Battery power with a twist

calsur · Post by **calsur** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 12:35 am

About 6 months ago a guy I work with had a flat battery on his car. He called triple A and a tow truck came out to jump his battery. So let me paint the picture, this huge tow truck shows up. It can hardly move down the drive isles it is so huge. The driver parks about 30 parking spaces away because that was where he could park that huge beast. So Gary and I are discussing if there is enough cable on the truck to get to his car and the driver jumps and opens up the side panel on the truck. He pulls out a little blue box and comes over to us. Turns out the little blue box is a thing called a Power Station. It jumped Gary's car no problem. The truck driver told us he only recharges it about twice a month and jumps 5 cars a day.

It also has a compressor to inflate tires or tools. Plus a power point like in your car to recharge cell phones and computers. I now use mine to recharge my cell phone because it recharges twice as fast.

Got mine at Costco for 60 bucks and I will have it with me on the playa in 2004. And to be 100% accurate, the little blue box weights about 20 pounds.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 8:12 am

I picked up a cheapo version at Menard's for 30 bucks, and use it to power 12v lights in my dome....you can run a string of Malibu yard lights, automotive neon, ELwire, all the goods....I've installed a "power grid" in the dome with an automotive male 12v connector and a splitter (Pep Boys) that gives you three separate power leads out; I just carry the "power pod" out to the dome and plug it in, and presto! The danger is that with handy clamp-on portable power it's just too easy to electrify things- like your doorknob.........

Tiahaar · Post by **Tiahaar** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 12:31 am

I'd forgotten about those things...mini deep-cycle sealed batteries! Going to look for sales on them this weekend, post good ones here if found.

calsur · Post by **calsur** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 2:04 am

I got mine at Costco over a year ago and the Costco in Irvine, CA still has them.

One other advantage is if you plug you DC charger into it and the cell phone it charges in half the time of using the AC charger.

Post by **AntiM** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 5:24 am

We got our yellow one at Harbor freight, $50, but you can watch their sales for even better prices. Also come without the compressor.

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 9:31 am

I got mine about 4 years ago and it's still going strong. I'm in a foggy area so people I work with leave their lights on a lot while they're at work. They all know to come to me when they need a jump.

No more trying to track down someone with cables, no more blocking traffic by parking a second car alongside yours. Just hook it up and start the car. I found that if I leave it connected for 30 seconds or so after the car starts, I hardly ever have to charge the thing.

It also has a cigarette lighter plug on it so I can use it to run my 12v accessories anywhere, including a small inverter.

I'm not sure what the capacity is of the battery, though. I don't think I'd want to use it to run all night. I don't think it's deep cycle, just a gell cell with good current capability.

EB · Post by EB » Sun Jul 18, 2004 11:50 am

Hey guys,

I purchased one of these Power Stations at CostCo in June and tested it out at camping over the Fourth (LA BM regional trip, east of San Diego.)

I have to say I was underwhelmed.

On a full charge, the unit powered an iPod (not the boombox, just the iPod) and a single string of Xmas lights for about 12 hours (six hours the first night and six hours the next night.)

As I've said before, I'm a dunce when it comes to ohms and amps but I think this unit is made for more "cold cranking power" that is, starting a car engine, than for the long, trickle of power needed to power lights, stereos, fans, etc.

Will probably bring mine along just in case I need to give someone a jump (I needed one last year...) but I won't rely on it as a replacement for the deep cycles.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 5:44 am

Without dissecting it I'd guess that the battery is roughly equivalent to the little 12V obtainable at Gander Mountain for about 20 bucks....(7amp/hour)
The portable jumper rig is nice as far as being self-contained, and I've been starting my lawn tractor with one for a year now without recharging it since I'm too lazy to change out the tractor's battery....I made a custom 12V rig to power camp lights and a beacon, simply by dropping two of the Gander Mountain batts into a plastic ammo box and wiring a 12V connector and switch. Over the weekend I did a running test, and am confident that those two will run the beacon and peripherals for the whole event. (The beacon is three strips of ultrabright blue diodes and two strobes.) A nice perk of the Gander Batts is that they come with a little charger.