Is there a simple device to give me 30 min of power?

Anne Miller wrote:

Anne Miller wrote:Is there a simple device to make or buy to give me 30 min of power?

All I need is time to make a call to our electric company to let them know the power is out.

We have a signal booster that gives us cell phone coverage which needs power.

I am tired of buying a device that costs $500.00 to do that. Then the next time we need it no longer works.

I posted this on Jan 30 2022, the device we purchased sometime after that has gone out again.

We had tried replacing the batteries which work for a while so I am not sure how long we had the new device.

We are done spending the money.

Dear hubby is buying a deep cycle battery instead.

a deep cycle a good battery charger and a small inverter will last you a decade

Thanks, David!

We have everything except the battery.

We bought that other device in April 2022.

Anne Miller wrote:Thanks, David!

We have everything except the battery.

We bought that other device in April 2022.

If the battery died that fast the charger could be running too high. Was it an all in one unit?

David Baillie wrote:If the battery died that fast the charger could be running too high. Was it an all in one unit?

The batteries in the $500 device didn't die.  It was something else.  

I suggest to dear hubby to use the batteries we bought last year and he said that something else happened.

We certainly didn't get our monies worth this time around.

Thus the purchase of the deep cycle battery instead.

It is ironic that the device went out yesterday and someone happened to revive this thread on the same day.

I was expecting a call around noon and when I looked at the phone there were no bars and an "x" instead.

When I went to the laundry/equipment room lots of "bells and whistles" were going off and a red light.

Michael Cox wrote:We have recently found some nice accessories that work without existing power-tool batteries. There are cheap and simple adaptor that you just drop your regular battery into that do various jobs. There are also adaptors that allow across-brand interchangeable battery use. We have one that converts between makita and ryobi, for example.

We now have a moderate set of ryobi batteries that are usually at various states of charge, and a bunch of different items that can be powered from them. We skipped the inverter, because we didn't need it, but have various lights, radios etc... These get used fairly regularly anyway, but also give us battery based power in the case of short term emergency need.

I particularly like that our "emergency" kit is getting regularly routine use, rather than being stashed away in box somewhere. I think we are more likely to be aware of what is working and what isn't, and the batteries are likely to be kept more regularly topped up.  Plus I don't like sinking money into equipment that ONLY has a "just in case" purpose. Multi-purpose kit is generally more valuable to have around.

I've looked at that inverter USB since I run mostly Ryobi. It would be a good place to start I think.

Anne Miller wrote:

David Baillie wrote:If the battery died that fast the charger could be running too high. Was it an all in one unit?

The batteries in the $500 device didn't die.  It was something else.  

I suggest to dear hubby to use the batteries we bought last year and he said that something else happened.

We certainly didn't get our monies worth this time around.

Thus the purchase of the deep cycle battery instead.

It is ironic that the device went out yesterday and someone happened to revive this thread on the same day.

I was expecting a call around noon and when I looked at the phone there were no bars and an "x" instead.

When I went to the laundry/equipment room lots of "bells and whistles" were going off and a red light.

I find there are countless new lithium and or sealed lead acid doodads every month. I know I can't keep track of them. Most of the cells are good in them the failure points usually come from the control electronics. At $500 I would expect a decade of good service for something small...

David Baillie wrote: At $500 I would expect a decade of good service for something small...

The previous one lasted quite a while, we moved here in 2013 though I don't remember when we bought it.

Dear hubby thinks it is working now ...

Not exactly the solution to your issue, but my answer to a backup electrical source on my permaculture homestead: I am lucky to have a local university where teams of grad students are building me a treadmill that can charge a phone. Who walks on the treadmill? The miniature horse. Basically converting grass in the pasture to electrical energy. Once the design is all built, I am going to see if I can go a year using only the pony to charge my phone. She needs the exercise anyway!

Dear hubby now feels that this problem is with our electrical service.

Trying to find an electrician who is willing to make a 60 mile trip without charging an arm and a leg just to verify this will be a daunting task.

I tried to reason with him that we could just go out to the truck to notify the electric company using a car charger.

Nope no cell service with out that electricity.

An addition....and I don't intend this to be an endorsement of Google, only that it's another back-up plan.  I've bolstered the battery back-up systems for both the home laptop and the router/antenna for our rural internet access.  Our cell phone service has always been iffy here and I would not want to rely on it, even with the signal booster installed a few years back.  So I use Google Voice on rare occasions to make phone calls....and pretty sure there are many options other that that for phone contact over internet service. As long as internet service is intact...even during power outages....I can call out on the system to emergency personnel or others.  I do believe you need to have a Google account for this option to be active and realize that may be a no go for many.  But it allows for another route of contact.

Anne Miller wrote:Is there a simple device to make or buy to give me 30 min of power?

All I need is time to make a call to our electric company to let them know the power is out.

We have a signal booster that gives us cell phone coverage which needs power.

I am tired of buying a device that costs $500.00 to do that. Then the next time we need it no longer works.

