lighter with an AC Car Converter ($17) in the morning/beginning of his work day and it will slowly come to temperature and hold it until he's ready to eat!
They took away our microwave at work and I've had to adapt. I love them both!

I got my '15 PCX new in early 16 for around $3000 (if I remember correctly) + extra to build it and shipping fee. I think the build fee was like $100-$200 and another $100 for "shipping" it to the dealer. I think your getting an average deal.

Make sure the helmet you get is Snell certified. From what I remember the Snell cert is higher than the DOT cert. If this is your first helmet and you don't know what your doing, have the dealer fit you for a helmet. Its very important that it fits properly or it wont be as effective in an accident. When I got my PCX I got an HJC helmet from the dealer since I had no idea how to size one correctly. They are very nice helmets.

As far as bluetooth, make sure you read local laws. Some places make it illegal to use headphones while riding. Also, if your a new rider I would suggest not using them for a while and concentrate on the road.

As far as other stuff to buy, I would suggest a good jacket with pads and good padded gloves. If you hit the ground, you will be happy you had them.

Before winter, get yourself a small battery tender to maintain the battery while its in storage. If not, you may be buying batteries every year. My step dad has a Harley, never puts a tender on it over winter and wonders why he needs a new $125 battery every year. I got this one and it works great:

https://www.amazon.com/BLACK-DECKER-BM3B-Automatic-Maintainer/dp/B0051D3MP6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1525264919&sr=8-2&keywords=battery+tender+black+and+decker

This may be a bad idea, but off the top of my head, maybe you could use a small inverter plus a battery tender to recreate a setup similar to your old one.

Edit: Also these are not cheap but there is a company called All In Charge that makes setups for charging your boat or RV battery while you tow.

Edit2: If these guys are still in business, they offer a solution that some people really like. Their website really needs some work though, I would bet its best to just email them.

Edit 3: Found one more solution for you from PowerStream.

I love my Spectra -- well as much as one can love a machine that sucks your nipples. I started pumping in the hospital with a Medela Symphony, and I get so much more milk with the Spectra.

I exclusively pumped for several weeks while LO was getting the hang of latching, so here are some tips:

I'd recommend getting a power invertor so you can pump in the car if you ever need to. I have this one from Amazon and it works great.

Prepare a "pump bag" to hold all your supplies -- hands-free bra (I have the Simple Wishes bra), pump, storage bags and bottles, permanent marker to label storage bags, a little container of olive oil to lube up my flanges (helps to prevent rubbing), small kitchen rags to wipe up milk, extra pump parts, etc. I use an LL Bean tote bag to transport everything.

In between pumps, I store all my pump parts in a gallon ziploc bag and stick it in the fridge so I don't have to wash them after every pump.

It'll require a little bit of custom work but you can definitely power it off of a battery.

A pre-packaged battery will give you the easiest installation / charging options. Make sure it offers 12v DC outputs like this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M3S00H0/

Then you'll want to convert the 12v DC to 24v DC (the lightstrip plus runs on 24v) using a regulator like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0085T97PW/

Aside from that, all you'll need are a couple of barrel plugs to connect the regulator between the battery and Hue controller. I'm not 100% sure of the barrel plug sizes, I expect the 12v side (battery output) to use a 5.5mm X 2.1mm barrel plug but I'm not sure which size the Hue controller requires as input.

-- If you email them they can answer your questions about the inverter, and that might be a good idea because it can vary from what's pictured, but the pic looks like it has one USB port and one plug port for European plugs. I brought my own inverter, this one which has 4 USB ports and 3 US outlets. The red version has better USB ports (4x 2.1a instead of 2x 2.1 and 2x 1a). With this I never needed to look for an outlet to charge any of my gear.

-- The stoves are usually butane fuel and come with one bottle. On my trip fuel was readily available at gas stations and some campgrounds. They may have supplies from previous renters you can pick through as well.

-- I bought all my food there (my van had a fridge) so I'm no help on this one.


Enjoy your trip!

Verify your stator is healthy before you throw a new battery on your bike.

Do you keep the bike on a battery tender when you aren't riding it? You definitely should.

As for batteries, any AGM battery will do fine. The very best batteries are the Lithium Ion models from Shorai, but they are VERY expensive (about $150-$250), but they deliver massive cold crank amps which is exactly what you need, especially if you are trying to start a 1200 conversion with the 883 starter/gearing.

1. Verify your stator is putting out the correct volts across the entire RPM range. Your service manual will have the correct voltage values for various points in the RPM spectrum.
   
   
2. Start using a battery tender.
   
   
3. If you decide to buy a new battery, any AGM battery will be fine, but you really should consider saving up for a Shorai Lithium Ion battery, as it will meet your needs and then some. Here is a direct link to the Shorai battery for your bike: http://shoraipower.com/products?action=vehicle&type=175&make=941&model=7529&year=7529 It is $250, which I know is a lot to spend on a battery. It also puts out THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY cold crank amps which is enough to start a big block V8.
   
   
4. Also verify the resistance of your plug wires and the health of the plug boots and the connections between the boots and the coil and the boots and the spark plugs. I doubt a hotter ignition module will do much good for you, but its possible that your current plug wires are not as good as they used to be and if the resistance is higher due to internal corrosion...that can suck away juice that should be getting to your plugs.
   
   
5. Verify your carb is healthy and in good working order. When was it last cleaned?
   
   
6. Inspect and gap your plugs, or just straight up replace them if its been more than a few years.
   
   

I ordered this one from deal extreme that should work. It seems, to have the right specs, but has not yet arrived. I expect to have it this week.

http://s.dealextreme.com/search/146751

This ships from Hong Kong, so be patient if you order, but I have made dozens of orders through DX over the years and they are great.

Alternatively, you can buy a small inverter and plug your wall charger into it. This is what I did on a week long road trip last week and it worked great even though it is a little hokey to convert DC to AC and then back to DC.

Mine is about 7 years old, but this one from Amazon has a 2.1 amp USB port as well as the AC outlet. Shop around, but this is the popular one that showed up in an Amazon search.

http://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-inverter-motolora-blackberry-notebook/dp/B003Q54V88/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1345467162&sr=1-1&keywords=inverter

Aux batteries are nice because you can feel confident to run them down, and when charged they allow you to jump start yourself with jumper cables if you accidentally run your car battery down.

Yes, the aux batteries need to wire into something to charge them. Either solar, grid/generator power, or the car. Mine can be charged through all 3. Charging from the car is the most practical.

You want the aux to be charged while your car is running. If you're feeling mechanical you'd want a battery isolator like this, but that install is a pain.

Instead, I use an inverter plus a charger; very safe and non-technical. I hook my inverter up to my starter battery, and simply wedge it next to the starter battery under the hood. Then I run a normal "3-prong" home extension cord from under the hood into my SUV cab. In the cab I plug into a battery charger which is connected to the aux batteries to charge them. These links aren't the actual ones I use, just to show you examples.

In my setup, I have to pop the hood and switch on the inverter after I start the car, and before I stop the car, pop the hood again and turn it off. So it doesn't drain the stater battery while the car is off. Some people might agree with my build but in my opinion it's the simplest and cheapest way.

As far as sizing. For simple, just get one battery. Look at the Amp Hours (Ah) rating. IMO get an AGM battery (a type of SLA), other types are finicky. Watts is Amps Volts. Batteries are 12 volts so a 12 volt battery with 100 Amp Hours (Ah) can provide 12100=1200 watts. Divide by 2 since you only want to drain it to 50%. So a 100 Ah battery gives you 600 watts. If you run a 25 watt blanket, that means the battery can run it for 24 hours. It's best to underestimate here since the battery will rarely be fully charged except after a long drive.

If you had a 100 Ah AGM battery, you'd want probably a 10-amp charger (for reasons) and a 400+ watt inverter.

