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Custom Power Pack with All electronics


SniffTheGlove

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My current setup is

110Ahr deep-cycle lead-acid leisure battery

All electronics in a wooden box bolted to my old wooden pier. My EQ6 tripod sits above the wooden pier.

I was worried about leaving the battery outside permanently connected up like it has been as I had just wrapped the battery in cushion foam  and put into a big bag to keep the rain off.

Currently I can not disconnect the pier electronics box and go mobile, so now I am going to build a new custom box to house the battery and electronics for the mount. I saw the feature in S@N mag last month and decided to build something like this but bigger.

The box will be made from 18mm plywood as I have quite a bit sitting around.

The size of the box (length & width) will be 50mm bigger than the battery to accommodate the foil lined insulation.

The bottom of the box will also have 50mm foil lined insulation however I will have a 50mm gap between the top of the insulation and the bottom of the battery to accommodate a hot water bottle (which will help keep the battery at a warm temp during the cold nights, the bottle will be accessible by a small sliding slot on the side so I can open the slot and slide the bottle in.

On top of the battery I will not use any insulation as I want the heat to rise into the electronics section. There will be a small vent hole to vent any hydrogen. The electronics will sit on a thin piece of plywood.

I am going to town with the electronics.

I can get 10 DC Buck Converters LM2596 quite cheaply from ebay. (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-10Pcs-DC-DC-LM2596-Converter-Buck-Adjustable-Step-Down-Power-Module-1-5-35V-/370844697207?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Test_Measurement_Equipment_ET&hash=item5658110277 ) These will be step down so I can have an individual fused circuit (inline fuses) for each piece of equipment. So I will have

1 x 5v outputs with a USB connection for connecting my phone to a charger.

1 x 5v outputs with a USB connection for spare

1 x 5v outputs with a DC Power connector for USB2.0 Hub

1 x 5v outputs with a DC Power connector for spare

1 x 7.5v outputs with a DC Power connector for Canon 1100D

1 x 7.5v outputs with a DC Power connector for spare

1 x 9v outputs with a DC Power connector for spare

1 x 12v direct outputs (Not via a LM2596 Buck) with DC Power connector for EQ6 Mount

1 x 12v direct outputs (Not via a LM2596 Buck) with DC Power connector EL Flat Panel (via it's own EL Inverter)

1 x 12v direct outputs with DC Power connector for spare

1 x 12v direct outputs with DC Power connector for spare

I am not using cigar connectors as they are not fully trust worthy and sometimes they do lose connection due to the spring fitments. I will be using a decent DC Power type connector.

All these connections will be brought out to a recessed side panel of the plywood box.

On top of the electronics I shall have another piece of plywood which will keep my rig's notebook in. Then onto will be a hinged padded lid so I can use it to sit own

I have a question to ask, has anybody used one of these DC-DC-Boost-Converter

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-DC-Boost-Converter-10-32V-to-12-35V-150W-Step-Up-Voltage-Module-6A-Adjustable-/251363722148?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Test_Measurement_Equipment_ET&hash=item3a867203a4

I want to put one of these into the electronic section so I can plug the notebook in (19.5v,2A, 40w) to the power tank. The problem is the last time I brought a Maplin DC-DC Laptop Converter to do the job it blew my laptop as soon as I plugged it in, so I just want to know if anyboby is using one to power theres?

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Hi Sean

That sounds like a nice project, i have used DC-DC convertors in the past but not to power a laptop if you are concerned with any overvoltage issues you could allways fit a crobar circuit on the outputs (zener diode and fuse).

I am currently thinking of building a micro version with AA Nimh cells rated at about 6AH.

Alan

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Thanks Alan.

Been thinking and I forgot to add a few things.

5 port  WW-DRT router in bridge mode (to my phone) for internet access out in the field.

Bring the USB hub sockets out to the recessed panel.

A voltmeter guage

A recharge socket to rechage the battery without having to remove it from the box.

Custom made USB cables to run from the recessed panel up the mount to the equipment so there is no extra cable hanging around.

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I current have a 3w solar panel doing the trickle charger when the battery was outside in just it's foam/binbag. The panel is stuck to the fence.

I did think about mounting the panel to the side of the intended power box but the new box will be put away when not in use instead of leaving outside all year.

I did think about putting a charger in but my current charger is the size of house brick and would weigh to much to also put into the box unless there are some small 12v chargers about?

The whole lot will go on wheels as well to aid moving as I have a back spinal issue and currently picking just the battery is quite painful. It's all about making my life easier. Currenlt I am stuck at home to obseve/image but my car is too small to fit everything in, however a new Skoda YETI is coming in about 5 weeks so this has masses of room, 4x4 and will get me mobile and off to some star parties or just remote imaging for a night.

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maybe run a secondary battery. 

have this fitted with a DC-DC buck converter, inline with the crobar circuit.

this lone power unit can be used to run the laptop from a 12v-240v inverter.

your all good and well BUT, are you keeping your watts in check.

what you require in watts from the battery and can it give them to you over the period required.

