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Wednesday, January 8th, 2020 11:50 AM

Off Grid Power Solution

Off Grid Power Solution

I, like many others purchased this system because it may be a good solution for an off grid home, camper or building located where there are no utilities.

I am looking for a way to power the BASE from a 12v deep cycle battery that will be charged/recharged by a solar panel.

There have been other posts and solutions in the past but apparently the voltage and plug have changed on the base.

My NEW base that is powered by an AC adapter with what looks like a right angle MICRO USB plug.  Also the AC adapter says "6.5v  1.6A"   (the OLD one was 7.5V)

Although I can use an AC inverter and just plug in the AC adapter, it seems inefficient to me, to do all that conversion.   Obviously if the BASE would use 5V, it would be as simple as a cigarette lighter plug with a micro usb cord.

So I hoping for Simplisafe or someone to come up with a solution for me.


I, like many others purchased this system because it may be a good solution for an off grid home, camper or building located where there are no utilities.

I am looking for a way to power the BASE from a 12v deep cycle battery that will be charged/recharged by a solar panel.

There have been other posts and solutions in the past but apparently the voltage and plug have changed on the base.

My NEW base that is powered by an AC adapter with what looks like a right angle MICRO USB plug.  Also the AC adapter says "6.5v  1.6A"   (the OLD one was 7.5V)

Although I can use an AC inverter and just plug in the AC adapter, it seems inefficient to me, to do all that conversion.   Obviously if the BASE would use 5V, it would be as simple as a cigarette lighter plug with a micro usb cord.

So I hoping for Simplisafe or someone to come up with a solution for me.

1.3K Messages

5 years ago

Sorry for the gray cloud but SS ain't gonna come up with a solution for you.

Google is your friend. There are any number of 12V to 6V converters available through Amazon et al. Some are adjustable, some are non adjustable. They are rather inexpensive, and with Amazon you can probably return it if doesn't work out. Although, for $10, it's hardly worth the effort to return.

Here is a 12V > 6V non adjustable example: https://www.amazon.com/Converter-DROK-Regulator-Waterproof-Efficiency/dp/B00CGQRIFG/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=12v+to+6v+converter&qid=1578487841&s=electronics&sr=1-3

2 Messages

5 years ago

I've done some research on those and I'm sure they would work BUT I wouldn't know how to wire the USB portion of the plug.

Maybe if I could find a  90 degree MICRO USB cable with just the two POWER wires coming out on one end, I'd be set but so far, no luck.

More suggestions ?

Red and Black are positive and negative. Get a Buck convertor and set to your required output.

1 Message

9 months ago

I went down the voltage inverter path for a couple of years.  My battery was great in summer (I live near Seattle), but in winter I needed to swap it about once a week.  I keep a spare battery on a maintainer.  My inverter/power supply drew about 0.6A (~ 7.2 watts) from my battery to run the base station.  I just installed an efficient buck power supply which draws about 0.1 (~ 1.2 watt) amps.  I figured out the wiring by buying a male micro USB to female micro USB flat power cord (essentially a micro USB extension cord).  I stripped away the outer jacket, and found 2 super skinny wires (communication), and 2 thicker ones(power carriers).  The power carriers were Grey and White.  I inserted the cable between the power supply and the base station, striped back the insulation and measured 6.5 volts with White -> Positive, Grey->Neg.  I cut the cable and soldered the system together using the +/- matching my power supply, and installed it.  The plug in NOT right angle so it is a bit awkward sticking out the bottom, but it works just fine, and I wanted to keep the stock power supply for future use. I hope to not swap out the battery in winter.

If you use the same power supply you will need a meter the adjust the voltage.

Do NOT trust the White/Grey being Pos./Neg.  Do your own verification.  I have no idea how consistent the internal wiring is for that cable.

Good Luck!

Pwr:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C0KL1OM

Cable:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L9Q7581

1 Message

@tgreive​ did you figure out how long the 12v battery would last with the alarm armed 24/7?

20 Messages

9 months ago

If one is going to do a search for wiring something like this they may want to consider adding the words PIN OUT.

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