Home made 12v powerpack- Thumper

[DeeJay]

Our Discovery must have a slight earth leak & loses about .1v a day, so 10 days not getting used is a problem.The easy solution would have been a battery isolator, but no, I have to do it the hard way, so I made a Jump start pack as it was cheaper than buying one.
This is the finished unit.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/05/787.jpg

It has 2x ciggy plugs, a hella plug, a battery charge indicator & jump leads via an Anderson plug.

It charges up whilst travelling via the cigarette plug in the car to the ciggy plug in the unit.
I joined two ciggy leads together so it can go in the boot or back of the vehicle

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/05/788.jpg

I bought a 32 amp battery off Ebay for $96.00 and cut the interiors out of a ryobi toolbox.
Looking at the inside during assembly.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/05/789.jpg


I bought a Jaycar battery tester for $15.00 and used the internals. I drilled out the box using the casing as a template & poked the LED's thru. I also bought a waterproof switch for $5.00





https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/05/790.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/05/791.jpg

This is it charging up - the 4 LEDS light up.

Some internal wiring, the black box on the jumper leads is a spike protector.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/05/792.jpg

The all up cost came to around $180, less than half the cost of an equivalent off the shelf.
I had my doubts it would start a dead flat V8 but the thumper ads say the 30 amp unit will start a 5 litre Deisel, so i figured the AGL batteries put out more oomph.
How does it perform?? No bloody good :(. It barely turns over the V8 when the main battery is disconnected, it might be a good boost, but I wanted better..

So...... MARK 2 :):)


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/05/793.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/05/794.jpg

Not to be out done I bought another battery and a $27.00 tool case from Bunnings & basically swapped everything over. It has room for a 300w Inverter I had and weighs in at 29kilo's. I had to strengthen the case but it does the job no problem ;).

[Blknight.aus]

just a suggestion put a charging regulator in there somewhere.

SLA batteries that are flat dont really like having the full amps of an alternator thrown at them.

Ive even modded one with 2 of the smallest 12v solar cells from jaycar to keep it floated (it lives in a fishing shack on the west coast)

[cucinadio]

nice jobbie mate interesting ........:angel:


cheers

[WedWon]

Neat box of tricks DeeJay

Benifit of being portable I can see
But:

For $303.00 ($180 for Mark 1 plus $27 for case and $96 for 2nd Battery) why couldn't you just fit a second battery ($100 - $150) with a Solenoid kit ($40 Supercheap) and have a fully charged battery to jump off anytime, not to mention couple up additional accessories to should the mood take you?

Be interested in hearing the reasons you went the Box'o'Tricks route

Cheers
Jason

[cucinadio]

Solenoid kit ($40 Supercheap).....???...ummm where

cheers

[Blknight.aus]

$15 for a 12v 100a constant duty solenoid like the one on my new compressor and a few bucks for wires and connectors..

[waynep]

Very impressive.

To answer someone else's question, we find it's handy to have a portable 12V power pack as well as the second battery in the vehicle. This enables lights and shower pumps etc to be operated if the vehicle needs to be parked a distance from the camp, or is out collecting firewood or whatever..

I also use the back to back ciggy plugs for charging my portable pack, but there is a slight risk in this, as the centre pin of the flying lead plug is "live" and could easily short out to the chassis. It's Ok if you're careful and have fuses in the right places.

[Mikes defender]

Love it!!

Plus when you go camping you could run you fridge at the campsite etc. 12v lights in the tents.

I made somthing similar, A small tool box with a 27amp hour battery and a compressor/ tank assy. I keep finding more uses for it. I could leave the fridge at camp. no beers shook up from a day of 4wding.

[big guy]

Give me a thumper and live happily ever after.

I like the simple things.

[DeeJay]

Neat box of tricks DeeJay

Benifit of being portable I can see
But:

For $303.00 ($180 for Mark 1 plus $27 for case and $96 for 2nd Battery) why couldn't you just fit a second battery ($100 - $150) with a Solenoid kit ($40 Supercheap) and have a fully charged battery to jump off anytime, not to mention couple up additional accessories to should the mood take you?

Be interested in hearing the reasons you went the Box'o'Tricks route

Cheers
Jason

It took long enough to explain to my missus how to connect up one end of the jumper leads :D
The Disco was probably an excuse to get it past her.
I already have 3x 100 amp batteries in my Landie, so it should be fine without any more batteries.

As I see it this, will be handy for the following.

Primarily to power my CPAP as I have sleep apnoea. ( 100 amp runs it 2.5 nights)
Run lights when I'm away from the vehicle - not too far though.
My daughter is in the scouts & I sometimes get invited along to camps but vehicles are not allowed at some of the campsites.
I go away once a year in my boat for 3-4 nights on the Gippsland lakes & take a battery out of the 4wd and jury rig up to the boat battery etc. I wont have to do that anymore.
I dont fully trust solenoids, I've had dual battery setups in 5-6 vehicles and have had failures. In the current (no pun intended) Landie I have the spare spare battery on a marine switch & a LED readout.

And finally as its totally seperate from the vehicle I can handle an alternator failure for example.


Big Guy,

Give me a thumper and live happily ever after.

I like the simple things.


Well this IS a projects forum.:eek:

I like to fiddle in the garage - I dont watch much TV:(
And I cant justify the $598 for a 60amp thumper, so there's 295 reasons;)

[WedWon]

...???...ummm where

cheers

Bought two here at supercheap Alice Springs

Why? Too cheap?

It is only a solenoid kit not a full battery monitoring type system. It clicks in at 14.4 v and charges the second battery, there is a wire that connects through a momentary switch (not included) to override the solenoid and connect the batteries together to allow starting of the second battery if needed. Other than that it works well....all for $40


Primarily to power my CPAP as I have sleep apnoea. ( 100 amp runs it 2.5 nights)
Run lights when I'm away from the vehicle - not too far though.
My daughter is in the scouts & I sometimes get invited along to camps but vehicles are not allowed at some of the campsites.
I go away once a year in my boat for 3-4 nights on the Gippsland lakes & take a battery out of the 4wd and jury rig up to the boat battery etc. I wont have to do that anymore.
I dont fully trust solenoids, I've had dual battery setups in 5-6 vehicles and have had failures. In the current (no pun intended) Landie I have the spare spare battery on a marine switch & a LED readout.

And finally as its totally seperate from the vehicle I can handle an alternator failure for example.



Deejay

All good reasons, I'm glad I asked!!

Cheers

Jason