Power Outage :(

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Feb 14, 2006
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Corvallis OR has lot power a while ago. Grant Substation is out and currently 10,000 people w/o power.. :rant:. Hopefully power will be back before my laptop battery expires.
 

Diesel_Bomber

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Good luck, buddy.

Most auto parts stores(and Walmarts) sell power inverters that plug into the cigarette lighter outlet in your car and will keep your laptop going for a long time, for ~$30.

:buddies:
 

Diesel_Bomber

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Illum_the_nation said:
they market them to be suitable for electronics such as the laptop, etc...but modified sine isnt really good for it, but a pure sine will cost almost $2/watt:ohgeez:

handy....most of us are waiting for a power outage:ohgeez:...save your laptops cells and hope that the outage lasts till night:grin2::grin2:

I disagree, most things (excepting some cordless drill chargers and electric motors) will run just fine off of modified sine. There won't be any problems at all running a laptop charger off of a mod' sine inverter.

:buddies:
 

abvidledUK

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Re: Power Outage :)

I find a 12v car battery (with handle) works my laptop just fine, on the DC input !

I keep one clean, from new, in the house, next to charger and 300w inverter, for HW/CH pump.
 
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3rd_shift

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Power outage?
For flashoholics with charged batteries, it's.. :party: :rock:

Been there and done that myself a couple times since I joined cpf 3 years ago. ;)
 

ernsanada

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Our city had a power outage last Saturday Night around 7:30 PM.

When the power went out I grabbed my Lumapower SSC-P4 F1. Works excellent and stands on it's tail with no problems.

I then got my Ostram Lantern and a River Rock Lantern. For entertainment I turned on my battery operated radio, a Grundig 350.

I went to go check on my parents, (they live in the front of me, it's a duplex). My parents were sleeping already. I saw my brother using a Maglite 1AAA. I felt sorry for him and let him use my Maglite 3D which has a DB-3W drop in.

I decided to go to sleep at 8:15 PM because I have to wake up at 3:50 AM for work.

I woke up at 2:30 AM and saw a light I left on. The power was restored! Shut off the light and went back to sleep.
 

Illum

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Diesel_Bomber said:
I disagree, most things (excepting some cordless drill chargers and electric motors) will run just fine off of modified sine. There won't be any problems at all running a laptop charger off of a mod' sine inverter.

:buddies:

edited...after I read online that it supposely shortens the life of the computer or its power supply, my vector 400 is now used only for illumination purposes

erm:ohgeez:
http://www.gnu.org/software/gnuae/manual/basics.html
Some devices don't like the modified sine wave (like stereos or computers), so a true sine wave inverter is recommended.
http://www.renewablestore.com.au/faq/DC-to-AC-inverters.php
It is cheaper, but may present certain compromises with some loads such as computers, microwave ovens, laser printers, clocks and cordless tool chargers.
http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/batterybackup/topic3532.html
You probably won't damage your computer running it off a modified sine wave inverter, though it may or may not function correctly. Laptops, because of the laptop battery, are actually a bigger concern.
 
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Josey

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I'm with Illum on the cheap modified sine wave inverters. I'd add that some of the new sine wave inverters are much cheaper. I picked up a Morningstar 300W pure sine wave inverter (600W surge for 15 minutes) for $250. That's less than a dollar a watt, although still more expensive than the modified sine waves. But if you can afford the quality, it's worth it.
 

Diesel_Bomber

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I've run my entire house for days on end off of mod' sine with no problems. Well pump, 2hp air compressor, microwave, this computer, everything but the UPS for this computer and my cordless tool chargers. No problems. I will continue to disagree. :)

:buddies:
 

Illum

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Josey said:
I'm with Illum on the cheap modified sine wave inverters. I'd add that some of the new sine wave inverters are much cheaper. I picked up a Morningstar 300W pure sine wave inverter (600W surge for 15 minutes) for $250. That's less than a dollar a watt, although still more expensive than the modified sine waves. But if you can afford the quality, it's worth it.

where was this? link?
 

duffman

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3rd_shift said:
Power outage?
For flashoholics with charged batteries, it's.. :party: :rock:

Been there and done that myself a couple times since I joined cpf 3 years ago. ;)

Haha... i couldnt agree more! :lolsign:
 

Josey

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Illum_the_nation said:
where was this? link?

I bought it at the Alternative Energy Store. Here's the link:

http://store.altenergystore.com/Inverters/Off-Grid-No-Utility-Needs-Batteries/300-to-999-Watts/Morningstar-Corp-SureSine-Inverter-300-watt/p4563/?source=froogle

Here it is set up as a back-up power supply:

url]
 
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