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Battery photos.


Richard Ragon

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Can some of you sound mixers post some photos of your batteries?  My next upgrade is going to be the "power star" from PSC (http://professionalsound.com/specs/pwr_star.htm)

So, instead of a Power Backup system, I'm going to go with this set up, and a pelican case battery.  So, I'm looking for ideas on how all of you did it, assuming you rolled your own systems.

- Pelican Box?  Speak-On connectors?  Did you roll your own?

-Richard

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I built a Pelican battery last year and it's worked out very well so far.

Pelican 1300 case, LifeLine 33AH AGM Battery, 15A DC Circuit Breaker, and two Speakon Connectors.

I used foam shims to keep the battery from moving around inside the case. Pretty easy to put together, takes an afternoon to do.

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Can some of you sound mixers post some photos of your batteries?  My next upgrade is going to be the "power star" from PSC (http://professionalsound.com/specs/pwr_star.htm)

So, instead of a Power Backup system, I'm going to go with this set up, and a pelican case battery.  So, I'm looking for ideas on how all of you did it, assuming you rolled your own systems.

- Pelican Box?  Speak-On connectors?  Did you roll your own?

-Richard

I rolled my own (but the Power Star looks good). My cart power supply is a battery and a regulated DC power supply that floats 13.5 vdc across the battery when AC is available. When the AC is connected, everything is powered off the battery. When the AC returns, this tops off the battery.

post-1-130815087109_thumb.jpg

post-1-130815087109_thumb.jpg

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Over the years I've built 8 or more batteries into old military ammo-cans.  Cheap, waterproof, rugged, with a handle.  I mostly used gel cels.  Smaller 7AH ones, larger 33 AH ones.  I put a fuse inside the box, and use an external charger via 4 pin XLR.  Current use on my mixer cart is via a PSC "CartPower" PSU/distro.  Cheap and effective.

Philip Perkins

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Can some of you sound mixers post some photos of your batteries?  My next upgrade is going to be the "power star" from PSC (http://professionalsound.com/specs/pwr_star.htm)

So, instead of a Power Backup system, I'm going to go with this set up, and a pelican case battery.  So, I'm looking for ideas on how all of you did it, assuming you rolled your own systems.

- Pelican Box?  Speak-On connectors?  Did you roll your own?

-Richard

Hey Richard, funny you mention this.  I'm working on the exact set-up myself.  I was checking out the Powerstar they had displayed at LSC a few weeks ago and thought it was perfect for my needs, a great alternative from the Power Max.

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Hey Richard,

I went with a "power star" myself.  It has more than the number of power connections I need, and I really appreciate it being a 1U rack box, plus it's cheaper than the other alternatives (outside of building something yourself, I suppose)  Haven't worked with it out in the field yet though.

With it, I bought 2 pelican batteries.  Rich from Pro Sound helped me run some calculations, and given my current set-ups' power needs, I should be good up to about 10 hours on one battery.  So the second battery comes into play if I really have to run a full day without access to AC.

-Greg-

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Hey Richard,

I went with a "power star" myself.  It has more than the number of power connections I need, and I really appreciate it being a 1U rack box, plus it's cheaper than the other alternatives (outside of building something yourself, I suppose)  Haven't worked with it out in the field yet though.

With it, I bought 2 pelican batteries.  Rich from Pro Sound helped me run some calculations, and given my current set-ups' power needs, I should be good up to about 10 hours on one battery.  So the second battery comes into play if I really have to run a full day without access to AC.

-Greg-

Greg, I'm curious... how much are you drawing from your pelicans with your set up?  Are these the 12v 33Ah pelican batteries you're using?  I've tried some calculations based off of what my cart is using and I've come up with around 3.5 maybe 4 hours continuous draw.

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Greg, I'm curious... how much are you drawing from your pelicans with your set up?  Are these the 12v 33Ah pelican batteries you're using?  I've tried some calculations based off of what my cart is using and I've come up with around 3.5 maybe 4 hours continuous draw.

Zack,  yes - I bought 2 - 12v, 34Ah batts.  Truth be told, I haven't actually done a real world test yet - so I can only hope Rich's calculations were right.  I should really call it an estimation - I don't know if I listed everything to him.  And at the time, I was guessing about some of the details.

The main power hog will be my computer (older macbook pro) - and then probably my interface and monitor.  What's left is 4 to 5 lectro receivers, lectro umc16b, lectro T1, 744t, and an AD147.

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With laptop plugged in, it seems I'm pulling around 2.5 amps.  (fluctuates as low 2.2, and up to 3)  I can only imagine that will go higher when recording audio. 

BTW - the DC adapter I bought/converted is here:  http://www.tekserve.com/store/143/Power_Adapters/-4413

I just clipped off the car lighter plug and attached a 4 pin XLR.  So far, so good.

-Greg-

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@vin - Thanks for the photos..

@Ron - Thanks for the details on yours.  What kind of gage wire did you use?

@Jeff - This is pretty much what the powerstar does, but I like your set up.

Is anyone running a Sine Inverter from the 12vdc?

What gage wire are you guys using in the battery terminal to speakon connectors?

