Using Battery Charger in the House?

**dug1967** · 05-14-2004, 07:38 AM

Okay, I have never really had a good understanding of amperage and current flow.... Here is the issue...

I have the CarPC all together in it's case, and have been running it off a 12VDC lawn mower battery as I work on the final hardware issues. It would be very difficult to hook it up to a standard ATX PSU right now and run it from AC.

But now I have to reformat the HD and get the software the way I want it. But this lawn mower battery does not have enough life to do a full HD format and install Windows before the voltage drops too low and it shuts down.

If I had the computer running off the battery, doing what I said above, and attached my car battery charger to the lawn mower battery, would I fry something in the CarPC?

The charger has two current setting (2A and 10A) and I think this means it forces 2A or 10A to the battery and whatever else might be hooked up..... I know the system is drawing more than 2A, so it seems to me like it would extend the battery life so I can get the software stuff done before the battery runs dead. Now maybe the 10A setting would be too much, I don't know....

The whole deal just makes me nervous.

What do you think???

**MeanGT** · 05-14-2004, 08:10 AM

I used to run my Heavy load 12v devices directly of my car battery charger. I would set it to the 50-amp jump start setting. Just becaues the charger is putting out up to 50 amps, doesnt mean you will over-power your PSU, the PSU will only take how much amperage it needs. If you think about it, a car battery can put out many hundres of amps and cause no harm.

The only problem I ran into using the battery charger, is that the power output is quite a dirty signal, so you may get interference or noise when using it.

**dug1967** · 05-14-2004, 08:15 AM

Originally Posted by MeanGT

I used to run my Heavy load 12v devices directly of my car battery charger. I would set it to the 50-amp jump start setting. Just becaues the charger is putting out up to 50 amps, doesnt mean you will over-power your PSU, the PSU will only take how much amperage it needs. If you think about it, a car battery can put out many hundres of amps and cause no harm.

The only problem I ran into using the battery charger, is that the power output is quite a dirty signal, so you may get interference or noise when using it.

Thanks for the info MeanGT.... I just can never comprehend current.... I was under the impression that Battery Chargers "Forced" current to whatever is attached to them...

But I guess not based on you using a 50A setting... by the way, what do you mean by "Heavy Load 12V devices"????

**MeanGT** · 05-14-2004, 10:55 AM

Originally Posted by dug1967

Thanks for the info MeanGT.... I just can never comprehend current.... I was under the impression that Battery Chargers "Forced" current to whatever is attached to them...

But I guess not based on you using a 50A setting... by the way, what do you mean by "Heavy Load 12V devices"????

I frequently find myself repairing things such as head-units, and amplifiers for myself and friends, and rather than lugging in a 12v battery to test them, I just bring in my battery charger. A true power supply that puts out enough current to handle these items can be quite pricey.