12V Emergency power backup for a single scanner

[Ronnierozier2]

I think this thread has been beaten to within an inch of its life.

absolutely

 

[KC2CQD]

Has anybody had the pleasure of having to run a single scanner off of one of those standard car jump boxes for a long time? I'm wondering how long one may power my scanner (BCD996P2) in a long term blackout.
Also thinking of a battery backup for it, but don't need one of those 120v computer back up boxes, just a 12v deep cycle supply.

I used to run a 10/11m radio with a 100W amp, and a 2m/70cm rig off a 29 series Deep Cycle (Marine) battery for SEVERAL hours at a time.
I used a home-brew trickle charger to keep it topped off when the power was on.
I would imagine for just a couple scanners, it could work for a day or two.

 

[howie38]

I used to run a 10/11m radio with a 100W amp, and a 2m/70cm rig off a 29 series Deep Cycle (Marine) battery for SEVERAL hours at a time.
I used a home-brew trickle charger to keep it topped off when the power was on.
I would imagine for just a couple scanners, it could work for a day or two.

Yeah, I 'd like to go with a deep cycle type supply instead of the high output type you would need to jumpstart a car.

 

[MUTNAV]

Almost Done.... Just FYI the Jan 2016 QST has an article about replacing a single wall wart with a battery back up...
and as mentioned in a previous series of posts, there is an article about making your own battery back up (effectively (a)n UPS).

Cook Up Your Own Emergency Power Pack - KR1ST

Thanks
Joel

 

[KC2CQD]

Yeah, I 'd like to go with a deep cycle type supply instead of the high output type you would need to jumpstart a car.

To be honest, the price of a good 29 Deep is still lower. just remember to place it somewhere with good ventilation. And keep some distilled water on hand

 

[MUTNAV]

To be honest, the price of a good 29 Deep is still lower. just remember to place it somewhere with good ventilation. And keep some distilled water on hand

Is there an easy way of checking out batteries used like this for capacity (other than taking it to an auto-zone or equivalent?

So it can be put on a house maintenance schedule (everyone has one, right....).

Thanks
Joel

 

[Bignut68]

Math can answer this.....

https://www.digikey.com/en/resources/conversion-calculators/conversion-calculator-battery-life

Great info, thanks for sharing buddy.

 

[KevinC]

Is there an easy way of checking out batteries used like this for capacity (other than taking it to an auto-zone or equivalent?

So it can be put on a house maintenance schedule (everyone has one, right....).

Thanks
Joel

Not real cheap, but it’s about the only way to properly test automotive batteries…

Midtronics PBT-100 Automotive Battery & Electrical System Tester

Buy Midtronics PBT100 Battery Conductance Tester with an everyday low price and free shipping!

www.jbtools.com

And Midtronics is the gold standard in these testers. I’m sure you can find cheap Chinese knockoffs though.

 

[MUTNAV]

Great info, thanks for sharing buddy.

This actually just tells you how long a battery of a rated capacity will last, I was thinking of something more along the lines of a load bank that tells you the actual condition of the battery...

To be clearer, a battery that is 5 yeaers old wont have 100% of its original capacity, in cars I change them after 3 years usually (after having them checked to see their remaining capacity).

The Digi Key calculator also doesn't address depth of discharge considerations etc...

Thanks
Joel

 

[StoliRaz]

Also a friend put a car battery on a home UPS did not pay attention to the size of the load set the UPS ON FIRE.

 

[prcguy]

Bummer dude.

View attachment 129948

 

[MUTNAV]

Bummer dude.

You do get it was a UPS truck that was on fire.

Thanks
Joel

 

[prcguy]

I just enlarged the picture. Gotta be carful of those types of UPS, they burn, they loose stuff, etc.

You do get it was a UPS truck that was on fire.

Thanks
Joel

 

[Bignut68]

This actually just tells you how long a battery of a rated capacity will last, I was thinking of something more along the lines of a load bank that tells you the actual condition of the battery...

To be clearer, a battery that is 5 yeaers old wont have 100% of its original capacity, in cars I change them after 3 years usually (after having them checked to see their remaining capacity).

The Digi Key calculator also doesn't address depth of discharge considerations etc...

Thanks
Joel

Of course, a battery of 5 years cannot be 100%.

 

[IC-R20]

It'll run forever especially if it's lithium.

But just so I don't have to maintain it I use one of those 12 volt lantern batteries to power my BCT15x. It's basically just a double wide of the standard 6 volt cubes. They have good shelf life so I leave on next to the scanner for the frequent power outages during monsoon seasons.