When you are staying at Dreamville, you tend to lack electric power near your bed (well, sleeping bag) after a while. Some solve this by placing a car battery in a tent, which at the least raises some basic safety questions, while others take that concept to a whole new level. People like Rene Cederquist, he built his very own battery pack for Tomorrowland. A home made product with a safety for good measures that will light up your entire tent during your stay at Dreamville.
We first noticed Rene’s invention when we were looking at someone who was posting pictures of car batteries, hooked with a simple set of clamps and wires to charge an iPhone. “For God sake, if you are going to do it, do it properly!”, Rene commented and added a pic of his solution that included a fuse for safety measures. Needless to say, this caught our eye.
Rene is one of the inhabitants of Camp Legend Danes. A group of 15-20 Danish people who travelled to Tomorrowland by – decorated, check the picture – cars and who set up a small Danish enclavement surrounded by a white fence at Dreamville.
Luckily for us, Rene was willing to give us an online interview
So what is it exactly?
“It’s an Exide Ec350 12V 80 Ah marine battery. This battery was chosen because it’s 100% leakproof (safety+environment) and is made for endurance. One outlet for 4 x carplug and 4 x usb. Another outlet (with another fuse) has a 12V to 1,5V downstepper and two switches for two separate light chains of 10 color bulbs each (IKEA). You can use power for anything that runs on 12V and fits in the car plug.
Around the battery, a wooden plywood box has been built. Stained in darkwood look and made to look like a shipping box. The box also has a room for small storage, handles for lifting and locks for the lid.
The entire thing weighs around 22 kg and the dimensions are about 30x20x40 cm”
You mentioned something about fuses for safety?
There’s a main switch and 10 AMP fuse for this outlet. This fuse will blow at any problem. Without the fuse, the wires can become dangerously hot or even melt.
What on earth possessed you to build this?
It was built in the nights before TML 2013. At TML 2013 we did charge 8 iPhones, 3 Go Pros, pump for air mattress (through a 12V to 220V converter) and also a boombox for music through the converter. It lasted for the whole 5 days.
How did you get it in at Dreamville, you can’t take this with you in an airplane, right?
I’m not sure if you’re able to bring it on a plane due to restrictions. However, we went by car and didn’t have any trouble at all.
Any future plans for this battery pack ?
Yes, we want to add sensors that will turn on the light on entry and/or wireless remote.