We went on a month long camping trip to Spain a couple of months ago and Bluetti AC180 powered an Engel MT35 fridge along with our filming equipment, laptops and other. It had a static place in the trunk, connected with the fridge which was nearby, a power extension cord so we can recharge our devices from front seats and another one in the back when we set up camp and open the trunk. It served us beautifully, I could monitor the battery status over the phone while driving and also turn AC power on/off when needed. One thing that I think Andrew didn't mention are charging options which is very important: you get a cigarette lighter cable - we have a port in the trunk (next to the battery!) which outputs 100W. On our trip we had long driving sections so this was very useful since we get ~30% charge for a couple of hours of driving, which translated to approximately one day of battery life. The other option is charging from mains - by default it draws 1KW so it recharges in ~1 hour and there is a Turbo mode in which it draws 1.4KW so you get a full battery in ~40 minutes! This is one of the best buys we had related to our camping equipment since we always wanted to have a fridge in the car but installing a secondary battery and all of the needed wiring was not an option since I use the same car as a daily driver (Subaru Forester :)). Another big plus is that when it's not in use in the car (which is sadly the majority of time) you can use this battery for a bunch of other stuff, e.g. I've used it without issues to power a circular saw in a mountain cabin which doesn't have electricity, the number of applications is endless.
Goal Zero 1500x. Had it for a couple years. Love it. Super simple over landing power setup. WAY better than the Bluetti setup. Anderson, 12v, USB-a and c, great inverter I can even run a proper kettle, induction, or coffee pot. TONS of power for a fridge/freezer, laptops, etc. Charges off the alternator with their connection kit, or a 110v inverter built into the vehicle, or solar. Dead easy.
Just got my bluetti ac180. Works great. I run my freezer/ fridge and tire compressor as well as the usual lights, computer, phone etc. works perfect. And the solar panels work well.
I have 3 portable power stations, all mounted in my SUV; an Arkpak 615 with 120a/h AGM battery, an Arkpak 730, also with a 120a/h AGM battery, and a Bluetti AC200P with a big lithium battery (@ 170a/h). Each has built in 12 volt to 240 volt inverters, 150 watts, 300 watts and 2000 watts respectively. Each has a built in smart charger (12v DC to DC, 240v AC to DC) Each can be charged by my car's 12v power supply while parked up or while driving. Each can be charged from a solar panel. The Bluetti has a built in MPPT solar regulator. The Arkpak 615 (6 amp smart charger, 150 watt 240v inverter) is charged by a 110 watt rooftop solar panel and runs my 75 litre dual zone Engel fridge 24/7. The Bluetti is the 240v power supply for my caravan. It's charged off the car while I'm driving. The Arkpak 730 (7 amp smart charger, 300 watt 240v is charged by a 160 watt folding portable solar panel while I'm camped. I can top up the Bluetti from that spare Arkpak if I need to. The Bluetti is dual purpose. I have a garden maintenance and landscaping business. If I'm working on site without mains power nearby, I run my 240v power tools from the Bluetti. It's also tax deductible. The Arkpak's are old and old school, Australian designed very reliable, great for camping in the car but can't power my caravan. The Bluetti is new school and a couple of years old now. It's an awesome, all in one solution for off grid power for my caravan and business. It's a winner and thousands cheaper that hard wiring the components needed to provide the same power capacity in my caravan. And when I sell this caravan I'll still have the Bluetti strapped down in my car.
Really good and thoughtful. I’m improving a 30y old camper, which could do with a really good overhaul of the leisure electrics. Many people fit a somewhat bespoke, integrated leisure electrical system that has a mix of solar input, mains hook-up, battery (increasingly lithium of some sort), inverter and various outputs and capacities. I do like the option of the ‘unit’ that can be fitted to the vehicle, but also used at other times and I like your video. The danger of fitting all the individual components into a vehicle is that they can’t be used elsewhere (simpler camping or domestic resilience are just two), but the danger of going with a unit is you are then fitting the compromises of the unit into your vehicle. I suppose a third option as you show is to build your own unit, probably more expensively than the off-the-shelf units but incorporating the features and capacities you want. Something else to consider is how you integrate your vehicle’s electrics into the leisure area. Pleased you covered this as it’s really important. For example it’s easy to add USB charging into your vehicle, but you may also want solar to top up both your leisure and vehicle batteries when off-grid or you want to solar to trickle your vehicle when not being used. There are loads of use cases and I’ve not yet worked out what will be added to my project. It’s certainly the case that there increasingly more and more options out there. Final two point are that many modern audio systems are now Android-based so you can run apps on that as an alternative to a phone and even with a relatively dumb system you can add a shunt that has an app to help with the control and monitoring. Thanks for your vid!!
