Portable polishing possibility?

E

epbrown01

New member
I'm an apartment dweller, so I don't have access to a power outlet to run a PC, and I've done searches on this forum for cordless polishers and found the consensus to be :nono . I've seen suggestions for running a PC from a power inverter, but I don't like the idea of my car idling for hours to prevent draining the battery or draining the battery with the power off.



I was thinking of getting a second car battery and running the inverter from that. I could trickle-charge the battery when I'm not using it, and when I am I'd get better performance and battery life from even a small car battery than from any cordless model. (I once helped a neighbor jump her new-style Beetle and I had train sets that used bigger batteries than that little thing!) Anyone ever tried this, or have any thoughts?
 
You can get a decent generator online (ebay or otherwise) for $250 that will easily run a PC, vacuum, extractor, steamer, etc. I ended buying a Porter Cable generator with a Honda engine because I use it a lot for my business, but I could have bought an equivalent generator for 1/3 the cost.
 
It is very possible to run a PC off an inverter hooked up to a spare battery. One thing you would want to consider is how much drain you'll have from it, as you wouldn't want to run the battery all the way down (charging would take longer, generally just not good for the battery).



Working in a battery store myself, I've pondered the possibilities, and figured that a good sized marine deep cycle (or two hooked in parallel, probably BCI 27) setup with a 1000W inverter would be sufficient for portable polishing, and it would cost you a little less than a generator. It wouldn't make any noise, no tedious maintenance needed (top the battery fluids off if needed), and it will last you quite a while.
 
another option is a optima deep cycle there are different version put that in your car and you can install the invertor and run the pc with some tunes....but your best bet is what Rag said by a genarator in the long run it will pay for itself just imaging you by two batteries plus trickle charger eventually not lasting either time to by a new one...so in the end you pill either pay for it up front or in the back end.....
 
The generator is a good idea - I hadn't even thought of it, but it smacks of overkill. I'd only be using this set-up twice a year for my full detail. I also like the idea of how quiet a battery set-up would be - one less thing for touchy neighbors to grouse about. Thanks for the tips.
 
I would look into generators before I would go the battery and trickle charger route. Plus, if you ever loose power in the apartments you will be the only person still watching tv! :lol
 
Why not just use 100ft extension cord? That is what I used when I do mine in the apt complex. Park as close to my living area, and I tossed an extension for over the balcony and detailed away. 100 ft was more then adequet. If not buy 2-3 100 ft cords and go to town, they are only like $10 at wally world or sears. ::shrugs::
 
CkretAjint said:
Why not just use 100ft extension cord? That is what I used when I do mine in the apt complex. Park as close to my living area, and I tossed an extension for over the balcony and detailed away. 100 ft was more then adequet. If not buy 2-3 100 ft cords and go to town, they are only like $10 at wally world or sears. ::shrugs::
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Just want to throw in that you will want a proper gauge cord, because for every couple feet you gain, you lose some power.
 
look at pepboys if one is near you..they have a small one I believe 1250 watts for cheap money....maybe 150.00 or under.....



I just looked on their page..it is 1200 watts....for 129.99





1000 watts continuous output, 1200 watts max. With 2-stroke, 63cc engine, recoil start, voltage regulator.



$149.98 promo price - $20.00 mail-in rebate = $129.99 each





the next one up is a 3150 watt for 249.00





I bought the 3500 watt for 279.00 a few months ago for power back up during the winter...we loose power here if wind blows to hard...lol...



the generator works great....and quiet ..has a huge muffler....



Al
 
CkretAjint said:
Why not just use 100ft extension cord? That is what I used when I do mine in the apt complex. Park as close to my living area, and I tossed an extension for over the balcony and detailed away. 100 ft was more then adequet. If not buy 2-3 100 ft cords and go to town, they are only like $10 at wally world or sears. ::shrugs::
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The way my apartment complex is set-up (with parking scattered away from the buildings) added to the fact I'm on an upper floor would mean a lot of cords trailing around creating a trip hazard. There's no way it wouldn't generate complaints.



The generator option is looking pretty attractive, though...
 
i've heard of pneumatic orbital polishers, i wonder if these are any good, and could they run of some sort of compressed air tank. just a question, i have no idea if this is feasible.
 
You might consider a portable battery pack. It combines a battery, inverter and charger all in one easy to carry (though a bit heavy) container. It looks something like a portable jump starter except a little bigger and heavier and it doesn't have jumper cables but instead a couple of 110 outlets.



