I ordered this. I have no knowledge of these though and just ordered the first thing that looked useful. It could be utter shit and not suit my task. I can update after I receive it.
Adjustable Voltage Regulator, DROK DC to DC 5.3V-32V to 1.2V-32V 12V Power Supply Module, 12A LCD Step Down Volt Transformer 160W CC CV Buck Converter Reducer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078Q1624B/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_3MXNNTZADY2VZRZCSEGH
Use a dc to dc power supply. Something like this: https://www.amazon.ca/Adjustable-Converter-DROK-Regulator-Transformer/dp/B078Q1624B/ref=pd_sbs_7/140-5452737-0481841?pd_rd_w=T3m1Z&pf_rd_p=01fdeee8-dd76-431b-910b-f00bfed49bd2&pf_rd_r=YXDFXZ8VEDC0Q60E80J8&pd_rd_r=9ebc6d06-90e1-441d-9a2...
This specific one is more of a budget one that just so happens to fit perfectly into my mount on my 20v battery it can do anywhere from 1.16v-20.28v at 6amps 8 peak or with cooling there are tons that can do more I just had this laying around
Adjustable Voltage Regulator, DROK DC to DC 5.3V-32V to 1.2V-32V 12V Power Supply Module, 12A LCD Step Down Volt Transformer 160W CC CV Buck Converter Reducer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078Q1624B/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_6QFZQZGHXX9ENMPZ92YX?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Not all battery packs will use the center pins as connections between each cell (or groups of cells) in the pack, some will only have the outer two pins connected to the pack inside, but that is easy enough to check with a meter. However the benefit of connecting to the 18v output and using a buck converted Vs. just tapping at the 12v connection would be to use a step Up and Down voltage converter kind of like this that can give a more consistent output voltage as the battery voltage drops. It can set a cut off voltage to prevent over discharge of the battery, or if you don't care about the battery lifespan you can drain the cells to very low voltage and let it step the voltage up (I would not recommend doing that).
A single large monitor - like the curved wide screens - take a good bit less power than multiple smaller ones. I recommend that approach if at all possible. You can get software that makes it act like a multi-monitor setup. It's not ideal, but it's a big power and complexity savings.
Also, if your laptop can charge from USB, then you can get a 12v to 5v USB adapter and save a good bit of efficiency too - no inverter required to charge. You will need to find a high current USB port. I've yet to find one that can charge faster than my Macbook Pro drains when I'm running it hard but more are hitting the market all the time and it does significantly increase my battery life.
You can also be really tricky and look at the power supply for your monitor and see if you can run it off batteries too with a small solid-state buck converter. For instance, my big monitor on my desk uses a 120v -> 19v @ 7amps power supply. Something like this would actually be able to do that far more efficiently than the inverter + wall wart combo:
https://www.amazon.com/DROK-Converter-5-3V-32V-Regulator-Transformer/dp/B078Q1624B
I'm not recommending that device specifically, just pointing to an example. Any time you can use the batteries directly, without the inverter, you are better off. I'm planning on a 24v setup because it's preferable (and cheaper) as the amp hours go up.
Yeah, most hobby chargers aren't designed for such small batteries. Even the TP4056 which is in lots of hobbyist products doesn't go that low.
I couldn't find any charging IC's that had pre-built charging boards. Your best bet would be to use a cc-cv power supply (like this buck converter). It claims 1 mA resolution, but I can't tell if you can set it that low. It's amazon so you could easily return it.
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I read, and reread the instructions to decide which mode of operation I wanted. I set both potentiometers to the full counter clockwise position. (The potentiometers are 20 turn devices.) Then I fed it the maximum voltage to which the unit is exposed, at 16v, and set the voltage 'in' pot to match that voltage, on the display. Then, I set the current limit pot until the unit supplied full speed (Required current)to the fan needed in my application. Then, I set the input voltage to the 12.0 volt minimum voltage the fan will see. The result is exactly what I want. I cycled the voltage input, several times. I powered the unit 24hrs, and tested hi & lo input voltages. It works perfectly. The output voltage and current remained constant. Note: If a person was careless with setup, he/she could burn the unit, in my opinion.