Finally!! I have been waiting on a video on this, i always wondered why you went with boxes you have to build out vs a prebuilt system, and wondered if the off the shelf versions were available in Australia. Now it makes sense. My little jackery 500 is just enough to run the fridge a day and a half, but with its older lithium technology and slow charge times. Keeping it topped off is a chore. Soo wish we had anderson plug systems in the US, falling out cigarette lighter plugs are such a bad solution for car based travel.
Hi Andrew. I have built a number of power box units from 10 amps DC to 100 amps DC all using lithium batteries. The small ones are very handy but limited to light loads and the large ones are much more powerful but heavy and bulky. It's all about how you intend to use them. Also, they are fun projects on cold dark winter nights.
Horses for causes. Those with 240v power pass through can usually be used as redundant power supplies. I've been toying with the idea for a while now, there are both benefits and disadvantages to the portable boxed power supplies. If you make up your own, then repairs on a modulated system are likely. Once you get one of those commercial units starting to fail, it's likely to be a costly repair.
Excellent video with all questions to ask when a power staion. One addition: go for LIFEPO4 batteries as they provide way more chargimg cycles then other lithium batteries. Just installed an ANKER powerhouse 767 unit in my truck.
Finally a video that make clear that the power solution arent universal, but must be tailored with our needs!!! Not all people need a lot of ac power for long time so powerstations not necessary need to be big or rig need a fixed second battery with inverter with big watt... sadly i'm not and overlander (cause work and therapy care) but only a "weekend warrior" and my needs are different since I operate ham radio so I need big 12v juice and less ac power for pc portable and little rotor for antennas, frige with some drinks and inductance cooking (most place where i go are fire / free flame forbidden)... Ciao Ciao from Italy
before knowing the Luna box my system used the bluetti battery in my jeep and loaded with a 12-24/30a dcdc so instead of 12 volts I enter with 24v and the time is halved using the solar input, being outside warranty I hacked the bluetti and put a 45amp powerpole because the 10 cigar lighters make my accessories laugh... ps Having a portable fridge and a bluetti modified like this is convenient especially because I can move the system from the jeep to the mustang depending on the events I participate in
Andrew's take on anything is always of value. This is of no exception of course. At the same time, I am getting tired of the manufacturers of these products touting them as being useful for camping, caravanning, van life and overlanding. Indeed they are useful products but they all fail miserably on one point and it may not be a perspective that you share or is necessarily valid for you. That is, that none of the well-known brands have taken into account the size and shape of the more useful of these. They are huge. That is the nature of the beast and to be fair, there is no perfect shape that fits all. Trying to find a place for them in a caravan, motorhome or car is not as easy as one thinks. Furthermore, the more powerful of these items are often most useful when you can plug into them as you would at a campsite with electrical hook-up. Yet (and this is my gripe), no manufacturer has created a suitable insulated, waterproof, theft resistant hard case. None. If you have a large caravan or motorhome, you can probably find somewhere or if you have a vehicle like Andrew's, then you won't typically have electrical hook-up anyway. These manufacturers have done well in the creation of the product and from a marketing point of view, have thought of a variety of uses, but none have addressed the practicality aspect. It is as if they leave one feeling something is lacking. They are great, but what I am describing only becomes evident when you come to use them. To be fair, I will also criticise caravan and motorhome manufacturers that they do not typically include an internally located hook-up point to connect to these battery packs.
I used an Ecoflow River Pro and extra battery to travel across Canada for several months. I could charge it off the power socket in the back of my 4Runner, but solar power did a better job. I ran a freezer and my power-hungry laptop from it. On a couple of occasions I needed to find AC power (many rainy days in a row would do it), especially if I used Starlink.
A good video. I'm kitting out a new VW California, and went along this exact same thought process. I chose an EcoFlow Delta 2 to be our central power hub, but will likely changeover to the Delta 2 Max when it is released in Australia next year.
Informative video Andrew. The Solarpod was one of the first lithium portable power stations using LiFePo4 cells in Australia. We still use a Solarpod 1K in our vehicle which is charged by a Enerdrive dc2dc charger. As the vehicle charging port of most lithium power stations is slow (usually plugged into the CIG outlet), most will fast charge by a dc2dc charger through the solar charge port. The larger Bluetti power stations have a 12V 30A RV outlet, this could be plugged directly into a distribution box to power your 12v needs.
Thank you Andrew! I am looking into a Bluetti for a 3 bedroom house backup, but one that could also be portable enough to use in my Crosstrek when we go adventuring. I am looking into the AC200p and AC200MAX.
I use an Ecoflow unit in the camper I built and now live/travel in. It's been brilliant! Mine does have a 30A 12vdc output on an anderson that I use to top off the trailer's 12v battery to run DC loads, plus it has a 10A plug (don't use it.. No need, trailer has plenty of DC) and a multitude of USB plugs including 2 USB-C 100w ports, which are lovely! My unit will also run a full 30A AC (110v because it's the states) to run all my AC camper loads up to 3.6KW AC, which also happens to be the capacity of the battery (280Ah equivalent at 12vdc, though the unit is 48v internally) As for charging? It accepts up to 1600w of solar (I use 4, 400w residential type panels) which tops it off rather rapidly in the desert southwest of the US, plus I run another 200w portable folding panel to boost the trailer's 12v main battery beyond the Ecoflow's 30a 12v. Great unit though, I can pull it to bring in my land rover for vehicle only trips (though 3.6kw is WAY overkill for overland travel needs) and if needed, I can trickle charge it off the car's 12v as well, though only at 8 or so amps for those trips.
Before I put the full system in my y62, I used a ecoflow river mini. Ran my 95l Dometic overnight and a few hours into the day. Built in mppt solar controller, 300w AC inverter ect. Worked great
I made my own, using the Luna box as a basis. Added a small inverter and a small AC charger. I use it when I go camping and at home during load shedding.
They’re actually not designed to be used like a UPS. I checked this when I spoke to the manufacturer of one. They’re not supposed to be left plugged in charging.
Thanks great review Rather than going with a full electrical setup, I’ll be going with a Bluetti AC200L connected via its solar input to a supplementary 120Ah battery using a 12v to 24v stepup converter. The later being connected via usual system to alternator
I have an Anker 767 , it is in my little one man camper (Ford Grand Tourneo ) it has been great , a big plus is when i sell the vehicle the anker just wheels out .:)
I had a long hard look at these things when I was considering backup power for the house and perhaps for my camping trips, which are generally a week or so. My conclusion was that the built up versions were a better option when/if you needed to replace or upgrade something down the track and their effective use came down to how you could get the power back into them whenever you needed to use them longer term. Given the costs and limitations I've decided that a quality pure sine wave petrol generator with a bit of fuel I already store will keep our fridge freezer going until we can use up perishables and our camping LED lights and non electrical cooking methods will be a better option. Likewise when camping I can get by with an esky and my other power needs are easily met with a couple of phone power banks that can be charged off the vehicle or via a portable solar panel. Having said that we have very reliable grid power where we are and my trips are very different to what many people do so use case, as you pointed out. As an alternative to an expensive dual battery set up I think that these things are great and can be dual purposed when/if the power goes down. Excellent video, well explained and pointing out so many things that most who are flogging these things, which is nearly everyone these days, fail to point out.
I've been using a Bluetti 2k watt system for about 2 years. To get the value out of it, it lives in the Garage on a "Gorilla Trolley" as a backup supply for the house. When I go to the river for the day, it comes with me on the trolley with the Engel Fridge. And when I go away, the fridge and Bluetti either go in the back seat or the tray depending on requirements. My feeling was if I am going to spend the money on it, I want more than just a single use out of it.
I have been looking at a Redarc GOBLOCK100 system for my overland vehicle as I don’t need AC for anything I plan to use. I like the locking base to hold the Goblock 100 unit in place when I need it in my vehicle.
Andrew, I found in South Africa that several units are explicitly banned from being permanently plugged into the mains ! ( in the small print ) Then there was a scare about overcharging a lithium battery, fire hazard. So let the buyer beware at all times !
I wish there were more available here in the US like the one in the thumbnail. Almost all of the 100-1500 Kilowatt hour boxes available here have up to a half dozen 110v AC outlets, but no more than a couple 12v DC outputs and those are usually pretty low amperage. I'd love to find a backup/replacement for our Goal Zero which hasn't been very reliable, but I can't find anything with equivalent 12v outputs
I bought the Ryobi 36V Power Station Inverter. I like the ability to use the batteries in other products when not needing the power station. It works well however bluetooth app not available in AU.
I just love when they call them "solar generators". When all they are is a fancy battery pack with accessories. They "generate" nothing. Or did someone just work out how to put the Sun into a marketable box? 🤠🐾
One feature of the global low cost products you are missing is the ability to recharge them via AC in 1 hour. If you use a second 1.5kw inverter in your vehicle this means in a pinch you can charge it in just a short journey or period of high idle. You can get around the dc output issue by using a cheap ac/dc transformer you sacrifice some efficiency but when you can charge it so quickly when necessary who cares. In Black Friday sales they were £650 gbp that’s an unbeatable deal
i made one myself used a 100amps lifepo4 lithium battery charging it with an Havensis dual charger both from the engine and as an mppt from the panels. The dual charger also charges the vehicle battery when the 2nd battery is full and disconnects if the 2nd battery voltage drops below a set value so that the vehicle battery never discharges when you need it
Built a budget system - marine battery box, MPPT controller on clearance for $29, 100Ah LiFo. Powered from car cigarette lighter socket by an iMax RC battery charger - perfect affordable DC to DC charger, or 10A folding glass bi panel PV. 300W inverter charges power tools on the road.
