# What battery for an oxalic acid vaporizer



## dputt88

I just got my oxalic acid vaporizer today. Did my test run from my car battery and it worked great. I don't want to have to drive my truck up to the hives to do my treatments so I started looking into buying a battery.

I know I need a 12v battery but that's about as far as my battery knowledge goes... 
What kind of battery should I get? I'm only trying to treat 10- 12 hives on a charge.

Is there a way to tell the "capacity" of a battery? There has to be some reason some motorcycle batteries are $24 and others are $80.

Since it's October should I just take the battery off my motorcycle? Or will it not treat as many hives as I want.
-doug


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## DaisyNJ

I treated 5 colonies with my motorcycle battery. Make sure its charged fully, and test it with real OAV gadget and powder, time it and then go for it. 
I came across posts talking about calculations, capacity etc. My head starts to spin after reading only half of it. 

If in doubt, make sure to test the OAV gadget after 5 or so hives. 

Long terms you definitely want something strong like car battery.


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## dudelt

I have treated 7 hives in sequence using the battery in my riding mower. The mower still started afterwards so there was still power to spare.


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## costigaj

Got a regular car battery on sale at Walmart. Nothing special.


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## JWChesnut

Smaller sealed cell Marine Deep cycle -- it treats about 60 hives without a recharge. -- rated 650 CC amps. Now 3 years old, still tops up nicely.


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## dynemd

Smaller batteries are 18ah or 18 amp hours. Varrox vaporizer is 150 watts (12v times 12.5 amps) I vaporize for 3 minutes (0.05 hours) with my varrox so one hour would be 20 hives. C or capacity equals x or amps multiplied by T- time (in hours). C=xT A lead acid battery should only be discharged to 20% of it's capacity (80% used). 18 X 0.8 is 14.4 divide by 12amps is 1.2 hours of service is 24 hives at 3 minutes apiece running 12 amps. 10ah battery is 8 divided by 12 is 0.66 hours (40 minutes) or 13 hives. Full size auto battery 60 amp hours times 80% is 48ah divide by 12 amps equals 4 hours at 12 amps = 60 hives.


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## Arnie

I use this:
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-in-1-portable-power-pack-with-jump-starter-62306.html

It'll do 10 to 12 hives. It'll start your car in an emergency, too.


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## JWChesnut

I tried some no-name jump starter four years ago. It would give up at 5 or 6 hives -- simply wouldn't heat the compound enough to vape.


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## Arnie

JWChesnut said:


> I tried some no-name jump starter four years ago. It would give up at 5 or 6 hives -- simply wouldn't heat the compound enough to vape.


Maybe you got a bad one. I've been using mine for a couple years now doing my hives, my business partner's and my neighbor's. Still going strong.


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## sakhoney

If it were me - I would get a set of those little battery clips and a short length of wire. Connect it to a 110 V plug. Then get a 100 foot of regular extension cord 12 gauge - and then wire up the vaporizer with the same 110 v cord plug.
Hook up the clips to my truck battery. Plug in the cords, Plug in the vaporizer and away ya go - What $50 bucks for the whole setup?
Can't hardly get a battery for that price. Now don't plug this into a wall socket (110) volt - just use the 110 v connectors for 12 volt


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## sjj

dputt88 said:


> ... Is there a way to tell the "capacity" of a battery?...


1. I don't expect but 80% of the manufacturer’s rating. So a 100AH battery is really about 80AH. 

2. From these 80AH I will only use 20% to 50% 
(12AH to 40AH) before recharging the battery. 

Let's see a 12V, 20AH battery:
80% = 16AH 
50% = 8 AH can be used. 

Varrox: 
150W
12V
12.5A
3 sec. = 0.05 hour
0.625 AH pro one hive
12 Hives

I am not sure whether what I wrote is right or not.


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## dynemd

sjj said:


> Let's see a 12V, 20AH battery:
> 80% = 16AH
> 50% = 8 AH can be used.
> 
> Varrox:
> 150W
> 12V
> 12.5A
> 3 sec. = 0.05 hour
> 0.625 AH pro one hive
> 12 Hives
> .


OK, fair assumption 80% of manufacturer's claimed capacity. I have read that batteries are at their end of life when they only hold 80% of their original capacity.
Using 20-50% of a battery's capacity, 20ah battery 
20ah battery= 3.2-8 amp hours available (20-50%)
3.2 amp hours divide by 12.5 amps= 15.36 minutes or *5* hives at 3 minutes per treatment
8 amp hours divide by 12.5 amps= 38.4 minutes or *12* hives treated at 3 minutes per treatment
so *5* treatments of 3 minutes results in 20% capacity used and 80% remaining.
and *12* treatments of 3 minutes is 50% capacity used and 50% remaining in battery.

