Just a note of warning about generators. Most of the really inexpensive generators are not safe for electronics. An inverter generator is a good starting point, but even then, some of the cheaper units have been know to send dirty power (electrical noise) or power dips/spikes. Personally I would not cheap out on the generator on something as expensive as the Glowforge.
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You just need to put on a APC UPS on the front end. That will clear all that upā¦
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Have you tested (or seen) just how bad an input signal they can take before they stop bothering to filter and trip over to battery? Not saying it would not work, just wondering.
We seem to be enablers here, so if you are nervous about what it takes to carry a Glowforge: As seen from the shipping reports, it can withstand some shaking and rattling. You just have to be use the custom fasteners and clips that are used in shipping. Locking things down takes a minute. You do have to have someone assist, ideally, but with some slipping and sliding tactics and a decent dolly, you could load it back into the box and cart it around. Being single, I have discovered all kinds of ways to manage transfer of things without needing someone to assist. It does depend on your comfort level with the amount of weight of the main box, but two people can handle this thing no problem. Bailey and I carried my unit at Bay Area Maker Faire a pretty far piece from the truck outside to the table in the center. Granted, I was fairly pumped up and Bailey seems to be in pretty good shape, but we manged.
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You can build a portable power pack from golf-cart batteries, I think they are about the cheapest reliable deep-cycle batteries you can get. They are only 6v, so you need to double them up for 12v to your inverterā¦ and do Maths to figure out how much power you will need to size it accordingly. Just a thought. Here is a link to a guy that made one: (but be careful kids, he uses a few adult words)
(bonusā¦ you could then use it for camping/preparedness!)
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The apc ones show pretty extensive noise compensation, under and over voltage regulation, and if I recall they show square and sawtooth wave conversion
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