I think the power banks like the Bluetti 180 will negate the need to install a second battery in a 4x4. I have the smaller AC70 and it will easily run my camping fridge and provides more amps than does the built-in AGM in the car which is limited in size and being AGFM it can only be run down the 50%. So Even the AC70 can give me about 60AH compared to the 43 from the 86AH AGM under the hood. The cost saving is also another factor. No wiring, no need for a DCDC charger and no labor costs for an Auto Elec.
My experience with the bluetti EB 70. Equipment; Bluetti EB70, Allpowers 200W monocrystaline foldable solar panel, Kings 90lt dual zone fridge, 8m "home made" extension cable, which was made by a very good friend of mine who has been installing off-grid solar in houses for 30 years. Test: to see how long I could run the king's fridge powered by the bluetti with a solar panel plugged in. Situation: I carried out this experiment in my house and backyard in the northern rivers of New South Wales in mid summer. The bluetti and the fridge were in my downstairs bathroom which has a brick wall that sits in the Western sun all afternoon and is a very hot room. The solar panel was outside in the backyard up on a table. I charged the bluetti to full from 240 volts, and pre-chilled the fridge on 240 volts. The fridge was set to minus 18° on the small compartment and 4° on the large compartment. I filled the fridge full of soft drinks to have something inside of it. After a day or two when I played around with the position of the panel and decided to just leave it laying flat on it's back, I ran the fridge for a fortnight non-stop from the bluetti battery pack which charged during the day from solar and happily ran the fridge overnight. There was a mixture of fully sunny days cloudy days and rain did not matter everything ran fine. This bluetti or even a bigger one would be a great setup for somebody who does not want to install a dual battery system in their car
I have a small 500Wh Powerstation in my Jeep, that runs my 55L fridge permanently and i charge my camera and drone on it. never had a problem with that configuration. The powerbox charges on the cigarette lighter and in case of need, i have a 100W solar panel.
same. DCS 100ah LIFEP04, redard BDCD1225D, as many plugs, sockets and whatevers i desired, all packaged in a weatherproof Pelican case and it works pefectly. Much cheaper than the commercial units and if it stops working, i know exaclty where to start looking.
The consideration of what happens if the lithium battery helps burn your car/house/caravan to the ground is lost on many. Bluetti has safety built into it, not just relying on a battery monitoring system to save the day. The backyard setup by those other manufacturers won't have any of the redundancy or the amount of research and development. 200 amp hours is plenty enough to cause a lethal problem, and all outputs should be kept to a reasonable current level. Not everyone understands the importance of fuses, etc. They are handy devices for many different purposes.
I used a Bluetti AC200Max on a trip from Sydney to Broome and back - 3 months. Mounted it in the back of car on top of drawer with fridge next to it. Mounted a 1000W inverter in back to charge it with 400W AC charger (so replaces the DC DC charger with same current draw, mounted near Bluetti) and a second charge input from 12V in car. Just charging from 12V was way to slow. Solar was also an option used. Ignition activated relay at car battery to connect/disconnect inverter and 12V charge circuits. Connected fridge to DC 30A outlet because it screwed in and did not get hot at the connection like a cig socket does and camera gear to USB outputs. 240VAC used for toaster, jug, frying pan. Ran continuously for 3 months with zero issues. Just have to turn the AC off when not in use - standby draw was significant if left on over night accidentally. Only used gas to cook once in 3 months - not sure why… Now home, it runs my computer as an “uninterruptible” power supply - so still in use and not hard mounted in car as second battery etc.
@@zenmachine50 my only problem was the space that it consumed versus second battery in engine bay. In the end, worked ok. Also had a 4 outlet RCB protected power board at back door to car (Prado) to use for all 240VAC devices. Access easier and protection. The as supplied outlets in these things or the inverters people use from a battery typically do not have RCD protection.
I think the Bluetti AC 200max is a cheaper option for my camping setup it has everything you need built in also it can be charged efficiently from 12 volt while driving if you buy the DC charging enhancer for a couple of hundred dollars extra so for around three thousand dollars investment i would have all the power i need to live off grid for extended periods while camping & it is portable
@@mykol1842 I used the 400W charger instead of the supplied 500W charger for 2 reasons. Main one, it has no fan so you don’t need ear plugs and one less moving part to break when driving the outback roads. The second, the 500W charger only delivers around 460W to the device while consuming 500W. The 400W charger delivers 398 to 400W whilst consuming 400W.