I bought one a few years ago at Pep Boys for $99 on sale (regurlarly $149). It is great.



You could probably even use one of the jump starter gizmos as some of them have built in inverters and outlets but probably not has durable as what I have.



You can even get heavier duty models of portable battery systems that come mounted on something that resembles a hand truck. I've seen one on Amazon for $250.
 
AutoCadillac said:
You might consider a portable battery pack. It combines a battery, inverter and charger all in one easy to carry (though a bit heavy) container. It looks something like a portable jump starter except a little bigger and heavier and it doesn't have jumper cables but instead a couple of 110 outlets.



I bought one a few years ago at Pep Boys for $99 on sale (regurlarly $149). It is great.
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This is a good idea, but can something like this handle the load? The PC 7424 has a 3.7 amp motor and needs a 120V outlet. I've found packs that can handle up to 7 amps, but how long would a battery last running a PC?
 
Not being an electrical engineer or electrician or for that matter someone who should be near electricity, I probably have this all wrong. But, take this item at Amazon



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...0971240?_encoding=UTF8&s=hi&v=glance&n=228013



It says it has a 20-amp hour battery. So does that mean it could power the PC for over 5 hours? I'm not sure I am right in how to calculate this. I know I've run several power tools off mine for 2 or 3 hours at a stretch without running it out of juice. But, I don't even know the rating of mine.



I'll get back to you in a couple of weeks when I get my PC and test it out on my pack.
 
I checked the stats and the model in the link can handle up to 5 amps - more than enough. I'm as ignorant as you on how to calculate the maximum run time, but it sounds about right. If it could run a PC for 5 hours, that'd be plenty of time.
 
Give me a day. I can calculate it.



Not that it'll take me a day to calculate, just that I'm busy/lazy right now.
 
AutoCadillac said:
Not being an electrical engineer or electrician or for that matter someone who should be near electricity, I probably have this all wrong. But, take this item at Amazon



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...0971240?_encoding=UTF8&s=hi&v=glance&n=228013



It says it has a 20-amp hour battery. So does that mean it could power the PC for over 5 hours? I'm not sure I am right in how to calculate this. I know I've run several power tools off mine for 2 or 3 hours at a stretch without running it out of juice. But, I don't even know the rating of mine.



I'll get back to you in a couple of weeks when I get my PC and test it out on my pack.
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I just searched the web, and the 20 amp-hour is a standard for batteries operating at 12 V. So yes, it could operate something that uses a 3.7 amp current for nearly 5 hours.



The problem is, that's assuming the appliance runs at 10-12 V. The PC does not. It runs at 120 V. So that's 444 watts.



Thankfully, I didn't have to do much calculation since that site said that in terms of watts: it can run 400 watts for 5 minutes. That translates to an operation time of 4 1/2 minutes.



Sooo. Unless you plan to polish for under 5 minutes, I'd suggest using it as a converter with the engine on.
 
It has been a while since I studied electricity formulas, but we have Watts = Volts x Amps



So then, say you buy a typical marine deep cycle battery (approx. $80).



The PC takes 3.7 amps, which on 120V is 444 watts.



So then you slap a suitable sized inverter onto the battery.The group 27 deep cycle marine battery I'm using for reference has a rating of 100 Amp/Hrs, well using that w=va formula again, on a 12v system, you get 1200 watts/hr.



So pulling 444 watts on the PC, you get a runtime of 2.7 hours (1200/444)



But remember you can double your time just by adding another battery in parallel.



Since you said this is just for your personal use, that seems like a suitable amount of time.



So you could have 2x marine deep cycle batteries = $160

A 700 watt inverter = $70

Good charger to keep the batteries maintained = $40



Total = $270 or less if you need less runtime. The setup is quiet and not terribly heavy. No need to buy fuel or oil, just add water to top off the cells.



Watch me be totally wrong.. I'm so bad with formulas. :(
 
AutoCadillac said:
I'll get back to you in a couple of weeks when I get my PC and test it out on my pack.
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I received my PC this week and brought out my fully charged battery pack (Century Electri-Pak) to try is out on. I think the Electri-Pak is similar in capacity to the $99 model on Amazon.



I turned the PC on and as soon as I put a very small amount of pressure on it, the Electri-Pak cut-off from overload. So, that idea is a bust at least with the small battery packs.
 
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