Re: Power Outlets

Are there power outlets easily accessible to the public around the campgrounds? A family friend with a medical device requires his battery pack to be recharged every few days.

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Wicket
Are there power outlets easily accessible to the public around the campgrounds? A family friend with a medical device requires his battery pack to be recharged every few days.

The restrooms have outlets.

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eeek

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Wicket
Are there power outlets easily accessible to the public around the campgrounds? A family friend with a medical device requires his battery pack to be recharged every few days.

The restrooms have outlets.

Another option would be to use a power inverter that can plug into a car's lighter socket.
See, e.g.: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_2_14?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=power+inverter&sprefix=power+inverter

I would go with the power inverter otherwise one would have to standby in the restroom while the charging took place. Chances are high that the gear would disappear if left unattended in the restroom.

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Old Dude

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mrcondron
otherwise one would have to standby in the restroom while the charging took place.

Recently saw a cellphone being charged in a restroom at Camp 4. Nobody around.

Power inverters:

http://www.ske-art.com/z/power-inverters.php

Guarding the battery for 1-2 hours is probably not fun in the restroom. A power inverter is a great idea! I should check on the wattage rating. Is it usually recommended to leave the car running while charging or the battery usage is minimal? Wouldn't want to have a dead car battery!

Here is a start:

https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/search.asp?stext=inverter

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Old Dude

A small 100 -150 watt inverter driving a charger for a cell phone isn't going to deaden a healthy car battery overnight.

However you said " medical device requires his battery pack to be recharged every few days"

How large is this battery pack? how many Ah? whats the wattage of the charger? If it's big enough, and you're doing a deep discharge cycle on the battery pack, it might be best to find some way to use an outlet, or to run the car part of the time while you're charging it. And don't run it at idle. Slightly faster than idle. Will you be driving around doing any touristing? Thats when you could be charging it. Do you have a handicapped placard? That lets you drive to Happy Isles, Mirror Lake etc.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2011 12:45AM by qumqats.

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qumqats
A small 100 -150 watt inverter driving a charger for a cell phone isn't going to deaden a healthy car battery overnight.

However you said " medical device requires his battery pack to be recharged every few days"

How large is this battery pack? how many Ah? whats the wattage of the charger? If it's big enough, and you're doing a deep discharge cycle on the battery pack, it might be best to find some way to use an outlet, or to run the car part of the time while you're charging it. And don't run it at idle. Slightly faster than idle. Will you be driving around doing any touristing? Thats when you could be charging it. Do you have a handicapped placard? That lets you drive to Happy Isles, Mirror Lake etc.

Addendum to the above reply.
Wicket, the relevant information that you want pertaining to your car battery is its rated Reserve Capacity (RC):
http://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/carfaq7.htm#rc
Using that information along with the answers to the questions that qumquats asks above will enable one to do a simple calculation to determine if you need to be concerned about draining the car battery.
(If you're not familier with the electrical calculations, just provide the answers and we can do it for you. The battery pack voltage would also be needed. Alternatively, the 120V line current and charging time would suffice. Perhaps you have a web link to the specifications of the medical device that you could provide?)

Wow. You guys are so helpful. Much more information then I need. A simple inverter should do. It doesn't require much wattage to recharge the battery.

I use one of the inverters that has a battery itself. You can charge your devices w/out even turning on the car. Almost like a portable power supply. Comes pretty handy and you can charge it both at home via an outlet or via the car.

I have one of those all purpose inverters/battery/air pump/battery started... it is actually very handy.

Actually, this will come in heady to charge my phone too. Why didn't I ever think of it.

I was like, I didn't post anything about power outlets!!! Great, this is going to get confusing....

Haha... sorry.