Posted March 27, 2017 I recently set up a Nintendo Wii in my car that plays on the headrest screens in the back seat. The Wii actually uses 12 volts @ 3A/36W so there are these niffty little DC to DC power adapters for the Wii that allow me to forgo the more noisy solution of a DC to AC inverter, not to mention save on car battery! The only problem I have now is the power cuts to the Wii when I start the engine, so I have to turn the Wii back on and set up the game/app I want to display each time I turn the car on. If I work a 6 hour Lyft shift, then I don't want my car on the entire shift just to avoid setting up the Wii again. I need some sort of 12v battery that I can plug the Wii into and use like a UPS. I know there are 12v jump starter kits that have an option to plug in an accessory, but one of those won't do me much good if I have to turn it on each time I need to use it... what I really need is a battery that will provide power until it's unable to, so the Wii can run in the low power standby mode over night and run in full "on" mode for the few seconds the engine is starting. (The Wii would also be running for the time my car is off between rides, but during that time my car will provide power.) Does anyone know of such a battery that can plug into my 12v car outlet, pass through power to the Wii when the car is on/in mode I, then provide continuous power for the few seconds the engine is starting (acting like a big capacitor or UPS basically) and provide current overnight while the car is off and the Wii is in standby mode, and do all of this without needing to be turned on, aside from initially? (I don't mind turning it on once, but needing to do so every time I start the car would be very annoying) Please and thank you! Yes, it's 2871 as in the year 2871. I traveled all this way, back in time, just to help you. And you thought your mama lied when she said you were special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted March 27, 2017 It might be cheaper to get something like a motorcycle battery. Both those jumper packs an motorcycle batteries have the same amount of amp/hours. The only caveat is you need to make sure it can vent outside because lead-acid batteries have this tendency to produce hydrogen gas when charging. As for hooking it up, you should just be able to put in a 12V adapter along with whatever you want to use to charge the battery I have something like this on my motorcycle where I have a 12V cigarette lighter adapter connected directly to the battery terminals. It's mostly so I can use my air pump on the tires, but I do it while the motorcycle is running because I'm afraid the air pump will drain the battery too much (even though it really shouldn't). I have a blog! And a list of guides I've posted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted March 27, 2017 Why not just plug the wii directly into the battery, and don't use a extra battery pack. You will have to do a bit more wiring in your car, but can be done. You can then put a switch on the dash that will turn the wii on and off(or just sleep it, if your using the car every day your not gonna run the battery out) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted March 27, 2017 Author 1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said: Why not just plug the wii directly into the battery, and don't use a extra battery pack. You will have to do a bit more wiring in your car, but can be done. You can then put a switch on the dash that will turn the wii on and off(or just sleep it, if your using the car every day your not gonna run the battery out) If I did that would it interfere with starting the car? Or, would starting the car take away enough power from the Wii for it to shut off? Yes, it's 2871 as in the year 2871. I traveled all this way, back in time, just to help you. And you thought your mama lied when she said you were special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted March 27, 2017 Just now, Xanthe_2871 said: If I did that would it interfere with starting the car? Or, would starting the car take away enough power from the Wii for it to shut off? the wii uses almost no power, it won't affect the car at all. Wii should still be fine, give me a sec i can measure the voltage drop in my car when starting. Normally cars sit at around 14-16v running, and the wii has probably a 10v cutoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted March 27, 2017 3 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said: Why not just plug the wii directly into the battery, and don't use a extra battery pack. You will have to do a bit more wiring in your car, but can be done. You can then put a switch on the dash that will turn the wii on and off(or just sleep it, if your using the car every day your not gonna run the battery out) Thats how you end up with a dead battery, what you need is a system where you can