Blackout boxes?

[Steveo82]

from what steve has posted in the past i believe he has an industrial battery unit and a inverter

i know i can wire our into the generator in about 5 minutes by removing the spur and adding a temporary cable joint....

Andys got it in one. I have a bunch of 2v fork lift cells wired together to give a 48v bank and a 500w inverter. I have it hard wired in to the distribution board via a double pole double Throw switch to isolate the supply I'm not using.
At the minute i have 3-4 week emergancy power my next project is to add a diesel generator to recharge the batteries durring prolonged power loss. This will give me a couple of years of backup power.
If anyone eles fancies instructions on 2 days+ emergency power for their boiler on the cheap (<£200) I will do a separate thread.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Short term can you not segregate them into 12v banks steveo and fit a caravan split charge relay to your car with a caravan gray s type socket . Towone trailers behind Asda near euro car parts will have them. And fit if your not sure how to wire it in

Then make a heavy long lead. (heavy for length due to volt drop rather than charge current IIRC the relay regulates about 10-15 amp when car is just ticking over should support 30 a once there is a few revs

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewit ... 0716269404
I
http://www.landroveraddict.com/forums/t ... adID=29635


http://www.towsure.com/product/Towbar_S ... _Switching

[SkyWatcher]

I bought a mobile tool chest from B&Q especially for this reason -

http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/tool-storage ... d=11758580

It was on offer for nearly half this price and is fantastic for what I need it for. I have a 12v leisure battery in the bottom and several 12v sockets and a usb socket wired to it so we can run our led lights or charge up the kindle, tablet etc. Also holds all our candles, lots of torches, spare fuses for the chargers, inverter, batteries, wind up radio, walkie talkies and pretty much everything you would need in a blackout! I also have a few rolls of led lights in it I got from ebay which you can cut to any size you need and they will work off a 9v battery too, so plenty mobility there! And all stored in the cupboard underneath the stairs so doesn't take up too much room! I have a solar panel to keep the charge up in the battery but it is too large for the chest so is stored in my shed til I need it. I do however keep them connected in the summertime so at the very least, there is always a trickle charge going into the battery.

[Steveo82]

Short term can you not segregate them into 12v banks steveo and fit a caravan split charge relay to your car with a caravan gray s type socket . Towone trailers behind Asda near euro car parts will have them. And fit if your not sure how to wire it in

Then make a heavy long lead. (heavy for length due to volt drop rather than charge current IIRC the relay regulates about 10-15 amp when car is just ticking over should support 30 a once there is a few revs

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewit ... 0716269404
I
http://www.landroveraddict.com/forums/t ... adID=29635


http://www.towsure.com/product/Towbar_S ... _Switching

30 amp single charge rate How dare you suggest I abuse my batteries like that

Imagine how long it would take to recharge @ 12v
1275Ah @ 48v
4800ah @ 12v
50% discharge = 2400Ah
2400ah/30amp charge = 80 hrs
These batteries are nearly as bad as lipo's to charge correctly. I spilt the bank and charge as two banks with the original charger. I won't bore you with the physics of charging these batteries but if you don't reach the desired C rate acid is produced which destroys the plates.
Cheers for the suggestion anyhow

[Yorkshire Andy]

Short term can you not segregate them into 12v banks steveo and fit a caravan split charge relay to your car with a caravan gray s type socket . Towone trailers behind Asda near euro car parts will have them. And fit if your not sure how to wire it in

Then make a heavy long lead. (heavy for length due to volt drop rather than charge current IIRC the relay regulates about 10-15 amp when car is just ticking over should support 30 a once there is a few revs

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewit ... 0716269404
I
http://www.landroveraddict.com/forums/t ... adID=29635


http://www.towsure.com/product/Towbar_S ... _Switching

30 amp single charge rate How dare you suggest I abuse my batteries like that

Imagine how long it would take to recharge @ 12v
1275Ah @ 48v
4800ah @ 12v
50% discharge = 2400Ah
2400ah/30amp charge = 80 hrs
These batteries are nearly as bad as lipo's to charge correctly. I spilt the bank and charge as two banks with the original charger. I won't bore you with the physics of charging these batteries but if you don't reach the desired C rate acid is produced which destroys the plates.
Cheers for the suggestion anyhow

ahh they rather delicate thin plates then...

think most charavans have a 12 charge circuit somewhere in them that said car batteries have thinner plates than a leisure battery...

Hope you wear you leather apron and visor and long rubber gloves when checking the electrolyte with the heavy intrinsicly safe (EX) rated torch like Peter Hird made me do when i did my FLT licence down English street...

[Steveo82]

Hope you wear you leather apron and visor and long rubber gloves when checking the electrolyte with the heavy intrinsicly safe (EX) rated torch like Peter Hird made me do when i did my FLT licence down English street...

This is why I don't invite you round, you would just stand there with your clip board tutting.

[Yorkshire Andy]

wonder what the UHF / VHF frequency is for contacting the HSE ?

[Steveo82]

wonder what the UHF / VHF frequency is for contacting the HSE ?

Just use the big red phone on your desk.

[ForgeCorvus]

Oh, and I've got one of these


http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/portable-powe ... cket-a10hz

It won't quite run a hairdryer via the inverter (but we're got a 12v hairdryer in the camping kit)

[jansman]

Yes, we have a box in the pantry with a torch , fuses , spare bulbs, blah blah. However, we have stick-on AAA push lights around the house. These are invaluable. Especially on the stairs. There is also a torch with every fire extinguisher, and there is one in each room ( we used to have a mentally unstable neighbour who liked to play with matches!). We all have i phones with torch apps. So if the lights go suddenly there is light to see by.
We have a couple of gennies , one of which is Mahoosive , ex site jobbie. I am not a bit concerned about running the boiler. It will be the freezers, and charging batteries etc.
Hot water can be obtained by slinging the kettle on the wood stove , it is always burning. I have a hook over the electric shower so that the solar shower can be filled from the (cooled ) kettle and used.
I have come to the conclusion it is better to keep it simple. I am rather ambivalent these days about generators , although I have a couple.
But that is my system.