Quote :

"Okay, got a battery over lunch. http://www.walmart.com/ip/EverStart-27DC-6-Marine-Battery/16795212 115 Amp-Hours at 1A. I plan on running nothing more than a 45W TV through it. how long will this baby last? TV power stats: Voltage, Hz 100V - 240V, 50/60 Hz Standby Mode 0.21W Power Consumption 44W Using an inverter(400W) that hooks directly to the battery"

Well, i'm new to this battery thing and have only done some cursory research, so I could be way wrong, but here's what I understand so far and maybe some more experienced/knowledgeable folks can confirm or discredit.

A 115Ah battery rated at 1A means that the manufacturer says it will take 115 hours at a constant load of 1A to drain the battery completely until it's completely dead. I doubt you want to do that, so maybe assume you want to only drain it down to 40% (or use 60% of it), so change that ceiling to 69Ah. This means theoretically you can pull a 1 amp load for 69 hours and use 60% of the battery.

So if your TV is rated at 44W and you assume 120V operation, then you'll be pulling 0.36 amps to run it. We also have to add in inefficiency of the inverter, so even if it's only 50% efficient you should still be pulling less than one amp. Round it up to 1 amp for fudge factors, and you should be able to run the TV for longer than two days.

That seems long to me, so I dunno, maybe I've missed something fundamentally here, but that's the way I understand this stuff so far.

The bottom line is that you should ask specialkay because he's the authority on all power inverters and all off-grid power solutions, my suggestions will result in certain destruction of power and/or death.

[Edited on September 30, 2011 at 4:49 PM. Reason : new page, question quote]

9/30/2011 4:47:42 PM

CAN'T WAIT

9/30/2011 10:34:02 PM

9/30/2011 10:41:59 PM

well, at least i had fun in the tx lot yesterday. perfect weather, just a tad windy.

10/2/2011 11:57:36 AM

What's for lunch?

11/2/2011 3:26:23 PM

anyone have experience smuggling a keg in?

11/2/2011 4:24:40 PM

put a towel over it and you should be good-to-go

11/2/2011 5:03:17 PM

Please forgive the ignorance, but is there any type of tailgating for basketball games? Or is it just pre-gaming at someone's house?

11/4/2011 9:35:40 AM

a few years ago (haven't been in a while) there used to be a decent tailgate in that lot behind Vaughn Towers. Obviously don't expect a football like tailgate.

[Edited on November 4, 2011 at 9:44 AM. Reason : ]

11/4/2011 9:43:36 AM

This week we are doing a big pot of chili, our normal deep fried stuff (wings, funnel cakes, etc), pancakes, sausage, and whatever other random stuff people bring

I'm going to try to be there at 7:30am (which is sleeping in for me... i'm usually at work by 6:45... and last saturday i was out at 3am cooking a pig!)

11/4/2011 11:14:30 AM

My family and I will be eating breaded/baked lambs head. Yummm

11/4/2011 3:10:36 PM

cant believe i missed this gem

Quote :

"So if your TV is rated at 44W and you assume 120V operation, then you'll be pulling 0.36 amps to run it. We also have to add in inefficiency of the inverter, so even if it's only 50% efficient you should still be pulling less than one amp. Round it up to 1 amp for fudge factors, and you should be able to run the TV for longer than two days."

this is why you are stupid spydyrwyr

Quote :

"so I dunno, maybe I've missed something fundamentally here"

why would you assume 120V operation? Your supply is 12V.

44W/12V = 3.6 A

inverter efficiency ranges from 50%-90% depending on the load and quality of the inverter

if you bought a true deep cycle battery you can drain it down lower than 40% without damaging it

assuming 50% efficiency you can run the TV for 16 hours

he will be fine using it for a tailgate, but dont go spouting off when you obviously have no idea what you are talking about

11/4/2011 3:54:32 PM

^why such venom? jeez, i openly admitted that i've never done a battery setup before, but no one was responding to him and I was at least trying to spur on some discussion. I even said that the numbers I ran seemed way too much, clearly stated that i probably missed something fundamental, and specifically told him to talk to you. I laced my post with disclaimers and uncertainty, yet you say I'm "spouting off" and call me stupid. I'm not sure why you see the need to be a dickhead about all this, but if that tickles your pickle, then that's cool.

Go Pack.

11/4/2011 4:38:04 PM

yeah, that was totally uncalled for. we're all friends here.

11/4/2011 4:44:22 PM

Tailgating question- I always park in either TX, Trinity, or Fairgrounds lot, but the only permit I can get at this time is for Cardinal Gibbons lot. Are you allowed to drink in that lot?

11/14/2011 5:32:07 PM