Build your own emergency power/light system no skills needed

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Yorkshire Andy
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Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm

Build your own emergency power/light system no skills needed

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

Well ive been musing over a way of making a power bank solar charge unit for the average person who has no electrical knowlage and no interest in over complex stuff....

only bit thats the issue is Bigger = better

bigger Mah (milli amp hour) battery = better (more run time)

bigger wattage solar panel = better (faster charging of battery)

bigger lumin light out put = brighter aka better


So most people will now be familiar with USB plugs on computers/ car stereos phone chargers the standard size usb is called USB - A and the standard micro usb as most phone chargers (unless your on apple use)



thats the only bit of technical stuff you need to know

so on to the bits
Image
can of coke to give idea of size.....

so a USB solar charger plenty on the market

type "Solar USB charger" into ebay or amazon and loads come up

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from= ... r&_sacat=0


higher the wattage the faster it will charge your battery bank.....

this is mine i got last night in Lidl for £30:
Image

http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-249 ... 3695&ar=10

again ebay or amazon" USB battery bank "


http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw= ... k&_sacat=0


again heres mine £7.99 from lidl last night

Image

http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-249 ... 3667&ar=10

according to the blurb the 5200mah battery Can fully recharge an iPhone 5s up to 3 times or a Galaxy S5 up to 1.8 times


so its rather powerful again you can get bigger ones in terms of capacity


so plug the usb charging lead into the socket on the charger and into the charge plug on the power bank place outside in the sun and it charges up....

Image

(you can also use a usb mains charger or car charger to charge the battery up)


so now we have a nice fully charged battery after a day of it sat in the sun / cloud (just beware its not water proof)


so you can now charge you phone /tablet and any other usb chargeable device :D



but its got dark.... now some bright spark has made a USB powered light bulb.. which are about £2 on amazon...


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Well-Goal-Camp ... light+bulb



Image


they draw about 1a for the techy people reading this and give about 40w light

so then cobble them to a usb A type extension cable £1.50 for a 5m one i paid on ebay

and you can run 3 off my battery at one time if you wish:

heres 2
Image


i just need to work out the run time now and charge time for the average uk conditions


total cost about £45 all in
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
featherstick
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Joined: Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:09 pm

Re: Build your own emergency power/light system no skills ne

Post by featherstick »

You could get a lot of candles for £45, but then you couldn't use your candles to recharge your phone. I like this.
Yorkshire Andy
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Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Build your own emergency power/light system no skills ne

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

That and there's no fire risk as such and I'm planning on using this for camping too my dab pocket radio is USB powered too :-)

All been well the set up should last a long time if treated well
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
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sniper 55
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Re: Build your own emergency power/light system no skills ne

Post by sniper 55 »

Have you tested the actual battery capacity? Many of the stated mh are miles out.
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hobo
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Location: Beside the seaside, North Yorkshire

Re: Build your own emergency power/light system no skills ne

Post by hobo »

Look forward to hearing about run and charge times, Andy!
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pseudonym
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Location: East Midlands

Re: Build your own emergency power/light system no skills ne

Post by pseudonym »

Nice tutorial, thanks for sharing. :)
Two is one and one is none, but three is even better.
aldhelm
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Joined: Mon Nov 24, 2014 10:04 pm

Re: Build your own emergency power/light system no skills ne

Post by aldhelm »

Surprisingly even I understood it, thanks Andy
Yorkshire Andy
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Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Build your own emergency power/light system no skills ne

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

sniper 55 wrote:Have you tested the actual battery capacity? Many of the stated mh are miles out.
I've seen this issue before bit its the same with leisure batteries with more complexity...

The 110ah on a caravan battery is based on a 1a constant draw...

The USB power packs are also higher or lower voltage than the supplying cells due to the voltage and am page control circuit on the USB ports so some suppliers state the actual total cell capacity some state the "virtual" capacity based on a 5v 1a draw
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
poppypiesdad
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Location: Area 11

Re: Build your own emergency power/light system no skills ne

Post by poppypiesdad »

The real question is , if you have no power , and the shtf , the cell masts won't work so you'll have the stored files on your phone , but .....no one to call

Recharge and run times too pls


You also say there's no risk of fire , no true if you get a short circuit , or overcharged or under current of the batteries . Just because it doesn't have a flame it won't start a fire !

J
Last edited by poppypiesdad on Sat May 21, 2016 6:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Yorkshire Andy
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Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Build your own emergency power/light system no skills ne

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

hobo wrote:Look forward to hearing about run and charge times, Andy!

Will get round to it at some point spent the day laying a new laminate floor :?

Off camping in about 3 weeks north of Whitby with no mains hook up so it will be earning its keep that weekend :-)
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine