Portable Battery Powered AC/DC Power Source

Why buy a portable power source that may cost over $150 when you can make your own for under half the cost.
This 'ible will show you how you can, for under $60, make you own portable power source that will be enough to power a small tv, converter box, and charge your phone all at once.

Disclaimer:  Working with batteries can be dangerous, especially if you have no past experience.  If you have any information on how to make this project safer or better, please tell me.

Step 1 Gathering Materials

You will need:
     Materials:
                      two (2) 6 volt lantern batteries (with the caps);
                      1 small roll of electrical tape;
                      about 12 inches (1 foot) of speaker wire (it doesn't need to be heavy duty);
                      1 12 volt DC car cigarette lighter (with leads) (NOT ACTUALLY FROM A CAR);
     Tools:
                      Wire cutters/strippers
     Optional: AC/DC inverter (try to get something with 100 watts or lower so that it doesn't go right through the batteries)(this is only if you want to use a household appliance like a converter box or small tv that doesn't use batteries. Do not attempt to use a lamp)
                     

Comments

[crazyjp]

here is an even better idea if you want a rechargeable power source and want it to last a little longer im thinking about 2x to 3x longer may be more and are willing to deal with a few extra pounds go out to your local fleet farm and spend about 17 bucks depending on the size and get a rider lawn mower battery it will be 12 volts so you will only need one and then hook it up the same way use it till its dead and when your done recharge it and its good to go now if you want something to last alot longer and have access to an old boat battery use that and you should be able to run what every you want off of it if its less than 100 watts for about 4 to 6 hours maybe even 8 depending on the condition of the battery

[olivieriart]

ok, so i made this today and it worked great. Had no problems and here's what i found:
the batteries lasted about one hour and 15 mins before it turned off. now my AC/DC inverter has a cut off built in. which means that when the batteries reach a certain point a alarm goes off and then in a short time it auto shuts off. so i could've had more time if not for that.
what i was powering was a A/v signal sender as shown in this link http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2799800

which drawn 12v cc at 300ma its a small unit.
i hope this helps.

[bones_708]

They also make 6v lead acid rechargeable batteries in exactly the same format as you show. They are widely used in game cameras.

[orangeisnon1]

Thanks for the advice. I will try it with those.

[i0scan]

Can you provide some stats?  How long does it last under draw from charging a phone, or charging a laptop (while off) etc. What is the top draw, mA or A?  This is cool, I just want to know more details on how useful this may be and for how long.  Too bad they don't make inexpensive rechargeable 6v lantern batteries. :)

[Doom Micro]

Goto walmart and get 2 6v rechargeables in the drivable toy car section.
They work the best for the money.