Relation of Depth of Discharge (DOD) and battery life. In a non-deep cycle lead-acid battery 100% DOD will result in a lifespan of 200 cycles, 50% DOD will result in 450 cycles lifespan and 30% DOD will result in a lifespan of over 1200 cycles.
A deep-cycle lead acid battery should be able to maintain a cycle life of more than 1,000 even at DOD over 50%.


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## Phoebee

Battery life is probably not your prime concern, but be aware that automobile batteries usually suffer from being taken down to 50% of charge repeatedly. The 20% discharge level will give longer life. If you think you will be discharging them 50%, you might consider marine/RV batteries, which are intended for deeper discharge. RV batteries are reasonably priced (tho' automotive starter batteries may be cheaper). The differences are that engine starting batteries are designed for huge cold cranking amps, maybe 800 amps instead of the 10 A or so a vaporizer needs. RV batteries are designed to run RV lights and maybe an inverter for hours.

Be sure you are comfortable lugging the battery. A smaller one will satisfy most of us.

If you have a car battery that is getting weak or old, you might treat the vehicle to a new one and try the old one for the vaporizer. The old battery, unless it is literally failing, can probably run a vaporizer fine even if it is slightly weak at starting an engine.

For our modest needs, I'm using a smallish gelled lead acid battery I had lying around from a retired cordless lawn mower. It fits in a plastic ammo can, does not slosh, and can be carried easily in one hand.


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## radial

This won't be practical for most of you unless you are like me and want to buy a unit that can reliably start a car or a truck with a dead battery. That's what I wanted, so I bought this device. It works for OAV and it works to start my cars and trucks when they can't start themselves. Pricey, but portable and totally effective. There's enough juice in this baby to handle OAV on a commericial scale.


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## Phoebee

radial said:


> This won't be practical for most of you unless you are like me and want to buy a unit that can reliably start a car or a truck with a dead battery. That's what I wanted, so I bought this device. It works for OAV and it works to start my cars and trucks when they can't start themselves. Pricey, but portable and totally effective. There's enough juice in this baby to handle OAV on a commericial scale.


Hah, mine's bigger than yours. http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/bk-precision/power-supplies/1693.htm

I don't recommend this one for running an OAV vaporizer ... even their cheaper 20A model is over the top for this. But I had a project this summer where I needed one for lab work. It was sized to simulate the output of lead acid batteries. But if I ever needed to run 6 vaporizers simultaneously from a 120 V output, this puppy would do it.


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## dynemd

radial said:


> This won't be practical for most of you unless you are like me and want to buy a unit that can reliably start a car or a truck with a dead battery. That's what I wanted, so I bought this device. It works for OAV and it works to start my cars and trucks when they can't start themselves. Pricey, but portable and totally effective. There's enough juice in this baby to handle OAV on a commericial scale.


40ah total capacity, DOD of 50%= 20ah divided by 12.5 amps=1.6 hours varrox run time or 32 hive treatments at 3 minutes apiece. 36.7 lbs though!


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## SueBeeTN

Great Idea! Much easier than lugging a battery around.


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## dynemd

This is what I use 22ah battery, 22 lbs weight. Internal battery charger- just plug into an extension cord. Schumacher PSJ-2212 $142 on Amazon.
22ah DOD 50%= 11ah divided by 12.5 amps= 17 3 min. hive treatments. Or DOD of 30%= 6.6ah divided by 12.5= 10- 3 minute treatments.


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## chazman

For those looking for a portable battery for OAV.

There were a lot of recommendations for the Harbor Freight 3-1 as a cheaper alternative with a 17ah battery.

Here are a few coupons for the next few weeks. This unit goes on sale several times a year too if you miss the coupon dates.


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## snapper1d

sakhoney said:


> If it were me - I would get a set of those little battery clips and a short length of wire. Connect it to a 110 V plug. Then get a 100 foot of regular extension cord 12 gauge - and then wire up the vaporizer with the same 110 v cord plug.
> Hook up the clips to my truck battery. Plug in the cords, Plug in the vaporizer and away ya go - What $50 bucks for the whole setup?
> Can't hardly get a battery for that price. Now don't plug this into a wall socket (110) volt - just use the 110 v connectors for 12 volt


I use the same exact setup and works great for me!!!


