Introduction: 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)
Step 2: Tape the Batteries Together
Simple. Just do as the picture shows, placing the batteries next to each other with the terminals facing up, and tape the whole thing together like in the picture. (The position of the terminals doesn't matter)
Step 3: Wiring: Step 1
Cut about 1 foot of regular speaker wire. Strip about 2 inches from each end. Then coil up the ends and put them into 2 of your battery terminal caps.
Step 4: Wiring: Step 2
Put the caps onto the terminals and twist clockwise. Make sure to put one cap onto the positive terminal of one battery and the other cap onto the nagative terminal of the other battery. Note: It might help to turn the second cap, along with the wire, counter-clockwise before putting it on the terminal.
Step 5: Wiring: Step 3
If needed, strip the ends of the leads for the 12 volt cigarette lighter. (First you may want to find out which wire is positive and which one is negative. To do this, unscrew the cap on the bottom of the main body and look at where the wires are soldered. The one soldered to the center is positive and the one on the outside is negative.) Then, like before, coil up the ends and put them into the remaining 2 battery caps.
Step 6: Wiring: Final Step
Like we did earlier, place the caps on the terminals, making sure to match up the positives and negatives. Twist clockwise.
Step 7: Taping the Terminals
Tape the terminal caps down so that they will not come untwisted. They probably wouldn't anyway, but just to be safe, you should. You can tape them however you think will work best, but remember, you might have to take it off once the batteries die.
Step 8: Using an Inverter
In case you don't know how to use an inverter, this is basicly how. You plug the inverter into the cigarette lighter. If there is a light on it, it should turn on. Then you plug any household appliance into it. (Make sure the wattage of the appliance is less than that of the inverter. If it is more, you will blow the fuse in the inverter.
