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One D Battery Outlet

 Run low-wattage 120VAC appliances off of one D battery.
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Want a Compact Florescent flashlight? A battery that fits all your wall wart appliances? An alarm clock-radio that you can use where there is no electricity? Then connect a battery holder to some inversion circutry to convert the 1.5 volts DC to 120 volts AC. It would look like a flashlight with an outlet at the end instead of a bulb.
—Amishman35, Feb 13 2001

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       Huh? You'll have to explain this one to me since I have no electrical knowledge. How do you go from 1.5 volts to 120 volts?
—arghblah, Feb 14 2001
   

       I ask my neighbor to walk my dog whenever he comes over to borrow stuff, so I have time to go look for it.
—reensure, Feb 14 2001
   

       //Huh? You'll have to explain this one to me since I have no electrical knowledge. How do you go from 1.5 volts to 120 volts?//   

       It's doable, though if there's any significant power drain the efficiency will be pretty abysmal. Most pocket-sized fluorescent lights convert 3 volts nominal to about 200VAC to drive the cold-cathode tubes so the output voltage isn't the problem. Rather, the problems are that batteries' output voltage tends to sag under heavy loads, and voltage-boosting supplies' efficiency drops significantly at low voltages; if the battery voltage drops below a volt the supply won't be able to put out much of anything.   

       The most useful power you could get from a single D cell for this application would be about 5 watts. There aren't many things you could run with that that aren't available in more-efficient battery-powered versions.
—supercat, Feb 14 2001
   

       It would last about 10 seconds and then you'd have to change the battery. (Elec Eng).   

       I've often thought about a portable nuclear power plant, but I don't want nuclear energy in the hands of mum and dad consumer.
—goodie, Feb 14 2001
   

       Actually, R=IV (which I probably wrote wrong), so if the voltage increases, the amperage decreases proportionably. I don't use D batteries so i don't know the amperage, but assuming they give 80mA at 1.5 volts, I'd expect them to give 1mA at 120. Might work for flourescents, but incandescents would be really, really dim.
—nick_n_uit, May 18 2001
   

       yup, it's V=IR. I think I was thinking about something to do with transformers. Just goes to show that physics and alcohol don't mix. Never drink and derive.
—nick_n_uit, Jun 05 2001
   

       I think that you will need more bateries than one cell. try 10 for 12 volts. Then you can use higher currents just use electronics from one of those outomotive power inverter. This would be very expensive power if you just threw the bateries away (I think that you can use one of those Renewall rechargeable alkaline rechargers to recharge alkalines, but you can only do it 20 times and the bateries might go KABOOM(it's got a cover)). use rechargeables. You can just take a standard computer UPS. I saw something in the Radio Shack catalog (I don't like Radio shack, go to an electronics surplus store instead) that had a 300 watt inverter and a rechargeable battery. You plug it in overnight, and then take it with you; it gives you a 12 volt cigarette lighter and 120 volts AC.
—dr_photon, Mar 03 2002
   


 

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