Re: New to RVs and hope to run computer network off of batteries...

WineRVBiz wrote:
On Oct 1, 6:07 am, matt_colie <m...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
WineRVBiz wrote:

Thank you Pepperoni yeah, laptops are the way to go for sure and I
appreciate all your very helpful input! I need the desktop b/c it's
actually my server and the time that it would take me to rebuild and
configure... well let's just say that in a perfect world if I put
enough money and time into a solution that I can swap key components
from my office network into the road RV, then I will have achieved my
goal...
WineRVBiz,
You can not mean a real server, because a dedicated server can never be
a portable item as it has to be attached to the network all the time.

If you mean a personal file store, you can copy all the "server" files
to a portable hard drive and still run a laptop. If you need your
clients to have access to files on a regular basis, buy some space in a
server farm and let them power it.

You have actually asked about six questions.
AND
You have gotten a great collection of really good answers here. But,
the actual values you are looking for can not be determined without a
good deal more information.

How Big a house battery stack are you willing to carry?
What is the real power consumption of the equipment you think you need
to run?
How long will you be running each piece in a worst case cycle?
How long are you planning to run it in isolated mode?
What is the rating of your current converter/charger?
Do you have a place to install a properly sized inverter/charger?

Be sure what you really have to do before you start. Thinking is the
most effective thing to do.

Matt

Thanks and you are right. I have received great contributions from
ALL. And thank you for that very much. Obviously, I will have to do
a lot of calc.s and research, and these responses are helping me a
great deal to know or/and confirm the correct approach.

I did not know that I would get such great contributions on this
topic, so when I first wrote it, I thought, nobody will respond.
Instead, I think there is some incredible technical insight, and I am
very satisfied with what I gained from these responses.

No not a real server. (I know a bit about network design, and I know
I am going to have to compromise a lot.) But I have the following
network devices and I know where you are going with this, thanks Matt:

1) Verizon MIWIFI 2200, been testing it where we go. 5 devices can
use it thru AC, USB or 12-Volts uses 802.11 a/g.
2) Couple that with or bridge that with a Linksys 4-port + wireless,
not sure power.
3) I have thought, my APC UPS, just a thought to clean-condition/
somewhat and I allow me to shutdown and centralize a power down. So
this maybe a luxury to throw away, but I am trying to see what I can
get away with. Length of times below.
4) External 1 TB drive NAS too, so USB and Ethernet.
5) 2 Cell phones but handle this from radio shack, I hope?
6) 2 AC house wireless phones to hook into my vonage phone system (I
can work off of my cell phones, but would like to forward phone calls
from my office to the vonage line.)

Don’t know the capacity, and you are correct. I do not have access to
the coach right now and it is new and I will make sure this is one of
the first things I look at. Major flaw In my thinking, yet this is
why I am talking with people who know how to approach this. So the
answer to, “How Big a house battery stack are you willing to carry?”
I don’t know but very good point that I totally missed. Makes a lot
of sense now that I read your comments.

“How long will you be running each piece in a worst case cycle?” I
have thought of

Plan A: If I could be conservative knowing ahead of time that I will
need about 36 hours being isolated of battery run time and probably
real time around 72 hours. This would be ideal but I am not sure if I
am dreaming here.
PERSONAL/Work or Biz:

7) Biz: Server would go off unless extreme client emergency. I do
not need access to it unless it’s one of the following. Admin stuff
of our product these don’t happen that much of the time for me mostly
handled by our team but I know about all issues and kind of play catch
all or wear many hats.

8) Personal: 2 persons can watch sports and politics we both have
Sling Boxes for TV, been using for months so we know what I what I am
talking about here too. This is two laptops per day, me 3 hours and
person “A” (not me) might use 6 hours to take a very heavy and
undisciplined load.

9) Both Personal/Biz: Again, to run just Internet through Verizon and
MIWIFI is got to be pretty light. It has USB, AC12 and has a life of
about 2 hours new.

10) Personal: Lastly, we will probably patch our SVGA from laptops to
the TVs so also two tvs for 6 hours a day.

11) I am probable leaving out a few things but no big draws.. b/c I am very analytical about biz but as i said electrical is a
prob.

So Matt you nailed it here, I know i have a lot to learn but these are
the questions that would be asking or should be asking. So thanks

Peter,

I suggest that you do what I do with my clients that want more independent time (I work on boats, but the only difference is the corrosion that must be addressed).

Start with a spread*** - they are good for lots of things- and tally everything you want to be able to use. I mean - everything - the lights, the radio, the potable pump, fans even the cellphone and earpiece chargers. Do the spead*** with all the loads AC and DC and do not forget the idle loads and efficiency of any inverts you might need to run. You may have to run some experiments to get some of the data. It all adds up and may be a lot more than you expect.

You may find that the battery bank you need to carry is unrealistic. If you try to stay with the plan, you may end up having to standby or hibernate processors that are not really being used.

By the way, if I do this analysis for you it will bill at at least 200$us, but you get to keep the spead*** with all the developed data.

If I can be other help, I'm here often.

Matt Colie
.

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