Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 11

Thread: AC/DC converter + 12V battery + Laser

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Napa, Ca
    Posts
    204

    Default AC/DC converter + 12V battery + Laser

    Is it possible for me to use a adapter that changes 12V car battery power to 110V AC and hook it up to a 12V motorcycle battery (not installed in motorcycle) and plug in my single color laser projector into it for an hour outdoor show?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Posts
    1,622

    Default

    I don't know if you'd get a full hour out of it, but it would work for awhile. You should be able to get an hour, but no guarantees.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Stockholm, Sweden
    Posts
    799

    Default

    Measure how much power your laser draws from the wall outlet and multiply that by, say 1.15 (for losses in the inverter). Then divide the capacity of the battery (in Wh) by that number and you'll get how long it will run for.

    One hour is about what I would expect from an MC battery with a capacity of 150 Wh though.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Coming to a theatre near you!
    Posts
    521

    Default

    one thing: watch your grounding, summed square wave inverters are NOISY.
    I wouldn't really want to plug several thousand dollars worth of laser projector into a $50 block from the local hypermart.

    If you can get a UPS/battery backup that will power your laser unplugged, you could just attach larger batteries to that. the highter quality inverter and filtering could be the difference between a successful gig and a toasted dpss or two.
    "TO DO IS TO BE" - Nietzsche
    "TO BE IS TO DO" - Kant
    "DO BE DO BE DO" - Sinatra

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Surrey, UK.
    Posts
    234

    Default

    A lot of powersupplies in lasers are SMPUS so don't care so much about what comes in...

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Coming to a theatre near you!
    Posts
    521

    Default

    that can be true, but caps pop for all sorts of funny reasons.

    on a side note i remember running a pc in my car, and the voltage difference between chasis grounds was staggering, so if you're running a setup outdoors, you'd need to watch out for that.
    "TO DO IS TO BE" - Nietzsche
    "TO BE IS TO DO" - Kant
    "DO BE DO BE DO" - Sinatra

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    nerdtown, USA
    Posts
    1,165

    Default

    I've run my RGB rig and laptop off a true sine wave inverter (Go Power and Xantrex make good ones) with a 30 Ah sealed deep cycle battery. It ran for about two hours. There were no problems.

    Don't use a motorcycle battery. They're not designed for deep cycle and you will ruin it.

  8. #8
    mixedgas's Avatar
    mixedgas is offline Creaky Old Award Winning Bastard Technologist
    Infinitus Excellentia Ion Laser Dominatus
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    A lab with some dripping water on the floor.
    Posts
    9,890

    Default

    If you cant find a deep cycle, get a marine battery. Usually a little bit more obtainable.

    Steve
    Qui habet Christos, habet Vitam!
    I should have rented the space under my name for advertising.
    When I still could have...

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Cairns, Australia
    Posts
    1,896

    Default

    Yeah I was going to say, some things don't like being run from a modified sine wave and can cause all sorts of problems. If you are wanting to do this safely your best bet would be a nice large deep cycle battery and a pure sinewave inverter.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Napa, Ca
    Posts
    204

    Default

    Thanks guys. Your insightful comments are very useful and much appreciated.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •