Portable power pack

[Freddmc]

I have a shop full of tools that are mostly plug-in electric. But from time to time it would be nice to have a battery operated tool for areas where you have no electricity. Instead of buying battery operated tools I thought it might be nice to have a portable power pack for those occasions when you need it. Assuming a drill draws 5.5 A how big of a power pack do you think one would need for a reasonable use of a handheld power tool for perhaps 5 to 10 minutes.

 

[DIYrich]

I have a shop full of tools that are mostly plug-in electric. But from time to time it would be nice to have a battery operated tool for areas where you have no electricity. Instead of buying battery operated tools I thought it might be nice to have a portable power pack for those occasions when you need it. Assuming a drill draws 5.5 A how big of a power pack do you think one would need for a reasonable use of a handheld power tool for perhaps 5 to 10 minutes.

5.5a @ 120v is 660 watts.
10 minutes is 1/6 of an hour.
660 watts * 1/6 hr is 110 watt hours.

 

[42OhmsPA]

Interesting question / thought.

I wouldn't use an inverter under 2500W and minimum 1KWh 24V battery pack.
I'm over sizing because of the surge loads tools such as saws have and to have something worthwhile to use for other purposes.

 

[45North]

Lots of trucks and cars can now do this, especially EV's - or you could always just buy a ready-made power pack off the shelf. For duration you'll have to do the math.
Personally, I would just stick with cordless (battery-powered) power tools. There's lots of them around.

 

[seneysolar]

This is 12v/1000w inverter on a 43ah (1hr rate) agm battery bank. Roughly an hour of 5a 120vac.

 

[Andrewr05]

Power tools use quite a bit at start up (surge), so I'd double or even triple your wattage requirements.
Plus you can then use it for battery backup with other things too, including charging up your cordless tool batteries as well.
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[seneysolar]

Power tools use quite a bit at start up (surge), so I'd double or even triple your wattage requirements.
Plus you can then use it for battery backup with other things too, including charging up your cordless tool batteries as well.
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A drill will be "soft start" as it is variable speed. A skill saw with just on/off will hit hard though. Depending on what hes using , yes he may need something quite large, probably on wheels at that point.

These are easy and cheap to build diy, but my version is heavy to carry. Still better than the "off the shelf" inverter generator things they are trying to sell for $1000