Thanks so much Hippy, this seems more like it but would this drain my car battery and how do I get around that?
Thanks!

get a $50 deep cycle battery from Wally World and hook up some 12V sockets and a power inverter as pictured above. should be all the power you need for a couple days. mine in my camper lasts days running small draw items. you can also get a nice plastic battery box to keep it in.

Bob

Oh, and then I would just recharge it with my car battery? Sounds like a great idea! Thanks so much!

Clair
Most of the better quailty inverters have a Low voltage alarm or Auto shut down mode should the batteries power becomes to low.

It would really help if the make and model of the auto was given. For some cars, trucks and vans can be wired with a Battery Isolator. They allow you to connect two batteries to the cars alternator. Then you can power equipment from the second battery and not drain the one that is used to power the car. Since both the Main and Aux batteries are mounted in the car. You do not have to remove one to recharge it. For the Isolator will charge both at the same time to a full charge.

what kind of electrical device do you want to power while camping? the brunton solar panel you referenced is only 4.5 watts. a better choice would be their 14 watt brunton solar panel with a xantrex portable powerpack. there's a built-in inverter with one 120 volt ac outlet & a 12volt outlet. it also has an air compressor, a light and battery cables so you can jumpstart your car. i usually charge the powerpack before a trip using the ac charger & use the solar panel as a trickle charger to the powerpack to help extend its useful power time.

works as a great alternative to those noisy generators as long as you use it sparingly. don't expect it to power your 1800 watt hairdryer. it's heavy, so keep it in the car. look for a 12 volt alternative to whatever appliance you want to use. they are out there, usually at rv stores.

the nicest way would be to follow the previous post & mount a second deep cycle battery in your car. this is what i plan to do once they qualify the power manager my the 2004 tacoma 4x4. it is qualified up to 2003.

Here is a link that might be useful: xantrex 300 plus portable powerpack

I drive a 94 Volvo 850 Turbo, and I am embarrased to say i want to use a fan while camping...just can't sleep without it. I am a zombie after a couple days of camping and my small battery operated one just doesn't cut it.
Thanks for the xantrex link, I will look that up also! Thanks

Ok, I found a 12v fan that draws 3 amps per hour at: http://www.campingworld.com/browse/skus/index.cfm?skunum=21314&tab=reviews

Could I use the xantrex 300 plus portable powerpack with this or the deep cycle battery/inverter option?

36 watts = 12 volts x 3 amps

xantrex
although they claim it's a 300 watt / 20 amp hour battery, you're going to experience much less practical use out of it. don't get me wrong, it is great to have when camping, but real world usage is going to be different than their lab tests. besides, the air pump has come in handy too.

it should work to power your fan. i use it to power a shurflo water pump and my led lights. i'm trying to rig a shower to my truck & it seems to work fine. the solar panel also works fine to power my pump.

the deep cycle battery / inverter should work as well, although you may not want to keep the battery in the area you're sleeping in. it vents toxic gases. even a sealed gel battery is questionable if it should be used in a sleeping area.

A Simple power system while camping. Here's my solution. Running everything on 12 volt DC seems simplest to me for camp site power. I use a 12 volt 19 amp hour garden tractor stored in one of those plastic ammo boxes w/ handle for storage. To recharge and maintain the voltage I use a 350 ma solar panel. If I start the trip w/ a full charged battery this system will have enough power to run my Zodi shower pump (2.0 amps draw) for two 10 min. showers a day, plus pump enough hot water to wash the daily dishes (about 10 min) with some juice left over to run a radio/CD player for 2 weeks of camping. I have a portable 12 VDC fan that draws 2.8 amps on high that I rarely use, I am sure this would discharge the battery in a few hours. This power supply is a compact unit w/ three quick connect automotive type 2 prong connectors to hook up the items that need power. I used a formula I found in a West Marine catalog to calculate the storage and recharge capabilities I needed for what I wanted to power. I think this formula is commonly available on a lot of internet sites, start by looking at West Marine. A Coleman Northstar is hard to beat for lighting. If I knew how post photos on this web site I would post few of this system.