I know it's a lot :p Hope it makes sense.

Heres a couple things I like having on my bike when I travel:

AC inverter: gives you a 110v outlet in case you need to power something like a phone charger and you don't have a 12v usb connector.

Water purifying tablet: They take up about a cubic inch of space and may save your life.

Large wet wipes: For giving yourself an on the go shower in case you meet your future wife and there is no shower access.

Small mess kit: I have a serbian mess kit and I love it. The knife included has a can opener and a bottle opener and is serrated and well made.

Head lamp: Because holding a flashlight while its cold and you are trying to do something sucks. I prefer ones that have single large diodes instead of lots of little ones as they are brighter and have better color. Also I try and get ones that use 18650 batteries so I can share a charger and batteries.

Hey so my setup is a bit cheaper than the one below, but same concept:

I have an inverter with alligator clips on it that has at least 300 watts (you can gather things you think you would use and add up the watts to see your needs):
https://www.amazon.com/POTEK-Inverter-Adapter-Charging-Smartphone/dp/B01FEUD9OO/ref=sr_1_9?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1504464365&sr=1-9&refinements=p_72%3A1248861011


Then I have a marine deep cycle battery (I actually have two because I use them for other stuff also):
I can't find the exact one, but it is just Deep Cycle marine battery 12 volts and about 100 amp hours rated, they are about $75-100 at Costco or Walmart.

If you search for 24DC or the larger 27DC Marine battery you will find them.


Then of course you need a charger, I love this one, but there are others:
https://www.amazon.com/BLACK-DECKER-BC15BD-Battery-Charger/dp/B00KNMKRU8/ref=pd_bxgy_263_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00KNMKRU8&pd_rd_r=KVPBC0ZVG9ZQGWAPD6HS&pd_rd_w=4Xk7X&pd_rd_wg=SRKI5&psc=1&refRID=KVPBC0ZVG9ZQGWAPD6HS


You just clamp on the inverter and you are all set, instant power supply :)


Edit: you could also get one of these and use your car charger with it, it might extend the life of the big deep cycle battery since you don't have to run the inverter

The least expensive useful solar power generator is probably this [$228.99 128 wH Monerator Gusto 10 Eco Kit with a 10W solar panel ] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HUMZV6Y/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00HUMZV6Y&linkCode=as2&tag=battleforthew-20).

You can plug it in and recharge it before you take it out into the field.

The batteries are li-ion, so it's not a huge lead acid brick.

I have a couple of lead acid power packs ([this one] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004EIAADG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004EIAADG&linkCode=as2&tag=battleforthew-20) and [this one] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005RHQQ/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00005RHQQ&linkCode=as2&tag=battleforthew-20)), but they are so heavy I don't take them anywhere.

It would be a challenge to build anything less expensive than this.

Hope this is helpful and best of the holidays!

Sweet, that fuse block is perfect. Then inverter appears to come with a good fuse holder and fuse, you can see it in the fourth photo on amazon link. Is the fuse holder you recommended better in some way?

I use my car as a generator when camping and it is awesome. I usually use it to run a few lights, charge electronic devices, and speakers. It burns very little fuel and probably burns at a rate of 1/10 a gallon per hour.

I've been using this inverter and I really like it because it displays the output. It helps me ensure I'm not overloading my car. With all my devices, I'm using only a max of 30 watts. Although it's rated for 500w, I heard you arn't suppose to run it that high without it directly connecting to the 12v Battery.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B3ZQG4O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't trust anything but OEM chargers.

Were it me, I would definitely go with an inverter. It saves from having a specialized charger and allows you to use your home charger. The home charger would "level out" the power output (though modern inverters are pretty good) and make it safe to use.

The mag-safe chargers are 85W, so this would work

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002LTQFUM/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B002N2GEXK&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1GZ0F96P1FKA2KZ2CJQ7

You probably want at least 100ah and 200w solar would be better for a safety buffer. I would of gone 200ah if I could, that’s the advice people gave me when I asked too. I will probably add another battery and do alternator charging also.

I just added solar to my van and will be on the road full time in a week. My setup is 200w solar, 100ah battery, with Dometic cc-40us. I wanted to use a 900 watt Ninja blender so got a 1500 watt/3000 watt peak inverter. The blender pulls about 350watts when running.

KRIËGER KR1500 1500 Watt 12V Dual Power Inverter with Installation kit.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DNL05GW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_B3zmvxTNNm4Os

This is what I got for plugging in my cooler. Three inputs and built in fuse!

Automotive DC Power Outlet Extension [Heavy Duty] [12V-24V] [15 Amp] [In-Line Fuse] [Hardwire] Car Triple Socket Cigarette Lighter Plug Switch Box https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PXAMYTC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_mFHJ6D9jxSpu2


I just had a Goal Zero yeti400 for the first 4 months in my van. I now will keep charging it while driving but also bought an all power 100watt flexible solar panel I keep unmounted and can hang anywhere in a 35ft radius of my van. It’s pretty amazing how much difference tilting the panel makes to incoming watts and just how weak the winter sun in also.

If the battery is getting weak (especially in these colder temps), check the charging level of the alternator. If it's ok, pick up a battery charger that will automatically switch to float once reaching full charge. Throw the battery on there overnight.

Keep cold out of your gear. Like in hiking, being cold is worse than wet since it'll sap your energy. I wear a balaclava around my head and just picked up a fleece neck warmer to keep cold wind from entering my coat and helmet.

Pinlock visors are great at keeping your visor from fogging up if you wear a full face helmet.

Reflective tape on your helmet, bike and gear will add to your visibility.

Keep track of your tires and brakes. Give yourself 20 minutes to gear up and check the bike before you leave. You don't want to forget a piece of gear because you were in a rush.

Don't override your ability in lousy weather and know alternate, safer and slower routes if you need to get off the highway. It happened to me once in Skagit Valley when a rainstorm pushed me three lanes over (I shouldn't have been going so fast in the left lane) so I exited and took a really slow trip on some farming roads, then the old 99 highway all the way to Seattle.

Be aware and cautious, especially in the dark and wet around the unmindful cagers in this town, but have fun! These cold, sunny, dry days have been a blast to ride.

First, check to make sure the battery connection is tight; second, check to make sure battery has a charge; lastly, do you have fuel? When the bike is parked, keep it on a trickle charger. Attach a pigtail to your battery so you hook it up easily when you get home every night. If you're getting a click-click-click when trying to turn it over, it's probably the battery. I bought this trickle charger a while back and haven't been sorry at all. It also comes with a pigtail. Good luck.

One of the best portable phone chargers I have ever used (though its $5 over your limit): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009V5X1CE/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Someone else suggested this same fan (but here is a link for $9.99 instead of $19.95) I used it last year in my tent and it worked great: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AVMSEY/ref=oh_details_o00_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (thinking about making a swamp cooler with this fan and a styrofoam cooler this year!)

If your car camping, this is can charge/run 7 different items at once: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EY6RJKA/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Also if car camping, and will need to run your car at all to charge things, a flexible duct to route exhaust out of your campground is invaluable!: http://www.amazon.com/Dundas-Jafine-BTD48TC-ProFlex-Transition/dp/B0015UGPWQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1396231801&sr=8-3&keywords=dryer+vent

THD is total harmonic distortion, basically if it's over a certain point it begins to affect the sound quality.

The easiest option for power is a standard lead acid battery, they're a bit heavy and large but are also safe and cheap.

Here's an example.

And because they are standard you could use a small car charger to charge it up like this one.

So the solution for camping and common power outages are pretty close to the same.

