Topic: 12 volt power for mixer

[dolphinsmile]

does anyone know of a portable battery that can power a mixer, 12volt, that you can plug a/c into? i tape a lot and at times i take a big mixer in there but sometimes getting a power is a problem? i think ive seen batteries that have a/c plugs. any help appreciated.

[diapason]

Have you thought about using a motorbike battery and an inverter?  We're converting an old caravan for our community radio station to use as an OB vehicle.  We're running the whole thing - mixing desk, CD players, recorders, laptop, etc from several car batteries, trickle charged by solar cells and running through inverters.  Mains power will only be used to charge batteries when required and, when it's available, to run optional equipment with higher current drain.  A recording engineer friend runs his DAT recorder from a motorbilke battery when recording in the field (often literally!).

N

[kskreider]

Dude, if you already know that it is 12V then you answered your own question.  12V is DC and the power that comes out of a wall is 110V-120V AC.

It sounds as if the mixers AC cord is really an AC to DC converter.  Depending on the current draw you should be able to hack up a cable and connect a 12V battery.  Look at the AC cord and see if it has a transformer (black box) either on the plug end or inline.  If it does flip it over and look at the writing on it which will tell you whether the tip is + or - and it should tell you the amps too.

[dolphinsmile]

Dude, if you already know that it is 12V then you answered your own question.  12V is DC and the power that comes out of a wall is 110V-120V AC.

It sounds as if the mixers AC cord is really an AC to DC converter.  Depending on the current draw you should be able to hack up a cable and connect a 12V battery.  Look at the AC cord and see if it has a transformer (black box) either on the plug end or inline.  If it does flip it over and look at the writing on it which will tell you whether the tip is + or - and it should tell you the amps too.

yes you are right, but i dont know how to make the cable, it has to have an ac plug on one side?
do they make such a cable?

[dolphinsmile]

Have you thought about using a motorbike battery and an inverter?  We're converting an old caravan for our community radio station to use as an OB vehicle.  We're running the whole thing - mixing desk, CD players, recorders, laptop, etc from several car batteries, trickle charged by solar cells and running through inverters.  Mains power will only be used to charge batteries when required and, when it's available, to run optional equipment with higher current drain.  A recording engineer friend runs his DAT recorder from a motorbilke battery when recording in the field (often literally!).

N

this sounds like a great idea, but what inverter did  you use? that has an ac plug on the one side and a plug for the battery on the other?

[kskreider]

Forget about the wall plug for a minute and think battery>home-made cable>mixer.

What you need is a Radio Shack.  Find the AdaptaPlug section and piece together a cable that one end that plugs into your mixer and another end that will plug into your 12V battery. 

Again, there is no need for an AC plug because the mixer is really powered via DC which is the kind of power that a battery supplies. 

http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=adaptaplug&origkw=adaptaplug&sr=1

[dolphinsmile]

Forget about the wall plug for a minute and think battery>home-made cable>mixer.

What you need is a Radio Shack.  Find the AdaptaPlug section and piece together a cable that one end that plugs into your mixer and another end that will plug into your 12V battery. 

Again, there is no need for an AC plug because the mixer is really powered via DC which is the kind of power that a battery supplies. 

http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=adaptaplug&origkw=adaptaplug&sr=1

the cable screws into the mixer, ill go check out Radio Shack to see if they have that.thx

[kskreider]

You also have the option to cut a splice into your AC/DC cable with a couple of adapters that allow you to use the same mixer tip for both cables.  MANY people used to do this with the proprietary Tascam DA-P1 power cables.

[diapason]

Hi,

I've tried to reply to you PM, but the wretched system won't work.  I typed in the b****y  'verifcation letters' a dozen times, but it refused to accept it.   So ..........


Perhaps I misunderstood your post:  I took it that you wanted to power a mixer which drew mains voltage from a battery - hence the inverter.  I use a 'Ring' 150 watt inverter which connects to the car battery via a plug into the cigarette lighter socket or by crocodile clips to the battery terminals.  The output of this is a mains socket into which I plug my mains powered equipment.

HTH,

Regards,

Nigel

[Taper1]

all of the above