Charging Batteries IN CAR :)

S

superhardrocker

Active member
Any of you chaps tried charging your camera batteries in your car? If so, how did you do it? I have a dvx100b, and hmc150.
I'm thinking about buying some sort of plug converter for my car, but I'm not sure my car 12 volt outlet can handle it.
It would be great to charge you batteries when you're on the road for hours and hours.
 
Go to Best Buy. You can get a power strip that plugs into the cigarette lighter port. Works great for charging batteries on the road.
 
It's all about the connection. I can charge a smaller USB battery as well as a 5400Mah Panny at the same time from a small 150W cigarette lighter inverter.

If you want to charge a few things at once I'd suggest buying a hefty inverter, as well as some large gauge wire, and wiring the inverter directly to the car battery.

P.S. depending on sound needs you may need to upgrade the battery so that you can run the inverter with the car off, and still be able to start it afterwords....something like a deep cycle marine battery or some such....this whole setup can come in really handy depending on what power options are on set, like for instance if there is no power, lol.
 
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I set up an Big output "Pure cinewave" inverter in my car, great to be able to use any 240 voltage gear, pure cinewave is perfect for laptops and on occasion I install a Mac tower for on road editing and fast encoding, Make sure your car battery is in good condition and that it is a Big Amp hour also.
This has saved my bacon many times in the news shoot n run.

Cheers
Tom K
olinevideo.com.au
 
Be very careful with the positive and negative sides to those adapters. I fried the motherboard on my laptop once. Easy to do.
 
bobgiff said:
Be very careful with the positive and negative sides to those adapters. I fried the motherboard on my laptop once. Easy to do.
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I think this is a very horrible thing to mention, as all you'll do is discourage people from seeking mobile power solutions.

To clear this up folks...unless you're trying to wire up your own equipment, i.e. you're breaking out the wire strippers, electrical tape, and soldering iron, there is absolutely NO CHANCE AT ALL of frying your equipment....aiside from the usual chance you have every time you plug something in.

If you depend on manufacturer supplied battery chargers, power adapters, and the like combined with a decent car inverter(don't buy the cheapest thing you can find), you'll never run into any troubles....as always you should depend on the advice, or installation expertise of a professional....don't attempt any setup if you are unfamiliar....but don't be discouraged, as this is a normal setup.....pro videographers and cinematograpers use inverters to power their stuff all the time.
 
I'll repeat for those wanting common sense. Even on "expensive" adapters be careful to match the polarity, the + and - sides of the connector to the adapter before plugging in your electronics or you take the risk of frying your laptop motherboards and electronics.

spscarcord.jpg
 
Tom 4 said:
I set up an Big output "Pure cinewave" inverter in my car, great to be able to use any 240 voltage gear, pure cinewave is perfect for laptops and on occasion I install a Mac tower for on road editing and fast encoding, Make sure your car battery is in good condition and that it is a Big Amp hour also.
This has saved my bacon many times in the news shoot n run.

Cheers
Tom K
olinevideo.com.au
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tom4 is doing it the right way. you all should be using a power inverter that's pure sine wave and not something crappy from best buy or circuit city (r.i.p). those ones are usually modified sine wave which is not good for sensitive electronics like laptops, camcorders, camera's, battery chargers, etc... some power inverters will output a really dirty signal which can prematurely destroy most laptop and camcorder batteries in a very short time. and by that i dont mean an hour or two or a day or two. it could be months or a year, and thats bad for a battery thats suppose to last atleast 4 years with still being able to hold atleast a 70% charge. i would personally shop online, spend just a little bit more and purchase a good power inverter that wont damage my equipment that has cost me alot of money. i mean i have already spent all this money on them whats another 30-60 dollars to help protect them.
 
Hi Marduk,

I also forgot to mention I also connect 3 port UPS from the Inverter and use it as a power board, that way if the battery dies you have time to shut down equipment.

Cheers
Tom K
olinevideo.com.au
 
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