If you live somewhere where the power goes out often, get yourself a 12v adapter for your machine (varies by machine), buy a AGM deep cycle trolling motor battery (~$100) and a Battery Tender. Plug the battery tender to the wall, hook it to the battery, then hook the 12v adapter to your machine. Congratulations: the battery tender keeps the battery topped off, the CPAP runs off the battery, and you never miss a beat when the power goes out. If you're looking to lose power for more than one night (say you regularly have to wait out hurricanes) you'll want a bigger capacity deep cycle battery if you want to run the humidifier.

For car camping just leave the battery tender at home and turn off the humidifier. Fully charged battery should easily last you 5 nights.

If you're more of a backpacker/rough camper pick up a large USB battery pack that supports 12V out. People with Philips Respironics machines report that pack gives them 2 nights without humidifier. If you have a Philips machine it actually comes with the right size barrel plug, so no 12v adapter needed.

Do you have a recommendation for the inverter? A part of the appeal of the Krieger was that there is an LED readout showing the input and output, and the dual USB ports. The closest thing I can find is the same inverter in 1100 watts.

I think the roof rack is the way to go for securing the panel as well. That will likely be the way I go. Im thinking of going with crossbars as Id like to put in a rooftop fan vent as well, as soon as I get the guts to cut into the ceiling.

As far as the charge controller, do you think the low cost of a PWM controller is worth the power efficiency offered by an MPPT controller at a higher cost? This is just based on things Ive read in my research.

This should do the trick. It's borderline so if the money isn't as much an issue I'd go for the 1000W model just to be on the safe side. Best of luck.

I've successfully powered a PS4 and computer monitor in my car, works very well. The tech specs for the PS4 say 165 watt maximum. Any monitor or TV you use should have it's specifications listed as well. Here's an example of a pretty inexpensive one, it says 24 watts. Then just buy an inverter that exceeds the total of the PS4/Monitor/anything else you'll be using at the same time. Here's a reasonably inexpensive inverter that says it'll provide up to 150W if you're powering it using the cigarette lighter, otherwise you have to hardwire it to your cars battery (that's what I had done, the hardwire route) and it'll provide up to 500W which should be plenty

What you should do is buy a sealed lead acid battery, a power inverter, 12v clips to cig lighter and a charger.

I just picked those products as examples but that would work and would cost around $50. It could probably be cheaper if you look around.

Also the batteries in most small UPS are around 2 amp/hour while the one I picked is 8Ah.

And that would be pretty easy to use.

I agree, deep cycle bettery and PowerPole plugs are the best. I have a 75Ah I selected based on it being 50lbs which is all I want to carry.

A simple easy way to go, for the less handy types, is the battery with a 12V to AC inverter, and just run all devices using the 110V wall-warts they came with.Get an inverter with terminals on the back, they make a better connection than the cigar lighter style. This is less efficient that going full DC, but quite handy if you have a Canon 8.4v DSLR camera with the Canon AC adapter. Because 12V going into the DSLR might get expensive.

>use a Rig Runner

Seems like overkill to fuse every 12V device. I use one of these.

Here's my portable setup. You can get LED panels, just exactly like mine, that have an external power supply and most of those can be run off a 12 volt power pack.

You can also buy or make a porta-power system like this pretty inexpensively. A rig like that will run a couple LED panels for a long time. Longer than the band can stay focused anyway.

The tent is technically a 4 man, though I have a 6 man that the mattress fits in a bit better. It uses a regular wall outlet, but the back of my truck has one. You can easily get an adapter though that would allow you to use your car's lighter outlet. Something like this.

https://www.amazon.com/Constant-Temperature-Electric-Heating-Incubator/dp/B07F3S2G9Q/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1541204934&sr=8-19&keywords=24v+heater

get the 24v version

if the fan moves too slow add this to the fan to up the 16v to 24v to get the fan to speed up and dissipate the heat better

https://www.amazon.com/MT3608-Voltage-Regulator-Step-Up/dp/B01N9ZVXTR/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1541205219&sr=8-4&keywords=12v+step+up

You could always purchase a cheap DC powered inverter to plug into the car-charger port, then just plug the camera's AC adapter into it.

I bought one of these to use in my field battery box, but haven't used it yet, I was considering mounting it permanently onto the box but wanted to see if I actually used it more than the DC ports first:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VMRHE7C?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00

I just posted my battery box here if you want to check it out, it's very easy to customize something like this to suit your needs.

https://www.reddit.com/r/astrophotography/comments/420a3j/my_field_battery_setup/

I just bought, and installed an exhaust fan in the back of my pickup. It works great, and I'm stoked to have power in the back now. It wasn't very difficult to figure out.

I bought this, this, this, this, and this fan. It set me back about $350, but I went with a larger, more powerful solar panel. You'll need some 10 gage wire and crimp connections. Home depot has all those parts.

Here's what it looks like.

You should be fine. Hook it up to a battery charger though. http://www.amazon.com/Deltran-Battery-Tender-021-0128-Charger/dp/B00068XCQU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422682919&sr=8-2&keywords=battery+tender

Those are great to own. Really helps prolong the life of the battery.

That probably is the most feasible solution. My only question with that is if I use an inverter like this, can I gut it and remove the fan? Or will passive cooling not be sufficient for long-term use at 5 watts?

The size of the overkill inverter was part of the reason I was looking for a different way to go about this.

Some batteries will show a C rating. That's the charging rate relative to the battery capacity.

For instance, I have a 7.2Ah battery that mentions a 0.3C charging rate. That means that I should charge it at 7.2Ah * 0.3 = 2,16 amps.

15 amps is probably too much for a 18 Ah. From what I see online, a certain battery mentions 5.4A max. Yours should be around that, too.

Plus, most modern deep discharge SLAs are AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat) and will need a bit more voltage than car batteries. Mine should be charged at 14.7V.

For that reason, I would suggest using a charger designed for AGMs. I have this one that can charger both my car and my AGMs and it works well.

Feel free to ask any question if you have some :)

I got the Krieger 1100 watt inverter from Amazon. Looks like they only have 1500 watt version now. The 1100 was only $20 cheaper I think. I thought It was a good deal because it came with the cables and fuses. And if you read some reviews, there are plenty of people running TVs and laptops with it.

I like that it had a small LCD screen showing how many watts you're drawing and how many volts on the battery.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DNL05GW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ILDszbQ8TZCV0

https://canadacpapsupply.com/medistrom-cpap-battery-pilot-24.html

I use one of those. Works good for 1-2 nights depending how many hours I sleep.

I charge it on my motorcycle using a 12v-24v step up converter. https://www.amazon.ca/Converter-Regulator-12V-Step-24V/dp/B0085T97PW

I built it all into a waterproof Pelican Case that I strap onto the bike and use a Battery Tender style plug to connect to the bike for charging.

Not the cheapest solution, but if you don't have a 4 wheeled vehicle for hauling a deep cycle, its the next best option.

It would be pretty easy to build something similar for a lot cheaper. Pick up a used suitcase at the thrift shop, mount a 50w panel on the outside (much better than the 10W panel in the case you linked to.) Inside the case, mount a charge controller with USB, this 20Ah battery (again, better than the 16Ah in the other one), and this 500W inverter (not sure how big the one in the expensive case it, but 500W should be enough.) So for less than $250 and a little bit of build work, you can have a much more functional system (500% larger solar capacity and 25% more battery capacity).

I think I understand. The amount of watts won't power too many items, nor for too long either.

How about something like these, they look to be a lot more powerful.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MA4YVNP/ref=sspa_dk_detail_4?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01MA4YVNP&pd_rd_wg=gcDdU&pd_rd_r=Z3AWGKAGPANFREC3D84E&pd_rd_w=Rd1Wx

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZNMV1Z?aaxitk=uV7TMys1GViwLYfYEhwPLg&pd_rd_i=B06ZZNMV1Z&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=5582544217303223519&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-top-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pf_rd_i=single+phase+generator+power+supply&hsa_cr_id=2323616880101


Thanks for your response. Power/electricity is something that I don't understand particularly well.

