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Originally Posted by Sam J.
Like i said before, i do not know much about fuel cells, but, i do know one thing. Having hydrogen gas in a FIRST competition could cause serious problems. I understand you would want to find something to power your laptops off of, but something involving hydrogen seems to me like disaster. I may be wrong, but it just seems dangerous to me. But, i do have a solution for powering your laptops at competition. If you purchase a UPS (Uninteruptibale Power Supply, that is if you don't already have one) you could use that. I know that some of the newer ones are able to be turned on without being connected to a wall outlet. They are somewhat lightweight (depending on what size you get) and they can power your computer all day, if you have one that has enough power. Since they are normally used for desktops, i have tried one out to test the time it can run a laptop, and i got tired after five hours, so i turned it off. They even charge automatically when connected to a wall, so it can be used as a portable power supply.
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True hydrogen can be hazardous but what I would be using is a small tube of hydrogen about the size of 6 "C" size batteries stacked on end. Hydrogen is safe if you know what you're doing or learn how to treat it properly. Problem with a UPS is that they are more bulky and have the cord dangling and continuously beep which can get annoying and usually actually only have 15 minutes run time with a decent load. Compared to a fuel cell which can weigh only a pound or so which I've seen for laptops. I actually own two power packs which I can run up-to 300 watts off of for a whole day of comps. I actually hauled both back and fourth at nationals this year. For now that will probably be the way I'm going because I've not been able to locate the laptop fuel cell and I also have increased my battery capabilities ( a cooler sized battery pack).
Thanks for your opinion though