Question of the Day: Does anyone use a battery pack to power the Square Stand?

[MuskokaPrairie]

We are trying to put together a mobile square stand complete system. (Cash drawer, scanner, pos) think I Have most of it figured out, but maybe a few pieces of advice would be helpful.

To start by answering some probably questions

 We are going this route for a few reasons, elegance of appearance, and effectiveness for our customers and tracking.

we are a farmer market and produce seller. Mainly at market but some off the farm sales as well.

We would like to set up a stand system that is as wireless as possible. Receipt printer unneeded but is looking like a requirement due to the driver for the cash drawer. (Usb drawer is more then a printer and a drawer)

blue tooth scanner is readily available.

My hold up is power.. we wont have it. Im thinking of a battery pack to power the whole system, just wondering if anyone has any recommendations for options.

[Helen]

Hello @MuskokaPrairie! I've made your post our Question of the day and pinned it to the homepage so anyone with a similar set up can chime in! Have you seen anyone else use a battery to power their register? Like maybe a food truck or at farmers' markets? 

I will add that you if you use the Stand without power and it'll run off the iPad's battery. However, a power source is required to connect and use any USB hardware! 

[Setherson03]

Here's a cheap and effective way that I would accomplish that - buy a 1500VA UPS from an office supply store like Staples. These generally run for about $160-200. Plug it in at home for 8 hours and it will easily have enough power to last 12 hours and power your receipt printer and stand. That's not necessarily the intended use of a ups but it will work great😁. Sometimes they are called battery back ups.

[Hardcore_Games]

I use an iPhone 7 plus and/or my iPad Pro depending on the circumstances. Both last all day most of the time. I own a high power USB battery which can charge everything. I also have a high power wall charger which can charge up my Apple hardware fast too.

I have one of the smaller card readers as well as the larger unit with printer.

The smaller unit is ideal in the field while the larger unit is used in my studio.

Still do not have a cash drawer so I am wondering if Square works with all bluetooth cash drawers.

Printers are not a big problem as the large unit has it integrated.