Battery powered PC?
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Mark Topic as New
- Mark Topic as Read
- Float this Topic for Current User
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Printer Friendly Page
- Plusnet Community
- :
- Forum
- :
- Other forums
- :
- Tech Help - Software/Hardware etc
- :
- Re: Battery powered PC?
Battery powered PC?
11-02-2012 1:23 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
I'm looking to put one in a remote location that has no power. It doesn't need to be anything fancy, doesn't even need a monitor or anything in truth, just a bare headless unit that I can plug the odd USB device into and access it remotely via a LAN or 3G connection.
Anyone know of anything?
Re: Battery powered PC?
11-02-2012 2:30 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
http://www.maplin.co.uk/search?criteria=inverter
However.... you WILL need a HEAVY DUTY battery to be able to run the PC for any length of time...
How long do you intend to have it running ? Will you be able to replace the battery with "like for like".... i.e. one in service and one on charge...?
The alternative would be to use a cheap secondhand Laptop, which would draw less current from the battery, thus making the battery replacement period longer.....
Re: Battery powered PC?
11-02-2012 2:55 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
You may need to parallel a number of batteries to get the life
Re: Battery powered PC?
11-02-2012 3:29 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Quote from: shutter The alternative would be to use a cheap secondhand Laptop, which would draw less current from the battery, thus making the battery replacement period longer.....
I also wondered about this as I have a couple of old dead laptops upstairs (dead HDDs) which would be perfect for the job but there is no way I could squeeze that amount of life out of a laptop battery.
So, is there a way to get a laptop to run from an external battery without an invertor? (I don't want to use an invertor due to the wasted energy). I was hoping to find something that could just plug in somewhere and be connected directly to the 12V.
@OldJim, yes I always have a spare car battery floating around somewhere and if need be, I can obtain more of them but its the actual connection to the computer itself without an invertor that concerns me. Ideally I need battery life of about a week to two weeks.
Basically I need to monitor a site remotely via a camera and thought a webcam would do the job. Then by USB I can also activate a door lock via a usb switch card I have.
Re: Battery powered PC?
11-02-2012 4:09 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Two car batteries, (one on service, and the other charging)... but you would need to visit them every 4 hours or so, to make sure they were still powering the laptop... Not sure how much drain there would be, you would need someone to do the maths for you... and that would give you an idea of how long you could leave the battery running the laptop before needing to change them over....
Re: Battery powered PC?
11-02-2012 4:37 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Power consumption is 2.5W, so a 12v battery is ample.
It's not a very powerful PC - but you could possibly use its USB connection to drive a relay to switch on an inverter.
"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."
Re: Battery powered PC?
11-02-2012 4:46 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
My Dell laptop runs on 19.5v at 3.3 amps.... ( you can also find this info on the back of the mains supply adapter block).
You then need to make sure your car adapter can deliver the same voltage and amps....
Also check the size and shape of the power connector plug/socket on the laptop....
My laptop has the "normal" round type, but my wife`s Dell has a octagon shape and is larger than mine ......
Re: Battery powered PC?
11-02-2012 6:00 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
My Asus netbook takes 19.5V at 2.1A
thought that number looked familier it Maplin at £19
Re: Battery powered PC?
12-02-2012 12:40 AM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Quote from: A You could try one of these http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry_Pi when it comes out.
[Snip]
Thanks for the link wen the Raspberry Pi comes out I will be buying 1 or 2 of them
Re: Battery powered PC?
12-02-2012 11:27 AM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
These types of PSU normally have lower wattage ratings than desktop PSUs, but will be enough to power a basic PC. Expecially if you use them with something like a mini-itx motherboard. The Jetway JNF94-270 motherboard, for example, has an idle consumption of only 16 watts rising to about 25 watts peak consumption. I run a similar board with a hard disc and slimline laptop-style DVD on a 60 watt PSU.
Another good site for such components is www.linitx.com
Re: Battery powered PC?
12-02-2012 11:29 AM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Re: Battery powered PC?
12-02-2012 3:38 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Re: Battery powered PC?
12-02-2012 5:55 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
For example, if the PC consumed an average of 30 watts: that is 2.5 amps at 12 volts. A typical car battery is rated at 40 or 50 A-h: 40 divided by 2.5 is 16 hours, 50 divided by 2.5 is 20 hours. A diesel car battery might get you more than 24 hours. A golf buggy battery rated at 120 A-h might last 48 hours under the same conditions, but would be expensive.
My understanding is that the A-h rating changes depending on the current consumed. If you discharge a battery slower than it is designed for, the A-h rating can actually increase, but then the rates of internal self-discharge can become more important.
If your application would allow you to shut the PC down (by suspending/hibernating the box perhaps), the battery life could be extended significantly. Incidentally, I think it could be possible to get the average power consumption of a computer down to less than 20 watts with the right motherboard and using a large memory card as a disc drive. Maybe a lot less with a SBC like a Gumstix, a Beagle Board or a Cotton Candy stick. None of which I have ever used so, I can't offer any experiences sadly.
Re: Battery powered PC?
12-02-2012 6:34 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
instead of using the "normal" heavy duty * car battery, you might consider purchasing what is known as a "leisure battery".... which is designed to power caravan lighting and similar low power requirements, therefore more "life" in the available ampere hours...
* Heavy Duty - this refers to the "duty" called upon by the vehicle`s starter motor.... and not the length of life in the battery...where the starter motor requires a significantly larger current drain at the start of the "duty" cycle...
whilst this page is one of the pages you get when you google "leisure batteries" it is given as a guide.... click on the "go" beside each battery to see the prices.
http://www.advancedbatterysupplies.co.uk/lucasgelleisuremarinebatteries.html
whichever "supplier" you choose from those given by google, there is no reason why you could not contact them and give them your requirements to see what they recommend....
Re: Battery powered PC?
12-02-2012 6:59 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Mark Topic as New
- Mark Topic as Read
- Float this Topic for Current User
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Printer Friendly Page
- Plusnet Community
- :
- Forum
- :
- Other forums
- :
- Tech Help - Software/Hardware etc
- :
- Re: Battery powered PC?