Simon
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| posted on 18/6/06 at 10:34 PM |
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As has been said, solar panels aren't efficient, the manufacturing process is extremely nonfriendly to the environment, so you'd be better
off with traditional methods.
If camp site has plugin power, that's no 1 for pro environment.
Then batteries charged at home. Anything using your vehicle to produce power isn't "free", it just uses more fuel etc.
ATB
Simon
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RazMan
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| posted on 18/6/06 at 10:38 PM |
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Of course the six foot satellite dish you are going to need to get the internet access for the Locost forums MIGHT slow you down a bit on windy days
Cheers,
Raz
When thinking outside the box doesn't work any more, it's time to build a new box
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trogdor
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| posted on 19/6/06 at 08:19 AM |
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if ur laptop is the only thing u plan to run it should last quite awhile depending what u do with it, sorry thats not really helpful but it depends
what u do with the laptop and what make and model the laptop is, my laptop is a toshiba one thats really small with no disk drive etc which would be
good as it will mean it will have a lower drain, however the bigger laptops with dvd drives and big screens will drain the battery quicker.
what u really need is to work out how much power the laptop will take from the battery then u can work it out. though i would of thought if u were
using it for a few hours a day over an weekend, maybe a long weekend it would last ok, especially with an solar panel to top up the battery.
my housemate has gone home for awhile, had just missed him! so will ask when he comes back.
as mentioned above, good insulation will be the key in keeping ur self warm. if u have a good sleeping bag, with heat scavenged from the heater and
maybe the laptop? u can keep warm. u could also take heating sachet things that could be used to keep u warm if all else fails. though with a good
sleeping bag u can sleep putside in snow, so within a caravan u should be nice and toasty!
[Edited on 19/6/06 by trogdor]
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peterriley2
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| posted on 19/6/06 at 09:02 AM |
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ok so i need to work out out how much power my laptop uses on average use. cheers
Joel
If you dont respect yourself, dont expect respect from anyone else
Live your dreams, dont dream your life
Women only want you for one thing- everything!
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trogdor
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| posted on 19/6/06 at 03:58 PM |
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well looking at my laptop it uses 75W and 4.3A of power, therefore with an 50Ah optima battery it will last approx 10 hours. though this is very
simplified so hopefully someone can give u a better idea!
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Syd Bridge
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| posted on 19/6/06 at 04:18 PM |
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If you want to run AC/Heating, forget batteries and solar, and get a small petrol or diesel generator! It'll be the least trouble in the long
run. 
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peterriley2
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| posted on 19/6/06 at 04:27 PM |
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ok, i looked on the laptop, on the transformer it says output is 3.16A, doesnt say anything about watts, where would i find that out?
Joel
If you dont respect yourself, dont expect respect from anyone else
Live your dreams, dont dream your life
Women only want you for one thing- everything!
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peterriley2
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| posted on 19/6/06 at 04:31 PM |
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ok forget the last post, just found this:
19 VDC, 3.16A, 60 W output
Automatically adjusts for 100 to 240 VAC, 50 to 60 Hz power sources
thats the power specs for my lappy, how do i do the calculations for battery time etc?
Joel
If you dont respect yourself, dont expect respect from anyone else
Live your dreams, dont dream your life
Women only want you for one thing- everything!
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trogdor
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| posted on 19/6/06 at 05:06 PM |
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oooh urs uses less power than mine, it depends on what battery u will use on the caravan. what battery are u planning to use? ie how much are u going
to spend on the battery? u will want to the best u can afford!
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peterriley2
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| posted on 19/6/06 at 05:27 PM |
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i was thinking of one of the top 3
here, hopefully thryll cut the mustard cos i dont want to spend any more really. how much better will they be compared to
'standard' mororbike batteries? im also no sure as motorbike batteries arent supposed to be used till flat- theyre permanently being
charged on a bike.
Joel
If you dont respect yourself, dont expect respect from anyone else
Live your dreams, dont dream your life
Women only want you for one thing- everything!