Shouldn't be a problem at all, batteries are made to be charged and discharged. Everyone should invest in a Battery Tender, they're really great chargers (and great for intelligently keeping a battery topped up for cars in storage). Not too much more expensive than shitty harbor freight ones, and they work and will last a long time.

you got some good replies... just want to be a little more specific. something like a battery tender is good to leave connected. it will cycle on and off to keep the battery charged... Trickle chargers are manual and push a constant amount of amps until you turn them off.

the manual type are still not obsolite... for one you can charge a battery quicker because you can choose the amperage to charge at. Another benefit is if you have a very discharged battery, the newer battery tender types will not charge it because it's measuring too low of voltage and is programed to assume it's damaged... the manual type, sometimes you can set it very low and charge it up enough to switch to back to the battery tender type.

> the frankenfridge

I like the term frankenfridge! I just got my freezer all hooked up a few days ago. Something that I didn't realize at first was that some inverters aren't easy to set up with the relay. I originally got this Krieger one but it doesn't automatically turn back on when the relay gives it power (so the relay would turn off the inverter/cut its' power when it got below 38°, but when it went back above 38° the relay would switch but the inverter wouldn't turn on unless the power button was physically hit). Ended up returning that one and getting this simple Madpower one that just has a physical on/off rocker switch (no other buttons or remote switches) and it works flawlessly. Just something to keep in mind, wish I had realized before I started!

If it sits a lot then use a battery tender like this. You leave an adapter always connected to the battery then route it somewhere like the front grill. When you get home, plug it in if its going to sit a while into the adapter on the tender. That's it. It will keep it charged and ready to go. We use the smaller ones (not the one I linked) for the house generators out here and they work great. Still would be a good idea to start it and run it around the block every few months

The optima suggestion isn't going to solve the battery drain issue. Yes, it's a heavier duty battery. But if you keep pouring out 1/2 cup of water out of a jug and only replace it with 1/3 cup of water, you'll eventually run out of water.

Really needs to do a battery tender and get in the habit of plugging it in when they get home. A setup like this would be a good idea. http://s279.photobucket.com/user/NotMoneyGuy/media/IMG_3749_zps1edf0d2c.jpg.html

Have a quick disconnect say dangle through the grill of the car and plug the charger in nightly.

Edit: I like the Battery Tender brand myself.

https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0123-lightweight-automatic/dp/B000CITK8S/ref=sr_1_3?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1494516072&sr=1-3&keywords=battery+tender

Or the faster charger:

https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Maintain-Damaging/dp/B00068XCQU/ref=sr_1_5?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1494516072&sr=1-5&keywords=battery+tender

There are stupidly simple, just plug/connect them to the battery and they're automatic.

Also, if you have access to a car (ie. your renting a car) you could use a12V DC to 110V AC inverter like this. Shop around. You can get a decent one for around $20-35.

However, like others have said, your best bet is to get a bunch of batteries.

You may be best off just buying an inverter that connects to the car power socket and has a standard wall outlet on it

Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01KT26D68/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1523839867&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=car+inverter&dpPl=1&dpID=518lk0a4PRL&ref=plSrch

I borrowed a friend's DC car inverter, which has two AC outlets and two USB ports. Worked great. Looks something like this

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00EY6RJKA/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1467592138&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=car+inverter+power+outlet&dpPl=1&dpID=41l9Yi7L6kL&ref=plSrch

I have a little 400W inverter for my car. It hooks straight to the battery. I run an extension cord into the house and plug the tank's power strip into it when our power is out for extended periods. I can safely idle the car outside as long as i need to. (Acts like a generator)

Here is one that is similar:
POTEK 500W Power Inverter DC 12V to 110V AC Car Converter with Digital Display Dual AC Outlets and Dual USB Charging Ports for Tablets, Laptops and Smartphones https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B3ZQG4O/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_uiDRzbD2EYA3J

IMO, any and all of the "power stations" are overpriced.

It's just a battery...in the case of most of the "power stations", it's not even a very good one for its task.

You could :

Find a 35Ah (twice the capacity) deep cycle (superior technology for what you're using it for) battery for about $30

Buy a nice red LED flashlight for $5-$10

Throw together a power distribution panel with whatever types of plugs you like for $20-$30 or so.

Finally, for our purposes, any reasonable 12V battery charger will do.

Now you've got twice the capacity, all the same gadgets, customized hookups that suit your needs, and you've spent $50 less. :)

Yep. These devices are made for that application.

If you store your car outdoor, I'd recommend getting a car cover similar to this (get one that fit your car), which will reduce paint damage from UV exposure. I also put the car on a tarp to reduce rust under it (I live in Canada, this is good for winter especially).

If you live in an area where it can go below freezing, leave your fuel tank completely full.

Fuel stabilizer is a good idea, but not necessary for 5 months.

If you want, you can also over inflate your tires to prevent them from flat spotting. Again, this is not necessary, more like the cherry on top.

​

So, to summarize, get a battery maintainer and a tarp if outdoor. Change the oil when you come back. If you stay for like 6 months, then leave the oil in the car when you leave and change when you are about to drive it.

Are you going to be using them in parallel for 12v or series for 24 volt? If your end goal is 70ah of 12v you can just connect the charger to the batteries positive and negative respectively with the two batteries still connected together.
If you dont plan on draining the batteries much or don't mind longer charging times something like
this will work just fine. If you want faster charging time or plan on draining more amps out of the batteries then I would buy one of the higher amperage charger offered in the link.

Get an Inverter like this one. Fill large bucket halfway with Tank Water. Move fish to bucket. Plug in Inverter into the car's cigarette lighter and add an air pump and a heater to the bucket. Plug air pump and heater into Inverter. Enjoy your drive!

For the tank itself after you have moved the fish to the bucket you can go ahead and drain the rest of the water from the planted tank. Then move the tank into your car. Once there just refill the tank and dechlorinate the water. Add the heater and air pump back to the tank and move the fish back into the tank once the water in the tank is back up to temp.

An Inverter may cost more than a battery powered air pump they can also be used for a lot more stuff. You can also get Inverters at almost any department store.

I didn't include a filter in the bucket since it's such a short trip. Don't really need a filter for two hour trip. If you were driving a long distance just add your filter to the bucket also.

Yeah, everyone who wants to maintain their battery (especially for storage and through cold weather) should put it on a battery tender. $40 will save you a new battery and many headaches.

Plus, you can get a usb adapter for the quick-disconenct that comes off your battery, or a voltage meter to check your battery status.

Laptop charging.

In the mean-time I've seen this recommended for the Tesla because it lacks fan noise.

edit: The above link is to a modified sine wave inverter. If you want to charge laptops and cell phones, you need a pure sine wave inverter like this puppy.

>Anything under 12.0V and it is likely too low to get the engine started.

Interesting, I can go and check it with my multimeter. Thanks for the advice, I'm not sure why I didn't think of that, it is a battery after all.


In my original post, I stated that I would be buying this charger.

I am getting the 3.5 amp version.

Do you think this charger will be able to bring the voltage back up to above 12V? I could charge up most of the battery with this charger slowly and then maintain it with the alternator by running the car for a half hour or so every week or two? Or I could just connect the charger every week and top the battery off.

Only problem is that some people on Amazon are saying that this charger actually requires a tiny bit of power in the battery in order to diagnose it correctly so it can send the proper current. I never thought leaving the battery for 1-2 months would drain it so fast!

Thanks for the info. So the $169 EVExtend kit is only a wiring kit and requires in inverter to be connected to it, correct? It looks like a very clean solution, but for $140 you can buy a 1500W inverter with wiring kit off Amazon. Are there other features to the EVExtend or other things I should consider?

Thanks, but I have this hooked up to a better battery than what is in my car.

