Re: Re: ATM Portable power...

[anderiii@mindspring.com]

No, Nicads are nominal 1.2v per cell. Eight in series is ~9.6v at 4.4 AH.  Eight in 
parallel is ~1.2v @ ~34.4AH. To double the capacity of the reference 12v@ 17AH abttery, 
you would need 80 cells (8x10 array parallel/series).

John Anderson
anderiii@mindspring.com

Bill Lee <wlee@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> I bought a Prestone Jump-It battery pack/charger from Walmart. 17 ah of
power.  Much cheaper than the Kendric.  The only problem is that it is
not a deep-cycle battery and I'm always affraid of running it down.  I'm
thinking of getting 8 NiCad high capacity D-cell batteries from Radio
Shack.  At 4.4 aH and $8 per battery, that's about twice the power
capacity of the lead-acid Jump-It power pack in a very small package. 
Throw in a recharger and you've got enough power for a weekend in the
country for under $100.  You can also get them from the NiCd Lady
(http://www.nicdlady.com) for $9 or 5.7 aH D-cells for $9.50.

AFAIK, a gel-cell is a lead-acid battery with the acid jellied so that
you can safely turn it upside-down.

You can also get marine/RV deep-cycle batteries that, IIRC, start at
about 40 aH and 20 lbs and go up (weight & capacity) from there. 
Deep-cycle batteries are lead-acid that have thicker plates so that they
can survive more deep-discharges.

Clear skies,
Bill

Xakxak@aol.com wrote:
> 
> I've been researching portable power supplies and can't figure out what would be right 
>for me.  Right now I need to run a muffin fan and a secondary heater.  In the future I 
>may want to run a couple more heaters and digital setting circles.  I've been looking 
>into the 12V 17AH Kendrick power pack and the Kendric controller.  From what I gather 
>the Kendrick controller can power 4 heaters with one 12volt source?  Can I plug my 12v 
>muffin fan into one?  Should I get the controller and the power pack?  The Kriege/Berry 
>book mentions a "Porta-pak gel cell" that is used in toy cars, though it doesn't mention 
>where to find them (I would imagine a hobby shop or something).  Are these suf
>ficient?
>      I've been trying to do my homework and find these answers on my own, but all the 
>descriptions about the products are too vague for me to figure it out on my own. Sorry 
>to bug everyone with these newbie questions, but I really don't want to buy something 
>and find out I got the wrong thing and have to return it.  Thanks for your patience and 
>any responses.
> -Pete