Camp strip lights and battery power

[Sam Pato]

The old gas light is starting to wane a bit and I've been thinking that it'd be nice to get some strip lights for the camp even if its just for meal times. Most of the places we camp we are remote from the car so I need to be able to have something that I can run off a battery.

I've been looking at eBay strip lights with a USB connection and I was wondering if I could run some strip lights off one of the backup phone battery/chargers that we have. No problem taking it over to the car and charging it back up during the day.

Anyone tried this?

Otherwise - any advice on how I'd work out what I'm doing?

Everything I look at seems to be contingent on plugging into the car.

Cheers


Sam

[Trisome]

All you need is the right led lights and the right connections, just keep an eye on the amps the light use then see how long i will run on your battery.

Trisome

[Sam Pato]

I appreciate that I'm showing my electrical stupidity here - but here we go ........

I've got a phone powerbank which is 4400mAh

https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/comsol-4400mah-powerbank-blue-white-cofp44bu

And I'm wanting to run a strip light like this

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Safety-USB-Camping-Hiking-Tent-Light-LED-Strip-Lamp-Rechargeable-Outdoor/263189851438?hash=item3d47566d2e:m:mPQoFnNqRL0i4Ucyo4zZJPg

Can I work out in advance if it will run it and if so can I then work out how long it'll run it for?

Cheers

Sam

[razorback]

You should get around 22 hours out of the Battery pack. But that really depends on the correct Amps stored in the device. To be on the safe side, I would go with 18-20hours.

[Trisome]

agree with Razorback, I was going to put up all the converters, in short you wont needs the candles anymore.

Trisome

[Sam Pato]

$10 strip light and gubbins on its way from the far east. Sounds like it should do the trick nicely.

If possible ........... a brief explanation of how I could have worked this out for myself would be appreciated.

Cheers


Sam

[sharkcaver]

If possible ........... a brief explanation of how I could have worked this out for myself would be appreciated.

Cheers


Sam

Specs show it uses 1W of power @ 5v

power = volts x amps.

therefore it should draw 0.2A

You have a 4.4Ah power bank, which will be lithium. you should get effectively 80% of capacity, therefore you have about 3.5Ah of usable power

In 1 hour your strip light will consume .2A x 1Hr = 0.2Ah

3.5 / 0.2 = 17.5 hours.

Clear as mud

** all the above calculated on quoted specs, which may be mud as well **

Now when it all arrives, you have to fully charge your power bank, connect the led strip and let me know how long it really runs for

Now you got me thinking......A power bank and a 5V led strip would make an awesome away from the car light. Might have to look into this myself.

[Sam Pato]

Much appreciated - all made perfect sense.

The good news is it sounds like I'm on the right track. I'll come back with some test results once the lights arrive (sometime in the next 2 months according to eBay).

I'm considering a $3- in line USB dimmer control to pimp it up a bit (and fine tune the mood).....will hopefully report on this also.

Cheers


Sam

[Sam Pato]

Just looking at the rechargeable batteries I've got about and the ones for my Aldi power tools are the biggest. Anyone tried (or know if it would it be possible) to use some connectors to a drill battery?

Cheers


Sam

[sharkcaver]

Just looking at the rechargeable batteries I've got about and the ones for my Aldi power tools are the biggest. Anyone tried (or know if it would it be possible) to use some connectors to a drill battery?

Cheers


Sam

There's not too many 5V battery drills I know of, so you would need to adapt the voltage. personally, from the figures I quoted, why wouldn't you just use your powerbank?

[Sam Pato]

The powerbank plan is definitely the go-to at the moment. However I was just thinking that if I could take one of my (much bigger) drill batteries and it might be right for a week without charging up and that'd potentially be a better option. If I understand correctly the issue woudl be that I'd have to get some sort of DC to DC convertor to step down 20v to 5v? Otherwise I'd just fry the strip lights? The conclusion to which is that its probably not worth the aggravation?

I reckon there is a market for a range of camping gear that you can run off drill batteries. If I could have an exchangeable battery for my airbed inflator, a lamp, a strip light, maybe even a tent fan and tyre inflator (which I appreciate is already available) - I reckon it'd be a winner.

Cheers

Sam

[sharkcaver]

Well I wouldn't be relying on a 20V cordless tyre inflator, that's for sure.

I don't understand the hassle charging the powerbank. Put it on in the morning when lights aren't required. In under an hour it will be charged, considering how little power the lights will draw during the evening.

You are just making things way too complicated by thinking out loud . Get the lights, run them on the powerbank, then adjust the process from there.

[Sam Pato]

You're going to be a busy man if you're going to take issue with everyone 'thinking out loud' on the forum.

Sam

[sharkcaver]

No issue Sam. just trying to help you, that's all. I'll bow out then.

[Sam Pato]

My strip light arrived on Friday and I tested it over the weekend with a couple of 2-3year old powerbanks that have a label rating of 4400mAH

With both of them I'm getting between 4 and 5 hours of strip light. So enough for an evening in camp without too much drama but I'll need to charge them up after each use by the looks of things.

Will test the larger battery set up when the parts arrive and report back.

The strip light came in a silicone sleeve with 3 magnets and some reusable silicone ties and a mesh bag for a lantern effect so quite pleased with it. A single 1.8m strip probably won't be enough to fully light up the Gazebo at meal times so I'll probably buy another one I think.

Cheers


Sam