Most of us tinkerers will at some point find ourselves needing electrical power in a remote area. Cordless tools are an option, but what if you need more than that? [Garage Monkey San] set out to solve this problem by creating a portable power station that has on-board AC outlets, 12v and 5vdc outputs and an integrated spot light.
This project is housed in a plastic ammo case that’s large enough to contain all of the necessary parts and has a convenient carrying handle. The 12vdc sealed lead acid battery power source is kept topped off by a car battery float charger. Light is provided by an LED off road fog lamp mounted to the top of the case that has a small appetite for power, ensuring long battery life. An easy addition at this point was a 12v car accessory outlet which only adds to the versatility of the project.
With 12vdc energy storage, charging and light out of the way [Garage Monkey San] decided to add some AC outlets. Starting with disassembling the off-the-shelf DC to AC inverter, the AC outlet wires were extended and mounted flush in the ammo box. The inverter also happened to have a USB port so that was extended to mount on the case as well, just in case your phone needs a charge out on the job site.
For an extra hundred bucks you could put a 20W solar panel and a charge controller so that it keeps itself charged just by leaving it outside.
Or you could just…have the charge control er mounted on the back of the solar panel, along with two coils of cable and a DIY kickstand leg. At that point, you flip the lid of this device open, hook up the proper wires, and presto.
Hundred bucks? I bough a 25W monocrystalline one from ebay for $55 with free shipping. Solar is a lot cheaper if you search around ebay.
You could use waste heat from LEDs to heat your toilet seat in the morning. Nothing like doing number 2s on a warm seat.
It really has never come down to it for me at any point. I suppose if it did though that box might come in handy.
Have done something like that myself:
– 2x 12V 15Ah batteries, resulting 12V 30Ah
– 300W DC/AC converter
– 10A solar charger
– 12Vout/in (for external charging)
– solar in
– 230V AC out
– custom wooden case (particle board)
-> result: box is heavy but works well in charging my car/motorcycle battery or providing power to LED light when I work on car/motorcycle in my underground carpark
Todo:
– find a lighter and water tight case
– add AC in
– add battery charger (currently I have an external charger)
– make that build-in charger also charge external batteries (car, boat, motorcycle etc.)
– add two more 12V out
– add meters for current, voltage and battery level
– far far future: switch to Li batteries instead of lead
I had a similar idea when making a portable floodlight project.
I used two lights similar to that, they were $50ea instead of $25. Iooks identical in the picture, I’m wondering if that’s a lower output knockoff or if I just got ripped off? 10Ah LiPO4 runs both the lights for a little over 3 hours, pretty cool. I’m kind of impressed with the price he found on that battery too. I guess I should shop around more..
http://hackaday.io/project/953-Portable-LED-Floodlight
always nice to see people buy waterproof cases, just to drill holes into them…. :D