Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

You still couldn't afford them, even if you were Bill Gates.

calicocat

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Yep. It was £1.



Course I can.

The Jump Starter pack was £29-99, from B&M Bargains.

The 3 way power adapter was £1, from £land.

The 5m of 2 core flex, plug and lamp holder was £7-14, from B&Q.

The CO detector was £13-78, also from B&Q.

The CFL is from my existing stock, but they are available all over the place, for pennies.

My DIY and Survival knowledge isn't for sale, and you couldn't afford them, if they were.

Likewise my sex appeal.

Lol....

I'm curious as to whether you are male or female or not (as you can't tell often on here).

If you are male.....you would give most female shoppers a run for their money......I have met my shopping match...lol.

charlies-aunt

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

My DIY and Survival knowledge isn't for sale, and you couldn't afford them, if they were.

Likewise my sex appeal.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
BB - you ARE priceless!!!
:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

[Deleted User]

calicocat wrote: »

I'm curious as to whether you are male or female or not (as you can't tell often on here).

I'm male.

I'm also part Scottish, hence my never ending search for bargains.

Karmacat

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

I've just got one of these.

So I'm ready for anything the power companies can throw at us.

It has 2 x 12V cigarette lighter sockets, and a USB socket, so I can run my CFL, Notebook, and charge my Mobile phone, all at the same time. :cool:

Bob, I'm really sorry, I feel such an idiot asking this :o:o but of those sockets, what does it use to plug in? Where does it get its power from? It looks fascinating!

[Deleted User]

You plug the red ended plug into a 12V supply, such as a car cigarette lighter socket, or a Jump Starter pack, then you plug 12V devices (eg. soldering irons, inspection lamps, tyre inflaters) and USB devices (eg. Mobile phone chargers, MP3 players) into the sockets on the main body of it.

Me, I'll be plugging a mobile phone multi charger into the USB socket

and an 80W inverter

into one of the 12V sockets.

siegemode

Bob can I really charge my hp notebook with one of those gadget things ? Would I have to use the same plug/lead I use at home and how long do you think it would take please. I am ultra cautious, would I need some kind of surge protector ? sorry if that sounds silly:o

[Deleted User]

siegemode wrote: »

Bob can I really charge my hp notebook with one of those gadget things?

Yes you can.

Indeed, you can run your Notebook directly off it.

Either get a car adapter for the Notebook, or use an inverter (£15 at ASDA), and plug your regular Notebook power adapter/charger into it.

How long will it would run for?

That will depend on the capacity of the battery in the Jump Starter, and the current drawn by the Notebook.

The Jump Starter I got from B&M Bargains has a capacity of 17 amp hours, and my Notebook has a maximum current draw of 2.37 Amps.

That gives a theoretical running time (excluding any charge already in the Notebook battery) of 7.17 hours.

However, a Notebook is sensitive to low voltage, so around 5 hours, before it shuts down due to undervolt, would be my guess.

OTOH, an incandescent bulb doesn't suddenly shut down, due to undervolt, but rather it fades gradually.

A 40W incandescent bulb would be drawing 3.35 Amps, so would run for about 5 hours, before the Jump Pack was exhausted.

However, a CFL equivalent to a 40W incandescent bulb, draws just 0.67 of an Amp, giving a theoretical running time of 25.37 hours, but, in reality, probably around 20 hours, due to that pesky undervolt business.

You can see now, the advantage of using a CFL, instead of an incandescent bulb.

As for the surge protector, I can't see why you would need one, as the current is coming from a battery, which is a very stable power source.

I hope I haven't lost you along the way.

nuatha

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

You plug the red ended plug into a 12V supply, such as a car cigarette lighter socket, or a Jump Starter pack, then you plug 12V devices (eg. soldering irons, inspection lamps, tyre inflaters) and USB devices (eg. Mobile phone chargers, MP3 players) into the sockets on the main body of it.

Me, I'll be plugging a mobile phone multi charger into the USB socket

and an 80W inverter

into one of the 12V sockets.

Hi Bob, I have one of those multiplugs in my car, I no longer use an inverter in them as its predecessor melted the insulation - the inverter draws a fair amount of current, keep an eye on the wire getting hot.

ETA: As Bob says, you won't need a surge protector running from a battery and car electrics are pretty stable and the inverter will provide some additional protection for running in a car - however if you tried running directly from an alternator that could be problematic and a surge protection circuit should be used.

siegemode wrote: »

Bob can I really charge my hp notebook with one of those gadget things ? Would I have to use the same plug/lead I use at home and how long do you think it would take please. I am ultra cautious, would I need some kind of surge protector ? sorry if that sounds silly:o

If you use the same charger that you use at home, you'll need an inverter similar to the one Bob shows. Alternatively you may be able to get a 12V charger for your laptop (some laptop ranges have dedicated 12V chargers) or a multi-tip charger which will have fittings for most laptops (if you go down this route, make sure the charger can supply the voltage and ampage you need as modern laptops are much more power hungry than they used to be).

[Deleted User]

nuatha wrote: »

the inverter draws a fair amount of current, keep an eye on the wire getting hot.

I won't be drawing a huge current.

CFL is only 0.67A, and the Notebook is a max of 2.37 Amps, so total total current draw is little more than 3A = 36W.

That's not even half of the inverter's maximum current rating, which is 6.7A = 80W.