I just plug my utes system to additional solar panels on the garage roof when it's parked at home. It's more than capable of meeting the houses needs between dusk and dawn in an emergency if I don't go too crazy. I've never really seen a personal use for one of these 'solar generators/power boxes'. They always seem overpriced and underwhelming in regards to what you get for the money. Some people like these systems because it avoids the complexity and cost of hard wiring, but if you're capable of doing all that yourself I think you can get a better system for the $$$. I couldn't readily lift a portable system I'de require anyway.
Bluetti is not built for overlanding. First, it doesn’t come with a fast vehicle charging solution. Second, it doesn’t have high amp 12v output, and you can’t jumpstart your car with it. I had an AC200 for a while and ended it getting rid of it and setting up my own dual battery system
Cheers for taking the time to find and address the question some need to make a good decision on these units. The removable systems are becoming more popular in travel power installs these days and are very convenient especially if you are able to upgrade or change vehicles and towed equipment often. Have you looked in to a local company TOPO? They seem to be the ducks nuts around Perth.
Something you need to consider is how much power you are vacyou are going to consume.. 10 devices with an average of 1500 watts a piece you will consume 15 kw power with 2x 20 amp inlet
If you have an auxiliary battery, solar panels, mains charger and inverter these power banks are redundant. If you buy one of these them don't convert the vehicle to a dual battery system.
I feel that there’s 2 essential aspects that your review completely missed. 1. Can you recharge your power box from the typical say Honda 2.0 Inverter portable generator, if for eg its night time & there’s no solar & your camped & not driving your car daily, let’s say your off grid camped in the WA Goldfields & the nearest caravan park with AC power is 700kms away. Why bring this up? A Europe based channel called “Homesteading Uncontained” who built a off grid garage / workshop on their rural property in France, recently bought a different brand “power station” to the ones your reviewing here to run their garage / workshop off grid. They have solar panel connected but between night times and cloudy rainy days they weren’t getting enough charge to keep up with their power demands running construction electric hand tools etc. So they did what most of us without mains power might do, & pulled out their old generator & got it running, plugged it into their power station to charge it up from the 220V AC from the generator. No go! The power station would NOT accept power from their old generator! Apparently it wasn’t “clean enough” AC power to match the Hertz etc of mains power so the power station wouldn’t accept any charge. So what did they do? They Went out and bought a new “pure sine wave generator, started that up & plugged that in & the power station wouldn’t accept power from that new fancy sine wave generator either! 🙄 So - the question now arises, will any of the ones you are reviewing accept AC charge from a portable generator? And yes, some will say “well if you have a generator why would you need a power station? Facts are some campgrounds have “no generator” areas because left running all night so you can sleep with the air conditioner on, the noise of the motor keeps everyone else awake. So this is where you need the power station fully charged because it’s silent. You can go run your generator for a couple hours somewhere that it is allowed & charge your power station, so that you can go back to your “no generators allowed” campsite & operate silently overnight off your power station. Even when camped alone remote, you might not want your generator running 24/7/365 because the noise becomes annoying after a while. So you might accept the generator running for a couple of hours during the day to charge your power station so you can sleep at night without the generator noise. But not much good if your power station won’t accept charge from a portable generator source. I can’t link the Homesteading Uncontained” RUclips link of 2 weeks back because the RUclips Algorithm will automatically delete the comment if I post links. The next oversight? The thermal runaway fires danger of lithium ion phosphate power stations inside cars and caravans in Australia’s summer heat wave conditions. There’s a mistaken belief that Lithium Ion Phosphate battery’s don’t suffer thermal runaway fires events in the same way that EV lithium Ion battery packs can and do. But this is demonstrably false. Lithium Ion Phosphate battery’s CAN suffer thermal runaway events just like their EV Lithium Ion counterparts, it’s just that the “thermal runaway trigger temperature” is higher at 120 degrees C So can a lithium ion phosphate battery power station get to 120C if left locked inside a car in 45 Degree C summer heat wave conditions? The answer is YES it can! And that’s because temps inside the locked car parked in the sun can easily get to 70+ C So how does it then get to 120C to reach thermal runaway temp? Well if your vehicle / van etc has solar panels and that lithium ion phosphate battery gets to 70+ C ambient temp inside the hot vehicle & it has to also cope with solar feed charge going into the battery at the same time, it’s possible to get the extra 50 C temps on top of the 70 C ambient temp inside the vehicle to reach lithium ion phosphate battery thermal runaway trigger point. And why is that such a big issue? Well the fire emits toxic cobalt fumes that are potentially fatal. Also lithium phosphate battery thermal runaway fires create their own oxygen. They will literally burn under fresh water. Normal dry powder extinguisher and water fire suppression methods do not work on Lithium battery