Power for Van ??

[Lyngarth]

Hi

A little bit of advice needed please, I just had a friend, who plays a lot of golf with a battery powered trolley, ask me about a way he could get something to go into his van so he could charge the battery up and keep it charged when in the van. He would only charge it up while driving.

At the moment its plugged in at home (standard 13amp socket) but he would to keep it in the van in case he finishes work early enough for a quick game after work.

The battery is a 12v 24Ah plus he also has a gps device that needs to be charged up now and again.

He did ask if a 300 WATT POWER INVERTER would work, and not having a clue about this I thought I would seek some help and advice for you nice people.

If this is not right for the van could some one tell me what would work please.

Many thanks

Lyngarth

 

[Lurch]

300W would probably do it, depends on the spec of the charger, does it take more than the constant current rating of the inverter? If it does, then get a bigger one, if not then it'll be fine.

I'd not leave the charger on without the engine running on a 24Ah battery though, won;t be much left for starting before long.

 

[Lyngarth]

Hi

thanks for the very quick reply, I have just been on the phone to him and the info on the charger is ..

Input 230V..50Hz..60W 403mA

Output 12V 4A dc

Would this be Ok??

Cheers

Lyngarth

 

[Lurch]

300W would probably do it, depends on the spec of the charger, does it take more than the constant current rating of the inverter?

Input 230V..50Hz..60W 403mA

I'll let you do the maths.

 

[Apache]

I'll let you do the maths.

I know I know - pick me

 

[Andy™]

could always connect battery in parallel to existing battery....

or get a system that only charges when engine is running

 

[Lee321]

most of these cheap inverters have a on switch.

i just wired a relay across mine so that its only on when the ignition is on as they will flatten your battery rapid without engine running

using mine to charge battery drills up as the charge times are generally 20mins your bound to travel for that time quite regular.

 

[ian932]

Seems a bit daft to go from 12v car battery to 230v inverter to 12v battery charger for the golf trolley charging, not very efficient, I would connect a 1-in 2-out split charge diode with the van alternator as the in, van battery to output 1 and then have a plug wired to output 2, have the corresponding plug adapter wired into the trolley so you just hook-up when the trolley is in the van.

You could do what Andy said connect in parallel, but you may have issues with engine starting as the trolley battery would be helping start the van which will do it no good.

 

[Lyngarth]

most of these cheap inverters have a on switch.i just wired a relay across mine so that its only on when the ignition is on as they will flatten your battery rapid without engine running

using mine to charge battery drills up as the charge times are generally 20mins your bound to travel for that time quite regular.

Hi thanks for the reply, how easy is it to wire a relay and what kind of relay would be needed or did you use??

As you can tell, I have never done anything like this before and if I can get it to work I would look into picking one up for myself, always getting to site and finding no power in drills!!

Cheers,

Lyngarth

P.S Thanks to all for replys, and yes Lurch, I did the maths all by myself

 

[Andy™]

just a 12v relay - power comes from ignition switch, and connect switch is parallel accross relay terminals

depending on the vehicle wiring, you could take your switched feed from the 12v socket - some only have power if engine is on

 

[Lurch]

Seems a bit daft to go from 12v car battery to 230v inverter to 12v battery charger for the golf trolley charging, not very efficient, I would connect a 1-in 2-out split charge diode with the van alternator as the in, van battery to output 1 and then have a plug wired to output 2, have the corresponding plug adapter wired into the trolley so you just hook-up when the trolley is in the van.

Or even easier, just plug the battery straight into the cigarette lighter when you feel like it, no adapters etc... required.