Ok so I'm thinking about switching my lawn handheld commercial equipment to battery powered. They are light, powerful, and quiet. My only question is, how big of an inverter (watts) would I need to run a couple of say 20 v DeWalt battery chargers? I could run a couple batteries in parallel and have the truck charging them through the 7 pin connector like I have with my open trailer. But would I need a big af inverter for say 2-3 chargers? I know nothing about this stuff but would like a mobile power station running on inverters to charge weedeated batteries. Or would it be better to just bring a bunch of batteries? Or maybe trade out at lunch? Thoughts?

 

Doesn’t DeWalt sell a charger that hooks to 12v? Do you need an inverted for anything else besides the charger?

 

Got a similar type charger for my ryobi batteries.

 

I can't say I need the inverter for anything specifically but, I'm definitely wanting to run some fans inside. It's a 18 ft inside enclosed trailer that I'm hoping to be getting soon. It crossed my mind to run a AC unit but, it's a trailer so I think just some fans would be fine. They make 12 volt fans too so that's no problem. Definitely going to run lighting which can also be 12 volt. I've never used a 12 volt fan. Do they blow similar to a 120 AC fan?

 

Interesting. I'll definitely have to look into this a little bit more. It would be really nice if I could keep everything 12 volt and not have to worry about the inverters. My truck charges the trailer batteries but I'm thinking about getting a solar panel too so that even if the truck is not running they are being charged. Any advice on solar panels? Brand etc?

 

Expect to spend a lot upfront for decent panels and charge controller. Do the math to figure out wattage needs before committing to any purchases

@Sous

 

Yes, do a lot of homework.
Inverters aren’t all equal. Pure sine wave is clean power, modified sine wave is a bit worse and not everything likes it. In addition, inverters draw power even when idle, so staying 12v with more stuff is a good idea, then only turn on an inverter when you need to run something big.
Same with solar controllers. Some can handle higher voltage which means you can parallel some panels and run smaller wires due to higher voltage and less amps. The MPPT controllers cost more but are more efficient.

 

I would start with the number of batteries and their size that you need to keep charged. If you are running lawn tools I would imagine you are running 5aH or larger which means more juice to charge them up. Start with you needed amp draw, including fans and lighting, then you can build your 12v bank and solar needs.

I use a simple solar maintainer for my tractor and it works great but your upfront cost with solar will be higher than an inverter but it would probably work better long term

 

A dc to dc boost converter would get you the required 20+v. Seems kind of redundant to take dc, switch it to ac only to switch it back to dc at a different voltage. The boost converters can be found on Amazon for under $10.

Got home to a laptop so I can throw up a link. I'm not saying this is the one you need just a reference so you get an idea what I'm talking about. They come in different wattages and voltage ranges, I've seen some go as high as 100v dc. That kind of juice will definitely singe the short hairs. You'll need to check the charge adapter for the batteries you'll be charging for the voltage and amperage they output. Then you can add the amps of however many you plan to charge at a time, plus a safety factor of at least 25% maybe even 40% if you think they'll be getting used a lot. That way you're not over working it causing excessive heat.

 

I’m gonna be the downer here…

I say stick with gas powered equipment for now. Much easier to carry containers of fuel than try and find a way to charge batteries all the time. Upfront costs should be a lot cheaper too. You’ll end up wanting the higher capacity batteries which cost a bunch more not to mention all the costs getting a charging system set up for your truck.
Plus you can fill the fuel tank in 30 seconds compared to however long it will take to charge the batteries. Just imagine being almost done with a job but running out of juice then waiting 30 minutes for a charge to finish the job.

Just yesterday I used mom’s Dewalt leaf blower for the first time. I was actually pretty impressed with how long it lasted, maybe 15 minutes? But it ran out of power with a little more to do. I believe it was a 5aH battery.

If you still want to do this then I’m with udsuth. Seems pretty wasteful to convert DC to AC then back to DC. There’s efficiency loss with each conversion. So if you can find a direct DC charger that would be best in my opinion.

