Will these lights work in Europe?

n.d.os

I don't know much about electrics. I bought these lights for a trade show booth and I've just noticed that they are 110v. Will they work in Europe with a plug adapter without causing a fire?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D59SF26S?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Antenna

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058363540/will-these-lights-work-in-europe

It says the lights are powered by a USB cable, so just plug the end of it into a USB adapter bought here to power them, don't use the supplied 110V adapter.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122480387#Comment_122480387

Thanks for your reply. I'll do that. If I was to run 6 of these for a full day what's the likelihood this battery would be enough to run them? I really don't want to get into buying a 1KW power supply from the organisers if I can avoid it.

EcoFlow River 2 | Ireland (offyourgrid.ie)

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122480417#Comment_122480417

they claim to be 4 watts, meaning that six of them would consume 24 watts.

That unit claims to be 256 watt hours.

It'd be tight, depending on how long your day is going to be.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122480470#Comment_122480470

That's what I thought but wasn't entirely sure how to calculate it. Thanks for confirming that. I might see if I can find a bigger battery so.

n.d.os

Maybe this.

Ecoflow River 2 Max - 512Wh / 500W Portable Power Station Bank | ZMR61 – Heavins

1KW power supply is €400 at the show so this might be a good long term investment as it could be used over multiple years and shows.

kirving

For the 10W light at 20hrs (200Wh), they're implying that the full charge of 256Wh isn't available - which would be normal enough, and you may have some more losses using AC or a 12V-5V car socket adapter.

If you need the lights to last over 10 hours, I'd go with a larger pack. The issue is that you're kind of an an awkward phyiscal size unless you plan to reuse it, and you're paying extra money here for the ability to run a 500W blender - but it still couldn't run a kettle or a hairdryer say.

You might be better off with say four 20,000mAh (20Ah) batteries, which at lease would double as a phone charger another time. Some (USB PD models, more expensive) could charge a laptop too.

Their internal batteries are at 3.7V, so 20Ah*3.7V = 74Wh in reality.

74Wh / 4W (1X USB lights) = 18.5 hours.

Say 75% efficiency would give you 13.8 hours - at best. However, you could but some extra if you needed, and then give to kids, friends or family.

I've order from here before, and got next day delivery.

https://www.gomibo.ie/accessory-detail/realpower-pb-20000-usb-c-quick-charger-powerbank-20000mah-black

CelticRambler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122480565#Comment_122480565

Unless you're going to be using it every couple of weeks, I wouldn't consider it a great investment. Remember you're paying a lot for the "package" - all the bells, whistles and sockets in a pretty outer container. For the same price, you could get double or triple the Wh from an unglorified LiFePO4 battery and a cheap 12V→ USB adaptor.

E.g. :

https://greencell.global/en/lifepo4-batteries/4098-green-cell-lifepo4-battery-128v-100ah-1280wh-lfp-lithium-battery-12v-with-bms-for-motorhome-solar-battery-outboard.html

Full disclosure: my laptops run on Green Cell batteries, and my campervan kitchen's 2kW "mains voltage" system (fridge, microwave and kettle) flows through one of their inverters.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122480998#Comment_122480998

I won’t be using it frequently—maybe just once or twice a year. However, the cost of a 1KW power supply at the event is close to €450, and it’s limited to 9 hours per day. I find that price a bit steep. Since these events are already expensive, we’re considering a more long-term approach. Our event is in France, so we’re building a stand here and transporting it to and from France by boat in our van. Investing in reusable solutions seems like a wise choice. The LiFePO4 battery doesn't have any plug sockets so that might proove a bit too technical for us. Any workaround for that?

Would the River 2 Max work for say the lights and a small coffee machine? €450 is the same I would pay for electricity at the show and at least I could use it again in the future and also sell it when the time comes that we are building bigger stands and need to rethink our situation.

JVince

This should do the job. €400 incl vat

https://solarpowersupply.ie/portable-power-stations/xtorm-xp500-g-xtreme-powerstation-uk-edition

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122481607#Comment_122481607

Any heating device, e.g. a coffee machine, will hammer a battery pack. They will use a kilowatt easily, mine is 1.4kW.

That River 2 Max can only do 1kW as a brief boost, 500W normally.

Capt'n Midnight

Here's something similar with a battery built in

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CXN7NQ3X/

Or look for picture light wireless rechargeable on aliexpress

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005261866336.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.25.16d1c0qQc0qQuE&algo_pvid=81f834d0-cc0b-43c8-9dd3-6889a78bd5ef&algo_exp_id=81f834d0-cc0b-43c8-9dd3-6889a78bd5ef-36&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21EUR%2118.33%2111.73%21%21%21140.37%2189.84%21%40211b6d3517231547139456634e0d35%2112000032400978247%21sea%21IE%210%21ABX&curPageLogUid=aLo1JM8gXGki&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A

If the event is during daylight hours would a solar panel be an option for charging ?

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122481739#Comment_122481739

Okay. I'm starting to understand this a little better now. So I'd run the lights by the sounds of things as they are each only 4w but when I look at a Nespresso Coffee machine, most of them are 1200w and over.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122481803#Comment_122481803

I think my issue now is the coffee machine. The lights are only 4w. I can charge the battery pack from the hotel every evening. That shouldn't be a problem.

CelticRambler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122481607#Comment_122481607

Investing in reusable solutions seems like a wise choice. The LiFePO4 battery doesn't have any plug sockets so that might proove a bit too technical for us. Any workaround for that?

The sockets are the cheap and easy part, which is why you wouldn't be making a good investment if you just buy the pretty package. The battery part of the Ecoflow is very weak - only the equivalent of a handful of bog-standard backup battery-up units as kirving points out.

All you need to add to a basic 12V battery is something like this:

1x cigarette lighter @1€

https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005002950611855.html

1x 4-way 12V USB adaptor @3€

https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005007355324197.html

Not saying I'd buy/use these particular products (the outlets I bought were 1.88 each and are wired directly into the 12V line :-) ), but there's almost no "technical" involved - not if you're already competent enough to build a stand to fit them to. Depending on where you'd be in France, I'd nearly drop in and hook it up for you meself!

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122480387#Comment_122480387

Lights arrived and they work fine with the USB cable and plug. They actually say 240v on the box.

n.d.os

O

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122482136#Comment_122482136

I'll look into those bits you linked. Thanks for the advise.