Do you need a thermal fuse, given the PowerStar internal fusing?

Here's the set up I was thinking of building.

1) Power coming into a PowerStar.

2) Most cart equipment plugged into the 12v system with 4XLRs

3) One plug would go to an Inverter to provide 110vac to anything not on DC.

4) Speakon cable going to Speakon plug on a Pelican 'rolled' box.

This way.. the powerstar keeps charging the battery.  If I loose the power, battery then takes over, and I still have 12vdc on cart, and 110vac still working on the inverter.

-Richard

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  • 3 weeks later...

Zack,  yes - I bought 2 - 12v, 34Ah batts.  Truth be told, I haven't actually done a real world test yet - so I can only hope Rich's calculations were right.  I should really call it an estimation - I don't know if I listed everything to him.  And at the time, I was guessing about some of the details.

The main power hog will be my computer (older macbook pro) - and then probably my interface and monitor.  What's left is 4 to 5 lectro receivers, lectro umc16b, lectro T1, 744t, and an AD147.

Finally a real world test today...much less runtime than I hoped.  With everything powered up, I'm running at around 8 amps.  (way more than I wanted) - I might try something else to power the laptop in case I need to spend the whole day on DC.  Am thinking this:  http://www.hypershop.com/HyperMac-External-MacBook-Battery-222Wh-p/mbp-222.htm

sigh...more money to spend.

-greg-

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Finally a real world test today...much less runtime than I hoped.  With everything powered up, I'm running at around 8 amps.  (way more than I wanted) - I might try something else to power the laptop in case I need to spend the whole day on DC.  Am thinking this:  http://www.hypershop.com/HyperMac-External-MacBook-Battery-222Wh-p/mbp-222.htm

sigh...more money to spend.

-greg-

Your 8 amp draw seems to be more reasonable after you listed all your gear.  The Mac alone i think will draw at least 3 amps, my newer Macbook Pro draws 3.6, then my new monitor 3.0 lol.  I tried calculating a worst case scenario of how much my cart would draw while recording, and it was around 9.5.... which would give me 3.5-4 hours or so.  I'm fine with that for now, since I mostly strive for being on AC. I see this set up being more of a good emergency system.  I'll have 3.5 hours to find some AC per battery :).

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If you're rolling your own SLA batteries in Pelican cases, I suggest a Speakon connector + a 4-pin XLR so you can power a thing or two elsewhere.

I drag one into the cab of the camera car for car rig stuff and it's just right since I only need to power the recorder there. With the Hot Box on board, I can power six things if I have to with just the 33AH SLA battery box.

Just a thought.

-- Jan

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Finally a real world test today...much less runtime than I hoped.  With everything powered up, I'm running at around 8 amps.  (way more than I wanted) - I might try something else to power the laptop in case I need to spend the whole day on DC.  Am thinking this:  http://www.hypershop.com/HyperMac-External-MacBook-Battery-222Wh-p/mbp-222.htm

sigh...more money to spend.

-greg-

Assuming your laptop battery is in good condition, my advice is to try your rig in the real world with the laptop's internal battery.  Run it off available set AC, and use the internal battery during power-downs and cart moves.  I think you'll generally find that in this day and age, with the exception of some odd jobs where you'd likely be using the bag and not the cart anyway, you'll never fall into a situation where AC power is not offered on set, and fewer situations still where the time at a location one is required to be self-powered exceeds the time of a usual Mac battery in good condition (ie 3-4 hours).  From my personal experience, I'd caution against expensively designing a power system for a circumstance that is unlikely to ever occur.  Of course, YMMV.

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Assuming your laptop battery is in good condition, my advice is to try your rig in the real world with the laptop's internal battery.  Run it off available set AC, and use the internal battery during power-downs and cart moves.  I think you'll generally find that in this day and age, with the exception of some odd jobs where you'd likely be using the bag and not the cart anyway, you'll never fall into a situation where AC power is not offered on set, and fewer situations still where the time at a location one is required to be self-powered exceeds the time of a usual Mac battery in good condition (ie 3-4 hours).  From my personal experience, I'd caution against expensively designing a power system for a circumstance that is unlikely to ever occur.  Of course, YMMV.

Very valid advice Noah.  Thanks.  I was just thinking about this earlier: that for an upcoming shoot - I would simply see how it goes.  With everything running, and between the 2 batteries, I should be able to make it thru lunch at least.  The fact is that I've never used AC on set til now - I've always been out of a bag, or a bag on a cart, so I'm not even accustomed to asking for it.

-Greg-

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Ron Meyer's manual for the Powermax Ultra advises using 2-conductor 12-gauge Belden for power cables going to the battery itself. He makes a good case for avoiding shielded cable, lest the strands touch a terminal somewhere. I think we used 16-gauge for the individual 4-pin XLR outs going to the gear.

I'm using two 40-amp lead-acid Powersonic batteries, plus a 50-amp battery box for long days from hell. They fit small Stormcase cases that are almost exactly the right size, and were only a skosh bigger than the equivalent 30-amp batteries. I'd love to use lithium-ion batteries, which would probably be about 3/4 lighter, but those are a lot more money at the moment.

--Marc W.

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