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## RobA

Arnie said:


> I use this:
> http://www.harborfreight.com/3-in-1-portable-power-pack-with-jump-starter-62306.html
> 
> It'll do 10 to 12 hives. It'll start your car in an emergency, too.


+1


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## Phoebee

snapper1d said:


> I use the same exact setup and works great for me!!!


To resist the temptation to plug it into the wrong receptacle, the 220 VAC 15A straight plug and receptacle (NEMA 6-15) is acceptable for 12V systems if it is not used for 220 V in your facility. Few people would have one in their home or workshop. That's what I have rigged on mine.

If some fool does plug a 12V heater into 120V, things will get interesting fast.


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## wheeler88

Some good info here. I use a sealed car battery from walmart that has a plastic lifting handle made on it. I always wanted to know what kind of life I could get from this battery before having to recharge it, now I can figure it out...


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## MichiganMike

I use the Everstart garden battery from Walmart. 275 CCA $29. Treat seven hives and it only takes a few minutes to recharge so I assume it could treat a lot more.


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## emrude

sakhoney said:


> If it were me - I would get a set of those little battery clips and a short length of wire. Connect it to a 110 V plug. Then get a 100 foot of regular extension cord 12 gauge - and then wire up the vaporizer with the same 110 v cord plug.
> Hook up the clips to my truck battery. Plug in the cords, Plug in the vaporizer and away ya go - What $50 bucks for the whole setup?
> Can't hardly get a battery for that price. Now don't plug this into a wall socket (110) volt - just use the 110 v connectors for 12 volt


I don't like to use connectors for any voltage other than what they were intended for. Parts are cheap. I was using my 1/2 hammer drill on a safe up in Michigan. I wanted to be sure the safe was empty, and we couldn't open it. I plugged in my 12-3 extension cord, started drilling and my drill proceeded to burn up. The old farmer had put an 110v outlet on a 220v line. I was not happy.


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## dynemd

This is what I use. Handle up to 45 amps at 12 volts (come in a variety of capacities), designed for this purpose. $6.62 per pair. https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Conn...ncoding=UTF8&refRID=76G8BP9714ANKB4BNX4F&th=1


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## dynemd

MichiganMike said:


> I use the Everstart garden battery from Walmart. 275 CCA $29. Treat seven hives and it only takes a few minutes to recharge so I assume it could treat a lot more.


I believe that's a 12ah battery and should treat 6 hives for 3 minutes each with a 30% discharge, or 9-10 hives with a 50% discharge. 30% discharges will prolong the battery life somewhat over 50%.


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## Guest

I use it


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## costigaj

Walmart battery


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## aunt betty

Have several yard/garden implements that use 12-volt garden-tractor sized batteries. So many that at least one needs a new battery every year. I just get an extra one for the vaporizer but it's not long until it's in a tractor or wood chipper. They're around $20-$25 at the farm store. In a worst-case scenario I just drive the mower over to the hives.


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## Ordag

I am satisfied with my Black & Decker BM3B. Cheap and good https://cloodjo.com/best-car-battery-chargers-top-10-reviews


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## Jeff Skott

Arnie said:


> I use this:
> http://www.harborfreight.com/3-in-1-portable-power-pack-with-jump-starter-62306.html
> 
> It'll do 10 to 12 hives. It'll start your car in an emergency, too.


So, then, do you just connect the vaporizer leads to the 12v leads? That sounds like it would work. I just ordered one of these from Harbor freight since I have need of it besides the vaporizer. Thanks for getting back to me on this. Cheers!

Jeff


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## cavscout

If your hives are close to an electrical outlet use a battery charger. I get 50 amps from my charger and it works great and I never worry bout my battery loosing power!


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## microbe

Ordag said:


> I am satisfied with my Black & Decker BM3B. Cheap and good https://cloodjo.com/best-car-battery-chargers-top-10-reviews


Did you have to modify the BM3B? I have tried two units and can't get them to work with the vaporizer. They do work when connected to my car battery, however.


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## sjj

A battery is a very critical part of equipment. 
The condition of a battery must be supervised while being kept in storage and should receive treatments.


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## sjj

You can easily test your battery to see how many times you can vaporize with it. 


You need a 12Volt 150Watt car ceramic heater with a fan to simulate the Varrox Vaporizer. 

To attach it to the battery one needs a cigarette lighter socket adapter with the alligator clamps. Altogether 8$.


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