 

Not a downer at all. The main reason I want to switch from gas to electric is 1, the noise. 2, the weight But the other reason is because of my wrists. The gas weed eaters are bad on my already problematic wrists. Not to mention a good gas weed eater when buying commercial runs you 5 to $600. So the cost of electric with batteries evens out to around the same.

When I work for a full day doing whatever I may be doing, by the time I get halfway through the day my hands are swoll up to the point I can't grab my steering wheel. The gas weed eaters make this bad. I've talked with a couple of doctors about my wrists but, now that I turned 19 I no longer have insurance and can't afford to go to a lot of doctors until I get insurance again. I talked to a nerve doctor a couple years ago and she basically said I had early stages of carpal tunnel and these last few months it's been getting considerably worse quickly. The last doctor I talked to was recommending surgery but I don't want to do that because most of the carpal tunnel surgeries I've seen didn't help at all. When I have to do big yards by the time I'm done weed eating my hands or to the point where I can't hardly drive my truck home because I can't hold the steering wheel due to swelling. I also struggle sometimes starting the gas equipment due to my wrists hurting. Also, when my hands go into their swelling up stage they start shaking really bad to the point where it's hard to do anything. And no my gas weed eaters do not vibrate really bad. I've already fixed all of those problems. I actually got my some of my weed eaters for free because they vibrated so bad you couldn't use them. Of course being a Small engine mechanic, it was easy for me to fix.

The DeWalt weed eaters come with 9 amp hour 60 volt batteries. And the 12 volt chargers from what I'm reading charge at normal charger rates. I'm thinking if I have two batteries say a thousand cranking amps each running parallel on the trailer I can have around 3 chargers ran off of them. If I'm charging three batteries while using two I should have no problem being able to alternate throughout the day I would think. You also have to think there's a lot of driving time in between yards where the batteries will still be charging and there's also times when I'll be mowing and I won't be using any weed eaters or edgers until I'm done mowing. There will be a lot of time I'm not using those things because I'm working by myself. It's not like I have a three-man crew so that everything is always being ran. I'll only have one thing running at a time. I do still worry about it though. I tested my trailer charging setup the other day. With one battery on the trailer, when the truck's not running it was sitting at 12.6v. after cranking the truck it was 13.6v. so it's charging it well but I wonder how it will hold up to two batteries run in parallel. I also wonder how fast 2 or 3 12 volt dewalt battery chargers will drain those two batteries. There's a lot to factor in. I've got plenty of time to think about it because I'm not getting my enclosed trailer until the beginning of next year sometime. This is like my dream trailer for my lawn and landscape business. I also will be able to keep all of my equipment loaded and just hook up to the trailer and take off when I need to instead of having to load everything every single day.

I always appreciate everybody's input and you don't have to worry about being a downer. If there are faults in the plan now is the best time to figure it out. Thanks!

 

I was more considering you already having the gas equipment compared to purchasing new battery operated.

The issues with your hands are a very good reason if the battery tools run much smoother. Maybe try some shock resistant gloves?
If you’re already having these issues at 19 then you need to carefully consider this occupation for the long term. Wrist issues don’t just get better over time while doing the same tasks. They will likely continue to worsen unfortunately.

I think you mentioned it, but you also need to consider the drain on your truck batteries while charging your tool batteries. Don’t want to get in a situation where your truck won’t start. Just something to factor in if charging while truck isn’t running. Otherwise you may try to charge only while driving. Maybe customers would let you plug in a charger or 2 to their outside receptacle while doing other work?
Might want to keep a good jumper box on hand while starting this new adventure.

 

A little 2000watt Honda Gen....

 

I won't be using the truck batteries to charge. I'll have 2 batteries on the trailer that are charged via a power wire coming through the 7 pin connector from the truck when its running. I prob should get a jumper box anyway though.

Today it's my upper back and neck that are hurting. I haven't done anything to get my wrists flared up yet today. They don't make back braces for your upper back do they? I've got one of the mid back braces.

 

Anti-vibration gloves are what you want to look for. Searching for shock resistant gloves will get you electrical type. Just didn't want ya throwing $ at something that wasn't going to help.