Reddit reviews UPG 85980/D5722 Sealed Lead Acid Battery (12V; 35 AH; UB12350)

I didn't have a tutorial, but here's what I did.

• 12v 35Ah battery - extremely heavy but cheap and powerful. If you're looking to go lighter, or if you don't need as much power, I'd suggest something smaller.
  
  
• Big plastic ammo-type box holds the battery and other parts and keeps the wiring hidden.
  
  
• One of these allows me to hook the battery in between my home power supply and my home rig, turning the whole thing into an uninterruptible power supply that also charges the battery. If the power goes out, rig instantly switches over to battery.
  
  
• Added a solar panel charge controller for charging the battery from solar while I'm in the field. I have a 60w panel that I propped up against the truck on Field Day, worked great.
  
  Here's the end result with some input and output connectors on the outside of the can, as well as a volt meter, USB charge ports and a switch so that the parasitic load from the Astron box doesn't kill it while not in use.
  
  The hookup inside the box is relatively simple:
  
  
• Solar charge controller is wired directly to the battery. Does nothing if there's no solar panel connected to the box.
  
  
• Astron power box is wired to the battery with 30A fuses on both positive and negative wires. Output side of the power box goes to the output jacks on the outside of the box, but passes through the lighted 30A switch so I can shut it off.
  
  It's really that simple. This box kicked ass on Field Day, ran my Kenwood TS-50 and AT-50 all day with the solar panel keeping the battery topped off. Ran the system long after dark until I was too tired to work any more.
  
  If you have more questions, look me up.

That's a tight budget. It is possible but you don't have room for $1000 mistakes.

It isn't really hard if you want a small system in the range of a Suaoki or Yeti. They are 400 watt hours. Divide watts by volts to get amps. 400 ÷ 12 = 33.33 They actually contain a $65 35 amp hour battery like this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001VV0318/

That is not compatible with a 12 volt efficient fridge. It is too small. It's simple but it won't work past the first week.

You can get a 100 amp hour battery, 3 times the size, for about $100. A 100 watt solar panel for $100, a $12 to $20 charge controller, and you have a system that can run an Alpicool C20 little efficient 12 volt compressor fridge, $250. There are you tube videos about the Alpicool.

In addition to that you need some AWG # 10 wire, fuse holders, fuses, a $10 multimeter, a $10 hydrometer and as needed sockets for USB, cigarette lighter sockets, led lights and switches. You'll need a cheap crimper and an assortment of crimp terminals. That's a total of $600, including fridge.

For charging laptop and stuff search on amazon for "car charger" and your computer brand and model. They run off 12 volts and are more efficient than double conversion 12 to 120 then 120 to 19. They go 12 to 19. If you have a device where you can't find a car charger then you need an inverter. Smaller is better.

If you want a system big enough to have all the electricity you want, double the solar panels and get a pair of 6 volt golf cart batteries.

You will almost certainly need a generator or a running car as /u/Laymanism mentioned. A dual halogen worklight will draw about 1000 watts [1]. A car battery will hold about 18 AH at 12 V [2]. Even with a perfect inverter you would only get about 12 minutes power. You could hook up a bunch of batteries in parallel, but I would recommend a generator and a long extension cord.

12v. I've considered getting another and running in series to get higher charging rates. Right now I can charge at 6.8 amps on my isdt 608. U

PG 85980/D5722 Sealed Lead Acid Battery (12V; 35 AH; UB12350) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001VV0318/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_5.oyzbPK44VN7

As others have said you can do this with a relatively small setup. There is a LOT to consider - HOW portable, HOW efficient, etc etc. Help me out if the below suggestions don' t meet the need I can piece together just about any system for you :P

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You could get by on a small sealed lead acid battery designed for uninterruptible power supplies. They range in size but average 9 amp hours. I say get yourself a little 35 amp hour and never worry about discharge rate if you are only powering the win2 even if the sun don't shine that day. For the solar - buy BIGGER than you need - learned this the hard way with my truck camper. Right sized is great until the season changes or its overcast etc.

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Check out this little starter kit - it includes the solar panel and charge controller:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DCDZOI0/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_2ehvCbKCNM5MT

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Down in the frequently bought together you should see a 35ah battery - will fully charge the win2 a few times and not even feel it:

https://www.amazon.com/85980-D5722-Sealed-Battery-UB12350/dp/B001VV0318/ref=pd_bxgy_2/135-2046487-8709925?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B001VV0318&pd_rd_r=f062a34c-263c-11e9-b2b2-83751d0b2340&pd_rd_w=Nxcwh&pd_rd_wg=KqE5I&pf_rd_p=3f9889ac-6c45-46e8-b515-3af650557207&pf_rd_r=KWC3NGMZ50M5TJWJ1STT&psc=1&refRID=KWC3NGMZ50M5TJWJ1STT

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12v car charger that I use with the win2 - works great:

https://www.amazon.com/Charger-Anker-PowerDrive-Adapter-MacBook/dp/B071WYF9HP/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1549038482&sr=8-3&keywords=anker+pd+2+car+charger

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Plenty portable depending on your needs. Its almost as easy as color coding to setup. You can power the win2 and multiple devices if you so choose. Expandable at a later time if you choose with panel and batts. Will fit in any trunk or backseat. Hell it will fit in a big backpack (panel is 21x26). Large enough charge current to top off your battery quick even in partial sun - big enough reserve to keep you going for a couple days easily. This is just an example of an 'easy' bundle if you wanna save some more money I can show places to get these items cheaper.

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If you wanna talk more DIY and are not afraid of LI-ION 18650s you can build you a safe lighter and denser battery for pretty cheap. It would be piecing together a charge controller and panel but I would say stick to 50w range - affordable and covers your power needs even in less than ideal conditions. If you wanna go more expensive but more portable flexible/foldable panels are out there too.

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Also, do you think you could estimate how long this might last for me?

edit: whoops, assuming a 38wH battery like this one
http://www.amazon.com/UPG-D5722-Sealed-Battery-UB12350/dp/B001VV0318/ref=cm_cmu_pg__header

although that one is quite large size-wise, perhaps a more reasonable 10 wH

What a fucking SCAM. A FIVE HUNDRED DOLLAR battery every five years? It's a stinking medium sized sealed lead acid (gel cell) battery. At most it costs $70 retail.

Philly did a test run on these, and they're an over priced hot mess. The city shouldn't spend a dime on this junk.

Seems like a car, marine, or deep cycle battery of 32 or more amp hours would do the trick. You'll have to evaluate your purchasing options, but I'd recommend getting sealed lead acid deep cycle batteries of some flavor.

This is a good deal:

http://www.amazon.com/UPG-D5722-Sealed-Battery-UB12350/dp/B001VV0318

My reasoning for that sizing is that 200w for an hour is only 16ah at 12v, so double that to prevent yourself from overdischarging the battery and you should be good.

If you want to double up on size, I'd recommend just buying a larger battery from the start and avoiding the complications that multiple batteries bring into the picture.

The solar panels seem to output around .9a, really depends on your insolation numbers but 5 hours of usable light gives you around 4.5ah per panel or perhaps around half an hour of TX time per day of charging.