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Powering a 1HP BLDC Lathe in a Van
- Thread starter erikmannie
- Start date
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2013
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- 4,307
it will some, but a large chunk of the cost are the panels, battery (esp. LiFePO4) and control circuitry. Panelling and prettiness obviously costs, but I'd spend some time looking into total power needs and systems costs. You may be surprised by how much it adds up to - several times the cost of a good quality generator would be my best estimate.
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2019
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- 4,392
I have no place to park any kind of trailer where I live.
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2017
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- 2,138
Right up front, there is no DC-DC transformer. Period. You would use an inverter to get AC, transform it to the desired voltage, and then rectify that back to DC. Simplist would be to use the high voltage DC directly. 90 volt DC motor controls are usually used from 120 AC power. A good combination there~~~
That said, would you consider an "old school" cab-over camper? The forward bunk space will serve as an air dam outside. You would get the stand-up space needed, if for nothing more than stretching, which will be needed, trust me. Not using it as a bunk opens up a lot of generic space, although I would be careful of the weight forward.
A 3/4 ton pickup is a given with a diesel, and a good idea for a camper anyway. I have had both a Ford and a Chev 3/4 ton with king cab and a short bed. The combination worked to keep overall length down. I don't know what sort of camper shell could be found that would fit that combination though. Normal usage would be a straight cab pick-up with an 8 foot bed and a cab over rig. I'm sort of partial to King Cabs for traveling. A lot would depend on your milage driven.
Batteries inside living/working space is a bad move. Although I am biased, having been burned with that situation. Burned literally, with the acidic smoke getting into my lungs. Made a hell of an impact on my income stream as I transitioned from working as a mill electrician to a fiber optics splicer.
There are several considerations for space for your work and other that only you can make. But I stand on my comments about using a small 120 volt generator with an externally accessable enclosure. Keep the CO outside and avoid using the propulsion engine for extended power usage.
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That said, would you consider an "old school" cab-over camper? The forward bunk space will serve as an air dam outside. You would get the stand-up space needed, if for nothing more than stretching, which will be needed, trust me. Not using it as a bunk opens up a lot of generic space, although I would be careful of the weight forward.
A 3/4 ton pickup is a given with a diesel, and a good idea for a camper anyway. I have had both a Ford and a Chev 3/4 ton with king cab and a short bed. The combination worked to keep overall length down. I don't know what sort of camper shell could be found that would fit that combination though. Normal usage would be a straight cab pick-up with an 8 foot bed and a cab over rig. I'm sort of partial to King Cabs for traveling. A lot would depend on your milage driven.
Batteries inside living/working space is a bad move. Although I am biased, having been burned with that situation. Burned literally, with the acidic smoke getting into my lungs. Made a hell of an impact on my income stream as I transitioned from working as a mill electrician to a fiber optics splicer.
There are several considerations for space for your work and other that only you can make. But I stand on my comments about using a small 120 volt generator with an externally accessable enclosure. Keep the CO outside and avoid using the propulsion engine for extended power usage.
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- Joined
- Sep 8, 2019
- Messages
- 4,392
Anything that looks residential (like someone might be sleeping in it) would cause me problems in my neighborhood.
My city might have the worst homeless problem in the whole country. People seeing RVs and campers parked on the street sets them off.
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2019
- Messages
- 6,526
We have a lot of that here in Santa Cruz as well, everything from meth-heads living in clapped out vans to high-end Sprinter type rigs with rich folks inside. People have a right to be concerned about their neighborhood becoming a campground, apparently Santa Rosa doesn't even let your park a camper on your own property either.
Vehicles | Santa Rosa, CA
Read more about regulations concerning auto dismantling, campers, RVs, and more.
So, if you did want a camper you would have to pay for storage. I have my trailer stored in Nevada where it's cheap $45/mo but I'd be pretty angry if my city restricted what kind of legally registered vehicle I could have on my property.
I did live in a truck camper for about a year twenty years ago and I was able to find parking where I didn't get hassled. Most towns now have ordinances though which prohibit sleeping in vehicles on the street.
This is something that we need to deal with as a society since so many folks were already living on the edge before the virus eliminated so many jobs.
So, we have officially strayed off-topic but now I understand why it's so difficult for you to come up with a good solution. Maybe this summer just try running a Sherline lathe in your motel room, plastic makes a great material to practice with and the chips won't hurt your feet if some go astray.
John
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2019
- Messages
- 4,392
We have a lot of that here in Santa Cruz as well, everything from meth-heads living in clapped out vans to high-end Sprinter type rigs with rich folks inside. People have a right to be concerned about their neighborhood becoming a campground, apparently Santa Rosa doesn't even let your park a camper on your own property either.
Vehicles | Santa Rosa, CA
Read more about regulations concerning auto dismantling, campers, RVs, and more.www.srcity.org
So, if you did want a camper you would have to pay for storage. I have my trailer stored in Nevada where it's cheap $45/mo but I'd be pretty angry if my city restricted what kind of legally registered vehicle I could have on my property.
I did live in a truck camper for about a year twenty years ago and I was able to find parking where I didn't get hassled. Most towns now have ordinances though which prohibit sleeping in vehicles on the street.
This is something that we need to deal with as a society since so many folks were already living on the edge before the virus eliminated so many jobs.
So, we have officially strayed off-topic but now I understand why it's so difficult for you to come up with a good solution. Maybe this summer just try running a Sherline lathe in your motel room, plastic makes a great material to practice with and the chips won't hurt your feet if some go astray.
John
I have lived in Santa Rosa, CA almost all of my life, and I think I have a sense of what I can get away with here. I’m sure that I’m going to end up with what looks like a nice contractor van. I think having windows will help a lot to quell peoples worst fears.
The school that I will be going to for two months a year for the next six years is in Troy, OH. I was just there; it is a small town, and the cops definitely know what is going on. You have to keep it on the up and up. Sleeping in the van would be a problem. Having a motel room and putting money into their local economy would make things all right.
I see that there are a lot of battery powered generators available. They come in varying sizes, and the ones that I am looking at are the size of a briefcase. They can be charged by 12V (car cigarette lighter jack), 110V AC or solar panels. It is pretty cool that there are three different ways to charge them! They have lithium-ion batteries, and the item description says that there are no fumes.
The one in the pictures below is 2400Wh. It can output 1000W continuous or 2000W for up to 2 minutes.
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