# Pit Boss Tailgater Questions



## siege (Aug 3, 2019)

Thinking about a Tailgater for camping. My questions are, will it run on a spare 12 Volt car battery, can I run straight off 12V, or do I need an inverter ? How long can I expect it to run on a full size automotive battery ?


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## drdon (Aug 4, 2019)

Don't know how long you can run an inverter on a 12v battery but this comes from their owners manual:

_ON THE ROAD
Disconnect the igniter from the main wiring harness. Use the manual
start-up procedure. A Pit Boss unit can operate using a 12 volt, 100 watt
inverter plugged into your automobile outlet. To use the automatic
igniter, it is recommended to use a minimum of a 1000 watt inverter._

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=...fd2-7b184ffae0e2.pdf?action=download-resource


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## Johnny Ray (Aug 4, 2019)

I would suggest using a deep cycle marine / RV battery along with the suggested inverter. 
This is what we used on our competition setup.
Once the igniter goes off the cooker pulls very little current and should run overnight without issue.


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## mike243 (Aug 4, 2019)

kinda been eyeing 1 for our camper but not worried about power as I have a generator if needed, think it would be a good match up for the Blackstone travel griddle already in the camper stowage box. it would have to be set inside during travel which might be a deal breaker as I don't want the camper to always smell like smoke. A cover and thrown into the truck bed would have to be the method


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## Little-m (Aug 4, 2019)

siege said:


> Thinking about a Tailgater for camping. My questions are, will it run on a spare 12 Volt car battery, can I run straight off 12V, or do I need an inverter ? How long can I expect it to run on a full size automotive battery ?



Why don't you call Pit Boss and ask them directly?


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## martin1950 (Aug 4, 2019)

Several times we've had the power go off in the middle of a "smoke" so I spent a few bucks on my back-up system. The small inverter is an 800w continuous and the big one in 4000w continuous and the marine battery out of my boat is a 1200 cca. The 800 handled an 8 & 1/2 smoke as a test in my Pit Boss 820D. If ya load it up in a small open trailer and go the a local picnic spot for the day you can really screw with some peoples minds.


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## martin1950 (Aug 4, 2019)

Sorry, got distracted by our new pup and forgot the pic.


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## drdon (Aug 4, 2019)

martin1950 said:


> ...you can really screw with some peoples minds.



HA! _*Who'd-a-thunk-it?*_ Jumper cables for the Grill.


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## martin1950 (Aug 4, 2019)

I'm a 70 year old pack-rat. I'll save anything I might use in the next 20 years.
BTW, we keep cattle dogs too!


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## drdon (Aug 4, 2019)

martin1950 said:


> BTW, we keep cattle dogs too!


Great breed! I've had 7 over my lifetime. None of our other dogs could keep up with them!


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## siege (Aug 4, 2019)

Thank you all for your replies.  I always prefer real world experiencs to a cookie cutter general response. The personal hints and tips are always appreciated. I have been smoking  all kinds of food since the '70's, and still regularly learn something new from the members of forums like this one.


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## martin1950 (Aug 4, 2019)

Siege, if ya buy an inverter, chances are YOU will have to supply the wiring from battery to power unit. Don't skimp on the size of the wire, I just happened to have these "jumper" style cable off an old commercial battery charger. With the bigger unit I don't have to haul a genny out in the field to use power tools, kind of a Tim Taylor thing. Hope this help ya.


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## siege (Aug 4, 2019)

Thanks, Martin. I have a partial spool each of red and black winch power cable, and about a 25 foot long piece of welding lead. Either would probably be over kill. I may still have the harness for my old linear amp but I'll wait til I buy a portable smoker before I risk rooting around in the dark hole I call my shop storage area. It's pretty scary in there.


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## ANOLK87 (Jul 14, 2021)

martin1950 said:


> Sorry, got distracted by our new pup and forgot the pic.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


What type of battery are you using? I am attempting to put together a set up but I haven't found a battery that will power for more than 2.5 hours. If you wouldn't mind sharing the name and type, that would be excellent. Thank you


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## martin1950 (Jul 15, 2021)

ANOLK87 said:


> What type of battery are you using? I am attempting to put together a set up but I haven't found a battery that will power for more than 2.5 hours. If you wouldn't mind sharing the name and type, that would be excellent. Thank you



It's an older Exide Nautilus Marine Battery. I've used it to power all of my electronics and downriggers on my Lake Michigan salmon boat.


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## ANOLK87 (Jul 15, 2021)

martin1950 said:


> It's an older Exide Nautilus Marine Battery. I've used it to power all of my electronics and downriggers on my Lake Michigan salmon boat.


Thanks for the quick response. How long does that battery last on your smoker set up?


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## martin1950 (Jul 15, 2021)

I've gone a little over 8 1/2hrs w/ the smaller inverter in my picture. Just a small BUTT on a daytime smoke.


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## ANOLK87 (Jul 15, 2021)

martin1950 said:


> I've gone a little over 8 1/2hrs w/ the smaller inverter in my picture. Just a small BUTT on a daytime smoke.


Excellent, I’ll be looking into a marine battery like that. Thank you again for all your help.


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