12 Volt Car Battery

[rfdesq]

Has anyone used a 12 volt car battery to power either their M1 or peripherals? I am looking for infomation on using a large capacity battery with a solar charging system. I want to know what precautions need to be taken so as not to fry anything.

 

[electron]

If it is sealed, I can't see why not, I know people run their 12VDC based CarPC's on a seperate battery in the trunk. Interesting idea for sure.

 

[upstatemike]

In my previous phone system the battery backup was 2 Marine deep cycle batteries in series. You will want a deep cycle sealed battery and not a high crank short use type. The sealed part is important to avoid the generation of explosive hydrogen gas (which can ruin your day).

 

[rfdesq]

Thanks. Now the research leans toward sealed deep cycle marine batteries. What about some sort of diode protection circuits?

 

[upstatemike]

I used mine with a charger designed for the purpose. At a minimum you need a diode to prevent backfeed to your solar cells/charger and another large one on the output to your load.

 

[rfdesq]

I used mine with a charger designed for the purpose. At a minimum you need a diode to prevent backfeed to your solar cells/charger and another large one on the output to your load.

Do you recommend only powering peripherals or taking the chance and powering the M1 also? I'm afraid of the battery charging circuit in the M1. I'm not sure how to bypass the charging circuit and only feed 12 volts to the panel.

 

[upstatemike]

I don't know if there is a way to safely feed an M1 from an external 12VDC source. You will need to check with Spanky on that.

 

[electron]

There are 2 contact points underneath the M1 power switch which if jumpered, let you start/run the M1 on just battery power.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

The most important thing would be to properly fuse the feed. You have a LOT of amperage potential there!

 

[Spanky]

The M1 will charge the large batteries if the are not run down. When the batteries are run down there is not enough charge current to bring back a deeply discharged battery. You can use any power supply set for 13.8 volts DC connected directly to the battery to recharge the battery. The battery may be also connected to the battery input wires of the M1.

Hope to see some of you at CEDIA Show