Portable power stations

I was about to pull the trigger on a Goal Zero Yeti 4K for my Sprinter van, but the reviews are pretty poor.

I'm looking to be able to function indefinitely sans generator, with solar charging. I'll have a EU2000 as a backup. Who has experience with these things? Any good alternatives out there?

 

They all have quirks, my BLUETTI can pump out 800w, but will only charge at 200w max, and basically won't charge off normal car 12v input even with their supplied cable for example. Ecoflow units seem decent but my only source of info there is one retro computing youtuber who was gifted hardware so... Anker makes some big units too, know another youtuber abusing one. Do your research is the best advise I can give.

 

Something with multiple DC inputs so you could wire both a van feed and a solar panel feed at the same time would be on my list of wants for your use case. I believe Ecoflow has some kit intended for RV style use now?

 

Haven't heard of Ecoflow. I'll do some research. I'll definitely want it to charge it from the alternator while driving and it seems to have enough ouput to do it.

 

Just buy a lifepo rack battery and an invertor/charger.
A lot of power stations have at least one shit component in the system the FUBARs the whole thing.
Check out Will Prowse on the YouTube.

 

Will Prowse on YouTube. DIY solar power with will prowse

kid started with RV and camper diy kits and has by now reviewed tons of batteries, inverters and all in one packs. He shills for no one and always gives an honest review. give his you’re a view

 

Looks like good deals on the old delta pro now that the pro3 is out

https://us.ecoflow.com/products/del...jRYUwEYL2GC9YG2gcRPwaxL7kjhBSb4IaAqbmEALw_wcB

 

I have a Pecron S1500, their last gen. 1500w load and 1416wh capacity, works great. But I had to rewire my solar panels in series because it needs 36v-90v. I am considering an Allpowers R2500 which would power my mini split AC and kitchen 24/7 with 400w of solar.

 

I spent 20 minutes on his content, and it completely changed my plan. Definitely scrapping the idea of a self-contained unit. I'll put together one of the kits he designed. Looks like the same money or less and it's nice to know I can replace components when something fails instead of the whole unit. Thanks for the tips.

 

I wonder how hard it would be to add or convert my old school RV with 2 lead acid house batteries to something like this? Charging system already in place and all that. Maybe add some solar on the roof for 3 day stays. It might be nice to run the fans all night without the house battery being dead in the AM.

 

Second Will on YouTube and a bunch of the off grid type people I follow on YT use eco flow. Of course some is sponsored but I have seen them use an eco flow to power a welder, skill saws, compressors etc

 

How can someone be off the grid on YouTube? The Unabomber must be rolling in his grave.

 

Thanks to Starlink and solar, every human everywhere now has access to information. And porn.

 

I'd be looking to put a bigger alternator on the sprinter, a boat switch, and multiple batteries, use the vehicle to charge a whole bank of batteries, then skip all the solar shit and just run an inverter.

If there's a plow prep group sometimes there's a 2nd alternator you can add

Heck if you have enough batteries you can just charge them at home. Bass pro has those 12v trolling motor batteries in LiFePO4 that hold a fuckton of energy. 5yr warranty I believe.

Beauty of the inverter is you can always run it off the truck if the batteries die early for the night.

 

And not necessarily in that order.

 

I add an auxiliary battery to the squad cars I build. I use Dakota Lithium. They are pretty expensive, but they have been working great. They are also bluetooth enabled, so using your phone you can monitor the status of your battery, including charge rate and the rate at which power is being drawn off of the battery. 11 year warranty on those. I think that they also make battery banks for power stations.

 

Since most folks here are (at least somewhat) mechanically/electrically inclined, you are better off creating a solution specific for your needs.

What the OP is asking for is pretty simple. He needs:

1. Create/generate energy.
2. Store energy
3. Efficiently convert energy from one form to another when needed.

He has ID'd two forms of generation: Solar and burning gasoline in a generator. The former is inconsistent and unreliable - think in terms of weather conditions over a long period of time, not to mention (on average) it is dark 50% of the time. The latter is expensive (fuel and maintenance). Solar panel native output is DC. The genny is primarily AC (with maybe 12VDC leads available, and possibly a USB port [5VDC]). What form do you need and how do you want it delivered?

Electrical Storage is DC. Things to consider here include density (size), demand (load), duration (time), RTE (round trip efficiency), and Depth of Discharge.

• Density - some technologies pack more energy per unit of volume than others. A "flow battery" would not be a good fit to power your iPhone (and still be able to fit in your hand).
• Load - running AC, tire warmers, toaster, electric water heater, etc., all adds up. Learn how to balance your activities in order to not stress out your resources.
• Duration - If you are out of fuel for the genny, and you are experiencing cloudy weather in the middle of winter, solar generation ain't gonna cut the mustard for too long. Even during a race weekend, 24 hr AC use on Fri and Sat may mean you are SOL to even use your tire warmers on Sunday. In addition, generation and storage technologies can only output at a certain level and meet printed specs.
• RTE - ALL storage is not 100% efficient. You will have losses in the form of heat generation. Lithium Ion batteries, at best are about 85-90%. So you generate and store 100 units of energy and receive only 85, maybe less.
• Depth of Discharge - if you completely drain a battery before recharging it 100% and repeat the process over and over, it shortens the lifespan of the battery. To meet specs, the manufacturer will give you a value on when you need to start the charging process. RTE and DOD affect the number of life cycles you can get before replacement is required.

Conversion - DC output from Solar needs to be matched to the working voltage of the battery. Generator AC output needs to be converted to DC. Storage output needs to be converted to working DC voltage (12VDC, as an example) or multiple forms of AC power (120V, 208V). Each conversion adds loss. Think crank vs. wheel HP.

All of these affect each other, so it is a balancing act to come up with an ideal solution. Good luck!

 

There the JB I remember!

 

Kind of speaking my language living on a boat. What ever you do don;t go eco freindly. Get a generator that works

 

Still surprised knock offs of the Tesla power wall haven't become more prevalent