fires & brigades won’t put their members at risk without breathing apparatus trying to extinguish lithium battery fires. The current protocol is to “remain upwind & let it burn itself out. Recently there was a EV thermal runaway fire somewhere off Norway in a RORO (Roll On Roll Off) car ferry that had 500 EV vehicles aboard along with thousands of Internal Combustion cars. Non of the on board fire suppression apparatus could extinguish the EV fire & it spread to all the other EVs then the ICE vehicles & all crew had to be evacuated by helicopter & the ship towed by tugs to shore while it berned itself out. As a result of this catastrophe research was conducted to develop a method of extinguishing lithium ion thermal runaway fires. The result was a method of pumping chilled brine direct into the lithium ion battery box compartment. Chilled brine helps drop the temps below the thermal runaway trigger temperature. The other thing chilled brine does is, being an electrolyte, which conducts electricity, it shorts out the battery bank - removing the stored energy that is fuelling the fire. In time to come EVs in order to be allowed on board RORO car ferry’s for delivery from manufacturer to dealers, their battery boxes will have to be plumbed to a 2 inch / 50mm fire fighting quick connect fire hose coupling external on the vehicle (ie behind a external openable flap like a fuel filler cap / electrical recharging flap) so that on board chilled brine tanks contents can be pumped direct into the EV battery box. These new “maritime regulations” once introduced will apply to all commercial vessels. This means, the Tasmania car ferry, the Fraser Island Ferry, the Jardine River Car ferry, Dirk Hartog Island ferry and so on. What this will mean is that, your caravan & 4WD with the Bluetti style lithium ion phosphate battery’s that ARENT installed in a metal sealed / plumbed fire fighting quick coupler etc to meet the regulations, won’t be allowed to board such commercial vessels. Lithium Ion technology is highly risky and the coming changes will make many of the current systems being sold basically “illegal”. If when your car or caravan goes up in flames, your insurer is going to wipe their hands of you. Like I said, I think your review was pretty deficient in these respects.
Some great points. I had the privilege of a technical visit of the chilled brine fire suppression system on Smyril Line's Norona last year, which was fascinating. A killer issue for me is resistance to vibration damage for LiFePo4 or any other battery. A bit of research gave me a conclusion that testing regimes are nothing like hours of driving on real life corrugations, plus the jump start capability deal breaker has led to me sticking to proven AGM and I'll take the hit on cycle life, cycle cost and weight.
This Is complicated. Generators are started to be frowned upon if you are around other people while camping at this point due to the noise isn’t necessarily regarded as acceptable anymore.
I have just purchased the ac180 unit, its to power my fridge/freezer and lights etc on fishing trips and weekends away, should have enough power for what I need , and it was £400 cheaper in the Black Friday deals 😁🏴 , another enjoyable video Andrew
These boxes with 1200 amp hours of capacity and 4-6 110v AC outputs make zero sense. What is someone going to use one for that requires that much 110v output? It would last all of 30-40 minutes tops if you actually used all those 110v outputs. Dumb.
The real reason why PORTABLE ones exist is: Those are way easier to SELL! Because even the dumbest person can use it. Im comparison: A full DC Installation is complicated and tales a lot of time! You do not believe me? If you can afford a 4x4 and a plane and a second (maybe) pick-up, each for 20-60.000$ you can easily, very easily afford an installation in each car. Of course. Mobile stations are just due to marketing. You do not believe that? Here you go: On a touring car you want to be able to repair your essential stuff - correct? Try to repair one of those!
The terms ‘solar generator’ and ‘power station’ for these devices has always given me the shits…they don’t make power, they don’t produce energy, they store it. It’s a bit like calling your fuel tank a service station😂
We went on a month long camping trip to Spain a couple of months ago and Bluetti AC180 powered an Engel MT35 fridge along with our filming equipment, laptops and other.
It had a static place in the trunk, connected with the fridge which was nearby, a power extension cord so we can recharge our devices from front seats and another one in the back when we set up camp and open the trunk. It served us beautifully, I could monitor the battery status over the phone while driving and also turn AC power on/off when needed.
One thing that I think Andrew didn't mention are charging options which is very important: you get a cigarette lighter cable - we have a port in the trunk (next to the battery!) which outputs 100W. On our trip we had long driving sections so this was very useful since we get ~30% charge for a couple of hours of driving, which translated to approximately one day of battery life. The other option is charging from mains - by default it draws 1KW so it recharges in ~1 hour and there is a Turbo mode in which it draws 1.4KW so you get a full battery in ~40 minutes!
This is one of the best buys we had related to our camping equipment since we always wanted to have a fridge in the car but installing a secondary battery and all of the needed wiring was not an option since I use the same car as a daily driver (Subaru Forester :)). Another big plus is that when it's not in use in the car (which is sadly the majority of time) you can use this battery for a bunch of other stuff, e.g. I've used it without issues to power a circular saw in a mountain cabin which doesn't have electricity, the number of applications is endless.
