I know, 2 offtopic threads started within a week is probably against all sorts of rules.
But, I have an electrical question and given some of the responses to electrical questions I've seen before I know that someone here will be able to answer it.
So, here goes. I have a small, 1:32 scale slot car track upon which I run 4 cars, the cars each pull between 1 and 1.5 amps at about 8-10 volts dc. I get the dc from a regulated, variable power supply which is normally plugged into a standard wall circuit.
I want to set up a battery operated power system to enable me to use the track at events where power is either not available or not practical and I'd like to avoid the use of a generator if possible.
Specifically, I want to use a 12 volt, deep cycle battery, hook that up to a power inverter and then hook up the power supply to the inverter to run the track.
If the battery can run at 25 amps for say 140 minutes and still have a reserve capacity of 1.5 volts per cell, which seems to be the standard used in battery data tables, given my usage as stated above, how long could I theoretically run the cars non-stop before running out of power? I think it would be somewhere around 10 hours but I'm not sure if I'm missing something obvious.
The reason I want to run the battery thru the inverter and then the power supply is because the power supply gives me a way to easily adjust the power level at the track as well as giving me some protection against a short circuit as the power supply is fused. The supply also has built in volt and amp meters.I've run the supply off the inverter which was then plugged into my van in the past with no problems and I could just hook up the battery directly but I don't want to run the cars at 12 + volts, they'll just fly off in the corners.
Am I close in my guesstimate of power consumption?
For those who know more about deep cycle batteries, is there a preferred method of re-charging them or will a standard battery charger work ok?
I'm also considering using a solar cell to keep the battery topped off, any downside to that? Do deep cycle batteries work ok with low current trickle charging?
For what it's worth, I built the track structure itself using some woodworking knowledge I picked up from the wreck, so thanks for that and thanks in advance for any advice anyone can offer on the above.
John Emmons
"when hatred calls with his package, refuse delivery..."