Power for the rear of my Transit ....

[Pyromaniac]

Have 2 key cutting machines to power - (230v .20kw each)
need to install bright (spot) type lights x 2 over my workbench
Need to install general but bright interior lighting.
Need 1 x socket for power tool battery charging (18v Li - ion 2.4 a/h )
(poss 3 x sockets as for key machines too)

Looked into inverters and seems expensive and a lot of work with wiring and extra batteries and chargers and so on.

Now the lighting I assume I can get 12v spots and general lighting and just wire them into the internal lights in the back of the van, just fit a switch so I can have on what I want and off when not required.

What to do about the 3 x 230v supplies ?

I know halfords etc sell power packs for jump starting and so on, but surely the batteries in these are just for that - ie a heavy drain for a short time ?
I am looking for sustained drain that wont wreck the battery if it gets too low.

I know some of these come with inverters built in, if I can find one with a
high a/h leisure type battery would this power my key machines for any length of time ? What size of inverter would need to be built in ?

The Halfords type only seem to have 17 - 20 a/h batteries which seems not a lot to me.

Only one key machine would be in operation at any one time, the lighting would be on when working in the van day or night.

At times I have no access to external power / extension lead from customer, so I also have a 3000w generator for emergency use, which has no 3 pin sockets but one 110v and one 230v round socket.
How would I set about using this to connect to my sockets in a safe way if required ?

Gerry

 

[Burnerman]

Is a nice quiet petrol generator a reasonable idea?
Honda do a range that are really quiet...a bit expensive to buy but cheap to run. Cheaper ones are usually noisier but still effective.
John

 

[Pyromaniac]

Cheers John, was editing as you typed to say about the generator !

Its a bit noisy for everday use, or if I am in a market or boot sale etc, and should I get a callout at 2am then folks would not be happy with me if I ran it up !

 

[Burnerman]

Fair comment Pyro, but the Honda 'suitcase' generators are so quiet you'd hardly know they were running.....they also reduce to idle automatically if the power isn't needed - well clever! I admit they do cost a bit but it saves the faff with inverters etc which may or may not provide the juice you need.
John

 

[Peter.N.]

Your only alternative would be an inverter with a seperate battery, a 500watt inverter would probably be OK although motors sometimes need a high initial starting current so a 1Kw might be better, you will need a battery of around 100ah, the bigger the better as the deeper you discharge them the shorter the life.

For your lighting you can get low energy spotlights, mains ones will probably consume more power than your machines. Megaman do an R80 which is only 15 watts but is equivilant to more than a 60w bulb. A fluorescent strip would be even better. You can get low energy lamps in 12 volts now but they are expensive.

Peter

 

[TicklyT]

A boat chandler or caravan parts supplier may be well placed to supply 12 Volt lighting, suitable leisure batteries and mains inverters for your 240 Volt requirements.

Fluorescent lighting is far more efficient than incandescent lighting.

Have you considered changing the motors on the machines for equivalent 12 volt DC motors?

 

[Peter.N.]

If you want to do it on the cheap there are 110 ah ex computer UPS batteries on ebay for about £35.00, if you used two to give you 24 volts and a used computer UPS you could do the whole lot for not much more than £100.00