All the info I need and nothing I don't. Thank you Andrew, like a true professional.
Goal Zero 1500x. Had it for a couple years. Love it. Super simple over landing power setup. WAY better than the Bluetti setup. Anderson, 12v, USB-a and c, great inverter I can even run a proper kettle, induction, or coffee pot. TONS of power for a fridge/freezer, laptops, etc. Charges off the alternator with their connection kit, or a 110v inverter built into the vehicle, or solar. Dead easy.
I haven’t tuned in for a little while, I had forgotten just how informative and well produced your content is. Thanks Andrew.
You might want to stay tuned then like the rest of us
Just got my bluetti ac180. Works great.
I run my freezer/ fridge and tire compressor as well as the usual lights, computer, phone etc. works perfect. And the solar panels work well.
The new Ecoflow systems provide very good solutions to the use cases discussed in this video
Awesome as always.Thanks for sharing and taking us along
Love my Bluetti EB70 for camping and wheeling
I have 3 portable power stations, all mounted in my SUV; an Arkpak 615 with 120a/h AGM battery, an Arkpak 730, also with a 120a/h AGM battery, and a Bluetti AC200P with a big lithium battery (@ 170a/h). Each has built in 12 volt to 240 volt inverters, 150 watts, 300 watts and 2000 watts respectively. Each has a built in smart charger (12v DC to DC, 240v AC to DC) Each can be charged by my car's 12v power supply while parked up or while driving. Each can be charged from a solar panel. The Bluetti has a built in MPPT solar regulator. The Arkpak 615 (6 amp smart charger, 150 watt 240v inverter) is charged by a 110 watt rooftop solar panel and runs my 75 litre dual zone Engel fridge 24/7. The Bluetti is the 240v power supply for my caravan. It's charged off the car while I'm driving. The Arkpak 730 (7 amp smart charger, 300 watt 240v is charged by a 160 watt folding portable solar panel while I'm camped. I can top up the Bluetti from that spare Arkpak if I need to. The Bluetti is dual purpose. I have a garden maintenance and landscaping business. If I'm working on site without mains power nearby, I run my 240v power tools from the Bluetti. It's also tax deductible. The Arkpak's are old and old school, Australian designed very reliable, great for camping in the car but can't power my caravan. The Bluetti is new school and a couple of years old now. It's an awesome, all in one solution for off grid power for my caravan and business. It's a winner and thousands cheaper that hard wiring the components needed to provide the same power capacity in my caravan. And when I sell this caravan I'll still have the Bluetti strapped down in my car.
Very good review Andrew. There are some good ones out there.
Really good and thoughtful.
I’m improving a 30y old camper, which could do with a really good overhaul of the leisure electrics. Many people fit a somewhat bespoke, integrated leisure electrical system that has a mix of solar input, mains hook-up, battery (increasingly lithium of some sort), inverter and various outputs and capacities. I do like the option of the ‘unit’ that can be fitted to the vehicle, but also used at other times and I like your video.
The danger of fitting all the individual components into a vehicle is that they can’t be used elsewhere (simpler camping or domestic resilience are just two), but the danger of going with a unit is you are then fitting the compromises of the unit into your vehicle.
I suppose a third option as you show is to build your own unit, probably more expensively than the off-the-shelf units but incorporating the features and capacities you want.
Something else to consider is how you integrate your vehicle’s electrics into the leisure area. Pleased you covered this as it’s really important. For example it’s easy to add USB charging into your vehicle, but you may also want solar to top up both your leisure and vehicle batteries when off-grid or you want to solar to trickle your vehicle when not being used.
There are loads of use cases and I’ve not yet worked out what will be added to my project. It’s certainly the case that there increasingly more and more options out there.
Final two point are that many modern audio systems are now Android-based so you can run apps on that as an alternative to a phone and even with a relatively dumb system you can add a shunt that has an app to help with the control and monitoring.
Thanks for your vid!!
Finally!! I have been waiting on a video on this, i always wondered why you went with boxes you have to build out vs a prebuilt system, and wondered if the off the shelf versions were available in Australia. Now it makes sense. My little jackery 500 is just enough to run the fridge a day and a half, but with its older lithium technology and slow charge times. Keeping it topped off is a chore. Soo wish we had anderson plug systems in the US, falling out cigarette lighter plugs are such a bad solution for car based travel.
At 9:09 the generator noise you make is pretty good!
Thought you did an audio overlay for a sec!
