External battery disconnect? Alternative power.

**stevey500** · 02-23-2009, 01:31 PM

The way I power the PC in my rodeo is...

12v universal laptop power supply hardwired to a constant 12V +.

The computer goes into standby when my key is turned off.

Running in standby means that the computer is constantly drawing power. The computer is very small, its the Eee Box B202 with the 1.6ghz intel atom chipset, works great.

So far, I've been able to let my rodeo sit for 3+ days without a loss of power. BUT I want to be more safe.

The thought:

I was wondering if I could get one of those small 12v 20AH sealed lead/acid batteries that are usually used in electric scooters and motorcycles for the computer's power supply.

I'm on my dad's computer, so all i've got is paint to work with, here's a sketchup of how I would think of it to be wired correctly. Will this work?

**WuNgUn** · 02-23-2009, 02:11 PM

Looks alright to me...
Just be sure the two batteries are in parallel!

Know idea how this will effect your charging system though.

Have you thought about maybe a solar panel instead?

**stevey500** · 02-23-2009, 02:19 PM

Of course, series would destroy some shi* ...

haha,

Yes I've thought about a solar panel and that actually does sound like an excellent idea.

**WuNgUn** · 02-23-2009, 02:27 PM

Originally Posted by stevey500

Of course, series would destroy some shi* ...

haha,

Yes I've thought about a solar panel and that actually does sound like an excellent idea.

I'm going to mount one inside my moonroof shade...
Maybe...
I want to measure exactly how much 'draw' is on my PC in standby...a lot of USB devices there!

**stevey500** · 02-23-2009, 02:42 PM

If I had a moonroof, that would be nice. But there's plenty more room up there too, heh.

I wish some PC's had a way to disable USB power output when in standby like the previous dell 120L P4 laptop I had installed did.

**Pseudo Nim** · 02-25-2009, 09:49 PM

Originally Posted by stevey500

The way I power the PC in my rodeo is...

12v universal laptop power supply hardwired to a constant 12V +.

The computer goes into standby when my key is turned off.

Running in standby means that the computer is constantly drawing power. The computer is very small, its the Eee Box B202 with the 1.6ghz intel atom chipset, works great.

So far, I've been able to let my rodeo sit for 3+ days without a loss of power. BUT I want to be more safe.

The thought:

I was wondering if I could get one of those small 12v 20AH sealed lead/acid batteries that are usually used in electric scooters and motorcycles for the computer's power supply.

I'm on my dad's computer, so all i've got is paint to work with, here's a sketchup of how I would think of it to be wired correctly. Will this work?

Sorry to threadjack a bit, but how are you liking the EEE Box? I'm looking at it as a very likely alternative to a "traditional" car PC mostly because of the size (only got about as much space as a Sirius radio ... figure this should fit). How did you handle your power hookup? Does it survive crank? How did you make it auto-power up (or go to standby)?