Garden Tractor Battery, the fingers are a little slow on the uptake!!

Saintclaire, if you don't want to convert your vehicle to a 2-battery system as described above, Costco and large automotive suppliers sell a portable charging station. This will start your vehicle if you have a dead battery. The better one has 110V plugs as well as "cigarette lighter" plugs built into it. It can be plugged into any 110V outlet to recharge, or recharged off any car battery. I think these are the greatest things since sliced bread, are less than $ 100, and will power a light or radio or any low-wattage electrical devices for a long, long time. They are about the size of a lunchbox and weigh about 12 pounds.

BTW, these power stations are junk! Mine didn't last one year before battery exhaustion. They can't be both jump starters and power supplies as those are two entirely different types of batteries. I'm moving to a deep-cell Optima battery as a power supply with a DC converter that won't suck 5w off my battery like an inverter will.

hello everyone,
Great tips and I will have to check it out when I go out camping!!

Maybe I can even use it to power the pump to blow up the inflatable bed?

Enjoy the summer and gardening...bye for now.

Here is a link that might be useful: printer cartridges

Geez, if i had to go to all that trouble just to go camping out in the woods, I'd stay at home!
I thought folks went camping to get away from the problems, but here you are--talking about taking a whole mess of new problems with you--to worry about!
If ya need all that excess junk--better stay home!

I agree, it's an another problem to think.. Camping doesn't need solar or any power for lights and gadgets. Camping is an experience to live outdoor, without electricity it's an experience.

Here is a link that might be useful: Yellowstone Cabins

i get the 12volt/inverter hook up. can't a 24volt/inverter set up be used as well, supplying more power?

I do agree with you about the electricity in the woods, but you have to think about those emergencies situations. I just had a customer purchase the Gobe system. And she wanted it just in case her son gets bite by a snake or if a mountain lion comes around.

I think that we should not go to the woods to bring more problems with us, but we should use the wisdom we have to bring what is needed like solar power. Plus what if you fall and twist your ankle that you cannot walk and then you are up in the mountains and your girlfriend can't carry you, and it is getting dark. You would be crawling and then you would really be up a creek because you thought you wanted to be one with nature. And by the time you get back to the doctor, it will be really bad than if you just had that extra juice to make a emergency call to a ranger to helicopter you to a hospital.

Going into the woods is a place to relax and get away from problems. But so many people have actually died in the woods for numerous reasons and then some other couple come walking by two or three weeks later and see a dead body. And they have their phones and they call the police. Y

As you can see having solar power or batteries or even electronics in the woods is not bad, it is when we forget to mediate and quite our minds to the sounds of nature that we tend to forget where we are.

If you are looking for quality solar power, check out livecofriendly.com They carry solar power but also agree that we should think of a camping trip as a adventure with nature not electronics but also take safety and wisdom into consideration.

Here is a link that might be useful: Portable Battery Chargers

I need to use my CPAP machine on a 4 day hunting trip with no electricity what would work best for me I believe my machine is 60-80 watts

Greatb summary of basic hook up .Invertor would work best with extra on Flag for yourcampsite board deep cycle battery

Just for your info, there's hundreds of solar panels that can be folded into a portable size in the market. My camping must is a suaoki solar charger with 2 USB ports. It's small and lightweight. Really great and it helps a lot when go camping out of grid.

Solar panels don't produce enough power to run most appliances, maybe a cell phone charger. That is where the battery comes in. The solar panel is used to charge the battery between uses. The battery is able to store the power and output it at much higher power than drawing straight from the solar panel. The solar panel recharges the battery between uses. Then you are just limited to the capacity of the battery between charges. Most solar panels can supply enough power to charge at a 2amp to 4amp rate which is similar or higher than most "trickle" chargers which supply 1.5 to 2amps but could take a full day to fully recharge a fully discharged battery. I would suggest using solar panels that will put out 4 amps or more to ensure full charging between uses. Also, it would be advisable to use a "Deep Cycle" battery which are not as affected by deep drains as a regular car "Starting" battery would be.