Portable Power? (Battery)

[JesseS]

I have 750 watts of solar on the RV with a 2500 watt inverter charging 400AH of LiFePo4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) batteries, so good on off grid power. For emergency or portable (in vehicle) I have a soft folding 220 watt panel with a built in solar controller feeding a 50AH (10lb) LiFePo4 cased battery (does double duty as a trolling motor battery) hooked to a 500 watt Victron Inverter. This works very well to supply either 12vdc or 120 AC on overnighters car camping.

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[JesseS]

Here's a quick comparison of deep cell and car batteries. https://auto.howstuffworks.com/question219.htm
You generally don't want to drain a deep cycle lower than 50% or else you'll damage it. That means you'll only have 500 watt usable. Depending on your use case that might be good enough. With LiFePO4 the whole 1200 watts is usable. Plus LiFePO4 batteries usually last thousands of cycles. For the record I went with a diy option

Most of your info is spot on, only thing is you do NOT want to run a LiFePo4 battery dead, one reason is you can't normally, the BMS is set on most batteries to cut power at 10% DOD. A reserve is needed to keep the BMS alive, if the battery were to go to 0% DOD then the BMS would not be able to initiate a charging cycle. The ONLY way to fix it is to open up the battery and by-pass the BMS with a lithium charger to put a charge on the pack, waking up the BMS.
Ask me how I know....

 

[Techun]

Here's a quick comparison of deep cell and car batteries. https://auto.howstuffworks.com/question219.htm
You generally don't want to drain a deep cycle lower than 50% or else you'll damage it. That means you'll only have 500 watt usable. Depending on your use case that might be good enough. With LiFePO4 the whole 1200 watts is usable. Plus LiFePO4 batteries usually last thousands of cycles. For the record I went with a diy option

What equipment do you have in there

 

[Jdc]

Most of your info is spot on, only thing is you do NOT want to run a LiFePo4 battery dead, one reason is you can't normally, the BMS is set on most batteries to cut power at 10% DOD. A reserve is needed to keep the BMS alive, if the battery were to go to 0% DOD then the BMS would not be able to initiate a charging cycle. The ONLY way to fix it is to open up the battery and by-pass the BMS with a lithium charger to put a charge on the pack, waking up the BMS.
Ask me how I know....

You are correct and I usually charge my the battery when it gets low. I also have 200 watts of solar

 

[Jdc]

What equipment do you have in there

There are a lot of cool diy options if you want to build your own battery but I bought a 1200watt LiFePO4 battery. I have a 2000 watt inverter ( mostly for future proofing in case I decide to add a second battery), 12 volt outlet, an SAE port on the side, and 2 outlets connect to the inverter. There's also a small fuse box inside. The premade solar generators are good but I like the idea of having something that would be easy to fix if needed. I can also change out the battery when it wears out

 

[ademonhunter]

I backed the Omnicharge off grid on indiegogo.

https://www.omnicharge.co/products/omni-off-grid/

 

[da_jokker]

Interesting that you should ask. After a lot of research, I just settled on this one and ordered it yesterday:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08H1TYFFP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I was really leaning towards the Jackery 300 or 500 but found this Ecoflow River Max. It currently has a $50 off coupon on Amazon. That puts it at the same price as the Jackery Explorer 300 which has the same capacity. I settled on the Ecoflow for the following reasons:

• The Ecoflow has a 600 watt inverter instead of the 300 watt of the Jackery.
• It can charge faster than the Jackery.
• You can double the battery capacity by adding their battery module.
• The 12 volt (cigarette lighter output) is regulated so it will run your fridge until the battery completely drains.
• It has a 100 watt USB-C port vs the Jackery 300's 60 watt port (or no USB-C on the Jackery 500).

My wife plans on cooking with all her little Dash appliances (waffle iron, griddle, etc). This "generator" should work very well for that and our fridge. Should be here on Wednesday and can't wait to play with it! I mean, what else can I do while I wait for my Bronco...?

Let me know how you like it. I did notice that many times those Amazon coupons are for refurbished units..almost bought a wattfun for $200 till I noticed that.

 

[da_jokker]

Three youtube channels I would recommend:

• Hobo Tech - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVsNMiYQkqwIq_gd0rTJF9g
• DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse - https://www.youtube.com/user/errolprowse
• Ozark Overland Adventures - https://www.youtube.com/user/mattmc1171
  • This one isn't as technical but a lot of recent reviews from a usability perspective.

Sweet thanks. Yeah Ozark Overland is the one I watched that got me thinking about it.

 

[MaverickMan]

What does everyone think of the Goal Zero or EGO brands?

I have EGO chainsaws and whackers and they are great. As far as their inverter stations, I looked at em but figured it was just above my budget for power needs.

 

[62chad]

I got a jackery 1000 a couple of months ago. Powers my 60qt fridge for 3 days only using about 50% of the battery life, we also charged our phones on it multiple times.

 

[Oneand0]

So I’ve been using battery generators as a back up for when power goes out for about three years now. I think a 500 to 1000 watt would be as big as you want to go in a Bronco. I have a couple of Bluettis1.7 and a 2.5Kw for the home. I gave my father my Yetti 1000 and that would be perfect for the Bronco and a couple of 100 watt marine solar panels. Looks like I will ask my dad to swap a 1.7 bluetti for his Yetti 1000 when I get my Badlands.

 

[Jason]

I got the Ego inverter, and bring my 56v 7.5 Ah mower battery with me when camping. It’s not nearly the capacity that the OP mentioned, but it’s plenty for my needs and I’m already bought into the Ego system with lawn tools. For $85-$100, it lets me get some extra use out of the batteries I already own.

 

[BroncoKong Jr.]

What does everyone think of the Goal Zero or EGO brands?

I have a few Ego lawn tools: mower, weed wacker, pole saw, and edger. I love them but have no experience with their portable power. I think they would be great if you already have a bunch of batteries from their power tools but otherwise I don't think I would start from scratch.

 

[mootruck98]

Sweet thanks. Yeah Ozark Overland is the one I watched that got me thinking about it.

Its a great channel with a nice mix of adventure episodes a real life logistical things / product reviews. Based on his reviews I recently bought the Bluetti AC50s to power the Set Power fridge he also reviwed. Seems like a decent combo at a not huge price to get started with.


Eventually I'll build a larger DIY setup that I can use with my HF radio which uses more than the 10 amps most these consumer units offer.

 

[mootruck98]

Are you spying on my youtube history?

Seriously how many times you gonna watch the Jeep Beach episode of Lite Bright?!

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