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trogdor
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| posted on 19/6/06 at 06:16 PM |
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just had a quick look at the batteries and this one is prob the best, is hard to be sure though as they don't give much info!
cli
cky
it can be deep cycled 500 times so will be ok if u completely discharge it. not sure how long ur laptop will work as they don't provide any Ahr
info but this has the highest cranking amps so prob has the highest capcity too. so thats the one i would choose, it would be great if u could trial
them out and see which one lasts the longest as its hard to tell!
[Edited on 19/6/06 by trogdor]
[Edited on 19/6/06 by trogdor]
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tks
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| posted on 19/6/06 at 07:44 PM |
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yeah
forget heating but sleep with the lady in a warm bag... will be allot faster then a heating thing and solar panels.
i would also use the laptop.
i even can garantee you that there is even a voltage on the adapter wich would only maintain the battery at the same level but would't charge
the batteries!!
sow test the application.
if i was you i would buy 2 odessies...
and daily swap the one in the car with the one you used.
in that way you have the best choice of haveing it full.
make a pic of the BEC towing hte caravan should be funny to see really..
Tks
The above comments are always meant to be from the above persons perspective.
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trogdor
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| posted on 19/6/06 at 08:40 PM |
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have found this website on the web, which while is not completely related has some useful information.
http://www.powerstream.com/BPD.htm
reading through it i found this paragraph which explains how many amp hours u will need in ur battery depending on current drain and time wanted to
use it.
How many amp-hours do I need?
Cell capacity is rated in amp-hours or milliamp hours. The symbol for capacity is C. This is amps times hours. Divide by hours and you get amps,
divide by amps and you get hours. For example a 5 amp hour battery is the same as a 5000 milliamp-hour battery. If you want to discharge in 10 hours,
you can get a current of 5/10 = 0.5 amps. If you need 100 milliamps current, then you can run for 5000/100 = 50 hours.
Often a discharge or charge rate is given proportional to C. So a discharge rate of C/5 means C/(5 hours), or the constant current to fully discharge
the battery in 5 hours.
"The calculation of run time versus current is a rough estimate, but is accurate under the right conditions. The faster you discharge, the lower
the capacity of a battery. This trade-off depends on the battery chemistry and construction. Usually the capacity of a battery is quoted at a C/20
discharge rate. So an 12 amp hour battery sealed lead acid battery will actually put out a steady 0.6 amps for 20 hours. However, if you discharge the
same battery at 12 amps, you would expect to run an hour, but you will only last for 22 minutes. Also, if you wan to run at 10 milliamp you will get
less than the expected 1200 days, since self-discharge of the battery will limit your run time.
Different battery chemistries differ in this respect. Lead acid batteries are probably the worst at the rapid discharge end of the scale. NiCads and
NiMH are much better."
therefore with ur laptop using 3.12 amps of current and u wanting serveral hours a night, if u are somewhere remote then lets say u want 20 hours of
usage, this is quite alot i admit but will give u an Ahr figure of 62.4. i think one of the batteries u were considering had a 70Ahr capacity, the
other two didn't supply the capcity. So with an 70 Ahr battery u should be able to run ur laptop for 20 hours, this is probally abit optimistic
but u will prob get 15!
this should be enough for ur needs, especially with a solar panel to top up ur battery. however the fun part will be trying to connect the battery to
the laptop, as ur normal adapter will be no good, u will need a 12volt version using convertors etc.
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peterriley2
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| posted on 19/6/06 at 08:42 PM |
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i was planning on getting an oddysey battery for the bec, so that is a very good idea. if i used the relay thing from the alternator i wouldnt have to
swap them over at all (i think?).
on the pic thing, i started designing a locost a while ago, ill see how far i got and give ita ago at putting them together!
ps, thangs for all the replies so far, its been a great help!
Joel
If you dont respect yourself, dont expect respect from anyone else
Live your dreams, dont dream your life
Women only want you for one thing- everything!
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peterriley2
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| posted on 19/6/06 at 09:22 PM |
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trogdor- thankyou sooo much for the post, that is great info, 15 hours im sure will be ample, especially if i swap it with the car battery. im not a
very antisocial guy, so i dont want to be cooped up in the caravan all day long, i may not even use it for 2hours a night, which means it should be
pretty much self sustaining for around 10 days. i was designing the caravan for short weekend getaways, but realistically i love camping so this would
be extended to at least week stays. with that kind of battery time i may think about fitting a few speakers and pumping out some tunes!....maybe!
