New S9 user power use observations

[Guest]

Hi all,

As a new hosehead I've been intrigued to see what power my machine uses, with a view to running it whilst on the road. I know there have been a few discussions about running on batteries here, but I haven't actually seen any real consumption figures mentioned. So here is a quick look at my use so far.

I'm running an S9 autoset, H5i and climateline hose with the temp set at 23C (73F for you USA people!). I use a quattro full face as I find it far more comfortable than something hanging on my nozza. Still tweaking things, but am currently running pressures of 9.4 min and 11.0 max, with an EPR of 2. My readings relate to Winter here, so allow that the room temp might drop to 10C overnight from starting at maybe 20C. I have my machine running via a small UPS as we are on the end of the local power run and get frequent dips or blackouts. I also like the idea of the UPS beeping at me if the power drops off, so I'll get an audible warning that a bit of rebreathing might be happening, although the mask's valve should be taking care of that anyway. Just a personal preference thing.

The unit with the H5i attached draws 12 watts on standby. (My little UPS draws only 10 if charged, by the way). Turning the unit on and doing a warmup cranks things up to around 70 watts, which then gradually drops back until snorkel time. During overnight use the system has peaked at 165 watts, but my recorder can't tell me when. The really surprising thing for me, given some of the "running on batteries" talks, is that the my total average use is 0.36kW/hrs per night (av 7.5 hours) on the 7 nights I've been checking. The figure also includes the UPS. This looks to make it perfectly feasible to run the unit with the humidifier and not be a terrible drain on a single 12v battery. Allow, say, that a pretty inefficient buck/boost supply system might only have 80% efficiency, yet it still works out at under 40A/hrs drawn from a good lead acid deep cycle, which is likely easily done for most users with this need. We use a special off road trailer I built that has well in excess of this capacity, and any decent van or motorhome would/could easily have this on board.

For me I think that humidification is going to be a must, as I have had the occasional dryness but am tweaking the temp very slowly. Perhaps many others are in the same boat and have shied away from 'going on the road" because they think they can't have the humidifier. Yes...personal settings will alter things, but in light of my readings you'll likely be ok.

Cheers from Aus,

[Noddyman]

Edit for the above post...it was from me! Somehow I became a guest!

[edm_msu]

Noddyman,
Good idea to find the actual power usage. There are many variables. With a 40amp-hr draw my battery would last three nights. When I get around to it, I'll check my own actual draw.
Thanks,
Ed M.

[billbolton]

During overnight use the system has peaked at 165 watts

Since the S9 switch mode power supply is rated at 90 Watts, that means your UPS must be drawing at lot of power

Cheers,

Bill

[Noddyman]

Since the S9 switch mode power supply is rated at 90 Watts, that means your UPS must be drawing at lot of power

Not so. The UPS is static at 10w unless it needs charging....it's only a very simple beast. Likely it is more a case of me mistakenly thinking it has been overnight as I haven't actually been checking this reading on each power up. I've just read it in the morning not keeping in mind the supply's a switch mode that likely peaks the draw during power up....I'll try a reset after turning on to see.


Cheers from Nods

[-tim]

Exactly how are you measuring power?

I have a range of tools from a £10 device to a $1000+ device and none agree. There is the issue of Watts vs VA vs VA with bad power factor.

Get a 10W incandescent bulb and see what your device reads. Also try with with the cheapest 11W CFL you can buy and see if either are close.

[edm_msu]

When your device is hooked up before the UPS, it is measuring both the UPS and the S9. Would it help to hook up your device after the UPS and before the S9 so you would know what the S9 is using?
Regards,
Ed M.

[idamtnboy]

Since the S9 switch mode power supply is rated at 90 Watts, that means your UPS must be drawing at lot of power

Not so. The UPS is static at 10w unless it needs charging....it's only a very simple beast. Likely it is more a case of me mistakenly thinking it has been overnight as I haven't actually been checking this reading on each power up. I've just read it in the morning not keeping in mind the supply's a switch mode that likely peaks the draw during power up....I'll try a reset after turning on to see.