Before you do anything else, check with your power company. As per some power company repair guys that came here a year or so back, when the power goes down, they know instantly which ones are down as when the digital meter loses power they get a list of meters not reporting in.

So in our case, no need to call it in as they already know.

If a person was plagued by constant outages and for long duration, an alternative might be to invest in enough backup generator to keep essentials functioning until they get power back up and running.

I am not sure if I can explain what dear hubby thinks is happening.

The day this all happened was a very windy day so it is possible that is what caused the problem.

We have periodically though not routinely of lights blinking.

Anyway, that device seems to be working now so he has decided to not plug the signal booster into that device.  And if the electricity goes off then hook the device in and use it to call the electric outage phone number.

We will see ...

Anne Miller wrote:I am not sure if I can explain what dear hubby thinks is happening.

The day this all happened was a very windy day so it is possible that is what caused the problem.

We have periodically though not routinely of lights blinking.

Anyway, that device seems to be working now so he has decided to not plug the signal booster into that device.  And if the electricity goes off then hook the device in and use it to call the electric outage phone number.

We will see ...

. So a power surge? It happens. Fries a lot of equipment. We installed a whole house surge protector and have a power bar unit as well...

Byron Campbell wrote:Hi Anne,
If your vehicle / automobile is available during the power outage, then you have a portable 12 volt DC generator (vehicle running at idle) right there. In order to have AC power, a small 12 volt DC to 120 volt AC Inverter (i.e. from Radio Shack) can be hooked up to the vehicle's battery, or plugged it into the vehicle's cigarette lighter socket, or DC ass'y jack, which will easily power a phone, or cellphone booster.

You can also buy a cable for your phone that will work off of your car's cigarette lighter (if you can find it. new cars have weird locations for these) .

I have been enjoying all the replies and now see that the need has once more reared its head.  A safety note should be considered - Electricity can be considered much like water in that voltage is much like water pressure.  The more pressure, the easier it is for a leak or jump of the fluid to points one does not want them to jump.  In other words, 12dc is much more forgiving with respect to arching, but does not flow as far as 120v ac.  If you have space issues, I would opine that a pair of 10ga wires (unless you have copper water lines for the water heater or out to the well - then you have a common ground that would simplify wiring).  Have the outside wire(s) coiled up and ready to hook to your battery (ensure that the vehicle is running to reduce shock to your signal booster from voltage regulators kicking in after starting).  If only one wire is used as a positive, set the ground to hook the negative from the vehicle to a pipe or ground wire off the entrance line to create a complete circuit.  (Of course that works only if you have a standard, in my area, negative ground system on the vehicle.  
Set up your pure sine inverter in the basement next to your signal booster.  The shorter the connection from your inverter, the better the chance things will work smoother.
BTW, I had the same question regarding pure sine vs modified sine inverters, but no one explained the difference.  Maybe all on this thread are aware, and I am showing my ignorance, but here goes:  Modified sine inverters are not capable of providing a pure, clean source of electricity for sensitive electrical gear but are more common in the marketplace since they are generally way cheaper.  Pure sine inverters produce a smoother frequency electrical signal which helps sensitive electronics last longer on average.  Pure sine inverters should be used when one has expensive electronics hooked or for those who require a big kick to get started.  Modified sine inverters are good for general electrical tools and things like toasters, electronic heaters, etc.
It should be noted that it would be possible to run a deep cycle battery in the laundry room and make a short run from it to the inverter.  I would suggest to place it in a battery box to isolate it from any concrete floor, not so much to worry about lost charge (unless it gets really dirty) but more to protect the floor from potential acid due to overcharging or leaks - hey, they happen.  An inexpensive battery maintainer would keep the deep cycle topped off and replace power once it is used.  While your area has less potential for cold weather, this also would help someone in cold country by keeping the battery in a warmer location which helps maintain full charge.

So many cool ideas and gadgets in this thread that I was not aware of!

Now back into looking at cell phone boosters again.  Have had a WEboost brand for several years.....did okay, but not great.....and it appears to have died now.  One of the issues with that unit had a relatively short run from the antenna outside the house to the transmitter inside the house, -- which is only ~20 ft.  Our internet service (rural) is set up with a receiving antenna on the the property access road about 200 ft from the house.  That has worked beautifully to receive internet service that is broadcast from atop the water-tower of the nearby town about 5 miles away.  With that as a back-drop, it is near impossible for our (aging--model 6s) iPhones to reach signal from the nearest cell-phone tower ~ 1 mile away.  This is due to many large trees and metal buildings in the line of sight with the cell tower.  My desire would be to have a cell booster that could have an antenna placed on the same pole as the internet antenna and have a long cable-run back to the house for connection to the signal transmitter.  Has anyone had experience of such a system or know of one that boasts that kind of boost?  The previous system had the antenna attached to the side of the house ~ 15 ft off of the ground, but that was insufficient to cut through all of the trees and foliage blocking the signal.  Also note, we connect our iPhones through wifi which allows easy messaging....to other iPhone users, but not to non-iPhone phones, so that has been an issue.  Thanks for any help here....