Battery bank thingy

[LadyG]

I've got a battery bank type thing, designed for car starting. 

i no longer have car.a 

but can I charge up my phone/tablet etc?

There are slots and so on ...................

I am sitting here at 1,-00 am ;cos tablet battery flat.

Edited May 25, 2020 by LadyG

[Richard10002]

I'm sure the answer is yes, but if you post a picture, or the make and model, someone will confirm it.

 

It is almost certainly a sealed 12v battery of some kind, with a high CCA. In my experience it's important to keep these things well charged - might not be necessary if it's a recent lithium type.

[Alan de Enfield]

8 hours ago, LadyG said:

I've got a battery bank type thing, designed for car starting. 

i no longer have car.a 

but can I charge up my phone/tablet etc?

There are slots and so on ...................

I am sitting here at 1,-00 am ;cos tablet battery flat.

Is there no electric in your marina ?

[mrsmelly]

Dont think shes in a marina at present? Gone orrff boating when I am not allowed to go out in my motorhome 

[Alan de Enfield]

1 minute ago, mrsmelly said:

Dont think shes in a marina at present? Gone orrff boating when I am not allowed to go out in my motorhome 

Fairy snuff - but I'm sure she has a domestic battery bank because there was a series of posts about the mess it was in and the problem with getting electricians to work.

[mrsmelly]

Just now, Alan de Enfield said:

Fairy snuff - but I'm sure she has a domestic battery bank because there was a series of posts about the mess it was in and the problem with getting electricians to work.

I think Jo has been a bit unlucky with so called experts. Whilst she undoubtedly knows about boat shaped boats I think she is new to skip driving and inland waterways??

[Ex Brummie]

Your car charger will easily feed chargers for phones/tablets, but you need to keep it charged. Why not invest in a couple of power packs so that you can connect your flat phone/tablet and still use it when connected. Ebay is your friend, something like 5000ma for about £5 will suffice.

[LadyG]

23 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Fairy snuff - but I'm sure she has a domestic battery bank because there was a series of posts about the mess it was in and the problem with getting electricians to work.

I've got one now [an electrician superior he also does boat fitting, and is extremely customer focussed. not to mention very reasonable pricing,, helpfull etc etc.  What more can I say: thanks be to Richard Northcott of Selby.

richard@s-r-marine.co.uk [no connection]

Edited May 27, 2020 by LadyG

[Alan de Enfield]

1 hour ago, LadyG said:

I've got one now

I wondered why you didn't use it then ?

[Chris Lowe]

I have 2 of these car starter battery bank thingies and they are designed to charge phones and other devices as well.

[Naughty Cal]

Why not just charge the phone/tablet from the boat battery bank?

 

Save the jump start for when your engine battery goes flat.

 

If you dont have any 12v USB charging points get your sparky to fit some for you. 

[Alan de Enfield]

39 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Why not just charge the phone/tablet from the boat battery bank?

 

Save the jump start for when your engine battery goes flat.

 

If you dont have any 12v USB charging points get your sparky to fit some for you. 

 I asked the same - maybe you'll have more luck than me in getting an answer.

[Richard10002]

I've had a couple of dual USB points knocking about for a few years and got around to fitting them this week. Very handy!

 

I think the motivation was the sunny weather, and my expensive Meaco USB powered fan.

[Naughty Cal]

8 hours ago, Richard10002 said:

I've had a couple of dual USB points knocking about for a few years and got around to fitting them this week. Very handy!

 

I think the motivation was the sunny weather, and my expensive Meaco USB powered fan.

We fitted some a few years back now scattered around the boat. They are as you say very handy. 

[Momac]

I guess some boats dont have any DC outlets. One way or another a means of charging phones and tablets seems essential these days.  

 

I also have one of those usb fans . Which is far better than I imagined it would be.

[RufusR]

Now I am permanently moored off grid we dumped our 12 volt freezer , kept fridge, and that left us with a nice high powered 12 v feed , I bought a little 4 socket panel from amazon and added some more usb sockets to it on place or the switch and  voltmeter both of which I have elsewhere in the circuit . This has given us 6 x 5v usb charging sockets and one 12 v cigar lighter socket . More than enough for our needs . Also going to plumb the WiFi router straight into a spare switch on my electrical panel as on investigation the mains adapter steps down to 12 v 2a to power the thing so cut out the middle man / transformer and save a to. Of power fro running our way too big inverter .

