I have a couple ‘battery in a box’ setups around the house. I have an ancient (pre-Y2K) ConSci powerpack that has, rather unbelievably, held up for the last twenty years. And, as of late, I picked up a battery jumpbox that ran an LED desk lamp for a week. That told me that as far as emergency lighting needs go: a) anything other than LED’s is a remarkably foolish choice and b) assuming six hours of use per night, I can light the house up for a month with a lamp and a charged battery. So, the logical conclusion was to get a couple lamps,a couple batteries, and keep them charged. This I have done.
Now, the emergency lights I use are from Goal 0. I have fabbed up my own in the past, and I’ll probably do that again, but Goal 0 had some nice, simple, daisy chainable lights. Goal 0 also makes various battery packs. I was gifted a dead one last week, along with a Goal 0 panel to charge it. And thus begins our tale.
So I was generously given a Goal Zero Extreme 350…a discontinued batterybox type of product. It featured Anderson power pole connectors, charging regulator, charging input, fuses, and a battery meter. Really, you could put together the exact same thing for less than what Goal 0 charges but some of us are not terribly handy with tools and prefer an out-of-the-box turnkey solution.
Anyway, this thing had sat in storage and was deader than Hillary Clintons presidential chances. I let it sit on the supplied charger for a couple days and got no joy at all. Clearly the long period of non-use, and slow discharge (because the battery meter is on all the time), led to the sealed lead-acid battery becoming unrecoverable.
But..I liked the other features. Perhaps Goal 0 has a replacement for this battery? Nope. And the replacement batteries they do sell are $$$. So….off to the itnernet. Which is where I found this – directions on DIYing a replacement battery off Amazon. Since my basis was $0 in this, I didn’t mind dropping the coin for a new AGM battery to replace the dead SLA battery. So, ran off to Amazon and ordered up the suggested battery which was an exact dimensional fit, gives me the advantage of AGM, and was an extra 5 amp/hour. Followed the instructions and – voila – brought it back to life. I’ve got my desk lamp hooked up to it to see how long it’ll run on a full charge, and then to see how long it takes to charge it using the panel. I’e no doubt this thing willrun the lamp for at least three or four days…and probably longer. It’ll give me one more self-contained lighting unit to distribute where needed next time the power goes out. And the price was right.
Another backup lighting option is to buy good quality LED garden lights ~ $4.00 at Wallyworld. Charge during the day and provide 6-8 hours of light at night. Works very well with plenty of light. My deck is covered with solar rail lights and I almost never have to turn on the electric spots.
40-50 bucks is a good investment IMO to provide backup off grid lighting even if there are overcast days that interfere with that… Now I’m gonna get ready for that solar powered BBQ I’m having today. Temps in the 90’s
Happy Labor Day
I’ve had good experiences with the Goal0 products I own. I really like their Lighthouse 400 lanterns. Good output and “dialable” to the level out output desired, which helps extend the battery life. It has a built-in charging cord, so you never have to try to find one in a pinch, and also a USB charging output. It has a crank charger as well, which does work fine, although I wish they had made it out of aluminum or something more rugged than plastic (my one gripe about the product). Even has built-in red flashing hazard lights, although I’ve never had need to use that, it could be helpful in a roadside breakdown situation.
Overall, a really well designed and built product, although not the most “budget” lantern available.
If you have a modern battery charger, it may not put any voltage on a battery if that battery is below about 9 volts. In my P.U., I turned the parking light on while the charger was hooked up and about three hours later, when I checked, the battery was taking a charge. If you have an older charger, without all the additional controls, you may be able to put a charge on an otherwise ‘dead’ battery. These are obviously a make-shift until you can further test/replace the battery.
I use the “Jump Start battery chargers” to power my ham radio setup. I use it at home and on the road.
Well, and to charge my car, when needed.