3w solar panel is only just gonna keep the battery topped once you jam the electronics

they all leach power from the cell. you may want to upgrade/add a couple more panels

and a charge converter ( charges both batterys and keeps them safe from overcharge / undercharge)

am in the midst of building a small portable 2 x 12v @ 17ah boost pack. am keeping them at the 12v output but

doubling to 34ah 

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...

I was worried about leaving the battery outside permanently connected up like it has been as I had just wrapped the battery in cushion foam  and put into a big bag to keep the rain off.

...

I have a question to ask, has anybody used one of these DC-DC-Boost-Converter

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-DC-Boost-Converter-10-32V-to-12-35V-150W-Step-Up-Voltage-Module-6A-Adjustable-/251363722148?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Test_Measurement_Equipment_ET&hash=item3a867203a4

I want to put one of these into the electronic section so I can plug the notebook in (19.5v,2A, 40w) to the power tank. The problem is the last time I brought a Maplin DC-DC Laptop Converter to do the job it blew my laptop as soon as I plugged it in, so I just want to know if anyboby is using one to power theres?

Why worry about leaving the battery outside connected up? Every car you see parked outside is doing exactly that.

re the boost converter. I haven't tried one but I have one on order for the power tank I'm building which is similar in many ways so either I'll let you know how well it works or you can let me know how well it works. For £3 it's worth trying. The basic design I'm going with is 30Ah battery providing 6, 12 and 19.5 volts. So that's a buck converter on the 6V line and boost on the 19.5 V line. In addition to the unfiltered output on each of those lines I'll add some PWM controlled channels on the 12V lines for use with dew control. Also each line will have a panel mounted digital voltmeter. On the 6V and 19.5V lines that will monitor the converters as I tweak them and on the 12V line it will be a basic battery health monitor.

The meter on the 19.5V line is there as a guard against the converter being set wrongly. You could add additional protection by putting that across some kind of zener to limit the voltage. You might be able to get a ready made circuit by hacking apart an old laptop power supply and reusing everything after the transformer. I've not hacked into one myself so I don't know how they regulate the voltage, if it's a zener or similar then that's an easy reuse if they depend on the transformer voltages then your back to controlling the voltage yourself.

Another thought would be to make the battery 24V and then use buck converters throughout. Perhaps failures would be less catastrophic then?

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Hi there , on my DIY power box for remote sites, I used these marine grade twist lock 12v sockets & plugs,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Waterproof-12V-Accessory-Power-Socket-with-Twist-lock-Plug-Marine-12-volt-V-B-/190723924001?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_BoatEquipment_Accessories_SM&hash=item2c68082021

these are solid when locked into the socket and I've had no problems with loose connections, they are super duty compared to the cheap red/black cigar plugs .

Dave :)

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Thanks All,

Those Twist lock sockets look great but will be expensive as I was going for 10 individual connections and that alone would cost me £77 with these connectors. They are great as they do lock into place.

On my old Model Rocketry launch gear I used these phono plugs and sockets and they can easy handle 3A loads (Was a large 12V 80Hr battery in a big plastic tool box custom fitted with 12V individual relays to the 12v Nitrous Oxide Solenoids and to several launch control circuits. I used phono for all the connections apart from the 100m cable run which I use 8way Locking Audio connectors from Maplin. They were 8 way to have 2 for Nitrous Oxide Fill/Dump and 5 launch control plus a negative return. Any I degressed)

Davey-T I have a could of voltmeters, so are digital http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Newest-Economical-LED-car-battery-voltage-voltmeter-car-cigar-socket-SK-UK-/360802004722?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item540179aef2 but I prefer the old fashioned analogue voltmeter http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/0-16V-DC-Panel-Voltmeter-for-12V-systems-Volt-Meter-Analogue-NEW-/180865108027?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_BoatEquipment_Accessories_SM&hash=item2a1c66883b

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A quick question on putting a Ammeter into the circuit to meaure amp usage.

I am not sure where to place an ammeter but would it be best to put the ammeter on the negative battery return. ie Select 10A on ammeter, then take the lead off the negative battery terminal and connect it to the red ammeter lead and place the black ammeter lead onto the negative battery terminal. Is this the correct way to see how much amperage is being used by my entire setup.

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Yes they go in the negative lead, as far as I can make out they are all the same meter and you buy the appropriate shunt to turn them into 10-20-50-100 amp reading, mines got a twenty amp shunt.

I think the digital ones are better suited as they light up red at night, easy to see and easier to read , you can slew mount back and forth to see if it's binding and drawing more current in one spot, much easier to see changing amps on a digital meter.

This one plus shunt  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-Dual-Display-Combo-Meter-Red-LED-DC-0-100V-0-100A/261284815990?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.RVI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131017132637%26meid%3D5875264287636640093%26pid%3D100033%26prg%3D20131017132637%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D201034210955

Dave

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