 

it seems most modern boats these days are speced and built as “ Marine boats “ and are expecting to be on mains hook up all the time hence everything is focused on 240volts and power hog living . I have spent the last 6 months modifying things for low amp living and renewable energy . It’s been fun . 

[Alan de Enfield]

27 minutes ago, RufusR said:

Also going to plumb the WiFi router straight into a spare switch on my electrical panel as on investigation the mains adapter steps down to 12 v 2a to power the thing so cut out the middle man / transformer and save a to.

It could cost you money !

 

Just check that the Wifi will work with 10.5 to 14.6 volts.

Many of these electronic 12v appliances(TVs etc) need a stabilsed 12v supply, and, if you try try putting 14+ volts into them you get to see the magnificent display of the 'release of the magic smoke'.

 

Magic smoke is available as a 'spare' so it is occasionally possible to recharge the appliance.

 

[Alan de Enfield]

41 minutes ago, RufusR said:

t seems most modern boats these days are speced and built as “ Marine boats “ and are expecting to be on mains hook up all the time hence everything is focused on 240volts and power hog living . I have spent the last 6 months modifying things for low amp living and renewable energy . It’s been fun . 

 

I think that most 'marine' boats are almost 100% 12v systems, it is not easy to get a land line 20 miles out at sea. We certainly have an immersion heater that is 240v that can be used in port but everything else  is run from the batteries. Sailing boats are very frugal users as they are relying on small banks of solar panels and wind or water powered generators.

 

Even on the 'big-Cat' we only have 3x 100w panels in a custom built tray over the tender. Just not enough room for anymore.

 

I would agree with you that the vast majority of Inland waterways craft now seem to be built to live on the umbilical.

 

 

Edited May 28, 2020 by Alan de Enfield

[RufusR]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

It could cost you money !

 

Just check that the Wifi will work with 10.5 to 14.6 volts.

Many of these electronic 12v appliances(TVs etc) need a stabilsed 12v supply, and, if you try try putting 14+ volts into them you get to see the magnificent display of the 'release of the magic smoke'.

 

Magic smoke is available as a 'spare' so it is occasionally possible to recharge the appliance.

 

Ah good advice there Alan will check that before install maybe Need to find a dc to dc converter 

Edited May 28, 2020 by RufusR

[TheBiscuits]

2 minutes ago, RufusR said:

Ah good advice there Alan will check that before install maybe Need to find a dc to dc converter 

 

What router is it?  Some are quite happy with 10V-30V, others give up in a puff of smoke at 13V.  Somebody here will either be running one on "raw" 12V or have blown one up trying to!

 

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

I think that most 'marine' boats are almost 100% 12v systems, it is not easy to get a land line 20 miles out at sea.

 

I read that as a typo of "marina" from context.

[RufusR]

1 hour ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

What router is it?  Some are quite happy with 10V-30V, others give up in a puff of smoke at 13V.  Somebody here will either be running one on "raw" 12V or have blown one up trying to!

 

 

I read that as a typo of "marina" from context.

Huawei B311 is what I am planning to buy as I need Ethernet hard input and antenna input , current Huawei router has latter but not former . In questions on amazon Huawei seem to suggest its ok but don’t really trust amazon q and a . If anyone has tried this with this router or has one with Ethernet input and antenna input that works from unregulated 12v supply I would be grateful to hear . If not any suggestions on how I regulate the supply ?

[TheBiscuits]

9 minutes ago, RufusR said:

Huawei B311 is what I am planning to buy as I need Ethernet hard input and antenna input , current Huawei router has latter but not former . In questions on amazon Huawei seem to suggest its ok but don’t really trust amazon q and a . If anyone has tried this with this router or has one with Ethernet input and antenna input that works from unregulated 12v supply I would be grateful to hear . If not any suggestions on how I regulate the supply ?

 

 

Try this thread.

[RufusR]

1 hour ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

 

Try this thread.

Awesome thanks