charge a second battery (preferably a deep cell battery) off the engine while the car is running that won't pull power from the main battery when the car is off, this could probably be achieved using some relays that trigger off a power when key is on scenario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted March 27, 2017 1 minute ago, Daniel644 said: Thats how you end up with a dead battery, what you need is a system where you can charge a second battery (preferably a deep cell battery) off the engine while the car is running that won't pull power from the main battery when the car is off, this could probably be achieved using some relays that trigger off a power when key is on scenario. the will uses almost no power, you won't drain the battery if you just letting the wii run during stops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted March 27, 2017 Author 1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said: the will uses almost no power, you won't drain the battery if you just letting the wii run during stops. 3 minutes ago, Daniel644 said: Thats how you end up with a dead battery, what you need is a system where you can charge a second battery (preferably a deep cell battery) off the engine while the car is running that won't pull power from the main battery when the car is off, this could probably be achieved using some relays that trigger off a power when key is on scenario. Just to be clear, I would only run the Wii in full for ~30 minutes or so between rides, overnight or over multiple days without driving the Wii would only run in it's standby mode. Keeping the Wii in standby without ever losing power allows me to turn it back on with the remote, and allows the Wii to update services (although with the disconnection of WiiConnect24 I'm not sure how useful that second point is) Yes, it's 2871 as in the year 2871. I traveled all this way, back in time, just to help you. And you thought your mama lied when she said you were special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted March 27, 2017 Just now, Electronics Wizardy said: the will uses almost no power, you won't drain the battery if you just letting the wii run during stops. it's NEVER a good idea to leave phantom draws on a car battery, no matter how small it shortens the lifespan of the battery., it's better to isolate the system, plus it can be done so why not do it other then to just be a cheap skate, Also I've actually ran a gaming console in a car before so I have some experience on this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted March 28, 2017 Leave your car on when on your lyft shift, it's better than starting and stopping the engine constantly, and it's easy to unintentionally kill a battery. 1 hour ago, Electronics Wizardy said: the will uses almost no power, you won't drain the battery if you just letting the wii run during stops. Where I work, anyone with a Dodge truck (being me and my boss), we won't allow anyone to move our trucks, unless they drive a Dodge truck. Just leaving the key in the ignition, a common thing to do in construction, doesn't turn off power sipping sensors. At the end of an 8 hour work day, 100% chance of the battery being drained below what it takes to start the trucks, if it happened half way through the work day, our gasoline trucks have issues turning over. It's not like we drive identical models or years either. Boss drives a '96 V10 Magnum 2500. I currently drive a '07 6.7 Cummings Turbo Diesel 2500, and I used to drive a '00 5.7 V8 Magnum Come Bloody Angel Break off your chains And look what I've found in the dirt. Pale battered body Seems she was struggling Something is wrong with this world. Fierce Bloody Angel The blood is on your hands Why did you come to this world? Everybody turns to dust. Everybody turns to dust. The blood is on your hands. The blood is on your hands! Pyo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted March 28, 2017 you would need some sort of UPS for the wii running the wii while the car is started will not overload your system typically the battery is meant to let out a large charge to start the engine then get recharged usually the system sustains itself after that mostly meaning your not using the battery that hard. realistically you shouldn't need a separate power source while the car is turned off for the wii to use. First PC Build CPU: i5 4690k (4.7Ghz 1.36v) MOBO: MSI z97 gaming 5 GPU: MSI GTX 1070 gaming x Case: NZXT s340 elite Black/Red Storage: 1tb seagate SSHD, 240gb PNY ssd PSU: Corsair RM750X Cooling:H100i V2 / Bequiet Fans 16GB Hyper X Fury Memory Benched on CPUZ (Single-thread=2140) (Multi-Thread=8316) Fire Strike 1.1=13660 Time Spy=5519 Cinebench R15 (CPU= 509cb) (OpenGL=118.28 FPS) Unigine (Superposition 4k optimized=5581) (Heaven Extreme=120.6 FPS Score:3038) (Valley Extreme HD= 92.7 FPS Score:3879) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 