I can detect nothing off the battery right now. And the only way I've tried to charge it is with the charging board, which the led color change from red to blue after 45 minutes or so seemed to indicate I had charged it.

The minimum on the booster is 2-24 and output 5-28. I trimmed it 15 times in a clockwise direction before hooking it up because that's what the directions said. Then messed with it slightly after hooking it up just trying to get any voltage.

Icstation MT3608 Mico USB DC Voltage Regulator Step Up Boost Converter Power Supply Module 2V-24V to 5V-28V 2A (Pack of 4) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N9ZVXTR?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

Supposing I did trip the circuit in the battery. And I need to get another. Would two 18650 batteries in a case with wire leads be a better option? And is the circuit protection in a Lithium battery necessary. YouTube videos said its was absolutely vital to prevent fires?

Thanks for the replies. Any idea if it would be possible to step up the 12v input from the battery bank to 24v for the webasto?

Maybe using something like this?
https://www.amazon.com/Vorcool-Converter-Regulator-12v-Step/dp/B0085T97PW

Awesome Thx... I'll try that. Few questions

1. I hear watering dead batteries can lead to over fill, how should I caution against this?
   
2. Since these are 6 x 6 volt batteries... how should I charge them? Should I just pair them up and charge with my car jumper, or buy a 6v charger like this (or is there a better option)?

Sweet, no problem. Hopefully that works well for you. If you need charger recommendations, I got a 12v black and decker charger/maintainer off amazon for about $25. I hook it up to my battery after every outing and it has worked well for 6 months.

Edit: It’s $14 on Amazon right now, and $15 at Walmart

Why are you opposed to a boost converter? You could do this with one chip so easily. I’m sure there’s also prefabricated modules for this so you don’t need to mess with the supporting circuitry.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019GY2DC8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_6kZbBb08N87VC

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N9ZVXTR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_klZbBb27CTGGZ

• The couch pulls out and lifts up like this.
  
  
• It's about 60 inches square. I'm 5'11" and can sleep fully extended on it if I sleep diagonally. I also have a foam pad that I can put on top of the safe for additional leg room. I usually sleep in a hammock though.
  
  
• I can stand up fully. There's about 6'4" of head room in the center of the van. My friend is 6'3" and finds it to be a bit cramped.
  
  
• Electricity is provided by four 100W solar panels on the roof and three 100Ah batteries up front. This powers a fridge, a vent, lights, and outlets. I have 12V car outlets and USB outlets. For odd proprietary plug A/C-only devices I have a little inverter.
  
  
• I have a little fridge. I left space for a propane tank in the big cabinet and will probably get a little propane burner at some point.

Probably will be easier to do what you want to purchase whatever standard IP cam you like and use a power inverter to power it

https://www.amazon.com/Foval-Power-Inverter-Converter-Charger/dp/B01H2XD2DY

Personally for local or camping (not air travel) I like the 35-55 AH AGM SLA scooter batteries. (SLA = sealed lead acid aka non-spillable) If you turn of heated hose & humidification (passover humidification is okay) they will last a few nights. See the ResMed battery guide for more detailed run estimates at https://www.resmed.com/us/dam/documents/articles/198103_battery-guide_glo_eng.pdf.

Basic list of parts you need:

• Battery https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K8E0WAG
  
• Battery box https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002WCUIC4 (optional but nice to have)
  
• eyelet terminal cigarette adapter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G8WLW2Y (optional for ResMed)
  
• battery charger https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LWVEKS or similar
  
  Depending on which CPAP machine you have:
  
  
• ResMed DC adapter https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed-dc-converter-airsense-aircurve-10-machines
  
• Philips DC adapter https://www.cpap.com/productpage/pr-dreamstation-shielded-dc-cord
  
  Edit: the cigarette adapter is only optional for ResMed since it comes with a clamp adapter - Philips does not. I'd still get one though since it can bolt to the battery terminals.

If you really want to be sure you have enough power to charge your batteries and phones, consider picking up a spare car battery and an inverter that'll hook directly up to it. Something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/POTEK-Inverter-Converter-Charging-Smartphones/dp/B01B3ZQG4O

I wonder if I need something like this would suffice, or if I'd need something like this.

Also recommend getting a Battery Tender. They're good if you leave vehicles sitting for a while, to prevent the battery from slowly discharging over time.

https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Maintain-Damaging/dp/B00068XCQU

A little 50 watt heater would work in a bucket. Just get a car power adaptor like this one to plug it in. UCERAMI Car Inverter 150W DC 12V to 110V AC Outlet Car Adapter converter with 3.1A Dual Smart USB Charging https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DR2RLDQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_KNNdzb12W2GVP
All in all buying everything may be more expensive than to just donate your fish to your LFS and start over. But whatever floats your boat.

Yes, that would work fine.

Though if you're specifically looking for car accessories, you could always just add an AC outlet and not worry about USB acessories.

You're good on the kickstand, just roll the bike forward a few inches every few weeks so the tires are not always resting on the same spot all winter. Also, you can pick [this Black and Decker] (https://www.amazon.com/Decker-BM3B-Battery-Charger-Maintainer/dp/B0051D3MP6) tickle charger up for $20. If you don't have the $23 to spend to get a trickle charger, well you mentioned Christmas gifts. Ask for one and wait another 25 days.

For something small like that, I would def look into getting a power converter like this for your car, assuming you'll have one at your camp. Just hook up an extension cord and you're gucci

I use and recommend this battery pack from Chafon. If that's not enough by itself, you can use it to charge smaller battery packs like this one or this one while it is charging itself from the solar panel.

I recently took a road trip with my mother (60), a 10 year old and a nearly 3 year old. We drove from North Texas, to Southern Ontario Canada and then to the Jersey Shore then back to Canada. Just under 4000 miles, lots of time on the road!

This made our trip a lot easier to manage.

My sedan only had two car chargers and between my phone and my mothers-not to mention the DVD players the kids had, the computer, our Kindles etc. I knew charging various things would be an issue. This one was around $20 and worked well. It has a fan inside, but I was able to put it under the seat while in use and the sound couldn't be heard.

You might consider one!

I have just put together a system for a remote barn on my property. It may be overkill for what you are trying to accomplish, but thought it might help.

• 30W Solar Panel
  
• MC4 Cable Connectors
  
• Charge Controller
  
• 12v LED Flood Lights
  
  This is connected to a 12v deep cycle marine battery that you an find at NAPA.
  
  Depending on frequency of use, you may be able to get away with a lower wattage solar panel, or, if it is rarely used, scrap the solar components all together and just lug the battery back to your house once a month a stick it on a trickle charger.

12v outlout > Inverter or equiv > universal cell battery charger or equiv > your spare battery

Or 12v USB adapter for car + THIS.

FYI all i typed was i747 battery charger into amazon.

I also have an AirSense 10 Autoset. The power "brick" provided with the unit is a conventional 120-240 VAC to DC converter. With the Ego Lawn Mower and Inverter you're converting electricity from DC to AC to DC. There will be substantial power-to-heat losses due to less-than-optimum efficiency of the power conversion.

Additionally, the AC output of the Ego Inverter (see manual, page 9) is limited to 150 Watts. At 120 Volts, this means that the current maximum it allows is 1.25 Amp. The maximum current demand that the AirSense 10 requires is 1.50 Amp. This is why the inverter's overheat is being triggered and it cuts power to your APAP; too much current is being demanded by the unit for the inverter's circuitry to handle.

I recommend following Resmed's Battery Guide using stand-alone, deep-cycle batteries.

