DIY Battery backup

md_b3.jpg
Emeka sent in this nice DIY battery backup for your computer, or any other device. The article is based on 220v, but could easily be adapted for 110v.

South Africans, as elsewhere in Africa are experiencing almost daily - "load-shedding". The country cannot meet the demand for electricity resulting in daily scheduled power-outages nationwide.

Make your own battery backup

Related:
solarCart1.jpg
DIY Solar power backup

Posted by Marc de Vinck | Mar 21, 2008 01:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email This | Bookmark and Share | Digg this!

Recent Entries

Comments

Oldest comments listed first.

Posted by: Captain Obvious on March 21, 2008 at 8:11 AM

I am failing to see how a bought inverter, battery, and power strip are in any way a 'Make' article.

Not only that, this is a manual system. The power goes out, you lose all power.

A much better solution (and previously on Make) would be to take a 'dead' UPS that is fairly beefy (APC1500 or better) and connect a bog-standard SLA Battery to the charge terminals so that you would get hours of runtime out of the unit rather than minutes.

Taking it one step further, a PV controller and a battery bank would let you charge your batteries from the mains, a PV array, or a generator.

Also, replacing that monitor with a LCD would save a bunch too.

Captain Obvious, away!


Posted by: Tom on March 21, 2008 at 9:16 AM

As a south african who experience load-shedding almost everyday, I can appreciate something like this. Although as the previous poster pointed out its not a perfect solution but it's a start. It's projects like these that get other makers thinking about improvements and other solutions. It's already got me thinking about some ideas and btw, load-shedding sucks ;)


Posted by: computerwiz_222 on March 23, 2008 at 7:14 PM

I use a automotive booster pack with a 200 watt inverter plugged into the DC Jack. It works GREAT! I use my laptop with a 17ah SLA battery and it runs for a solid 8 hours with max battery on. Then the 8 hours of internal battery life.

Although this is not a perfect system, it is still very cool.

When I was working up north as a recreation leader, I used a system similar to this on a golf cart to run two strings of icicle Christmas lights for a Christmas parade. It ran for about 3 hours, but the strings were 50 watts each, so this put a big load on the batteries. I now have two booster packs and a few loose SLA batteries that were recovered from scooters and this is a cool way to keep something running for a while.

(btw, this was not my golf cart and I didn't want to go tapping into the battery system...)


Leave a comment


Subscribe to MAKE!Subscribe to MAKE Magazine!

Subscribe today, save 42% and get web access to MAKE free. MAKE Digital Edition is available only to subscribers.

$34.95 / 1 year
(4 Quarterly Issues)

Subscribe now

How-to videos for Makers and Crafers!


Void your warranty, violate a user agreement, fry a circuit, blow a fuse, poke an eye out... Welcome to the Make Blog!

Features and more @ MAKE!


Get MAKE 14 - Subscribe or on newsstands!

Add MAKE to iGoogle - GoogleGoogle.
Add MAKE to your RSS reader - Real simple.
Add MAKE on Twitter.
Add MAKE on FriendFeed & the MAKE room.


Advertise here with FM.

Why advertise on MAKE?
Read what folks are saying about us!

Click here to advertise on MAKE!

Subscribe to MAKE Magazine!


Phillip Torrone.Phillip Torrone
Senior Editor
Tel: 707-827-7311


Gareth BranwynGareth Branwyn
Robot Maker


Kip KayKip Kay
Video Maker


Jonah Brucker-Cohen Jonah Brucker-Cohen
Artist / Researcher

Suggest a Site!

Natalie Zee DrieuNatalie Zee Drieu
Senior Editor
CRAFT


Becky Stern Becky Stern
Culture jammer


Collin CunninghamCollin Cunningham
Sound Maker


Marc de Vinck Marc de Vinck
CNC Maker

Current Podcast

itunesdl.gif Weekend Project: Styrofoam Plate Speaker Get surprisingly good sound from disposable picnicware with this easy to make and inexpensive Styrofoam Plate Speaker. Thanks go to José Pino for the original article in Make Magazine.To download Styrofoam Plate Speaker MP4 click here or subscribe in... More...

Get the Make blog sent via email

Enter your email to receive the Make blog each day:



WOW! Thanks to everyone involved with Maker Faire Bay Area: attendees, makers, exhibitors, sponsors, volunteers, and crew...it was AMAZING! Over 400 Makers and 60,000+ attendees! Be sure to check out the photos @ Flickr, and our Maker Faire posts for all the action! The next scheduled Maker Faire is Austin: Oct. 18th & 19th, 2008 - Travis County Expo Center!

Make Categories

www.flickr.com
photos in MAKE More photos in MAKE Flickr Pool
www.flickr.com
photos in Craft More photos in Craft Flickr Pool

Advertise here.
Why advertise on MAKE?
Read what folks are saying about us!

Click here to advertise on MAKE!
Subscribe to MAKE Magazine!

Recent Posts from the Craft: Blog

Recent Posts from the Hackszine Blog