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Generator for outdoor parties

I've recently been voted into a student committee, and I'm basically in charge of organising all the parties. I want to appropriate some cash for a gasoline generator to power a basic dj setup, (decks, mixer and a couple of powered speakers) so I can throw some beach parties andwhat not. Any recommendations as to the kind of generator I will need and how much it would cost or where to buy it would be much appreciated. I've posted this in the COR, but thought I'd post here as well just to get some local info on retailers etc...

Cheers!

Re: Generator for outdoor parties

quote:

Originally posted by astroboy I've recently been voted into a student committee, and I'm basically in charge of organising all the parties. I want to appropriate some cash for a gasoline generator to power a basic dj setup, (decks, mixer and a couple of powered speakers) so I can throw some beach parties andwhat not. Any recommendations as to the kind of generator I will need and how much it would cost or where to buy it would be much appreciated. I've posted this in the COR, but thought I'd post here as well just to get some local info on retailers etc... Cheers!

we sell small ones at bunnings, how powerful is the gear you want to run?

Probly only two 800W speakers, plus decks and mixer. I guess it'd have to have some kind of voltage regulator to stop it from blowing the equipment, and it'd have to be portable and reasonably quiet.

dont think we stock anything that would be big enough, its probably worth giving your local store a call cause they can be special ordered in, i know dewalt makes some pretty beefy generators, i am unsure how suitable they would be for stereos with the surging power and all though, like you said you need one with a decent amount of voltage stabilisation

quote:

Originally posted by astroboy Probly only two 800W speakers, plus decks and mixer. I guess it'd have to have some kind of voltage regulator to stop it from blowing the equipment, and it'd have to be portable and reasonably quiet.

i think there's not a lot of outdoor party people here, Astroboy

try www.oztrance.com

Anything Electrical/Electronics ask your questions here!==>


http://www.austech.info/forumdisplay.php?f=76

My suggestion would be the DC/AC inverters operated from a car battery as they would be cheaper at required power levels!!! (I assume u gonna need at least couple of Kilowatts of power depending on the size of the event though). May have to run the cars from time to time to recharge the batteries though
Jaycar electronics has a variety of them. There are a couple of really large models which I think adequetly can supply power levels required. If required more than two units can be utilized!
Cheers......

quote:

Originally posted by Tranceilvania Anything Electrical/Electronics ask your questions here!==> http://www.austech.info/forumdisplay.php?f=76 My suggestion would be the DC/AC inverters operated from a car battery as they would be cheaper at required power levels!!! (I assume u gonna need at least couple of Kilowatts of power depending on the size of the event though). May have to run the cars from time to time to recharge the batteries though Jaycar electronics has a variety of them. There are a couple of really large models which I think adequetly can supply power levels required. If required more than two units can be utilized! Cheers......

i doubt you are going to be able to use cars for this, i know my alternator puts out something like 60-70A peak, at idol its probably only something like 40A, 40A at 12V is only 480w, this is probably a generous estimate too considering the car electrics will use some of this power, this is not even going to be enough to run the equipment let alone charge the batteries back up too.

Also completly draining standard car batteries isnt good for them, it will shorten their useful life and the amount of power they will store.

So either use cars with big alternators and good batteries that are designed to be deep cycled like the optima yellow ones or ditch this idea

Hey do not underestimate the car batteries, they minumum put out a whopping 300A power without the help of an alternator. A good size battery providing that the car runs on idle should last very long hours no problems! A generator would be better but the price range for a good one would be prohibitive.
Plus most hi-power inverters have good regulation and protection against surges and drains...

quote:

Originally posted by Tranceilvania Hey do not underestimate the car batteries, they minumum put out a whopping 300A power without the help of an alternator. A good size battery providing that the car runs on idle should last very long hours no problems! A generator would be better but the price range for a good one would be prohibitive. Plus most hi-power inverters have good regulation and protection against surges and drains...

Even a decent battery isnt going to have the capacity of more than about 50AH, so at 300A you could run the system for a grand total of.... 10 minutes, or 10 and a half minutes with the alternator running.

300A may be a reasonable number for CCA, but there is no way an ordinary car battery would put up with that kind of constant abuse

Even at 100A (1200w) the system will only stand up for half an hour, you could probably push that too 2 hours having the alternator running depending on the size of the alternator and the size of the battery, 2 hours isnt much of a party

Agreed, a car battery wouldn't do it for you, even a deep cycle SLA battery would't last the distance.

I would hire a generator from Aggreko if you are looking for something beefer that what you can find at home use level.
There are many places the hire them out, try looking in the yellow pages.

a fellow engineer

how are you exams going? i'm completly fucked for electromagnetics 2moro :S

I am but a poor little first year, probably seems pathetic that I would complain about how hard it is, I assume your in ECSE, which I've heard is that hardest (and my first prefence, why do I keep doing this to myself ), but I'm gonna do it anyways.

I've got one tomorrow (Mechanical) not too worried about that one.
And Monday is Materials, that'll be a walk in the park.

But today I had Systems.. *shudder*
I really hate that subject, should be a pass however.