I take my AirSense 10 camping and I recently purchased the following items, totaling to $205.56

1. $68.99 12V 35AH Group U1 Deep Cycle Scooter Battery
   
2. $11.36 Group U1 Snap-Top Battery Box
   
3. $45.03 Battery Tender Plus 1.25 Amp Battery Charger
   
4. $69.99 Rockpals DC Converter Compatible with S10 CPAP Series
   
5. $10.19 Battery Tender Female Cigarette Adaptor for Quick Disconnect
   
   12V 35AH batteries ship factory-charged. If used with tube heating and humidification switched off, and maximum IPAP pressure of 16 cm H2O then a single battery will last you for two 8-hour nights. See Page 7 of Resmed's Battery Guide for details of power consumption if using any of the heat settings.
   
   I hope this helps. Feel free to ask me questions.

Maine here. A good AGM battery and a smart charger if you're getting some extreme temps in the winter. My batteries are a few years old but they are still 13v and hold a charge like they are brand new. By no means do you have to charge the battery when you're not using it, as AGM's are much more resistant to the cold, but it's not a bad idea to charge it over the weekends.

just put the stablizer in, close the cap, the pump your front forks up and down to mix it.

Also, buy a Batter Tender and keep it hooked up all winter (they are pretty cheap). For example: https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Maintain-Damaging/dp/B00068XCQU/

And go out and start it up and let it run occasionally if you won't be riding it.

Your solar panel produces DC energy while a charging station offers AC energy for a different type of charging system.

You could bypass everything and use a conventional battery charger. What type of battery(s) are you charging?

It had two batteries that charge when the engine was running. I didn't use the heater though. It never got that cold while I was there. So I don't know whether or not it would have lasted all night.

I purchased this power adapter before hand: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DR2RLDQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Energizer EN100 Ultra Compact DC to AC 100W Direct Plug-in Power Inverter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VMRHE7C

For example, this would be something I would use in the US. I haven't done any research on what inverters cost for European power types (220V 50Hz). Obviously, the product I linked is for American appliances and devices that use 110V 60Hz electricity.

Oooooo gotcha! Yeah, the one I has drains kinda fast. I have used a solar charger with a cigarette lighter adapter in the past.

This is the EXACT model of battery I have. With that in mind, I would not recommend this model. I charge it for 24 hours straight and it will drain after trying to charge 1 cell phone. I need to get a solar panel for it if I'm going to use it this year ->
https://www.amazon.com/Xantrex-802-1500-XPower-Portable-Powerpack/dp/B00005RHQQ

There are better alternatives:

1. Carve Power
   
2. Chafon

Something like this?

Would something like this work? You would have to plug it into the car and have the car running.

Have you considered something like this?

https://www.amazon.com/Foval-Power-Inverter-Converter-Charger/dp/B01KT26D68/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1538492691&sr=8-3&keywords=car+to+110v

Universal Power Group 12V 100Ah Solar Wind AGM SLA DEEP Cycle VRLA Battery 12V 24V 48V https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S1RT58C/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_EN.MDbTQK4FCC

KRIËGER 1100 Watt 12V Power Inverter Dual 110V AC Outlets, Installation Kit Included, Automotive Back Up Power Supply For Blenders, Vacuums, Power Tools MET Approved According to UL and CSA. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00T564EIY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_8O.MDbT2DB8FY

For a MBP you’ll want to use a power inverter , something like this one. I think the 15” MBP has a 87w charger so you’ll just need one that provides in the 100w+ range.

A good battery will bounce back and give you enough juice to start. Do that enough times and the battery says "F this. I quit."

Get yourself a battery tender and leave it plugged in when not riding.

One of those outlet plug in for cars [UCERAMI Car Inverter 150W DC 12V to 110V AC Outlet Car Adapter converter with 3.1A Dual Smart USB Charging] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DR2RLDQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_C4gCybSCRVZG8)

I use a converter to go from pi's 5v to fan's 12v. You will need a meter to adjust the output

Icstation MT3608 Mico USB DC 2V-24V to 5V-28V 2A Boost Converter, Voltage Regulator, Booster, Step Up Power Supply Module 3.3V 5V 6V 9V 12V to 5V 6V 9V 12V 24V (Pack of 4) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N9ZVXTR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_lB2tDbVY3GJMN

Been using this one for a few years, I like it.

https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Maintain-Damaging/dp/B00068XCQU/ref=sr_1_6?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1539371358&sr=1-6&keywords=battery+tender

You can buy something like this and only use the gamepad on you car
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003Q54V88/

You need an inverter, like this one for example:
https://www.amazon.com/UCERAMI-Inverter-Adapter-converter-Charging/dp/B01DR2RLDQ

which is currently on sale for $17.

You could always just get something like this.

Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0714B231X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_rdZOAbEPPQH80 ?

Not sure what your power requirements are, but you can get one of these. http://www.amazon.com/Converter-Regulator-12v-Step-24v/dp/B0085T97PW

3A at 24V is decent. According to the reviews it seems to work well.

I have a newbie question!
I am looking at doing a 2 6v batteries system along with solar. I would like to try to stay away from an inverter if possible, but have a laptop and electric toothbrush I need to charge. Would a simple dc inverter do the job?

This is what we used this last year Stanley J7CS 350 Amp Battery Jump Starter with Compressor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RZXVQSU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_0dYryb53RQN05

Jump starts your car and comes with an air compressor. My group of four was able to charge our phones and play music all weekend. Just get a power inverter ( BESTEK 200W Power Inverter DC 12V to 110V AC Inverter with 4.2A 4-Port USB Car Adapter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EY6RJKA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_8kYryb7XBT29W ) and you can power anything with it.

I use this one for dual batts on a Ford F350. It does very well throughout the winter.

Wouldn't a 20$ invertor do the trick?

Foval 150W Power Inverter DC 12V to 110V AC Converter with 3.1A Dual USB Car Charger https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KT26D68/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_3YNPBb25N7QNA


Edit. I think it's very cool for you to be able to do this, and, my knowledge of electricity is probable equal with that of a rock.

I use this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Maintain-Damaging/dp/B00068XCQU/

But this one would probably also do the trick:

https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0123-Junior-Charger/dp/B000CITK8S/

Should be able to find them at your local auto parts store, or even Walmart or someplace like that.

If you want to keep it permanently mounted, I would adapt influx's idea to a 120v signaling relay, that connects the wire between the tender and the battery. Plug it in, relay closes, tender gets connected. Unplug it, relay opens, tender can't pull juice.

Also, I don't know how many places you plan on charging your bike up but the Delran tenders have detachable cables. When I want to put it on the tender, I untuck the cable from the storage compartment, plug it in, and when I'm done, unplug and tuck again.

If the bike is going to sit for months at a time, get a tender, but you should be able to find a good one for $20 USD or so. They all charge the battery the same way to the same 12V+ level, no matter what brand. I bought one from Black and Decker for $20 USD since I now have two bikes and one sits for longish periods.

Nah it's just a standard 12V battery. You don't need a fancy tender. Anything that connects to your connector will work. And all the ones I've seen come with the pigtail so you can yank yours and install it.

I like this one because it has a few more amps for quicker charging if I'm in more of a hurry:

https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Maintain-Damaging/dp/B00068XCQU

But any tender will do.

Another option: Just get whichever 12VDC or 120VAC one your prefer, then get the appropriate converter/inverter to use it with the other connection. Plus, then you can also use the converter/inverter for other devices as well.

https://www.amazon.com/Converter-HOTOR-110-220V-Cigarette-Adapter/dp/B01LX5LRP9

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H2XD2DY

I didn't have the space, money or time to put in a deep cycle house battery and all the wiring that goes along with it, so I bought two of the phone bank batteries you linked to.

All of my lighting runs off of 5v USB outlets (as well as my phone and tablet,) and I can last a week without recharging the power banks.

I also have a simple cigarette lighter inverter like this one so I can run the occasional 120v tool.

This set up lets me charge my batteries while I'm driving, in a coffee shop or at work, or from a portable 20w solar panel if I'm boondocking.

How much other AC gear do you have?

