uh guys, did I mention that this is for a slot car track...it's pretty low
tech.

I only need to be able to turn the thing on in a parking lot for a few hours
at a stretch without plugging it into a standard AC socket.

Lew, your system while admirable in it's complexity is way more than I could
ever need. I know that my battery to inverter to power supply is inefficient
but it's only going to be used on a sporadic basis.

I do appreciate your efforts and thoughts.

Right now I've priced the battery at about $60.00, I've already got the
inverter and a good battery charger to use. My main issue was how long the
battery would hold up in use.

Thanks.

John Emmons


"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
nk.net...
John Emmons wrote:

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.

snip

Understand up front that what you are trying to do is very inefficient
electrically.

Start with a pair of 6VDC, T105 or T125 golf cart batteries in series to
get 12 VDC.

If you have a strong back, consider L16 floor sweeper batteries as an
alternate.

Next you want a pure sine wave inverter, probably at least 1000 watts.

Non sime wave units are lower cost, but are not suggested for this
application.

Recharging can be done a couple of ways, either with a decent battery
recharger complete wit a good regulator (Color me expensive) or some
solar panels complete with a blocking diode regulator.

An elcheapo automotive recharger will work in a pinch, but is not good
over the long haul.

Expect to spend between $500-$1,000 to get up and running.

HTH

Lew