1902 was a bit of a prick, but that should be fine too.

quote:

Originally posted by G`Dave I am but a poor little first year, probably seems pathetic that I would complain about how hard it is, I assume your in ECSE, which I've heard is that hardest (and my first prefence, why do I keep doing this to myself ), but I'm gonna do it anyways. I've got one tomorrow (Mechanical) not too worried about that one. And Monday is Materials, that'll be a walk in the park. But today I had Systems.. *shudder* I really hate that subject, should be a pass however. 1902 was a bit of a prick, but that should be fine too.

yeah i do electrical/commerce double degree. compared to engineering commerce subjects are a walk in the park. i got 50 for systems . I'd love to offer you any help/past assignments but i dont think i would be much use :P

The year's pretty much done now, only two easy exams left.
But next yeat (assuming I get into ECSE, dunno how hard that's gonna be) I might take you up on that.

I don't know anyone in electrical.

Engineering ehh..
Here's some engineering from me! Both technical and cost effective! Sometimes too much theory can be misleading practice makes it much better!

A 4 piece battery bank rated at 500A each will be efficient enough to supply Astroboys party needs
One of the biggest mistakes made by those just starting out is not understanding the relationship between amps and amp-hour requirements of 240 volt AC items versus the effects on their DC low voltage batteries. For example, say you have a 24 volt nominal system powering a load of 3 amps, 240VAC, which has a duty cycle of 4 hours per day. You would have a 12 amp hour load (3A X 4 hrs=12 ah). However, in order to determine the true drain on your batteries you have to divide your nominal battery voltage (24v) into the voltage of the load (240v), which is 10, and then multiply this times your amp hours (12 ah). So in this case the calculation would be 120 amp/hours drained from your batteries.


The easiest way to quickly determine the total battery amp hours required is to first determine total watt-hours required by all loads, and then divide by the nominal DC system voltage. This resulting number will indicate the amount of amp hours needed to operate all loads for a given period. However, additional amp hour capacity would typically be added for more "reserve" capacity or to prevent complete discharge. Using the above example, 3 amps x 240 VAC x 4 hours = 2880 watt-hours divided by 24 VDC battery environment equals 120 amp-hours; the same answer as before, but another way to get it.

As it can be seen you will get hours and hours battery life combined with the running idle car alternator...
Trust me it'll be much cheaper than the genarators and of course reliable too.
But with the right amount of money a generator is much better. i don't have the slightest idea how much a decent one would cost and can only assume would be running around $10000+ mark
my 2 cents

also dont forget voltage drop. Could cause damage to your inverters as the night wears on

quote:

Originally posted by Tranceilvania Engineering ehh.. Here's some engineering from me! Both technical and cost effective! Sometimes too much theory can be misleading practice makes it much better! A 4 piece battery bank rated at 500A each will be efficient enough to supply Astroboys party needs One of the biggest mistakes made by those just starting out is not understanding the relationship between amps and amp-hour requirements of 240 volt AC items versus the effects on their DC low voltage batteries. For example, say you have a 24 volt nominal system powering a load of 3 amps, 240VAC, which has a duty cycle of 4 hours per day. You would have a 12 amp hour load (3A X 4 hrs=12 ah). However, in order to determine the true drain on your batteries you have to divide your nominal battery voltage (24v) into the voltage of the load (240v), which is 10, and then multiply this times your amp hours (12 ah). So in this case the calculation would be 120 amp/hours drained from your batteries. The easiest way to quickly determine the total battery amp hours required is to first determine total watt-hours required by all loads, and then divide by the nominal DC system voltage. This resulting number will indicate the amount of amp hours needed to operate all loads for a given period. However, additional amp hour capacity would typically be added for more "reserve" capacity or to prevent complete discharge. Using the above example, 3 amps x 240 VAC x 4 hours = 2880 watt-hours divided by 24 VDC battery environment equals 120 amp-hours; the same answer as before, but another way to get it. As it can be seen you will get hours and hours battery life combined with the running idle car alternator... Trust me it'll be much cheaper than the genarators and of course reliable too. But with the right amount of money a generator is much better. i don't have the slightest idea how much a decent one would cost and can only assume would be running around $10000+ mark my 2 cents

these calculations may be correct, but i have no idea why you are using 24v for the car battery, 3 amps at 240V, and 4 hours. In this instance 4 or so car batteries would work because a normal car battery holds 30-50AH....

But... car batteries are 12v, he is probably looking at drawing 7 Amps on the 240v side (1680 watts 2*800 for speakers + mixer + turntables) and i am guessing running the system for a lot more than 4 hours. this results in 140A on the 12v side which is a lot of current an consequently uses 560AH for 4 hours, even if the alternator was giving 40A you would still need 400AH of battery storage for just 4 hours.

If you decided to rig up lots and lots of batteries it may be a feasible solution but when you add up the cost of the batteries and the invertor and all the things that could go wrong i really dont think its worth the hastle.

2in series x 2 banks parellel =24V 2000AH

quote:

Originally posted by Tranceilvania 2in series x 2 banks parellel =24V 2000AH

where can u get 1000AH batteries? i want some!!

From one of this babies!!


All jokes aside; you're forgettin parallel and serial battery combinations!!!

How so?

4 12V 1000AH (if there is such a thing, i know there are 200AH ones for large UPS systems) batteries setup with 2 sets of 2 in series in parallel gives 24v and 2000AH, if they were all in series it would be 48v and 1000AH, all in parallel and it would be 12v and 4000AH

don't mean to interrupt the whole car battery debate, however i saw recenly that hardware stores [bunnings, etc] had cheap [~200$] generators at 800watts, whether or not they'd be powerful enuff for outdoor event useage or not remains to be seen....

Some companies, such as Honda, make generators that produce DC power and then run it through an inverter module to give a constant AC output voltage, making them electronic circuit friendly.


MrS

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