I have the same set up as you. Last year I went three nights on a 115 AH deep cycle battery which I recharged partially twice from my pickup. As best as I can tell the power draw is on the order of 40 AH for a full night. Hydrometer reading indicated it was at about 1/3 to 1/2 charge at the end of the three nights. Charging from the pickup didn't work as good as I hoped as the recharge time is on the order of a few hours even with the entire alternator output being directed to the deep cycle.

Next month I will be staying in my tent with no power for 4 nights. I considered buying a small generator to recharge the battery but the recharge time was an issue. I finally opted to buy a second battery like the first. I believe if I connect both batteries together in parallel I could easily run my S9 with the humidifier seven nights, maybe eight, total.

[billbolton]

Not so.

So, you have 68 Watts of power just disappearing somewhere............

[Noddyman]

Responses to all...thanks for the interest. I generally will only look at the forum once a day.

So, you have 68 Watts of power just disappearing somewhere............

Actually I realised after replying last night that you are relating things incorrectly.....I was tired! You quoted the output power of the supply as 90w, which is correct going on labelling on the brick. However, I am reading the AC input to the brick, which can be anything depending on its efficiency. The brick itself says that it's input is 1.0-1.5A, but doesn't specify what A at what Volts. So let's assume that the 1.0 is for 240 and that roughly means 240W. So a reading on my meter of 165W less the 10 of the UPS = 155W is quite feasible. Under heavier loads I would expect to see it go up. I reset the reading last night after power up and I did indeed get a peak overnight of 148W, which ties in with me running a slightly lower pressure. It is quite possible that the supplied brick is not very efficient, and also why is it soooo big! Modern laptop supplies doing similar are much smaller.

I have a range of tools from a £10 device to a $1000+ device and none agree.

I am in a similar boat with tools and all of my readers are within 5% of each other. It is surprising how good my cheapie is that I am using for these readings, given that my other stuff is worth umpteen zillion times more! It reads very slightly under for all loads, and treats them correctly. 15wCFL shows 14, and a 15W incand is 15. Given that there is tolerance to everything, I don't think this is too bad.

edm-msu It was awkward to put the meter on the UPS. Last night I risked things without the ups just to see if things were different from what I expected and they weren't. The ups is very stable when just sitting there as it's not a clever one.

idamtnboy Some practical experience reinforcing the theory. Could you hook in some solar PVs to help extend your times?

Cheers for now,

[idamtnboy]

idamtnboy Some practical experience reinforcing the theory. Could you hook in some solar PVs to help extend your times?

Yeah, I could, for twice the price (that's Harbor Freight price, which is cheap, cheap) of the second battery and more hassle on site than waiting to come home and plug in the charger!

[Measuring Electrical Use -- two devices]

My Kill-A-Watt tells me how much power is pulled from the 115 v 60 Hz AC plug in my house: amazon dot com slash B00009MDBU

My Watts-Up tells me how much DC Amp Hours is put into a charging battery or consumed by a DC appliance: amazon dot com slash B001B6N2WK

The Watts-Up was great for charging a 12v battery for a bike light--when the "smart charger" was done, I could see that the battery had been given the right amount of energy (Amp Hours). It will also tell you how much power has been drained from a battery. Check the max amperage specifications before connecting so you don't fry, but i think it would pass a lot of current.

[billbolton]

Actually I realised after replying last night that you are relating things incorrectly....

.... However, I am reading the AC input to the brick, which can be anything depending on its efficiency

Contemporary switch mode power supplies are typically 95%+ efficent, so you are really grasping at straws

So a reading on my meter of 165W less the 10 of the UPS = 155W is quite feasible.

No.

Even the "inrush" current at the instant of switch on for a contemporary switch mode supply is not much more than it steady state maximum