Camping Power

[Rich B]

Or to look at it another way, fire up your EV and travel the 200+ miles from some shithole in Norfolk to Cornwall without charging, visit the local farm shop for some cider and sausages and top back up to 80% on their 100kWh charger in 30mins, then camp for two weeks with fridge, lights and cooking appliances using the car battery.

Farm shops are different down there...

[ZedLeg]

You've got to have the right facilities when every house in the local area is a millionaire's holiday home

[mr_jon]

You've got to have the right facilities when every house in the local area is a millionaire's holiday home

I forgot to mention this. Also most of Cornwall is now owned by Rick Stein, and it's the law you have to buy a tea towel with his name on it in order to cross the county line.

[integrale_evo]

More like 400 miles but are you ok?

[simon_g]

Nice. I built something similar last year, a couple of mobility scooter batteries (30ah) in a small toolbox, 12v/USB sockets and lights. It’ll only run our fridge for a day or so but great for all the other less hungry stuff. Need to look into solar to keep it topped up and/or doing a bigger capacity version.

Agreed on avoiding hookup. Usually just want quiet and space and it’s the best way to get both.

[Mito Man]

@V8Granite or anyone else who knows...

I'm running the same basic set up still. Solar panel -> Solar charge controller -> 12v Battery.

Is there anyway I can charge the 12v battery whilst it is still connected up to solar charge controller and solar panel without blowing the whole thing up?

Reason I ask is because I'm thinking of upgrading the battery to way higher capacity - over 240ah so just waiting a few hours whilst it gets topped up by my portable lithium ion battery isn't really possible and I'd rather have the whole security system up and running whilst it takes its 20 hours or whatever to charge up.

[V8Granite]

Just add a connection directly to the battery and put a charge connection on it. I have wired a Ctek female connector on it as that’s what I use if I want to charge mine from the car or trailer while driving.

Dave!

[Sundayjumper]

I didn't follow this thread when it started, but I've just dipped in and realised you've used exactly the same box that I've just bought to use as a power pack for the winch on my trailer. It's big enough for a 59Ah battery & a couple of odds & ends.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124960184062

BDE46FB6-0AB2-49F1-A86A-CACC118AA09A.jpeg (143.11 KiB) Viewed 1092 times

(not finished, obvs….)

[drcarlos]

I find this quite interesting. I was thinking about adding solar to our caravan so I didn't need to carry the generator with me and still use all the facilities without getting battery anxiety, currently if I'm not careful battery depletion occurs during Sunday afternoon running a 120ah leisure battery. Maybe something I'll do in the spring I'm not sure whether to get some sort of portable plug in array or a fixed one they have a few pro's/con's

Portable:
+ able to position to maximum effect
+ able to store and protect from damage while travelling
+ No mounting hassles as drilling holes in my quite expensive caravan
- Will likely be smaller as we'll need to be able to stow it
- You have to get it out and set it up
- Kids/animals could knock it over or damage it

Fixed:
+ Can be quite large as it can be positioned in dead roof space
+ No setup, just switch on when sited
+ no need to store it
- Mounting it will involve drilling my caravan and create potential for leaks
- Susceptible to damage while travelling
- Will not be at optimal positions for collection or could be very sub optimal if we are under trees

Choices, choices.

Also when we do our extension I'm going to add a solar array (we have a large south facing roof that's perfectly angled) along with a 3-6KW Lithium battery system (current favourite is a Powervault3), but once it kicks off I'll add to house projects thread.

[V8Granite]

For a caravan, if the 120ah battery is a lead acid then you only have about 70ah. If it’s lithium ion phosphate you have a true 120ah, that alone could solve any battery anxiety issues. They aren’t cheap but they are much better.

Even in summer, if you are adding 2 or 3 amps into a battery to offset your use then you can lengthen times between charging massively.

Dave!

[Ascender]

Interesting thread... its that time of the year where I'm looking to do something similar for the camper van. We had thought about solar panels, but maybe one of these is a better option.

[drcarlos]

For a caravan, if the 120ah battery is a lead acid then you only have about 70ah. If it’s lithium ion phosphate you have a true 120ah, that alone could solve any battery anxiety issues. They aren’t cheap but they are much better.

Even in summer, if you are adding 2 or 3 amps into a battery to offset your use then you can lengthen times between charging massively.

Dave!

Need to look into the correct replacement PSU/Charger (Lithium compatible) so I don't topgear my caravan. Probably not inexpensive either but worth investigating.

[V8Granite]

I’ve done a full 2 months with Lithium Iron Phosphate now and they are amazing.

I charge it up with my solar panel and charge the tablets and phones up for a whole month easily. I’ve tested it down to 35ah and it’s a 40ah set up and it was fine, really pleased with them.

The cost for 4 x 10ah batteries was £220 but if you intend to use them properly then they are fantastic.

Dave!

[Mito Man]

Old thread revival.
Following my fly tipping inspection in the woods earlier I noticed the lead acid batteries that I use to run the cameras are pretty degraded. I see that LiPo4 12v batteries are finally not far off the same price as lead acid (for usable capacity) but claim to last 10+ years. Anyone got any experience with any of the brands? They're all made in China and I can't tell if they're genuinely new or knackered old EV batteries.

[V8Granite]

I’ve no idea, I just bought through a U.K. company so I had some comeback if it was no good.

Dave!

[Mito Man]

I’ve ordered through Amazon so I can return it easily - going by reviews it seems to be that if it works after a few cycles of charging and discharging it’s fine.
If it’s faulty it seems to just die within that period.

[integrale_evo]

Seems like an appropriate place to ask, just wondered if anyone had or knew of a mains usb supply which also had a battery backup which would kick in seamlessly?

Mains usb supplies are very common, battery powered usb supplies are common, but other than a couple of dodgy looking things on Amazon, none that combine the two.

Only because we have a usb powered cat feeder for the odd day or two away, and if there’s a power cut it resets the clock. Would be handy for that and a couple of other devices if the supply was cut while we were away. The odd brief cut in dodgy weather isn’t uncommon in our village.

[Mito Man]

A simple power bank with USB outputs can be left permanently plugged in and then if you plug your items into that it will act as a ghetto uninterruptible power supply.