Hi

Looking for a bit of inspiration from you kind folk on here.

A neighbour of mine has been looking at setting up a gaming van which will have 10 43” 4K TVs, 6 PS5s and 4 Xbox’s

He was asking about how to power it. There are vans out there with a plug in to a home but there must be some power conversion going on somewhere. I was thinking it may be a leisure battery being charged from the home which then powers inverters.
I don’t think a plug could support that amount of direct power. Could it?

Anyone got a good suggestion of how to power the van? Sounds a cracking idea of a gaming platform on wheels.

 

I would probably choose a portable generator.

 

I would probably choose a portable generator.

In a seperate trailer. That's going to be a big power drain.

 

The first step is to determine how much power is actually needed (plus a reasonable reserve for future expansion). There's no way to determine if a direct plug connection can supply enough power until you know how much power enough is.

Looking up some quick numbers (I have no idea how good they are), a 43" LED 4K TV is about 40W, a PS5 is about 200 W, and an XBox is about 120 W. So the total comes out to about 2 kW. That would be about 17 A on a 120 VAC circuit or 9 A on a 230 VAC circuit. So not completely out of the question, but pushing it (especially since it has no room for anything else, but at the same time it's assuming that everything is on and using full power all at the same time).

Generators in the 3 kW range are pretty small and not outrageously expensive (though that depends on your budget).

Using batteries for primary power and the generator and/or home connection to charge them sounds attractive on the surface, but you're going to need pretty significant battery capacity to support 2+ kW for very long.

 

Anyone got a good suggestion of how to power the van? Sounds a cracking idea of a gaming platform on wheels.

I guess how to power it comes down to how much power is going to be needed plus maybe at least 20% plus margin for new additions. I have no idea how much power will be required for what was mentioned.

Lets call it shore power when we just connect physically to an external power source. A pony station can handle as much power as wanted or needed. Long as the source can provide it.

Inverter power? You will need a big deep cycle battery and a means to maintain it.

Finally if space allows it a generator is viable like those powering an RV.

No mention of van dimensions? With 10 each 43 inch TVs or displays your friend will need a large van or trailer or ....

Ron

 

why am i thinking of Krieger's van?

 

The first step is to determine how much power is actually needed (plus a reasonable reserve for future expansion). There's no way to determine if a direct plug connection can supply enough power until you know how much power enough is.

Looking up some quick numbers (I have no idea how good they are), a 43" LED 4K TV is about 40W, a PS5 is about 200 W, and an XBox is about 120 W. So the total comes out to about 2 kW. That would be about 17 A on a 120 VAC circuit or 9 A on a 230 VAC circuit. So not completely out of the question, but pushing it (especially since it has no room for anything else, but at the same time it's assuming that everything is on and using full power all at the same time).

Generators in the 3 kW range are pretty small and not outrageously expensive (though that depends on your budget).

Using batteries for primary power and the generator and/or home connection to charge them sounds attractive on the surface, but you're going to need pretty significant battery capacity to support 2+ kW for very long.

Hi, thanks for the reply. We live in the UK so it's the 230VAC. Your figures are pretty much the same to what I had looked at. There wouldn't be much room for anything else in the van so expansion isn't really an issue.

I feel it's a bit close to the 13A fuses in most plugs here and either they blow or CB's trip which wouldn't be good for business.

I did see a thing new to me called EASUN POWER 3KW 24V Off Grid Inverter PWM 70A.

I am having a look at this to see if it could do the job. I know he has a pretty big solar panel on the van. It is currently a camper which isn't used very often.

Might be a case of try it and see.

 

I guess how to power it comes down to how much power is going to be needed plus maybe at least 20% plus margin for new additions. I have no idea how much power will be required for what was mentioned.

Lets call it shore power when we just connect physically to an external power source. A pony station can handle as much power as wanted or needed. Long as the source can provide it.

Inverter power? You will need a big deep cycle battery and a means to maintain it.

Finally if space allows it a generator is viable like those powering an RV.

No mention of van dimensions? With 10 each 43 inch TVs or displays your friend will need a large van or trailer or ....

Ron

He has batteries from when it was, still is, I suppose a camper van. Not sure the make up of them but I would imagine they are standard leisure batteries. Don't have much experience with them.

It's a LWB Sprinter van. Ten TVs is pushing it a little but they will fit on paper.....what could go wrong????

 

A good Honda inverter generator is all you really need. I would not go battery inverter on a mobile platform unless you want a long recharge wait after every gaming session.

 

He has batteries from when it was, still is, I suppose a camper van. Not sure the make up of them but I would imagine they are standard leisure batteries. Don't have much experience with them.

I am not saying batteries are a poor choice but figure it this way. Most inverters are designed around running off of 12 VDC or 24 VDC. Lets just say we want 5.0 KW so discounting any inverter inefficiency using 12 VDC I get 5,000 Watts / 12 VDC = 416 Amps current draw. Moving up to 24 VDC we can half the current but still about 208 amp current draw. Newer generator sets include inverter models and most can use duel fuel like gasoline or propane making for clean and efficient a good unit like this one does run close to $1.0 K. Much less costly can be had depending on wanted or needed features.

Anyway until someone can come up with total power demand it's pretty difficult to say which way to go.

Ron

 

I am not saying batteries are a poor choice but figure it this way. Most inverters are designed around running off of 12 VDC or 24 VDC. Lets just say we want 5.0 KW so discounting any inverter inefficiency using 12 VDC I get 5,000 Watts / 12 VDC = 416 Amps current draw. Moving up to 24 VDC we can half the current but still about 208 amp current draw. Newer generator sets include inverter models and most can use duel fuel like gasoline or propane making for clean and efficient a good unit like this one does run close to $1.0 K. Much less costly can be had depending on wanted or needed features.

Anyway until someone can come up with total power demand it's pretty difficult to say which way to go.

Ron

I just might get one of those for the summer camping season.

 

I just might get one of those for the summer camping season.

The ones I have seen are quiet and the actual inverter types are gaining in power. I also like the dual fuel options available. Our whole house unit runs on natural gas which we have and I can switch it over to propane in a min.

Ron

 

You can take a lesson from the portable gambling trailers that sort of apear in some ares occasionally.Aside from poerting the games, there is also a need for inside lighting and ventilation. Air conditioning may possibly be needed in some areas, maybe heat in other parts of the world, or the US.
At the least, the lighting should have a battery backup. For the gambling trailers there was always a bar, requiring a cooler of some kind. So there are a number of loads aside from the actual game equipment.

 

Other good stuff to consider when looking at Power Needs.

Ron