Basic power at comps?

JS-TX

JS-TX

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My power needs for comps are fairly light so I'm thinking of getting an 900 watt inverter like this one: http://amzn.com/B00APL78W2 and hook it up to a deep cycle battery. I would use this setup to power some lights Fri. evening (2 hours maybe), small box fan to keep cool at night, electric knife and a hotplate to warm sauces. During the colder months I might also use it to power an electric blanket at night. Would this setup work? Can anybody recommend a good deep cycle battery? Seems like prices vary quite a bit. Thanks!
 
I'm not sure what competitions you wil be competing in, but most have basic electric for free. That being said back up power is always a good thing.
 
The short answer is no. A 100 amp hour battery should provide 1 amp for 100 hours. You might get by with using fluorescent lighting and your electric knife. The fan motor will use several amps as well as an electric blanket. Most hot plates use more than 900 watts.
You could use a catalytic heater, a 12 volt rv fan (Fan-Tastic), 12 volt lighting (or lantern), a 12 volt filet knife and a propane stove. All you would need is a charged deep cycle battery.
Just a thought.......
 
We take a Q from camping. Coleman stove, lantern, head lamps. Don't ever want to be dependent on contest power. We run gurus on 6v batteries no matter what the power situation is.
 
fnbish said:
I'm not sure what competitions you wil be competing in, but most have basic electric for free. That being said back up power is always a good thing.
Click to expand...

Perhaps in your area, most have basic electric for free. In my area a good portion have power for an additional charge $25-45 depending on contest for 20 amp and $30-50 for 30amp. There are a handful that does not have power at all.
 
I'm cooking in TX, so primary IBCA or similar. Power is not usually provided at most of these comps. Thanks for the feedback, those portable fans and heaters are a good idea!
 
You might want to think aboout investing in a generator. Harbour Freight sells a decent one in the $100 range. Best would be Honda EU line of generators
 
hogzillas said:
You might want to think aboout investing in a generator. Harbour Freight sells a decent one in the $100 range. Best would be Honda EU line of generators
Click to expand...

A friend of mine got one of those generators @HF.. didn't work too good and he ended up returning it. I'm looking for something that isn't very loud. Champion makes some inverter generators similar to the quiet Hondas but they are much cheaper. Still a bit more than I want to spend right now.
 
hogzillas said:
You might want to think aboout investing in a generator. Harbour Freight sells a decent one in the $100 range. Best would be Honda EU line of generators
Click to expand...
If you show up with one of those $100 gennies you better bring 1000' of extension cord or you are going to have problems with the neighbors.

Just sayin' :boxing:
 
JS-TX said:
My power needs for comps are fairly light so I'm thinking of getting an 900 watt inverter like this one: http://amzn.com/B00APL78W2 and hook it up to a deep cycle battery. I would use this setup to power some lights Fri. evening (2 hours maybe), small box fan to keep cool at night, electric knife and a hotplate to warm sauces. During the colder months I might also use it to power an electric blanket at night. Would this setup work? Can anybody recommend a good deep cycle battery? Seems like prices vary quite a bit. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Forget anything that generates heat like the hot plate or the electric blanket. Electric heat will drain your battery quicky, and remember that watts = amps * voltage. Your 900 watt inverter will generate about half of what a standard 15 amp household outlet will. It's unlikely that size inverter could even power a hotplate, and if it could you would be running close to the rated capacity.

A Honda generator will run about 6-8 hours on a gallon of gas, so you may spend $15 on gas at a contest. Factor in the cost of generator, gas, oil changes, repairs, and that $25 for power isn't looking like such a bad deal.
 
In the name of all your future neighbors at comps please, please, PLEASE don't bring a cheapo contractor grade generator to events! I would rather have a hard drinking team set up ten feet away that parties all night and pukes in their site than one of those Chinese Dragons howling continually 50 feet from where I must spend 24 hours.

Buy a Honda, use batteries, solar, windmills or 1000 hamsters in a giant wheel, but DO NOT torture your fellow competitors with a noisy generator!!
 
we have the schumacher portable battery source as well but I also have a $100 HF generator. There are a few tricks to making it more acceptable soundwise. google mods for HF generators and you will find many. Using premium gasoline and changing the spark plug made it a lot quieter... we ran it all night in Staten Island last year and our neighbors never knew it..... of course it rained most of the night
 
Tried the set up your considering.. Freeport, Texas in July.

Ran the lights and the music, plugged in a high velocity fan.... everything shut down. Really just wanted if for the electric knife but 97 and 95 percent humidity and an angry wife demanded that we have some type of air circulation.

Luckily, you are in Texas where there is typically no power and most of the yahoo's around have construction grade generators running wide open. so, no matter what type you buy, you'll be fine.

That being said, for your own sanity, get one of the quiet ones. If you think the neighbors racket is loud, wait till you have one an extension cord away from your own camp site. You'll drive your own self crazy.
 
RangerJ said:
Tried the set up your considering.. Freeport, Texas in July.

Ran the lights and the music, plugged in a high velocity fan.... everything shut down. Really just wanted if for the electric knife but 97 and 95 percent humidity and an angry wife demanded that we have some type of air circulation.

Luckily, you are in Texas where there is typically no power and most of the yahoo's around have construction grade generators running wide open. so, no matter what type you buy, you'll be fine.

That being said, for your own sanity, get one of the quiet ones. If you think the neighbors racket is loud, wait till you have one an extension cord away from your own camp site. You'll drive your own self crazy.
Click to expand...

Haha thanks, those loud noisy generators are really annoying when you surrounded by them.. don't want to add to that noise. I've got that Coleman LED lantern w/detachable lights, battery powered music and pitmaster IQ. I think I'm gonna get this http://amzn.com/B004MDXS0U to power a 12volt fan and my electric knife which is 130watts.
 
Having just come from the N&P forum, might I suggest solar power?:becky:

:brick:
 
I have a Champion Category 5. 3500 rated watts. Got it on sale for $400. It isn't as quiet as a Honda but it isn't obnoxiously loud.
 
We carry a Honda 2000 Inverter with us to run our MAKs in case there is no power available...very quiet and plenty of power for our needs.
 
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