I'm thinking about ways to not get stranded by a dead battery in the middle of the desert. I like to go out there and rock out on my electric guitar with my amp sucking 200 W through a power inverter while the truck's stereo draws another 600 W, and I'd like to be able to get home once the coyotes have heard enough.

So these are some ideas I've come up with for starting the engine if my battery can't handle rocking out all day, along with my comments on them:


Leave the engine running the whole time - seems to add a lot of ugly noise to the guitar pickups and/or amp.

Park on a slope - My truck's a manual, so I can always roll start it. I used to do this with my now-dead Ford Escort when I knew its battery was limping on its last legs. But there has to be a slope available and a bit of distance to get it moving. Can't always count on finding a parking spot like that.

Solar charger - they need a lot of time to charge and the sun's gonna go down soon.

Play acoustic guitar - can't rock out as thoroughly

Spin the drive axle?? - I'm not sure if this would work, but can anyone tell me if it's possible? Could I get the alternator going and put some charge in the battery if I jack up the back of the truck and spin the wheels by hand for a while? If this works, it would be great. This is what I'm most interested in learning about from this thread.

Spare battery - not too interested in carrying the weight around, but maybe something like a motorcycle battery would be okay if I just need to get it started once and it's not too cold out.


Anyone have any comments on these ideas or have any new ones to add?

 

buy a battery jump pack. theyre small light weight, and should do the job. several kinds available. just look around. should be able to find one at any autoparts store. make sure its charged up before you go.

 

Wirelessly posted (Timberwolf)

Electric generator, no noise...more for your guitar.....why risk your rigs power? You have a truck to bring it where ever, so use it. Who cares if its heavy lol. Rock on.

 

Another battery wouldn't weigh that much. Or get a deep cycle and run your noise makers off of that.

 

That's what I'd do.

 

Get a battery jump pack from an auto parts store.

 

Yeah, that's probably the best option. Plus I can probably get one for free. It's a big one though, weighs about 70 pounds. I used it to power some geophysics equipment when I was collecting data for my masters thesis, and now it's just been sitting at the university for the past nine months. If it doesn't get recharged soon it will be dead forever.

So if anyone here ever goes out to the empty deserts of eastern California and you hear an ethereal Sweet Child O' Mine echoing in the distance, now you'll know why.

 

Costco has a battery jumper slash meter and air compressor, $64 and it's about 15 pounds, it has a internal battery and you will never be stranded.