I have been busy building the working and electrical systems in our Rocket project for the past couple of months. While I have a big 60 Amp 12 volt bench power supply to power the whole airplane when I need to check out major systems, there are times when you just want to power a 12 volt device for a quick checkout—like moving the flap actuator, or checking an LED light string.
In the past, you needed a pack of AA batteries, or you jury-rigged some wires from a car battery sitting around, but today we have a better option! If you go to your favorite online shopping vendor, you’ll find hundreds (or thousands) of choices of standby battery chargers packs for cell phones – but they sell the same sort of thing in 12-volt flavors. For $30 (or so), you can have a little rechargeable 12 volt battery on hand anywhere you need it. I soldered alligator clips to on set of output leads so that I can clip them in place, and for another set, I have probes for a quick, precise application of power.
It’s a handy tool to have in the shop, avoiding a bunch of random long wires that always seem to get in the way.
