How "clean" does power have to be for laser?

[Joe Hillmann]

I am thinking of bringing my small laser (35 watt universal M-300, if it matters) with me to shows. With the idea of mounting it in the rear hatch area of my car. When I get to shows where power is available I won't have a problem but where power isn't available is where my question comes in.

My two options are, to get a generator, or to hook up a few deep cycle batteries to the electrical system of the car then use an inverter to get the 110 power I need for the laser.

My question then is, will either of these methods give me clean enough power to safely run the laser? And if not how do I condition the power to make it safe for the laser.

Of the two options I would rather go with the battery method rather then the generator because some shows will not allow generators. And with the battery method I would have the car idling when the laser was on to keep the batteries charged.

[Rodne Gold]

If you going to idle , hook the thing up to the alternator , you can get an aftermarket 140 amp one , 12/13 v , that's about 1600 watts , I'm sure you can run the laser off that , should invert to about 110v 15 amp?
Otherwise get a big power smoother UPS that does ac to dc and then AC, get a 4kva one , should give you 3 hrs of laser and puter , much more if its sporadic use.
They a bit expensive and bulky, also need batts changed every 3-5 years ,if you go that way get one on wheels for transport.

[Joe Hillmann]

Rodne,

Are you talking about something like this?
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHNU_enUS377US377&sugexp=chrome,mod=0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=power+smoother+UPS#q=uninterruptible+power+suppl y



It didn't post the whole link. but anyways, something like what I linked to only a lot bigger?

[Jeff Belany]

One thing at a show, depending on what your are going to laser --- you need power not only for the laser but also a exhaust and possibly a compressor. And, what about fumes -- if you do wood/acrylic the show people may have issues with the fumes & the noise of a blower. Just a thought.

Jeff in northern Wisconsin

[Joe Hillmann]

Jeff, for a exhaust blower I plan to use an old heater blower from a truck and for the air assist I plan to rewire and replumb my ac pump.

[Rodne Gold]

Ours are like these ones.
http://www.novaelectric.com/ups_power_systems/free_standing/nova_freestanding.php

[Steven Cox]

I've been mobile now for over 2 and a half years, I've found the best method is Batteries with an 1500/3000 watt inverter but let me tell you you need a more than 2 batteries to be able to go all day. My system uses 240 Volt AC but the principal is the same. I have six x 6volt 225 amp deep cycle batteries running in series to 12 volt. This give me 675 amp @ 12 Volt which I've found to be enough for one full day (about 6 to 8 hours running). Although I try to conserve power and switch off anything that's not needed between jobs.

Also note here that batteries are heavy my battery system weighs over 250 kilo's so if you are just putting this in just a car you'll be overloaded to the max!. My vehicle has a one ton carrying capacity and I can tell you that it carries pretty close to that with all the equipment and stock. Additionally I had to add 2 heavy leaf springs to the rear on each side to help carry the weight because for us everything stays in the vehicle when not in use.

Whilst it's possible to run direct from a generator, you have to make sure it's an inverter style generator otherwise you risk damaging anything electronic. When I use my gen set, whilst it is an inverter type, I run it through a 60 amp smart charger designed for solar battery systems. This helps ensure the power supply is not interupted, gen sets can get hot or run out of fuel or fluctuate speed for any number of reasons when you least expect it. It also pays to have some meters hooked up to the battery system to show current capacity and how much is being drawn and remember to keep an eye on these.

Jeff mentioned fumes, Yep that's an issue you need to overcome, I built my own scrubber and whilst it adds to noise it's not that bad and to date I haven't had any complaints, it makes much less noise than other stall holders with mobile fridge freezers, so if there was ever a problem I'd just refer to that cenario. On my system we replaced the fan for a much stronger one. The fan is mounted inside the laser cabinet so we added some sound insulation which helped a lot.

Rodney mentioned running through an alternator via the car, there are also problems with that, remember that cars are designed to cool with air flowing through the radiator to cool the engine. At idle for long periods the car may overheat and besides that you still have the added problem of fumes that the car will put out, especially if you're standing behind it.

I've been to shows that run over a number of days without power available we recently did a 6 day show (no power available) and found that we only needed to run the generator for 3 to 5 hours a day to top the batteries up. At shows without power its acceptable to run generators again though you need to be considerate when you use them. Also if you are planning on doing events at night, get some 12 volt LED lights to run off the batteries.

Hope this helps
Regards Steve

[Joe Hillmann]

Steve,

Thanks for the pointers, at the moment this is all just a thought and I am trying to figure out if it is worthwhile or not.

I ran the numbers using the power requirements from Universal and with one deep cycle battery I will get 30 minutes of runtime from one battery. That half hour is the laser and a 12 volt blower and only running the battery down to 50%. I plan to pick up a kill-a-watt power meter to see how much power the laser actually uses rather than using the numbers form Universal. I have a feeling I will be able to run close to an hour on one battery.

As far a weight, I think I will be ok there, the laser is 250 lbs, two batteries are 100 lbs by the time I figure in my weight I still have 400lbs of capacity before I am over loaded and since I designed my displays to be lightweight I think I will be ok.