Car Batteries for power question

[Uwood52]

What kind of set up would you need to use a car battery to power different items?

ie: drill press, power tools, maybe a mini electric stove or a George Forman?

A power inverter or converter? Thanks in advance!

 

[unheard]

Are you looking to have the battery power these things off of a single charge as a standalone, or while hooked up to the car as its running? Any type of load like a forman or stove is going to drain a 12v battery very quickly unless you had some form of power keeping the charge (think using your car engine as a generator). Regardless you would need a power inverter to convert the 12v to 120v.

Don't attempt to do this through the inverters that hookup to the cigarette lighter though. The wiring for that cannot handle that type of amperage load and will either short out, or if you're lucky just pop the fuse.

 

[Uwood52]

Are you looking to have the battery power these things off of a single charge as a standalone, or while hooked up to the car as its running? Any type of load like a forman or stove is going to drain a 12v battery very quickly unless you had some form of power keeping the charge (think using your car engine as a generator). Regardless you would need a power inverter to convert the 12v to 120v.

Don't attempt to do this through the inverters that hookup to the cigarette lighter though. The wiring for that cannot handle that type of amperage load and will either short out, or if you're lucky just pop the fuse.

I was thinking just a car battery for a single use in a pinch sort of deal. I didn’t expect that I could just wire it up straight to the battery.

 

[whiskerz]

Small loads an inverter is fine. I have a small inverter I use camping. An inverter is inefficient for large loads. There are some off grid guys who use battery power for everything. An old forklift battery is commonly used. Deep cycle batteries hold up better than automotive batteries. Trojan makes a great deep cycle battery. At some point you are almost better converting to a DC motor. stepping up to 36 or 48 volts DC helps as well.

 

[Freshly Minted Georgian!]

Inverter. Size it according to the heaviest draw item you are thinking about running. In an emergency a car battery will work but will deplete quickly. Go with a deep cycle battery and keep it in a trickle charger for emergencies. If you can scrounge em, 6v golf cart batteries, two of them of course to get to 12v, or 4 of them to double the amperage. Depends how long an emergency you are trying to plan for.

 

[davans]

You can have an inverter wired to your vehicle or get one that clamps to a battery. Some inverters will push more amperage than others. Truckers have been using them for years. Hooking one to a stand alone battery would produce power. But not for long.

 

[canut]

Take a look at this url https://www.donrowe.com/Samlex-SAM-1500-12-p/sam-1500-12.htm . For what you are asking you're going to need at least a 1500 watt inverter. That will pull about 100-120 amps out of your 12 volt supply. With vehicle running (figure 14 volts) that's still pushing a stock, idling vehicle, alternator charging system to the limits when your appliance is actually on. EG: a grill cycles on/off, a saw is running sporadically, etc.. W/O the engine running a standard 12 volt starting battery time would be near useless making a grilled hamburger, or ripping plywood sheets. Also you need some HD wires directly to battery to carry 120 amps.