Battery Not Powering Machine ?

Thread Starter

deondup

Joined Nov 22, 2017
4
Hi, I was hoping that someone with the knowlege can help me figure this out...

I have a tennis ball machine that runs off AC. Having long lead cables ec. was a pain so I decided to buy an external battery/power supply. The power supply runs most of my household equipment like fans, hairdryers ec. just fine but it does not want to run the ball machine.

Here are the specs...

The Battery:
Portable Power Station 100w AC socket
Dual AC 110V-230V modified sinewave output
40800mAh /3.7V Lithium Polymer Batteries

The Ball Machine:
120 VAC, 60HZ 100W 10/10min
240 VAC, 50HZ 100W 10/10min

The ball machine has 2 motors - one to shoot the balls and one to rotate the machine

Any insights would be greatly appreciated :)
 

Reloadron

Joined Jan 15, 2015
7,501
Portable Power Station 100w AC socket
Dual AC 110V-230V modified sinewave output
120 VAC, 60HZ 100W 10/10min
240 VAC, 50HZ 100W 10/10min
First while I see 100W mentioned exactly what is the output power of the inverter? Next my guess is that the MSW out of the inverter is not well suited for the motors. You would want an inverter with a TSW (True Sine Wave) output with enough power out to power the machine. Does the machine name plate data call out the Power as in 120 VAC 60 Hz and then either Amps or Watts?

Ron
 

Sensacell

Joined Jun 19, 2012
3,432
I once had to power an interactive kiosk from an inverter like the one you mentioned.
The switching power supplies in the computer and LCD monitor worked happily, but the kiosk had 2 small AC fans installed, these quickly overheated and died while running from the inverter.

The AC output from the inverter contained lot's of high frequency energy, the motors in the fans absorbed this energy via eddy currents, causing the fans to overheat.

Moral of the story: be careful what you power from these cheap inverters, they can not work or actually destroy some devices.
 

Reloadron

Joined Jan 15, 2015
7,501
Well 1.25 Amps * 120 Volts = 150 Watts so your inverter needs to supply at least that much power. My guess still lies with the MSW (Modified Sine Wave) inverter out. As Sensacell mentions, motors really dislike a MSW and really prefer a true sine wave. That is why I suspect the MSW to be the problem. There are TSW inverters but they do carry a higher price tag. :(

Ron
 

Thread Starter

deondup

Joined Nov 22, 2017
4
Yes, very true. I might still try and sell it as i still need to find a way to power the machine by battery. I can get it converted by the manufacturer but it will cost at least $350
 

Alec_t

Joined Sep 17, 2013
14,280
You also need to be aware that most motors draw MUCH more current at start-up than when they are up-to-speed. The inverter will likely object to the start-up current surge and either shut itself down, limit current gracefully, blow a fuse, or die, depending on its design.
 
Top