frankensteining a UPS

[divxdude]

well first off i got one of the cheap rebate battery backup/ UPS for the nicad battery.
i was pleased to see it was about the size of a 6v lantern battery so my ultimate
rechargable flashlight plan looks like a go.

first question : whats a good 12v bulb that offers a lot of the bright stuff yet doesnt gulp down
all the juice real fast for a long lasting light source

number two: i'm not elctronically gifted so how do I make that 12v battery to work for other
battery powered stuff that use less volts like pc speakers etc.

third of all : can i hook the wires that were connected to the now removed battery to a
car cigarette lighter to power the ups and will it be enought to run a pc w/speakers and crt
monitor in the back seat of the car to play mp3s and maybe some games on a road trip?

also anyone got a guide for maodding an atx power supply to run from the 12v in the car rather
than 110 from the house?

thanks for the input

 

[sgtroyer]

Yikes. Okay, let's see.

1. What I would do is retrofit an existing flashlight. Regardless of bulb type, without a decent reflector you won't have a good beam, and you can't make the reflector yourself. As far as bulb types go, here are my impressions.

Halogen is very bright. Don't know about efficiency.
Incandescent is maybe not so bright.
LED is very, very efficient, but can't really make a beam. LED's need much less than 12V, though, so you would need to put many in series. Ask me if you don't understand.

2. No easy way without wasting some of the power. There are devices which plug into the cigarette lighter and provide selectable voltage out. Maybe at Radio Shack. That would be the easiest.

3. So you're turning the UPS into an inverter. In theory it should work. I assume you're willing to accept the possibility of ruining it. Presumably if it is designed to operate the computer as a UPS, it can do so as an inverter. The specs ought to give you a max load. What brand/model is it?

4. Don't even think about it. Either use your above mod to the UPS or buy an inverter.

Disclaimer and warning: Be careful with this. I don't know what your experience level with this type of thing is, but things can go wrong. You could destroy the UPS and/or the computer. Working with the 12V levels should be safe, but try to stay away from the 110V stuff. Don't crack open the UPS if you can help it. If you blow a fuse in the car, figure out why. Do not plug the UPS into wall current while it is connected to your car.

 

[ReiAyanami]

oh and make your flashlite solar powered...

 

[glugglug]

The battery in your UPS is more than likely 12.6V just like a car battery. (Maybe 24V if its a BIG UPS).

If you open up the UPS you can wire the car battery into it and use the UPS to convert to the AC needed to run your laptop.

 

[divxdude]

well i dont have a laptop..

i want to run the cig lighter to power the ups for a mid-tower and a crt vga monitor..

but that may be alot of current for the lighter wiriing.

I may need to go straight to the car battery with some heavier wire.

 

[tdgx]

You should probably check the voltage of the battery before selecting the bulb type. My APC Smart-UPS 1000 and 1400 VA UPS's use 28 volt batteries.

 

[divxdude]

12v 3.2 amp/hr model en12-3.2

sounds like 12v to me

 

[capybara]

Vsource ---------/------resistor---------/-------resistor------/--------resistor------/------ground
/ / / /
Vout 1 Vout2 Vout3 ground


=============================================================
(this works just fine for dc to dc)

 

[JSSheridan]

Check the fuse rating for the cig lighter circuit. They are usually 10A but may be as low as 5A or high as 15A.

 

[glugglug]

You can always use a transformer to step up or step down the voltage.

tdgx: Fairly certain 1000VA and 1400VA smart UPS are 25.2V just like my Back-UPS 1400VA. Basically this is internally 2 12.6V batteries in series, which are in turn sets of 6 2.1V batteries in series.

 

[glugglug]

Originally posted by: JSSheridan
Check the fuse rating for the cig lighter circuit. They are usually 10A but may be as low as 5A or high as 15A.

Also keep in mind 10A @ 12.6VDC ~= 1.5A @ 120VAC