OPINIONS--Auto battery VS. power supply
 

Hey my fellow RC'ers i'm doing an opinion poll: 12v auto battery or 12v power supply.

I've actually used both at the same venue and found that the cells charged with a 12v auto battery felt more punchy. Was it all in my head?? Gimme some knowledge!! Merry CHRISTmas--Al

Yes, all in your head...

I figure a power supply is less likely to explode and spew battery acid on me, so that's what I use.

Power Supply-maybe a lil' more money up front, last longer, all you have to do is plug it in when you need it, and its about a 16th the weight of a battery

Battery-more current avail, more maintenance, gotta charge it every now and then, a lot heavier, needs more storage area


i'd go power supply

Most defintely go P/S,Like Chad said less chance of an accident,I have seen a battery blow up while it was being used on a dyno and it did do some damage,the user was VERY LUCKY,it only got on his leg and was able to quickly wash off the acid.

The acid inside a battery isn't that dangerous fellas. ;) You could dip your naked hand into a bowl of the stuff and wash it off several minutes later.


Of course that is a standard Car battery I'm talking about....

Yea! but I wouldn't want it in my eyes!

i work on cars for a living, and Battery Acid is VERY dangerous, i know people who have had batteries in a car go up in front of them and its not pretty, destroys paint and metals, burns skin, loss of eyesight, not pretty at all,

Al,

With any power supply, regardless of quality, you will get some sort of line noise. Because the filters can not filter out all of the noise. That is why some people use a power supply and a DC charger as opposed to an AC charger. They believe an AC charger doesn't have the abilty to clean up the AC noise as well as a power supply.

The battery is "Clean" DC voltage.

Now is it advantage?? I don't know...

What I do know is... that a battery is heavy and I tote a lot of other stuff to the track.

i agree with last post before this one

If a power supply is generating noise (ripple), it is not a high quality supply.
If it is generating noise, you can add a 10,000uf and above electrolytic power capacitor to clean it up.
The noise is called ripple, and as long as it is kept fairly low (just a few 10's mv ...lies) you should not have ANY PROBLEMS WHATSOEVER.

The voltage in a good regulated powe supply will be constant no matter the load. A battery will start decreasing the voltage as time and load increase. You have more possibilities of false peaks and problems from a voltage drop at the battery than from low ripple generated by a PS.

Not to mention the weight (like every body says) and the pssibilities of an accident.

It's the explosive venting and hot acid that cause more damage. The acid inside a car battery is only 1/3rd Mole HCL. I've washed lab-glassware in 1/2 Molar HCL and gotten it on my hands. Washed it off a couple mins later and only minor skin burns.

Point is that as far as RC is concerned...a 12v car battery will work just fine...it's just too heavy to be of any real use.