It’s easy within limits. These are cheap and good quality but they have an upper limit of 32v input. Output is adjustable.
https://www.amazon.com/DROK-Converter-5-3V-32V-Regulator-Transformer/dp/B078Q1624B/
I personally don't need TV in my van but I do enjoy google home running on a monitor to watch movies, play music, watch a bit of youtube, etc. Also occasionally as an extra screen for work.
It took me browsing a lot to finally find a regular computer monitor that happens to want 12v. Problem for me has been that many manufacturers don't list this online so I've been going around europe and looking in electronics stores instead. Found this from in-house brand "peaq" in German chain Saturn that uses 12v https://www.saturn.de/de/product/_peaq-pmo-s271-ifc-2672884.html – not the best screen in the world but perfectly adequate. Sub-peaq if you will.
Anyway.. I think I'll use this screen for some time, but I'm nowadays more and more into the idea of using dc-to-dc converters and stepping up/stepping down voltages as needed per device. That would give me much better options for specific high quality gadgets like a monitor with less power loss (I think?) than using the inverter to go all the way to 230v and then back down again to say 18v. So this is a reminder that these things also exist: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078Q1624B/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_34673NNFQ1XXN8VVA1X3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Here’s a buck converter I used for a recent project, it allows you to set both voltage and current output.
Yeah, I've been looking at some, but that will only cover the pack. What about output from the pack to the Pi? I have one of these guys:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B078Q1624B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
but it's only single output. What would be the recommended way of hooking up multiple voltages if I wanted to run 12v fans, let's say?
Also, this won't solve the problem of voltage drop if switching from battery to mains (or even hooking it up to mains, actually). What would be the best way to go about that?
>Oh...I ran into your LED video the other day when I was looking into ledblinky.
That's cool! I'm using LEDSpicer, which I feel is the best option for Linux at the moment. I've been able to accomplish more in less time than with another one that's popular for Linux. I was really happy to get the LED events working (e.g. Dig Dug flashing when there's credits), even though I had to do some dumb tricks with basic socket serving.
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>I'm familiar with doing using a 12v to 5v converter to power the Pi and LCD monitor off of one 12v power adapter.
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>Here is a recommendation! Instead of using standard 12V input, switch it to USB C PD using those cheap USB C PD controllers. Should be possible to power the cabinet off a USB C PD battery pack.
Since 5V 6A was my target, I went for this buck converter to go from 12V to 5V that's split out to the Raspberry Pi and the plethora of LEDs that I use. The Raspberry Pi has a 5% range, so while 5 V is your goal, you can hit 4.75 – 5.25 V and be okay. With no load, this buck converter hits 5 V on its display, though with my multimeter I did notice that it was ~0.02 V higher than what the display said. With load, it drops to about 4.98 V, but that's an acceptable range and if worse comes to worse, the LEDs may be a little dimmer (I certainly don't notice it). In a few of my videos (and photos) you can see that I did most of the electrical side with my bench power supply before advancing forward on a permanent solution with a 12V 5A plug and a 4-way splitter that's able to handle 10A and split out to 2.5A per split (none of my 12V devices exceed this value, so it's fine). I really need to update my article to reflect all of these recent changes from last weekend or so.
Since I'm using a full-size cabinet, I think the USB-C PD is more than what I'd want to throw at it, but I do like the thought of this for transporting something around in a Pelican briefcase or similar. Before COVID, there was a local coffee shop where people would have Street Fighter tournaments and bring entire television and gaming systems to do so, so I could definitely see the USB-C PD battery pack being an attractive option for a counter arcade cabinet
~~That's expensive as fuck. You can get basically the same thing for less than 20.~~
https://www.amazon.com/Adjustable-Regulator-DROK-Transformer-Converter/dp/B078Q1624B/
Edit: I didn't notice it also supports analysis and logging.
You need a buck transformer.
Edit: Wow who's downvoting this?
Lipo's operate at either 3.7 nominal or 4.2v. The PI needs a full 5v to operate. Source: Here's a video of me welding together 18650's with my Sunkko welder.