Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Equipment => Other Gear => Topic started by: DorsetDan on February 12, 2020, 11:20:55 AM
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Can you not buy an extension lead?
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I think you've pretty much got it covered there. The Inverter and charger will do the job fine.
The battery may be overkill for the needs of a paceman.
Those larger truck size (N70) batteries are fairly heavy to cart around. No point lugging big batteries around if a small one will run for long enough.
Some quick math, if the paceman takes a full 1000w from the inverter (and it won't on average) at 220v thats 4.5A. At 85% efficiency, thats 5.3 A the inverter will draw.
Take that 75 Ah battery and draw 5.3A, a full charge should last 14 hours. 50% draw is still 7 hours, so on those specs, that battery will be bigger than it need be.
Of course all these specs can be wildly inflated (as some reviews on that battery show!), so beware!
My biggest tip would be to get the battery on the charger ASAP after using it.
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I think you've pretty much got it covered there. The Inverter and charger will do the job fine.
The battery may be overkill for the needs of a paceman.
Those larger truck size (N70) batteries are fairly heavy to cart around. No point lugging big batteries around if a small one will run for long enough.
Some quick math, if the paceman takes a full 1000w from the inverter (and it won't on average) at 220v thats 4.5A. At 85% efficiency, thats 5.3 A the inverter will draw.
Take that 75 Ah battery and draw 5.3A, a full charge should last 14 hours. 50% draw is still 7 hours, so on those specs, that battery will be bigger than it need be.
Of course all these specs can be wildly inflated (as some reviews on that battery show!), so beware!
My biggest tip would be to get the battery on the charger ASAP after using it.
This has to be one of the most extraordinary posts on the forum.
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I bought a little petrol generator for mine. Works a treat. Pop it in a wheelbarrow and wheel it over to nets.
Really cheap and very little faff
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I'm not sure how these retailers are selling a 40gbp max battery and 40-100gbp inverter for 250 plus postage. I feel like I must be missing something but I don't think it is any more complicated
They're just hoping that nobody works out how simple and inexpensive these things are! Like most things, lots of $$ to be saved for anyone with the inclination to have a go.
Probably best you find a sturdy case to fit the battery and inverter in. While lead/acid batteries are reasonably tough, they probably won't react well if they cop a few full blooded drives, and the grass will never be the same :(
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Paceman buying it from the same places you are looking at, adding their markup, selling to the retailer who is doing the same before selling to you.
This is why I always used to recommend a customer purchased the battery etc themselves from an electrical specialist rather than from vitas cricket as a retailer 3 steps down the chain in terms of markup.
BOLA has its own battery (the charger is just an open market version you can buy online) but Paceman are just selling the items you have found online.
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£250?! Yikes. Hardly a complicated bit of kit as you both say. You're right to stay away from RS, they're massively overpriced - get a substantial discount with them via work and we still only use them if we need stuff next day.
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Are there any other battery types worth looking at that may be easier to live with should the worst happen?
Most larger battery manufacturers offer some 'gel' batteries in their range. These have the acid in a gel/paste form rather than a liquid, so should the case fail they would be safer, but are more expensive than lead acid, so I've never owned one.
If you get a sealed, or maintenance free lead/acid type, you wont have a risk of spillage. .
The casings are very tough, but not indestructable, so if your net protects from impact, it should be fine.
I've owned many, but I've only had one casing fail, and that was when a battery blew up during a charging accident.
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i had a paceman a few years ago. ran it off a battery all the time.
it was an old car battery with an inverter i picked up off ebay. worked a treat cost me very little money in the end. certainly not worth £250