I was curious to know if a cell phone would charge more quickly from the 12-volt sealed lead acid battery than it would from the generator. As you can see in the pictures below, I connected the battery to the project box in place of the generator. I then plugged in the inverter as usual and connected the phone. After 30 minutes, the charging symbol showed that the phone was over half charged. However, I could hear the inverter fan whirring, so I knew it must be getting too hot. I unplugged the inverter from the battery for 5 minutes to let it cool. Then I plugged it back in for 5 minutes. The inverter returned to thermal overload, so I unplugged it again. I plugged in a house fan and aimed it at the charging setup for 5 minutes. I then plugged the inverter back in and kept the house fan blowing on it. Still the inverter became too hot. Is this a result of using the battery rather than the generator? Is the surrounding temperature a contributing factor? If it is, then this will be a problem in Haiti. I checked the thermostat in the house and it was 84 degrees F. Perhaps we should not worry about obtaining a motorcycle battery in Haiti. Maybe it is better to charge phones from the generator only.
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AuthorCatherine Johnson is a student in the Masters of Science in Environmental Studies program at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas. Archives
July 2014
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