How can I daisy chain car batteries?

[EightySix Four]

Dry ice + cooler.

 

[JCH13]

Ice + Bucket = Cold Beer

This.

Just went 'camping' for a weekend, frozen 2L bottles of water work great.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Diesels often run two batteries. They don't do anything special really.

He wants to run 3 batteries under the hood of a corolla... I have no idea where he is going to put them...

Why not just buy leisure batteries that are designed to be deep cycled?

 

[PlasmaBomb]

What someone really needs to do is make a camping fridge with an adjustable compressor. It should be possible to have it jumpered to a running car and have it drawing so much power that it's making dry ice. Then we could make ice and keep it in one of those expensive coolers.

/facepalm

 

[JCH13]

What someone really needs to do is make a camping fridge with an adjustable compressor. It should be possible to have it jumpered to a running car and have it drawing so much power that it's making dry ice. Then we could make ice and keep it in one of those expensive coolers.

Dry ice is made through a non-trivial manufacturing process that your fridge cannot do. Also, it's solid CO2, so you'd probably asphyxiate if your fridge was making dry ice.

 

[Farmer]

Dry ice is made through a non-trivial manufacturing process that your fridge cannot do. Also, it's solid CO2, so you'd probably asphyxiate if your fridge was making dry ice.

If you lived in your fridge.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

With a good cooler, ice will easily last for three days. I do it all the time. OP, for the kind of camping you do, why not just put a few wildlife posters on the wall next to the big screen tv in your air conditioned living room?

 

[ShawnD1]

Dry ice is made through a non-trivial manufacturing process that your fridge cannot do.

It's trivial. The only difference between a beer fridge and a special refrigeration unit is the type of refrigerant used. The type of refrigerant depends on what temperature range the device is used for. The temperature of dry ice is about -80C. If you use a refrigerant that works in that temperature range, you can make dry ice using regular air. It would take a very large amount of energy because it would also need to freeze all of the water in the air before dropping to that temperature.

If you lived in your fridge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USz6bjhzCOs

With a good cooler, ice will easily last for three days. I do it all the time. OP, for the kind of camping you do, why not just put a few wildlife posters on the wall next to the big screen tv in your air conditioned living room?

If you're one of those guys who goes camping without propane or toilet paper then my hat goes off to you. I could never do that. I'm not <ethnic minority>

 

[ShawnD1]

Why not just buy leisure batteries that are designed to be deep cycled?

Deep cycle batteries are extremely expensive. They're so expensive that even hybrid cars do not have deep cycle batteries.

asdfsadf
97 amp hours = $355

A car battery from pick-a-part is $10.

 

[Evadman]

Deep cycle batteries are extremely expensive.
asdfsadf
97 amp hours = $355

That's a marine deep cycle battery. You don't need a marine battery. Use an optima yellow top. They cost $170 brand new and will survive being completely drained just fine. A regular non-deep cycle will survive MAYBE a half dozen deep cycles before death.

 

[JCH13]

If you lived in your fridge.

If there was enough CO2 in the air around your fridge to make any appreciable amount of dry ice you would suffocate. Unless you happen to be camping near a chemical plant that produces clean enough CO2 to turn into dry ice.

It's trivial. The only difference between a beer fridge and a special refrigeration unit is the type of refrigerant used. The type of refrigerant depends on what temperature range the device is used for. The temperature of dry ice is about -80C. If you use a refrigerant that works in that temperature range, you can make dry ice using regular air. It would take a very large amount of energy because it would also need to freeze all of the water in the air before dropping to that temperature.

According to wiki, CO2 exists at about about 390ppm in the atmosphere, or about 0.039%. Water vapor can be as concentrated as 4%, but lets call it 2%. When you chill it to -80C you'll wind up with 98% H2O and 2% CO2, that's not very 'dry' ice.

 

[ShawnD1]

According to wiki, CO2 exists at about about 390ppm in the atmosphere, or about 0.039%. Water vapor can be as concentrated as 4%, but lets call it 2%. When you chill it to -80C you'll wind up with 98% H2O and 2% CO2, that's not very 'dry' ice.

The air is run through a condenser first. The freezer in your house is the same way. The freezer in your house passes air through a condenser before blowing it into the freezer again; that's how it prevents ice build up.

 

[kornphlake]

I'm an electrical engineer and much of my job is battery backup systems for vital circuits. Most of the stuff I deal with is 12V DC coming from a battery system very similar to that found in cars. Most of the stuff I've posted is stated in manuals that come with the battery systems I order. Things like when hydrogen gas is made (during charging), when it can be a problem (any time), when it accumulates (when electrolyte is low), doing a tap test before strapping batteries together, how chargers only look at battery voltage, and how batteries can explode if you hook them anti-parallel for even a couple seconds.

