[IRCA] GEl Pak/Battery issue

[mwdxer@xxxxxxxxx (Patrick Martin)]

Hi all,

Well I thought I better give you an update on what I ended up doing
regarding the battery back up I wanted for the R8. I bought one of those
"Quick Start" Gel pak units you plug into your lighter to start the car.
It was a Black & Decker unit with an extra output for 12V 5A. It was on
sale for $47.9, normally $59.95.  I fully charged the unit up and hooked
it up to the R8. It worked, but ran down in 50 minutes! 50 minutes, and
the R8 is rated at 12V 2A,
so I returned the unit to Fred Meyer for a refund. After getting Craig's
e mail and others and talking to Bill Block, I decided the only way I
was going to solve my issue was to buy a deep cycle marine battery. Napa
Auto parts in Seaside has several, so I bought the smallest one they had
rated at 500 A. The battery is acid core so I bought a battery box to.
Total cost was under $80. They had the gelpak deep cycle batties too for
$229.00, but a bit spendy for me.  the battery I bought was already
charged and I hooked it up and it works like a dream, sitting under the
DX table. The battery charger I have that has a built in trickle charger
2A, the guy at Napa said it should be fine as that is all they use.They
suggested I charge it about every two months if not in use. But at 500A,
it will last a long time. I can even run the Quantum Phaser with it as
it runs off 12V too.  Thanks so much everyone for your help. I found out
another thing, that the Deep Cycle Battery is heavy  at 52.5 pounds!

73,

Patrick

Patrick Martin
KAVT Reception Manager

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