A DC to DC charger would be more efficient, but if your only AC need is charging a laptop, the smallest inverter would probably work.

My laptop has a 65 watt switch-mode power supply (typical small "brick") I don't see why this $17, 150 Watt cheap inverter wouldn't work.

http://www.amazon.com/outlets-inverter-adapter-notebook-MRI3011BU/dp/B004MDXS0U/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1405470334&sr=8-2&keywords=12v+inverter+with+usb

or for even cheaper

http://www.amazon.com/inverter-adapter-outlets-charging-MRI2011GU/dp/B00EY6RJKA/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1405470334&sr=8-8&keywords=12v+inverter+with+usb

This way you're not limited to just powering your wii u, you can use it for other things (even a tv, heh!)

Thats what I did. Got a 150W inverter on amazon for $18. Also has 2 usb ports for charging controller and phone.

https://www.amazon.com/Foval-Power-Inverter-Converter-Charger/dp/B01KT26D68/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484155545&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=foval+power+inverter&psc=1

You can plug a [12v charger] (http://www.ebay.com/itm/For-Nintendo-3DS-DSi-DSi-LL-XL-New-Black-Rapid-Car-Charger-/112036859354?hash=item1a15eacdda:g:NP4AAOSwc1FXbI97) into the lighter socket, or you could get a cheap inverter that plugs into the same socket and just use a wall charger plugged into that. This way you could also plug other things in besides a 3DS. 75watts is enough for even the WII U.


If you want to go with USB but don't have a charging port in the car then use [this] (https://www.amazon.com/Charger-Nintendo-Handheld-Console-DURAGADGET/dp/B00BWKW40Q?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0).

Here's the one I use:

"Fully Charge and Maintain a Battery at Proper Storage Voltage without the Damaging Effects Caused by Trickle Chargers"

https://www.amazon.ca/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Maintain-Damaging/dp/B00068XCQU

> a car charger are my next accessory purchases for the Ascent.

Don't be a ridiculous individual

I've something similar to this (but not this... can't find what I used) to power PAs for wedding ceremonies and parade floats.

https://www.amazon.ca/DEWALT-DCB1800B-Flexvolt-Portable-Station/dp/B01H41SDGU

https://www.amazon.com/Xantrex-802-1500-XPower-Portable-Powerpack/dp/B00005RHQQ

Could also check your local rental houses.

If you know you are going to park the bike for over a week, put the battery on a tender. If you are parking for a week, usually it ends up longer.

Do you have a battery trickle charger at home? I would charge the battery for ~24 hours. I have one of these, and plug my battery in once a week.

Get yourself a Deltran battery tender

This so what I have: https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Maintain-Damaging/dp/B00068XCQU/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1539529909&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=battery+tender&dpPl=1&dpID=41GJoSjcVrL&ref=plSrch

Paired with this pigtail lead which sits in my glovebox: https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-081-0069-6-Terminal-Disconnect/dp/B000NCOKZQ

Deltran Battery Tender, that's all you need.

here ya go: $30 bills

been using this: http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Plus-Charger/dp/B00068XCQU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1347520065&sr=8-5&keywords=Battery+tender+jr

for years.

Here is the tender I'm using, which says it's also a charger: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00068XCQU/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Should this be sufficient to charge the battery, or do you still think I should get a separate charger?

What should I be checking with a digital meter?

Facepalm

Boom

ELI5 within an ELI5: If cigarette lighters don't provide enough current to act as a typical electricity plug, why am I able to use one of these to run my laptop on road trips?

http://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-inverter-adapter-charger-notebook/dp/B003Q54V88/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1395550786&sr=1-2&keywords=dc+to+ac+inverter

Some cars have an outlet (like you just plug anything in that can go into a house outlet), but usually you can get an adapter that plugs into the cigarette lighter/battery port and then your pump can plug into that. I believe this one is the one I used.

Disclaimer: I'm American and this worked with my car. I don't know if it's different in other countries/car makes.

http://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-inverter-motolora-blackberry-notebook/dp/B003Q54V88/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1345151771&sr=8-3&keywords=cigarette+lighter+outlet+converter This may open you up to even more!

Buy one of these http://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-inverter-motolora-blackberry-notebook/dp/B003Q54V88/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1347119760&sr=8-2&keywords=car+plug
It will let you charge a laptop or whatever in your car.

Or even a simple power inverter. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003Q54V88/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003Q54V88/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1479673252&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=car+plug+to+wall+plug&dpPl=1&dpID=41tMBaCn1aL&ref=plSrch

In my car at all times.

This one on amazon

Just kickstart it and ride around for a while. Order a battery charger, they're cheap.

BLACK+DECKER BM3B 6V and 12V Automatic Battery Charger / Maintainer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051D3MP6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_W73XAb4VHZE2K

I have a couple of these but was looking for something more "integrated" or internal to a project box.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051D3MP6/

You would still need to plug the charger into an AC outlet. This is one I own that has an adapter for the accessory port.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051D3MP6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Theres probably other ones that have Lithium batteries that could be used to charge it instead if you park your car far away from an outlet.

• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001IHXFQK
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GAVCNZI
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B5RGAWY
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002N2XJ8I
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CHU9ZDE
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051D3MP6
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00INNP5VU
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EIHY56
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0032XVNMQ
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002IT37Z6
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CRFOMK
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007K4UKXG
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006V4WNYU
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007ACTN54
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0061LW0PK
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EBFJXS
  

Would this work? https://www.amazon.com/Inverter-Installation-Automotive-according-standards/dp/B00T564EIY/ref=pd_rhf_se_s_cp_12?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=KKHYMTG0HFJ2SX1QNXX7

https://smile.amazon.com/POTEK-Inverter-Converter-Charging-Smartphones/dp/B01B3ZQG4O/ref=sr_1_9

Use this and your girlfriends hairdryer until you can get it sorted out ----> https://www.amazon.com/UCERAMI-Inverter-Adapter-Converter-Charger/dp/B01DR2RLDQ/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1518371341&sr=8-8&keywords=cigarette+lighter+adapter+120v

A car?

For cars, regular nebulizer and this.

I don't have a purely portable nebulizer though.

maybe something the inverts the cars cig lighter into a ac outlet.... https://www.amazon.com/Foval-Power-Inverter-Converter-Charger/dp/B01H2XD2DY/ref=sr_1_2?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1501928318&sr=1-2&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A4889846011

12v 18ah battery, 150W inverter (could go lower), and a charge controller for the battery that can get attached to the cig lighter (which should only have power when the car is on)

Check these out. They're rated for -14F.

From the description:

> Operational Environment: Outdoor temperature: around -14°F- 104°F( -10°C- 45°C)

​

I got this one. There are alot of different ones at different watt hours. This one comes with cables for you to hook it up to a solar panel for charging, and also comes with cables to jump start a car if needed

First off, whoever said there isn't a drain on the battery could easily be wrong. Cold temps dont drain batteries, it just reduces the battery's potential output current. A cold battery cant put out as many amps as an equally charged warm battery. If there is a drain it can be really hard to find, you basically need to monitor the drain on the battery while disconnecting one thing at a time to see what makes the drain on the battery drop down to where it should be. Try turning on the headlights for a few minutes before trying to start the car, if the problem is that the battery is too cold to push the amperage you need to start, that might warm the battery up enough to start the car.

if the headlight trick doesn't cut it, you might want to get a battery charger, it will continuously trickle-charge the battery so it stays fully charged throughout the winter. I would ultimately recommend that you find someone who knows how to diagnose battery drains, but this could be a decent way to handle things in the meantime.

here's a cheap one I found on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051D3MP6/ref=emc_b_5_mob_t

https://www.thecpapshop.com/shielded-dc-cord-for-cigarette-lighter-socket

is the adapter you need, you can probably get it from where you bought the CPAP machine. DO NOT use something like https://www.amazon.com/Foval-Power-Inverter-Converter-Charger/dp/B01H2XD2DY as it causes the battery to drain much quicker.

https://www.amazon.com/Deltran-Battery-Tender-021-0128-Charger/dp/B00068XCQU

You don't need a special thing. It's just a trickle charger with constant voltage charging.

