Battery operated fan quesiton ?

[Caveman_Charlie]

In my Travel Trailer I'm set up for camping without electricity, I have 2 - 6 volt golf cart batteries they run everything in the RV.

I also have 2 fans that run on the USB port inside the camper that is connected to the batteries. These fans draw a total of 5 watt. This keeps me, the girlfriend, and the dog comfortable enough after dark when the temps in MN drop down anyway.

I bought a cheap pop up camper this winter and I'm planning on using it for a couple of trips this summer. I will be camping in it for 4-6 days at a time. This will just be me camping all by myslef. The pop up has no battery of any kind and I will be going camping at places without electricity. This old pop up has no systems anyway. It's just a tent on wheels. I don't want to spend a lot of money on the old thing.

I would like to run a fan at night for ventilation and white noise. One of the USB fans at 2.5 watt would be good enough but, 2 for a total of 5 watt would be better.

You can purchase portable power stations but, they cost probably close to 200 dollars, or more, for a decent one. That's a lot of money for something I'm only going to use twice to power a fan.

I've looked at battery powered fans (there is a dizzying amount of them) that can be as cheap as 35 bucks but, they never seem to run for more then about 5-6 hours and then take several hours, up to 8, plugged into the pickup the next day to recharge. Some of them require 115 volts to recharge. (My pickup does have a 115 volt outlet but, it's only powered when the engine is running. So that is not very convenient )

So, What I'm looking for a fan that moves some air, makes some noise, runs for 8 or more hours and can be charged back up in 2-4 hours. Is there such a thing ???

If not what can I use to run the USB fans for a affordable amount of money ? Could I take a car battery along and run the fan for several nights then recharge it in a few hours ??? It almost seems to be the cheapest way but, it would require me to drag along a old car battery and a car battery charger. That is not very convenient either.

Does anyone here have any experience with battery powered fans ? If not is there another forum you can recommend ?

I just can't decide which route to take.

Thank you and have a nice Day.

[Caveman_Charlie]

LittleBill wrote:
I use 3 of these. they last over 2 days on low and take about 5 hours to charge. my fans have hundreds of hours on them by this point. I even designed a suction cup mount for the rv and place the fan anywhere!

they even have a 3 step light

I use this

Certainly cheap enough. I ordered one to give it a try. Thanks

[LittleBill]

I use 3 of these. they last over 2 days on low and take about 5 hours to charge. my fans have hundreds of hours on them by this point. I even designed a suction cup mount for the rv and place the fan anywhere!

they even have a 3 step light

I use this

[Skibane]

mgirardo wrote:

$25 for 10000 mAh is a little expensive. For a few dollars cheaper, try this 26800 mAh unit.

Anker has a pretty decent reputation for build quality and realistic specifications.

Unlike a lot of no-name brands, they stand a good chance of actually meeting their claimed battery capacity.

[Mayor30]

If you have any Makita power tools, they make 2 fans that are powered by their batteries.I have the bigger one and it works well but won't run 8 hours on one battery. The smaller one would probably run longer.Batteries charge in about an hour. I keep several spare batteries so it's no problem. When one runs low I just slap in another one.

[wiskeyVI]

This one seems to work well, although a bit pricey for me.

Smartele FF16 rechargeable fan.

[Caveman_Charlie]

AllegroD wrote:
We have the following:
Table to floor
- possible option
02Cool

Both work fine for us.

Something to think about. Thanks.

[Caveman_Charlie]

Skibane wrote:

Caveman Charlie wrote:

So, What I'm looking for a fan that moves some air, makes some noise, runs for 8 or more hours and can be charged back up in 2-4 hours.

Noisemakers may make it easier to sleep, but they also rob you of situational awareness about what's happening outside.

If someone was attempting to steal your possessions - or worse yet, was attempting to break in to your RV - it would be good to have some advance warning.

Personally, I find the night time sounds of nature to be one of the most pleasing aspects of camping - wouldn't want to cover them up.

I was talking aobut a little white noise, not a hurricane. Haha And, in this case I'm going to be sleeping in a pop up. If someone wants to break in they can just grab the side of it and rip it open. lol It's just a tent on wheels.

More likely to get harassed by a bear then a person. If I keep the campsite clean of food and the cooler locked I'm hoping not to have bear problems.

[AllegroD]

We have the following:
Table to floor
- possible option
02Cool

Both work fine for us.

[mgirardo]

Skibane wrote:


I don't think you have to pay anywhere near that much for a USB power bank that will run a couple of fans overnight.

For example, here's a 10 amp-hour model for $25.

Theoretically, that's big enough to supply 5 watts for 10 hours.

Instead of looking for something exotic with ultra-fast recharge, just buy two of them - and use one while the other is recharging.

$25 for 10000 mAh is a little expensive. For a few dollars cheaper, try this 26800 mAh unit.

I can charge my SmartPhone that has a 5000 mAh battery 3 times from 20% with this bank and still have a little left over in the battery bank.

-Michael

[Skibane]

Caveman Charlie wrote:

So, What I'm looking for a fan that moves some air, makes some noise, runs for 8 or more hours and can be charged back up in 2-4 hours.

Noisemakers may make it easier to sleep, but they also rob you of situational awareness about what's happening outside.

If someone was attempting to steal your possessions - or worse yet, was attempting to break in to your RV - it would be good to have some advance warning.

Personally, I find the night time sounds of nature to be one of the most pleasing aspects of camping - wouldn't want to cover them up.

[Caveman_Charlie]

JimK-NY wrote:
Amazon has fans that run on 120v or D cell batteries. We actually picked up one that someone else threw away. According to Amazon it will run for 50+ hours on low speed and 20 some on high speed.

It takes 6 D cell batteries. You could use rechargeable batteries but I doubt that you would be able to recharge them in only 2 or 3 hours.

This might work too. D cell batteries are expensive but, if it runs for 2 nights and I only need to use it for 5 nights that is only 3 sets of batteries. Not good for the environment (throwing away all those batteries) but, possible to do.

[Caveman_Charlie]

Skibane wrote:
The Ryobi fan is powerful, but kind of noisy to sleep by.

It really needs a lower "LOW" speed than what it currently has.

Caveman Charlie wrote:
You can purchase portable power stations but, they cost probably close to 200 dollars, or more, for a decent one.

I don't think you have to pay anywhere near that much for a USB power bank that will run a couple of fans overnight.

For example, here's a 10 amp-hour model for $25.

Theoretically, that's big enough to supply 5 watts for 10 hours.

Instead of looking for something exotic with ultra-fast recharge, just buy two of them - and use one while the other is recharging.

I didn't think that something like that would power the fan for long. For that price it's worth a try. And, then like you said use one each night and let the other power all day from the pickup battery. Thanks for the idea !

[Caveman_Charlie]

Thanks for the solutions so far.

[wa8yxm]

JimK-NY wrote:
Amazon has fans that run on 120v or D cell batteries. We actually picked up one that someone else threw away. According to Amazon it will run for 50+ hours on low speed and 20 some on high speed.

It takes 6 D cell batteries. You could use rechargeable batteries but I doubt that you would be able to recharge them in only 2 or 3 hours.

So do Pilot, Love's and Flying-J Truck Stops.... Likely T/A as well.
I have one here in my bedroom. Though I run it on 12 volt since this apartment has a LOT of 12 volt (up to 80 amps) for other stuff that does not need all of that (needs 20)