Joel
If you dont respect yourself, dont expect respect from anyone else
Live your dreams, dont dream your life
Women only want you for one thing- everything!
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peterriley2
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| posted on 19/6/06 at 09:32 PM |
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ok i only got the chassis done but you get an idea
ps. im not sure if i made it to scale- caravan looks too much higher than the car- alloys are the only part that i know are the right size!
 
Rescued attachment caravan and car chassis.jpg
Joel
If you dont respect yourself, dont expect respect from anyone else
Live your dreams, dont dream your life
Women only want you for one thing- everything!
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peterriley2
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| posted on 19/6/06 at 09:33 PM |
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and...
 
Rescued attachment caravan and car chassis2.jpg
Joel
If you dont respect yourself, dont expect respect from anyone else
Live your dreams, dont dream your life
Women only want you for one thing- everything!
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trogdor
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| posted on 19/6/06 at 10:14 PM |
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that does look pretty cool, what are u planning to make the caravan out off? fibreglass with a spaceframe chassis? have u decided what the interior is
going to be like?
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DIY Si
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| posted on 19/6/06 at 10:30 PM |
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Whilst quite cool, that'll look damn strange at a kit show! 
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DIY Si
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| posted on 19/6/06 at 10:37 PM |
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It'd flow a liitle better if the bec had a sizable roll bar. Help lift the topline a little before the caravan, if you get what I mean.
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trogdor
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| posted on 19/6/06 at 10:39 PM |
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it would be great to take to a kit car show, the looks on peeps faces! but it does look good, it reminds me of the saab caravan that was designed for
the 2 stroke 93's and 96's. that was a light weight caravan too. it was called the saabo and looks like this, is not quite as nice as ur
design tho!
[Edited on 20/6/06 by trogdor]
 
Rescued attachment Saabo 4.jpg
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Peteff
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| posted on 20/6/06 at 08:20 AM |
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That will be a horror to tow with a light car with the wheels that far back, you'll need some 600lb springs to keep it level. you need to do
some research into noseweights and balance points to work out where the axle needs to go, usually near the centre of your load area.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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peterriley2
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| posted on 20/6/06 at 04:35 PM |
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its gonna be fully carbon fibre (hopefully) with a very light space frame chassis, from 25x25 box, with 5mm angle going through the middle. ive
designed the suspension myself, and i was hoping that the load point would be where i wanted it, as my cargo (clothing etc) would rest above the axle
(wherever that be), and balance out the weights. ive designed the interior, ill post a side pic where you can see later on, although its very basic!!
Joel
If you dont respect yourself, dont expect respect from anyone else
Live your dreams, dont dream your life
Women only want you for one thing- everything!
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trogdor
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| posted on 20/6/06 at 06:26 PM |
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that sounds really trick! a carbon fibre caravan sounds really good, would be great to see it when u finish it. as an aside what software are u using
to create those images? have a ambious project of my own and want to get some experience of using a 3D modeller.
if u had to pay for it is there any open source software thats any good?
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peterriley2
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| posted on 20/6/06 at 07:06 PM |
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i use sketchUp, its made to design houses and large structures, but i find if what your doing isnt getting too technical and intricate its fine. its
much more user friendly than autocad and such, and has a very cool function that you can put the shadows onto things, depending on the time of year,
and time of day you want (although very pointless for me). i wouldnt really want to try designing a whole locost, ill put the bodywork on but thats as
far as ill get i think- no engine or running gear as im sure ill get very frustrated with it! i seem to remember you can download a freeware version,
but mines from limewire (dont tell!). its a great program to get you into cad, at college we use prodesktop, and what would take me 2 minutes in
sketchup would take around 2 hours in prodesktop(literally). its not hard to get used to, just make sure that you change the units (in preferances i
think?) to cm, as the standing is inches which really really confused me when i started!!!
Joel
If you dont respect yourself, dont expect respect from anyone else
Live your dreams, dont dream your life
Women only want you for one thing- everything!
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