Portable power


 

Kris Auer

TVWBB Member
We don't always have (or are willing to pay) for electrical hookups at the comps that we do. Any advise on inexpensive portable power ideas? I'd like to avoid using a noisy generator if possible. I hate it when people have them at comps and I beleive in the golden rule! Thanks in advance.
 
To be more clear, I am looking for enough power to be able to plug in lights and probably a radio, maybe a fan if it's hot.
 
Kris, I have seen teams using a car battery jumper power unit. Get one that has a plug for your appliances. I don't have one but those I have seen using them are powering Automatic Temperature Control Systems, and a lap top. If you know how to check the power usage of your lights and fan etc you may be able to find one that would work.

Mark
 
Could run an inverter off a car battery or two?? Would just need to figure how many watts you're needing to run all your "stuff". I run a smaller inverter off the battery of my Tundra while camping for the Sirius boombox and coffee machine.Just need to start the truck every now and then
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I run my CTO, radio and a couple strings of rope lights on deep cycle marine battery and an 1100 watt inverter. This provides more than enough power for my relatively modest power needs.

I have about $150 wrapped up in my battery and inverter setup.

To calculate wattage for an inverter, multiply the total number of amps your equipment draws by the voltage (120). The result is the minimum number of watts needed to run that equipment.

In my case, the total was about 480 watts. I planned on an inverter double that size because I wanted a little extra fudge factor for other accessories. The price difference between a 900 and 1100 watt inverter was neglible so I went with the larger one.

HTH

Ken
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Kris Auer:
We don't always have (or are willing to pay) for electrical hookups at the comps that we do. Any advise on inexpensive portable power ideas? I'd like to avoid using a noisy generator if possible. I hate it when people have them at comps and I beleive in the golden rule! Thanks in advance. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Rechargeable, deep cycle batteries are a good idea for the things you mentioned.
 
Sorry to hear you hate generators. Fact is, a lot of teams will ONLY use portable power, even if power is provided. Some comps, Jeff City, MO comes to mind, are portable power only. I use my generator most of the time because I'm not going to run 150' extension to plug into a multi tapped outlet that may, or may not provide me with clean, uninterrupted power throughout the event. I need to concentrate on my cooking and not have to worry about the power situation. I use a 6500 Honda and the only comments I ever get are about how quiet it is or teams asking to plug into my power. The last two guys who "borrowed" power from me .. both won the event! So for as much as you "hate" em Kris, they're here to stay. Sorry man.
 
I imagine he referring to the standard noisy generators and not the silent Honda one that you have. He was looking for low cost, which rules out the pricey Honda models.
 
We use a Honda 3000iHandi.
It was pricy, but we've lost power at home 2 or three times long enough for our freezer to thaw, losing $$$$ of meat, so I figured 2-3 future power outages would pay for the generator. We've gotten through 1 already!

It's small, light, very quiet, and I'm usually happy to share power with my neighbor if they need it.
 
I can't begin to tell you how many comps I've gone to where the power was extremely iffy at best. Then somebody would turn on their air conditioner and take down the whole place. The outlet 'tree' usually ends up looking like a rats nest. In fact, I've got a picture somewhere of Bartow last year which was particularly interesting.

At Cocoa Beach last year the power went out late Friday afternoon and didn't come back on until sometime around 4 or 5 am Saturday. One team had Green Mountain cookers and no generator and so ended up going home VERY ****ed off. Luckily, since I learned how to run the WSMs manually before adding fans, electric is a luxury item that really doesn't affect me much. I can even run the fans from the deep cycle battery that I bring along.

However, now that I'm buying a trailer that is customized for Comps, I will be buying a generator. So far my front runner is the Honda EU3000is. It's the one that I've seen most of at comps. It's very quiet and will power my A/C unit. I also see a lot of the Honda 2000 portable units. I don't see too many of the Home Depot style units as they are just too loud and irritate the **** out of people.

Russ
 
Yeah ... what Stefan and Russ said
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I have the EU6500is, which is overkill but I got it cheap. Which is also why I can help run multiple cooksites if my neighbors need power too. In most cases the EU300is has more than enough power to suit your needs.
 
Russ,

I was looking at the eu3000is as well. My uncle found a good deal EP2500, I was wondering if it would be too loud though since its 10 dB higher. Anyone with experience with it?
 

 

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