Hey troll, which is the bait, the part where you said you needed help hooking up a battery or the part where you say you know everything there is to know about hooking up batteries?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

If you're one of those guys who goes camping without propane or toilet paper then my hat goes off to you. I could never do that. I'm not <ethnic minority>

It's all right, I understand how inconsiderate National parks are with their lack of rodent control, hot and cold running water, wifi and, inability to sync rainfall with nap times.

If you truly desire to take geekiness to new heights, you can create a solar powered refrigerator using ammonia as a refrigerant. I did it in HS for about $40. Course, adjusting for inflation would make that $100 today.

 

[LTC8K6]

71805K94 at McMaster Carr 12v 115a/h $160.00

 

[Meghan54]

Deep cycle batteries are extremely expensive. They're so expensive that even hybrid cars do not have deep cycle batteries.

asdfsadf
97 amp hours = $355

A car battery from pick-a-part is $10.

Well, if you buy crap from West Marine, you deserve to pay that much....and a gel battery at that---needless expense in your case.

On the other hand, a decent group 27 wet cell deep cycle battery will run around $85-$90, so you could buy three and have change leftover for that single gel bat. from West.

And I've used a "typical" Gr. 27 battery on my trolling motor all day long and never have drawn it all the way down to flat.

And your pick-a-part $10 battery won't last for shit......starting batteries are NOT designed to sustain a draw for long. They're for short, high output bursts, not all day long draw.

 

[Throckmorton]

I wouldn't buy a used battery if I were you

 

[Plugers]

How about a few of these and a few of these.

Both cost the same as 1 of those car audio terminals you listed earlier. or if you're going to the u-pull for the batteries pull them yourself for a buck a piece.

 

[marvdmartian]

What someone really needs to do is make a camping fridge with an adjustable compressor.

You could, of course, look into buying a dual power fridge designed for an RV. The kind that runs off of propane or electricity. You have to keep it pretty level in order to run it off of propane, but I can remember, as a kid, my Dad having to "light the refrigerator", every time we towed the trailer, to keep it cold. :awe:

 

[LTC8K6]

Those camping refrigerators only keep things cool, iirc. Nothing like an actual refrigerator.

If it's like one of these, you won't be keeping anything frosty. Cool is about it on a hot day.

http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=5644-710

http://www.coleman.com/coleman/images/pdf/5644-710.pdf

 

[Christobevii3]

You will cause batteries to discharge the stronger one into the weaker one often doing this. You should setup a relay or something so they only are together when on or needed. Also fuse please.

 

[jlee]

Ice only lasts a few hours then after that you're screwed.

You're doing it wrong.

 

[Rifter]

I use these guys. I usually make my own cables using their supplies, but they will also make them for a buck.

I agree, ive used them for over 10 years and have rewired at least 10 differnt car/truck batteries/starters/etc with there cable and connectors and never had an issue.

 

[ShawnD1]

Hey troll, which is the bait, the part where you said you needed help hooking up a battery or the part where you say you know everything there is to know about hooking up batteries?

You think traffic lights use car batteries as their backup power? Why bolt special design deep cycle nicad batteries to a bus bar when we can use shallow cycle lead batteries from compact cars and tie them together with jumper cables found at walmart :awe:

On the other hand, a decent group 27 wet cell deep cycle battery will run around $85-$90, so you could buy three and have change leftover for that single gel bat. from West.

We use car batteries because we already have tons of them kicking around doing nothing. A car battery might be too horrible to start a car when it's -20, but still strong enough to arc weld in summer. A deep cycle is 10x better for camping, but it's infinitely more expensive because it's something we don't already have.

You could, of course, look into buying a dual power fridge designed for an RV

Propane refrigerators are amazing, but they're also very expensive. I would buy one of these in a second if I could afford to.

Those camping refrigerators only keep things cool, iirc. Nothing like an actual refrigerator.

People assume travel fridges suck because they'll put 48 cans of beer in it and wonder why the beer is still slightly warm after a day. If you try that in your normal fridge, you'll experience the exact same thing. Start from room temperature, fill every shelf of your normal fridge with beer, then time how long it takes to cool it down. It takes a long time. If you leave a travel fridge for a very long time, it really does cool down to the same temperature as a normal fridge.
The other thing to keep in mind is that the travel fridge, like your home fridge, must be running 24/7 if you want it to lower the temperature of something. Lots of people only use them as you describe - put something in them that is already cold then use the fridge to keep it cold.

 

[Meghan54]

Ice only lasts a few hours then after that you're screwed.

You're doing it wrong.

So very true. In addition to the Coleman Extreme coolers, Igloo, our preferred brand, also makes a similar cooler line, the MaxCold, that we use on our boat. We've had ice last days with the cooler sitting in the sun with temps above 90F. Cheapest solution for keeping drinks, etc. cold for extended periods.