Unless the battery is getting some age on it, you'll be fine with a few hours. If you have a charger and want to experiment, sometime leave the lights on and see how long it takes before they go out. You can put the charger on to bring the battery back up.
I don't think any of the starters draw more than 200 amps now days. The old Chryslers and Dodges used to draw in the area of 400 amps for the gear reduced starters. Most starters no aren't a whole lot bigger than an oil filter. Longer sure but the diameter is about the same. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lenny McHugh" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, July 19, 2009 2:57 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] car battery power Bob, I know that there would be a big difference between theory and actual. I was just looking for a ball park.I was hoping just for a few hour window. Looks like I do have that. I have no idea what the starter requires I think the max It is a grand caravan 3.8L because of all the power stuff it does have a 100a alternator. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob Kennedy" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, July 19, 2009 1:41 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] car battery power That's almost an impossible question to answer. With all things being perfect, the car battery would maintain 850 CCA or cold cranking amps. But, batteries change their reserves with age, heat, vibration and so on. Having said all that, the starter is the unknown factor in the puzzle. How many amps does the starter draw during start up? Ideally, most are pulling between 150 and 200 amps today. Then there are the variables with the starter. If the bushings are tight, you have extra draw. If the engine is hot from running hard and sitting, they will heat up sitting after running on the highway, that takes extra power to start as well. Finally, I would say if there is a power draw of 10 amps by the inverter, you should be safe for most stops during a trip. Remember once the engine is started again, the battery is being recharged. A 10 amp per hour draw should be able to run for 40 or 50 hours without leaving the battery low. But this is in a perfect world too. During travel, even stopping for lunch and the bathroom trips and filling up with gas, you should only be looking at maybe a 20 or 25 amp draw before the car is running again. And if you are able to run through a tank of gas before stopping again, the battery is back to where it started in the beginning. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lenny McHugh" <[email protected]> To: "handyman-blind" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, July 19, 2009 1:08 PM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] car battery power We were just on vacation and during travel I used a power inverter to power my Trekker. The inverter has a 10A power consumption rating. The battery in the van has a 850 cca rating. When we took some rest stops I left the unit running while the motor was turned off. How do I figure out how long it can run before the van's battery will drop too low to start the vehicle? I saw a battery saver that you would plug in line and will automatically turn whatever is plugged in off when the car battery drops below 11V. I also sometimes use a 12v Igloo cooler. With this I usually do not let it run because it will significantly warm up. I just toss a blanket over it for more insulation. This unit has a 3.6v consumption. --- Please visit my home page; it is motivational, inspirational and humorous with many resources for the blind. http://www.lennymchugh.com Lenny ------------------------------------ Send any questions regarding list management to: [email protected] To listen to the show archives go to link http://www.acbradio.org/pweb/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=33&MMN_position=47:29 Or ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various List Members At The Following address: http://www.jaws-users.com/JAWS/handyman/ Visit the archives page at the following address http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ If you would like to join the JAWS Users List, then visit the following address for more information: http://www.jaws-users.com/ For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: [email protected]! 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