Battery Suggestion and advice needed for my usage

Floridazed

New member
Hey guys, I have a small offroad trailer that I will be using for camping.
Nothing long term. A day or two trips. Maybe a week every now and then.

Researching batteries, I know I need a deep cycle. But im not sure how many AH Amperage Hours it needs to be.
Do I need a full size car battery, or just a smaller motorcycle size?

Here is what I need it to do (keep in mind I can get a solar charger to charge during the day)

• Play a radio during the evening and day.
• Run a blender maybe
• Run some xmas lights around the campsite for 5 or 6 hours
• charge a phone or laptop

I have an 800watt inverter.

Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!
 

Martyn

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
The radio, xmas lights (12 volt LED?) and charging a phone or lap top are no real issue for a full size car deep cycle.

The 800 watt inverter to run a blender could be the real deal breaker. Inverters are inefficient and pull power. The power conversion is done in two steps, first the inverter is going to take the low voltage 12 DC and convert it to high voltage DC, somewhere around 140v. Then it will invert this to 115 volts, 60 Hz AC. Which takes power, normally around 20%.

Suggestions would be to try and run only 12 volt appliances, that includes the xmas lights. Try to find a 12 volt tailgate blender, or research how people use cordless drills for this.
 
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Floridazed

New member
OK, thanks Martyn, aside from running a blender. Which I can always hook up to my jeep battery and run the jeep.
Would a motorcycle battery or larger lawn mower battery work? (or scooter battery)

My jeep is a 4 cylinder and I am trying to keep weight down where I can. But if I dont have room to shave off battery weight, I can do other gear.

Here is one I found at Batteries Plus. It is for a Mororized wheelchair
http://www.batteriesplus.com/produc...eries/128955-Rascal-Scooters/Power-Chair.aspx

Thoughts?
 

Martyn

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
OK, thanks Martyn, aside from running a blender. Which I can always hook up to my jeep battery and run the jeep.
Would a motorcycle battery or larger lawn mower battery work? (or scooter battery)

My jeep is a 4 cylinder and I am trying to keep weight down where I can. But if I dont have room to shave off battery weight, I can do other gear.

Here is one I found at Batteries Plus. It is for a Mororized wheelchair
http://www.batteriesplus.com/produc...eries/128955-Rascal-Scooters/Power-Chair.aspx

Thoughts?

Yes it seems it would. You can calculate the power draw by finding out the wattage of each item you will be using, and working out the hours or fraction of an hour each item would be used for in a day. The next step is to work out the recharge rate from the vehicle to the trailer battery, then work out what would be the longest you would be stationary with no vehicle recharge. Once you have all of those numbers you'll be able to find the smallest battery that will suite your needs.
 

magentawave

Adventurer
I just started a thread because I'm looking for a DC alternative to a conventional energy hog blender myself. (type "blender" into the search box to find it) I was also wondering if something exists that could be used on a cordless drill too.

The 800 watt inverter to run a blender could be the real deal breaker. Inverters are inefficient and pull power. The power conversion is done in two steps, first the inverter is going to take the low voltage 12 DC and convert it to high voltage DC, somewhere around 140v. Then it will invert this to 115 volts, 60 Hz AC. Which takes power, normally around 20%.

Try to find a 12 volt tailgate blender, or research how people use cordless drills for this.
 

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