3, 2017 Author On 3/27/2017 at 6:11 PM, Drak3 said: Leave your car on when on your lyft shift, it's better than starting and stopping the engine constantly, and it's easy to unintentionally kill a battery. Where I work, anyone with a Dodge truck (being me and my boss), we won't allow anyone to move our trucks, unless they drive a Dodge truck. Just leaving the key in the ignition, a common thing to do in construction, doesn't turn off power sipping sensors. At the end of an 8 hour work day, 100% chance of the battery being drained below what it takes to start the trucks, if it happened half way through the work day, our gasoline trucks have issues turning over. It's not like we drive identical models or years either. Boss drives a '96 V10 Magnum 2500. I currently drive a '07 6.7 Cummings Turbo Diesel 2500, and I used to drive a '00 5.7 V8 Magnum I suppose leaving the car on would be the easiest solution, but I feel like I'd be waisting a lot of gas. Pretty expensive solution! But, that would definitely work. Thank you Yes, it's 2871 as in the year 2871. I traveled all this way, back in time, just to help you. And you thought your mama lied when she said you were special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 3, 2017 Author On 3/28/2017 at 7:42 AM, jet224presents said: you would need some sort of UPS for the wii running the wii while the car is started will not overload your system typically the battery is meant to let out a large charge to start the engine then get recharged usually the system sustains itself after that mostly meaning your not using the battery that hard. realistically you shouldn't need a separate power source while the car is turned off for the wii to use. Well, I'm thinking if I do opt for a second battery I'd go with some slim jump starter battery that has a 12v in and a 12v out. Yes, it's 2871 as in the year 2871. I traveled all this way, back in time, just to help you. And you thought your mama lied when she said you were special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 3, 2017 If you want some more ideas, the inventor of the Soylent meal replacement drink runs his electronics off a 12V battery that's charged by a solar panel during the day. You can read about it at https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/08/op-ed-how-i-gave-up-alternating-current/, just don't pay attention to the rest of the stuff afterwards because some of the things he says makes no sense. I have a blog! And a list of guides I've posted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 3, 2017 57 minutes ago, Xanthe_2871 said: I suppose leaving the car on would be the easiest solution, but I feel like I'd be waisting a lot of gas. Pretty expensive solution! But, that would definitely work. Thank you I've let my trucks idle to charge the battery. On my Dakota, which gets 11MPG in the best situation, I haven't used 1/16 of a gallon and ran it at idle for hours. Idling doesn't use much gas, or diesel. Come Bloody Angel Break off your chains And look what I've found in the dirt. Pale battered body Seems she was struggling Something is wrong with this world. Fierce Bloody Angel The blood is on your hands Why did you come to this world? Everybody turns to dust. Everybody turns to dust. The blood is on your hands. The blood is on your hands! Pyo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 4, 2017 Use this sure it's not a ups but it gets to job done plus if your car battery dies you have a jump starter (use only if your poor and have no money) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 26, 2017 Author I really appreciate all of the advice given by everyone here. I have decided to try this item I found on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/401310476159 I don't know if it will work, since it only puts out 12v @ 1AMP and I need 3 amps but hopefully, fingers crossed, it will work. I only need it to provide power for a few seconds, although the pass through power mode may also be limited to 1 amp so I don't know. If it doesn't work I will be trying some other ideas listed here, but I really hope it does work because if it does it will be a clean, easy to set up solution that anyone could use. I may have the technical expertise to construct some of the things described here (or maybe I don't, I haven't tried yet) but if anyone Google's this in the future I'd prefer for the solution to be simple! Again, thank you to @M.Yurizaki, @Electronics Wizardy, @Daniel644, @Drak3, @jet224presents, and @Gamerguy207 for your help. I will post again once the dash cam battery thing arrives with the good or bad news. Yes, it's 2871 as in the year 2871. I traveled all this way, back in time, just to help you. And you thought your mama lied when she said you were special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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