Best of 12V DC Stuff

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weejub said:
What about one of these RC batteries?

Amazon.com: 12V Tenergy 2000mAh NiMH Battery Pack with Bare Leads for RC Airplanes: Health & Personal Care

Amazon.com: Gens ace LiPo Battery Pack 5000mAh 50C 2S 7.4V HardCase 21 with Deans T Plug for RC Car Boat Truck Roar Approved: Toys & Games

What are your thoughts on a single 200MM fan vs three smaller ones? I bet you get more air flow out of those three?
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It is REALLY hard to beat D-cell alkalines for power capacity. Each one provides 13000MAh at 1.5V. Although I am a huge fan of NiMH, the battery pack you listed would only give me 4 1/2hrs of runtime. A 12pk of D-cell batteries is $10.69 or $7.12 for 28 hours of runtime. LiIon are coming down in price and I might try building a serial/parallel battery pack. Nominal voltage is 3.7V (5.5V hot off the charger).

Current draw on a single 12V 200MM fan was more than these three 120mm fans. I also noticed that real world airflow was more pronounced with the three fans than the one 200mm. Unfortunately, current draw for most PC fans is not optimized for electrical efficiency but rather sound and air flow. The cooler master fans that I chose are quiet and only draw .16A each at 12V. They do not blow but rather circulate air. At the last Logan's Run, I never even got to use my camp fan. My wife, son, daughter, and her friend slept in the tent with the fan while I was in a hammock. From the hammock, I heard many thank you's for making the fan.

JohnVee said:
@lumbee1 Is your battery pack on a really long cable, or does the weight of the and AND batteries hang from the tent?
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I used a PC DC connector at the fan and a long zipcord down to the battery pack. There's not a lot of current draw so 18 gauge cable was plenty. The battery pack is quite heavy so it has to stay on a solid surface.
 
I had too much coffee and went ahead and bought these things to test out - - mostly due to this thread! So bad :(

Amazon.com: Cooler Master MegaFlow 200 - Sleeve Bearing 200mm Silent Fan for Computer Cases (Black): Computers & Accessories

Amazon.com: uxcell 200mm PC Computer Fan Grill Mounting Finger Guard Protection Cover: Cell Phones & Accessories

Haven't bought a battery yet. Thinking about using a little of my left over black cutting board material and some longer bolts to fix everything up to. Maybe bolt a battery down to that board.
 
lumbee1 said:
It is REALLY hard to beat D-cell alkalines for power capacity. Each one provides 13000MAh at 1.5V. Although I am a huge fan of NiMH, the battery pack you listed would only give me 4 1/2hrs of runtime. A 12pk of D-cell batteries is $10.69 or $7.12 for 28 hours of runtime. LiIon are coming down in price and I might try building a serial/parallel battery pack. Nominal voltage is 3.7V (5.5V hot off the charger).

Current draw on a single 12V 200MM fan was more than these three 120mm fans. I also noticed that real world airflow was more pronounced with the three fans than the one 200mm. Unfortunately, current draw for most PC fans is not optimized for electrical efficiency but rather sound and air flow. The cooler master fans that I chose are quiet and only draw .16A each at 12V. They do not blow but rather circulate air. At the last Logan's Run, I never even got to use my camp fan. My wife, son, daughter, and her friend slept in the tent with the fan while I was in a hammock. From the hammock, I heard many thank you's for making the fan.


I used a PC DC connector at the fan and a long zipcord down to the battery pack. There's not a lot of current draw so 18 gauge cable was plenty. The battery pack is quite heavy so it has to stay on a solid surface.
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Well Sh1t - I knew I should have waited a little bit :( Another case of not getting @lumbee1 's advice before doing something.
 
weejub said:
Well Sh1t - I knew I should have waited a little bit :( Another case of not getting @lumbee1 's advice before doing something.
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I put WAY TOO MUCH research into every purchase I make.
 
Meanwhile, over at Izzy's tent...

image.webp
 
@lumbee1 Did you already "do the math" on D Cells vs a sealed AGM motorcycle battery? I already have one for my CPAP, that I can also use for the fan, but was wondering.
 
lumbee1 said:
I put WAY TOO MUCH research into every purchase I make.
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I am with you Jonathan! I spend thousands to save a couple of bucks. Justified.....
 
weejub said:
@lumbee1 Did you already "do the math" on D Cells vs a sealed AGM motorcycle battery? I already have one for my CPAP, that I can also use for the fan, but was wondering.
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I have not. I briefly looked at lead acid but didn't feel like lugging a brick into my tent.
 
How about tools? Older 12v battery driven tools can have leads made to plug into a cigarette lighter or with battery clamps, like a little drill or something. Could be useful.
 
lumbee1 said:
I have not. I briefly looked at lead acid but didn't feel like lugging a brick into my tent.
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How many D-cell do you use per your current set up? I guess I was imagining a bunch. If only one, then I completely understand :)

I got my fan in, but waiting on grills. Next step is to make a frame for it and figure out the wiring. It uses about 10% more than your three combined it appears. Will be fun to compare them once done and vs the one I bought.
 
GLTHFJ60 said:
How about tools? Older 12v battery driven tools can have leads made to plug into a cigarette lighter or with battery clamps, like a little drill or something. Could be useful.
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I was actually thinking about that yesterday. If I could find a way to charge my Ridged batteries it would be awesome. I typically bring my impact and mini impact and a LED light that all use the batteries.
 
I've got a 12v charger for my 18v dewalt batteries. Maybe Ridgid sells a 12v charger for your batteries?
 
weejub said:
How many D-cell do you use per your current set up? I guess I was imagining a bunch. If only one, then I completely understand :)

I got my fan in, but waiting on grills. Next step is to make a frame for it and figure out the wiring. It uses about 10% more than your three combined it appears. Will be fun to compare them once done and vs the one I bought.
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8 batteries at 1.5V each wired in series equals 12V output with 13000 mAh capacity.
9 or 10 batteries in series would be 13.5V or 15V respectively. Overvolting the fans will make them spin faster but might shorten their life by a few thousand hours. Sleeve bearing fans are in the realm of 50000 hours of operation. Ball bearing fans are around 60 to 70000 hours.

I will grab a picture of my whole setup.
 
GLTHFJ60 said:
I've got a 12v charger for my 18v dewalt batteries. Maybe Ridgid sells a 12v charger for your batteries?
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I continue to pick the wrong tools :) Looks like Ryobi makes a 12v charger. Ridgid does not.
 
lumbee1 said:
Let me know how you like the stick on motion sensor lights. I need one for my 12V fridge.
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Very strong magnetic back that is built in. Also comes with velcro steel plate or stick steel plate so you can "stick" to other surfaces.

Very bright and feel well made.

I use Micro USB, so nice for charging, although I didn't really need them.

So far very good.

If you want, you can take one with you if you are coming TUE and try it out and spend more time with it.
 
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