Wasnt sure where to put this, so it will be here for now.

I have a question for all you bright fellas. I need to keep a 24 VDC control panel running when we go back in time to darkest Africa, which is becoming a regular thing lately.


The 24 VDC panel which has 6 switches which control solenoids to lift hydraulic cylinders. We have installed a beeeeeg V6 diesel engine to run a hydraulic pump to keep it running. I want to be able to keep the control panel operating.

The solenoids are 24 VDC - current draw 2.98 amps DC

The motor control panel has a 5 amp 24 VDC power supply.

These are the options that i have come up with so far :

1/ 2 x 14 amp/hr batteries inside the motor control panel with a charger and a selector switch. (I like this idea because it the batteries can stay in the panel)

2/ A 4 amp...12-24 V DC - DC convertor connected to the battery which starts the Diesel engine. ( this idea involves clips and a free standing box)

3/ Fit an inverter with a change over switch connected to the engine battery, which will charge while the engine is running.

Such a pity the solenoids are not 12 VDC, easy to get a small 12 v charger and 1 single battery could do the job.

Anyone have a simple solution?