Quote:
Originally Posted by jakobnev
Re: Accesory battery.
You might find a switching 13.8v power supply that you can run straight off the DC from your HV-pack. (So no need to charge it separately anymore)
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I have looked long and hard for such a DC-DC converter with enough power. $150 gets a decent one. $400 gets a really good one. But that's too much, in my opinion, considering my current solution is free so far. Plus, I would still need a 12V battery anyway. Maybe a smaller one, but still.
My car uses 32 amps with everything on - wipers, heater fan, lights, brake lights, etc etc. That's 384 watts - more than any cheap DC-DC converters out there. The brake vacuum pump uses an additional 10 amps when it cycles on. Using LED lights here and there would bring that number down by maybe 10 amps which probably isn't worth it for the $50 for those. But...LEDs would be cool so I might buy a whole bunch of eBay (Chinese) ones anyway...
I am also thinking of installing a 15-20W solar panel. I'm not sure if that would be enough though. I'm going to try out my laptop charger first. It's just sitting there doing nothing anyway. If it goes up in smoke, it will have been an interesting experiment anyway.
If that doesn't work, then maybe a solar panel. Solar panels at least create the illusion [and confirm] that my car is very green.
