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  • Going camping and using solar for 1st time

    Hello guys and gals!

    My girlfriend and I are going to a music festival in June in Tennessee for 4 days. It's gonna be about 95ish degrees probably and I was hoping to ask you experts on here how I might go about getting ready to use a solar panel to charge a car OR lawnmower battery, whichever one would be bettery, to power some fans. I have been researching a little bit but i still don't fully grasp the concept. I would like to get all the materials I might need for no more than $100. I could use another fan if the one i posted down below uses too much power. But if you guys might direct me to some decent solar panels, also if I would need the thing to keep it from overcharging the battery??? I forgot what the name of this piece was. But like I said, hopefully everything(solar panel, overcharging thing) for under 100 bucks. I also would probably need an inverter, to actually plugs things into? lol





    The battery I have is http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/a...1-P#fragment-2
    The fan i'm wanting to use is... well i can't find it online(its kinda old) but the specs on it are...120v ac, 1.0A, 60Hz

  • #2
    $100 - not going to happen with that fan or battery.

    Buy one or a couple of the cheapie solar direct units of fleabay and you can at least have a fan during the day.

    If you want to charge a battery propably have better luck installing an isolator in your vehicle and charge a "DEEP CYCLE" battery from it each day.

    WWW

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    • #3
      Sorry but this is not going to happen with that fan. One fan that will work and stay within your budget is this one.

      MSEE, PE

      Comment


      • #4
        how far away from 100 bucks are we? Like i said i could get another fan if need be. i feel like im really really gonna need a fan, mostly at night. not so much during the day

        Comment


        • #5
          also, the isolator...it uses my alternator to charge the battery? So i have to crank the car? We can't move for 4 days due to space. It might be bettery for me just get a small generator

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Ogbassist View Post
            . It might be bettery for me just get a small generator
            Now that is a much better choice!

            Comment


            • #7
              I am afraid you will not get much of anything for $100. Even a generator will cost a lot more and the cheaper models would be very noisy as compared to the better Inverter style quieter ones.

              What you may be able to do is get a 200 watt inverter to power the fan and hook it up to your car battery. Then run the car every so often to recharge it's battery. You will spend some money on the fuel you use but in the long run along with the cost of the 200 watt inverter it may come out to around that $100 limit you want to spend.

              Going with any type of solar battery system will be very costly compared to even running a truck engine to charge it's battery.

              There are also those inexpensive battery operated fans that run off of D cell size batteries. A couple of those might help cool you down.
              Last edited by SunEagle; 04-21-2014, 12:44 PM. Reason: spelling, added comment about bat op fans

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Ogbassist View Post
                Hello guys and gals!

                My girlfriend and I are going to a music festival in June in Tennessee for 4 days. It's gonna be about 95ish degrees probably and I was hoping to ask you experts on here how I might go about getting ready to use a solar panel to charge a car OR lawnmower battery, whichever one would be bettery, to power some fans. I have been researching a little bit but i still don't fully grasp the concept. I would like to get all the materials I might need for no more than $100. I could use another fan if the one i posted down below uses too much power. But if you guys might direct me to some decent solar panels, also if I would need the thing to keep it from overcharging the battery??? I forgot what the name of this piece was. But like I said, hopefully everything(solar panel, overcharging thing) for under 100 bucks. I also would probably need an inverter, to actually plugs things into? lol





                The battery I have is http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/a...1-P#fragment-2
                The fan i'm wanting to use is... well i can't find it online(its kinda old) but the specs on it are...120v ac, 1.0A, 60Hz
                Look at getting a couple of 12 Volt oscillating fans. ebay has them along with others.
                I bought a few on clearance at Walmart a few years ago for $6 each.

                Something like the school bus drivers used years ago.

                We went camping with 4 or 5 of the little air devils blowing on us all night long using a 115 or 125 Ah
                deep cycle battery. I get good results from the large Walmart Maxx battery for under a hundred dollars.

                Plus back in the day we would run those type of batteries into the ground and not worry about it.
                It would have taken more than one night to drain the battery using efficient little 12 Volt fans.

                Also used them when I lived off-grid for 7 years. This was before off-grid was so cool .

                The main thing is not what you takes to a big happinin, like the concert -
                but what you don't get picked clean for and
                still have left to returns with.


                Bill Blake

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Ogbassist View Post
                  how far away from 100 bucks are we?
                  About $900 short.
                  MSEE, PE

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                  • #10
                    b.jpg

                    30watt Bilge Blower/50watt Panel... nothing in between.

                    $120.00

                    Turbine style fan will only blow while sun is shining.
                    The hotter the sun, the faster the fan blows.

                    23-17494.jpg
                    Available at any Marine Supply store.
                    [CENTER]SunLight @ Night[/CENTER]

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Shockah View Post
                      [ATTACH=CONFIG]4094[/ATTACH]

                      30watt Bilge Blower/50watt Panel... nothing in between.

                      $120.00

                      Turbine style fan will only blow while sun is shining.
                      The hotter the sun, the faster the fan blows.

                      [ATTACH=CONFIG]4093[/ATTACH]
                      Available at any Marine Supply store.
                      Nice little kit except the OP wants the fan to run at night.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by SunEagle View Post
                        Nice little kit except the OP wants the fan to run at night.
                        ooops, haha.

                        95° @ night?! ... I'd opt to watch the music festival on TV, from the comforts of home...
                        [CENTER]SunLight @ Night[/CENTER]

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          try a small DC computer fan (about $10) it may work with your panel.
                          Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
                          || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
                          || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

                          solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
                          gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Thanks for the reply guys, the generator is out of the question so i'm still trying to figure a way. Using a different fan....http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/380753902194?lpid=82... and this solar panel http://www.amazon.com/RENOGY-Watts-P...productDetails... also again... this is my battery..http://www.shopping.com/autocraft-go...HA==/info?sb=1. I'm still a little confused on figuring out amp hours of a battery. Would I need an inverter if the fan was already DC?

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                            • #15
                              also, if this WOULD work ok, would I need http://www.amazon.com/Pairs-Female-S..._bxgy_hi_img_z these things and some 12/14awg wire? Ive never done this before but i would like to learn.

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