Here is an early pic of my up-and-running 12-volt battery station. This is a standard Wal-Mart Group 27 Battery Box that has Stainless Steel battery posts and a Cigarette Lighter Receptacle added for hook-up convenience. The battery is a 26-Ah SLA, so not too worried about venting or it giving off Hydrogen gas - although the Battery Box itself is vented by design.
Both the Positive Stud and the Cigarette Lighter receptacle are fused for safety. Not shown in the pic is the plastic plate I cut to snugly fit over the battery. This is to keep anything from possibly falling (from inside the lid) and hitting a hot battery post.
This was not intended for high-current applications, but using 10-gua. wire from the Battery to the Studs, it will more than suit my needs. Actually this was made for powering my PRO-2004 Base Scanner, the PRO-95 Handheld Scanner, and anything else small that is convenient. A standard Cigarette Lighter Inverter is certainly a practical possibility here. Shown in the pic is a Cigarette Lighter Volt Meter - for demonstration purposes.
The Studs are 1/4" Stainless Steel for conductivity, and I don't have to worry about them rusting in the future. All internal wires use soldered ring terminals - so as to provide maximum conductivity and minimal chance of anything coming loose and flopping around.
On the outside studs - I have now attached the Scanner power cords, Power input from the 30-Watt Solar Panel (using a Charge Controller), and an unplugable power cord from my Schumacher 1.5-Amp Battery Maintainer - in case I would have to use 110 to charge it. Everything is using ring terminals and I have Stainless Wing Nuts on the outside ends for convenience.
When I get ambitious again, I'll add a stand-alone digital volt meter to the case. This will allow me to monitor the battery voltage and keep the cigarette lighter receptacle free at the same time.
I've recently added 2 more outputs to the top of the box. This time I used spring-clip connectors (think speaker connectors) to give more options/possibilities.
The first set is at 12-volts (battery voltage) and the other is at 9-volts. I'm using a 7809 Regulator (with heatsink) to give the 9-volt output, which is perfect since my PRO-95 Handheld Scanner requires 9-volt DC power input.
Drawing 100 mAh, I could power the PRO-95 for quite some time using this setup without having to worry about draining the battery down too far - should the need arise.
I'll post more pics when I get a day off.
Both the Positive Stud and the Cigarette Lighter receptacle are fused for safety. Not shown in the pic is the plastic plate I cut to snugly fit over the battery. This is to keep anything from possibly falling (from inside the lid) and hitting a hot battery post.
This was not intended for high-current applications, but using 10-gua. wire from the Battery to the Studs, it will more than suit my needs. Actually this was made for powering my PRO-2004 Base Scanner, the PRO-95 Handheld Scanner, and anything else small that is convenient. A standard Cigarette Lighter Inverter is certainly a practical possibility here. Shown in the pic is a Cigarette Lighter Volt Meter - for demonstration purposes.
The Studs are 1/4" Stainless Steel for conductivity, and I don't have to worry about them rusting in the future. All internal wires use soldered ring terminals - so as to provide maximum conductivity and minimal chance of anything coming loose and flopping around.
On the outside studs - I have now attached the Scanner power cords, Power input from the 30-Watt Solar Panel (using a Charge Controller), and an unplugable power cord from my Schumacher 1.5-Amp Battery Maintainer - in case I would have to use 110 to charge it. Everything is using ring terminals and I have Stainless Wing Nuts on the outside ends for convenience.
When I get ambitious again, I'll add a stand-alone digital volt meter to the case. This will allow me to monitor the battery voltage and keep the cigarette lighter receptacle free at the same time.
I've recently added 2 more outputs to the top of the box. This time I used spring-clip connectors (think speaker connectors) to give more options/possibilities.
The first set is at 12-volts (battery voltage) and the other is at 9-volts. I'm using a 7809 Regulator (with heatsink) to give the 9-volt output, which is perfect since my PRO-95 Handheld Scanner requires 9-volt DC power input.
Drawing 100 mAh, I could power the PRO-95 for quite some time using this setup without having to worry about draining the battery down too far - should the need arise.
I'll post more pics when I get a day off.