I have this one that I'm happy with.

It'll do moto and car batteries and has an "exercise" type mode that will drain a battery and recharge it a couple of times to try to loosen up some of the "stuck" material that causes a battery to go dead.

How long had it been since you last started it up?

If you're leaving it to sit for weeks at a time I would either disconnect the negative battery cable or, better yet, put a battery tinder on it to maintain the battery charge.

If the battery is running down when you leave to sit a few days then you have a parasitic draw. You can test for this but unless you are up on your electrical troubleshooting and automotive wiring it's often easier to just have an auto electric shop diagnose it for you. Old Chrysler products can be a pain in the butt when it comes to parasitic draws.

Would this allow me to keep my Asus laptop charged on a long road trip? https://www.amazon.com/Foval-Power-Inverter-Converter-Charger/dp/B01H2XD2DY/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1510852401&sr=1-6&keywords=portable+laptop+charger
I don't know what model it is but it has a i7 2.4 ghz CPU and a 745M gpu

This is the inverter I am using: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T564EIY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And I am using a 2013 Toyota Tacoma with a 4cyl. you can try to hook up a second battery. But I am not sure how much room you have under the hood to do that. There is plenty of room in a Tacoma and many overlanders mount 2 batteries. But it the kit to do that is several hundred dollars, and is more than I want to invest in. Plus it takes a minimum of 4 hours to charge a bird from empty. I usually don't drive around that much.

It's an ideal use of a Leaf. Your only issue is the little 12v battery won't get charged in short trips.

Either use the windshield wipers on every trip (the leaf charges the 12v faster when the wipers are on and for 2 mins afterwards) or buy an external charger like https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B004LWVEKS and charge the 12v every month or two.

Really you can drive it and not worry but if you want to be preventative so you don't have to deal with a dead 12v someday by surprise you can do so.

Note this isn't true just for the Leaf, it'd be the same for any car you drive on that short of a trip.

You can get a decent enough ac inverter for your car for about the same price and not risk overcharging and damaging your board by not using the factory charger.

As long as it's wired straight to the battery and no plugged into the cigarette lighter something like this would work just fine. POTEK 500W Power Inverter DC 12V to 110V AC Car Converter with Digital Display Dual AC Outlets and Dual USB Charging Ports for Tablets, Laptops and Smartphones https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B3ZQG4O/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_GP6KzbS0YXP2Z



Some people have meantoned that you need a pure sign wave inverter. This is absolutely false when you are using a charging brick. The ac to DC transformer in the brick will output the correct power no matter what.

I use this in my Mazda CX-5 with no issues.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VMRHE7C

You pretty much have your question answered but I wanted to show some winter car accessories that I use and they have made life easier.

When my car is parked overnight I use a cover like this and it keeps ice and frost off your windshield. There are various types and sizes of these. Mine had side mirror pockets to hold it on and covers the wipers too. Putting in on and taking it off is much easier/quicker than defrosting and scraping.

Very cold temps can result in a dead battery, or one too weak to start the car. This happened to me yesterday and I used one of these to jump start it. I have jumper cables too, but with this I didn't need anyone's help.

When I got home, I trickle charged my battery with this. I just parked in my driveway and ran the charger's 25 foot cord under the garage door and clamped them onto the terminals under the hood. Started nicely today.

I also keep an air compressor in my car all the time. If I'm out on the road and my tire pressure sensors start beeping I can pull over anywhere and top them off.

Sorry to bother again... This looks reasonably convenient, is it more or less what we want?

https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Maintain-Damaging/dp/B00068XCQU

If there's a plug nearby, you might want to pick up a battery tender. This should monitor and keep a "float" charge on the battery.

Example: http://www.amazon.com/Deltran-Battery-Tender-021-0128-Charger/dp/B00068XCQU

There's a cheaper Jr version that might be more appropriate for you.

Also, your battery may need replacement anyway since deep discharges damage the battery chemistry.

Sure, this is the one we used:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EY6RJKA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you get license plate DYB15 that was ours!

Since I read all the horror stories about broken equipment and getting charged for preexisting dents and scratches I also made a list of all the things to check out once we picked the van up: all supplies were provided, heater worked, extras like GPS and Wifi were included, video/photo all existing scratches, etc. The guy who checked us in was very thorough and showed us how to work everything. They were great overall and I never felt like they were scamming us for extra charges.

Just don't get stuck in a deep gravel parking lot like we did and pay $350 for a tow truck! That was embarrassing. We called the rental company and they sent someone out to help within an hour. Other than that we had no problems with the van. Would definitely rent from campervaniceland again.

So this weekend I plan on playing music through speakers and a laptop power through my car. I am using this which has a stated output of 200W Rated, 250W Max, 500W Peak (AC). The speakers I am using are LSR305s which have an LF Driver Power Amp 41W Class D and a HF Driver Power Amp 41 W Class D. I am using two of these and at times I'll need to charge my 2012 Macbook (simultaneously maybe) which uses a 60W charger.

I'm kind of lost looking at all these numbers. For example, do I add the LF and HF amp and multiply by two an add the charger wattage? The back of the LSR305s say 127W Max, is that at full volume?

I'm not sure what your budget is, but this might do the trick. There's also a 600-watt model, or this should have little problem lasting 5 hours, if you can spend that much. There's also small portable generators available that will give you power for as long as you can feed them fuel.

Is that 15 watts of power consumption or 15 watts of output. A 15 watt tube amp will consume much more power than it puts out.

That unit will put out enough power to run an amp, but probably not for very long. It's designed to be able to dump a ton of power for several seconds to start a car but doesn't have enough battery storage to add up to any kind of sustained use.

Maybe an extension cord and find a kind soul that will let you plug in.

Maybe a 12v car battery (borrow one from some car or boat or something, big 12v batteries are everywhere and store tons of power) then get a 12v to 120 volt converter for relatively cheap.

This would work https://www.amazon.com/POTEK-Inverter-Converter-Charging-Smartphones/dp/B01B3ZQG4O/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1492750241&sr=1-4&keywords=inverter

and doesn't start your car or pump up your tires or other things you don't need.

Your play time would be limited only by how much power you consume and how much battery you've carted with you. With a small solid state amp and small mixer, expect to go for hours off of a car battery.

Edit:Another possible strategy I've sometimes used is to keep a car idling close by, put an inverter on it, then run an extension cable from the car over to the music. I've run a small band off of that.

Don't listen to this guy. WTF? If the battery is getting drained that has nothing to do with compression. The most likely scenario is an alternator issue. A brand new battery will work great until it gets drained and then it will stop working. What I would do is buy a $20 trickle charger and leave it on the battery. If it continues to start fine, it's because you're keeping it charged with the charger and that would imply that your alternator isn't charging your battery. I have had similar issues when not driving mine for a while because the battery will slowly drain over time from the onboard computer and alarm. My alternator works though so i just use the charger when I'm not driving mine.


This is what I bought and it works great: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-BM3B-Battery-Maintainer/dp/B0051D3MP6/ref=pd_sim_sbs_auto_3


Seriously dude... why would this guy start saying scary things about compression when that has literally nothing to do with a constantly draining battery?



Edit: I missed the part about it not starting again even while jumping it. This is possibly because of flooding. If you don't let rotary engines warm up all of the way, they can flood. Best way to avoid this would be to leave the car running until it the temp gauge gets to the middle where it is straight up and down. I still think you main problem is the alternator though.


Another question I have is whether or not the engine is turning over or if your starter is going bad.