Portable G-100

[zeefauna]

Found this on Amazon.com

Is this the same thing as the G100A, just that its battery operated?

[kpagel]

No, it is not the same as the G100. That does not have the power to remove swirls and other defects. That is best used as a way to apply wax.

[zeefauna]

Well, then i have a problem.

I don't have a garage and lives in an apartment. The carpark where i usually do my car "detailing" has no power supply (there is but tapping it is illegal).

Would there be any way i can use the car's battery to run the G100, since the portable one won't work as well?

[CELL]

Have you looked into getting a good, but inexpensive portable generator?

[zeefauna]

hmmm.... good idea, but it's going to be bulky right? and running on petrol?

I read somewhere on the internet like dc-ac inverter to use the car's battery to power home appliances. But not too sure if its going to strain the battery.

I want to get the best out of my detailing and using my hand alone won't bring out the potential.

If only there is a DIY garage here to allow people to DIY their cars at some rate/hr. Actually, that is my small idea for business; "open a space with power and water and charge rates to use", with Meguiar's stuff to sell on the racks....

good idea, huh? hehehe....

[farefax]

Try getting an inverter find out power consumption of polisher and get one with the most power you can fin. Plug inverter in to cig lighter adapter and plug polisher into inverter and there you'll have your 110v.

[benhui86]

just remember to leave ur car on so u dont have to find someone to help jumpstart ur car when ur done.....

[zeefauna]

Originally posted by farefax
Try getting an inverter find out power consumption of polisher and get one with the most power you can fin. Plug inverter in to cig lighter adapter and plug polisher into inverter and there you'll have your 110v.

Thanks for the great idea and advice guys!

I bought a DC-AC Inverter. It's 400W. The power rating of the G100A is 407W. Will it still work?

I hope it will. I'm waiting for the inverter to come in through the mail.

[farefax]

might be close I would have tried to get one that had a little more
wattage. Your right on the border. Let us know if it works,

[rsa]

Originally posted by zeefauna I read somewhere on the internet like dc-ac inverter to use the car's battery to power home appliances. But not too sure if its going to strain the battery.

This isn't an area where I have any real practical experience, but I will attempt to answer your question. These are my opinions only and they don't come with any guarantees. If you damage your PC, car engine, car battery, yourself, or anything or anyone else, you're on your own.

Let's get out a pen and a napkin and do some calculations. I'm assuming there's no technical reason a Porter-Cable can't be used with a reasonable quality power inverter. The Porter-Cable motor is rated at 3.7A at 120VAC = 444W. Startup draw could exceed that, so I'd figure on an 800W power inverter. That may be overkill, since power inverters can be rated differently for continuous operation and peak operation. For example, a power inverter may be advertised to produce "400 watts continuous, 800 watts peak" so you'd probably be OK in that situation.

The short version it that if you keep the car engine running, you shouldn't have any problems at all. Even a 55A alternator on Geo Metro is enough (55A at 12VDC = 660W). Worst case it that you'll have to keep the engine running at a speed higher than idle since alternators don't put out their rated power at engine-idle speeds. I imaging some power inverters have protection circuits that shuts them down if they start to drain the battery. It makes sense that they should, but maybe cheapies don't have them. If it doesn't, what I might do is install a battery run-down protection devices like PriorityStart! and use the PC with the engine just idling. If using the PC with the the engine idling tripped the battery protection, you know that you need to bump the engine speed to keep from draining the battery while you're using the PC. Note that extended idling is said to be be harmful to the engine and/or oil life.

Using the PC with the car not running would be a more difficult question to answer and depend on the type and model of battery you had. IIWM, this is how I'd approach trying to find an answer: Crazy as it sounds, I use an Optima D34M battery in my Miata as the Starter, Lighting and Ignition (SLI) battery. The D34M is a deep cycle marine battery. It's designed to withstand repeated discharges. It has a Reserve Capacity of 120 minutes (with a 25A load, it will take 120 minutes at 80ºF to fully discharge to 10.5VDC). Non-deep-cycle SLI batteries are easily damaged when taken to a fully discharged state. It's not healthy to completely discharge lead-acid batteries, not even deep-cycle ones. And you still need to start your car. Battery run-down protection devices like PriorityStart! use 11.7VDC as the point they start to disconnect accessory drains and still allow the car to restart. A fully charged 6-cell lead acid battery is 12.65VDC. If I only discharge my battery to 11.7VDC, that means I can draw 25A for about 53 minutes (based on a 120 minute RC) before my battery drops to 11.7VDC. RC uses 25A as the assumed current draw. 25A at 12VDC is 300W. The PC can draw up to 444W. So worst case I could run my PC continuously at full load for 300W/ 444W * 53minutes = 35 minutes before my battery dropped to 11.7VDC.

My guess is the PC doesn't draw near 3.7A during most of it's use, so it could be longer than 35 minutes of use before I drew down the battery to 11.7VDC (and would allow you to get by with using a 400W power inverter). My WAG is I'd get about an hour's use. But I have a stud of a battery with a great RC and the ability to safely withstand discharges. For the typical OEM battery that comes with a small car, I can't see attempting an complete engine-off detail. Maybe just a wax or light-polish and wax, but not a cleaning where you run the PC at setting "5" and use twenty pounds of downforce.

You also have the option of mixing engine-off and engine-on time while using the PC with a power inverter. Maybe engine-on for the cleaning and engine-off for the polishing and waxing.

The one last thing I'd want to consider is how to connect the power inverter to the battery. Follow the instructions that come with the power inverter will address that. The concern I'd have is that the cigarette lighter or 12VDC power point wouldn't be wired with adequately large wire which would be at worst a safey hazard and at best would cause a significant voltage drop between the battery and inverter. The stock fuse might also be the wrong size. What I'd want to do is connect the power inverter directly to the battery or install a new fused power point with adequate wire size. What's "adequate"? I'd just use the same guidelines that they use for stereo power amplifiers rated for the same wattage. Basic Car Audio Electronics has some cool wire calculators. Example: for a 15 foot length of wire between the battery and power point, I'd use 10AWG. Again, that may be overkill, but what the hey, we're Car Crazy®.

Stu

[Solo2]

I have had a Wen (similar to the Meg's portable) battery portable buffer/polisher for a long time, and I agree it is not agressive enough at getting the wax/polish off, especially if you do too much surface and drying starts.

However, it is real handy for putting wax on, and for minor maintenace issues (light scrub, etc), and a bit of a final buff for a missed spot or two. Kinda handy to have in the trunk on a road trip.

Eddie