Cutting keys out of my car

[SteveSharrow]

Hey guys,

I have for a while been trying to get into key cutting at a flea market and I think at least for now it would be best to rent space by the day. These spaces have no power available and I would have to power my equipment from batteries/my car. For now my equipment includes an Ilco 045HD key machine and a JMA trs-5000 cloner (the old style with three pieces). I am hoping there are some people that have experience making keys out of a vehicle using an inverter and can help me with what type of battery I need, how many keys I can make before draining my battery too far to start the vehicle, or any other questions, comments, or concerns. I gotr this idea after seeing someone sharpening knives at this location with their equipment hooked up to their car.

[PowerHaus930]

In order to know what batteries/inverter you will need and how long they will last you will have to find out how much power/wattage the machines themselves draw. Once you find that out you should have an idea on the size of inverter you will need and how long you could expect to run your machines on a particular battery. I wouldn't recommend hooking up the inverter to the battery used for starting the car because you may end up draining it and not be able to start the car. I'm not an expert on batteries but I would recommend getting a second battery and wire it up so that your alternator charges it as you drive. A regular car battery would do the job but you may want to look into getting a deep cycle battery. Again i'm no expert so hopefully there are some other people who could provide you with more details.

[cledry]

Get an isolator and install it. Use a deep cycle battery for the one you use to power your machine and add a second auxiliary battery later if needed. Make sure you vent the batteries otherwise all your keys in the truck will become tarnished quickly.

[Squelchtone]

Just another way to do this, a small gas powered generator from Harbor Freight, but fumes and noise may draw complaints from vendors and shoppers. Honda makes nice ones but nice = $$$

[Jacob Morgan]

If the plan is to drive to the flea market, cut some keys, then drive home several hours later, you could think about just getting a battery charger that plugs into a 120v socke and charging a spare battery at home each night. Put the inverter on the spare battery. Might be easier than the set up for charging while driving to/from the flea market if you were not planning to run your car at the flea market to recharge throughout the day?

[johnb007]

What aboutt a couple deep cycle batteries, a solar panel and a charge controller? On a nice day you could be getting free energy?

[billdeserthills]

How about an easy, cheap way instead of every other idea I have seen.
Keedex makes a great 12 volt dc motor, that will run your Ilco 045 machine
I have never drained my battery using the battery this way in 25 years. The motors last for many, many years

[SteveSharrow]

I picked up two deep cycle batteries from Walmart and an inverter from Harbor Freight. Machine powers up fine. It will be interesting to see how much use I can get with each charge.

[fatguy0506]

As someone who did this 3 years ago carrying around big flats of key boxes, a machine and tables strapped to roof of my little Honda civic, I cannot tell you how much easier being able to plug in somewhere made it all. I had to fight for a space with electrical, but it was worth it. Later as I moved and did some locations with no electricity, I invested in a 2000 watt mini generator from harbor freight ($500) and built a small sound proof box so I wasn't annoying my neighbors. I started out buying an inverter but the battery on my Honda wasn't powerful enough to handle a 1200 watt peak ... ended up taking it back.

[UnlockingBoredom]

Ive been thinking the same thing... I have a Rytan 100, a HPC scotsman duplicode tubular key machine and a HPC1200 code machine (this one is a 12 volt) I have 2 Honda EU2000 generators that are quiet and will last all day long on 1 gallon of gas

My only issue is, I suffer with chronic pain and dont think I could sit there all day even for 1 day. Maybe the wife could come help and let me lay down in the truck part of the time?

[Silverado]

Could do it with two vehicle batteries and keeping a good jump box on hand. A good jump box is kind of expensive (for me, I don't know your finances) but handy! My buddy used his to power the lights on the pavilion at his campsite (middle-of-nowhere primitive campsite) for two nights with a jumper box and a battery pack/inverter.

[C locked]

Ive been thinking the same thing... I have a Rytan 100, a HPC scotsman duplicode tubular key machine and a HPC1200 code machine (this one is a 12 volt) I have 2 Honda EU2000 generators that are quiet and will last all day long on 1 gallon of gas

My only issue is, I suffer with chronic pain and dont think I could sit there all day even for 1 day. Maybe the wife could come help and let me lay down in the truck part of the time?

Im sure she'd happly cum help you and lay down in the back of the work truck...

If only for the brass splinters