Hi Andrew. I have built a number of power box units from 10 amps DC to 100 amps DC all using lithium batteries. The small ones are very handy but limited to light loads and the large ones are much more powerful but heavy and bulky. It's all about how you intend to use them. Also, they are fun projects on cold dark winter nights.
Horses for causes. Those with 240v power pass through can usually be used as redundant power supplies. I've been toying with the idea for a while now, there are both benefits and disadvantages to the portable boxed power supplies. If you make up your own, then repairs on a modulated system are likely. Once you get one of those commercial units starting to fail, it's likely to be a costly repair.
Excellent video with all questions to ask when a power staion. One addition: go for LIFEPO4 batteries as they provide way more chargimg cycles then other lithium batteries. Just installed an ANKER powerhouse 767 unit in my truck.
Finally a video that make clear that the power solution arent universal, but must be tailored with our needs!!! Not all people need a lot of ac power for long time so powerstations not necessary need to be big or rig need a fixed second battery with inverter with big watt... sadly i'm not and overlander (cause work and therapy care) but only a "weekend warrior" and my needs are different since I operate ham radio so I need big 12v juice and less ac power for pc portable and little rotor for antennas, frige with some drinks and inductance cooking (most place where i go are fire / free flame forbidden)... Ciao Ciao from Italy
before knowing the Luna box my system used the bluetti battery in my jeep and loaded with a 12-24/30a dcdc so instead of 12 volts I enter with 24v and the time is halved using the solar input, being outside warranty I hacked the bluetti and put a 45amp powerpole because the 10 cigar lighters make my accessories laugh... ps Having a portable fridge and a bluetti modified like this is convenient especially because I can move the system from the jeep to the mustang depending on the events I participate in
Andrew's take on anything is always of value. This is of no exception of course. At the same time, I am getting tired of the manufacturers of these products touting them as being useful for camping, caravanning, van life and overlanding. Indeed they are useful products but they all fail miserably on one point and it may not be a perspective that you share or is necessarily valid for you. That is, that none of the well-known brands have taken into account the size and shape of the more useful of these. They are huge. That is the nature of the beast and to be fair, there is no perfect shape that fits all. Trying to find a place for them in a caravan, motorhome or car is not as easy as one thinks. Furthermore, the more powerful of these items are often most useful when you can plug into them as you would at a campsite with electrical hook-up. Yet (and this is my gripe), no manufacturer has created a suitable insulated, waterproof, theft resistant hard case. None. If you have a large caravan or motorhome, you can probably find somewhere or if you have a vehicle like Andrew's, then you won't typically have electrical hook-up anyway. These manufacturers have done well in the creation of the product and from a marketing point of view, have thought of a variety of uses, but none have addressed the practicality aspect. It is as if they leave one feeling something is lacking. They are great, but what I am describing only becomes evident when you come to use them. To be fair, I will also criticise caravan and motorhome manufacturers that they do not typically include an internally located hook-up point to connect to these battery packs.
I used an Ecoflow River Pro and extra battery to travel across Canada for several months. I could charge it off the power socket in the back of my 4Runner, but solar power did a better job. I ran a freezer and my power-hungry laptop from it. On a couple of occasions I needed to find AC power (many rainy days in a row would do it), especially if I used Starlink.
A good video. I'm kitting out a new VW California, and went along this exact same thought process. I chose an EcoFlow Delta 2 to be our central power hub, but will likely changeover to the Delta 2 Max when it is released in Australia next year.
Informative video Andrew. The Solarpod was one of the first lithium portable power stations using LiFePo4 cells in Australia. We still use a Solarpod 1K in our vehicle which is charged by a Enerdrive dc2dc charger. As the vehicle charging port of most lithium power stations is slow (usually plugged into the CIG outlet), most will fast charge by a dc2dc charger through the solar charge port. The larger Bluetti power stations have a 12V 30A RV outlet, this could be plugged directly into a distribution box to power your 12v needs.
Thank you Andrew! I am looking into a Bluetti for a 3 bedroom house backup, but one that could also be portable enough to use in my Crosstrek when we go adventuring. I am looking into the AC200p and AC200MAX.
I'v got one of the Klarmann power stations with the 2000w redarc I think it was the first one that they had sent interstate its working very well .
I use an Ecoflow unit in the camper I built and now live/travel in. It's been brilliant! Mine does have a 30A 12vdc output on an anderson that I use to top off the trailer's 12v battery to run DC loads, plus it has a 10A plug (don't use it.. No need, trailer has plenty of DC) and a multitude of USB plugs including 2 USB-C 100w ports, which are lovely! My unit will also run a full 30A AC (110v because it's the states) to run all my AC camper loads up to 3.6KW AC, which also happens to be the capacity of the battery (280Ah equivalent at 12vdc, though the unit is 48v internally) As for charging? It accepts up to 1600w of solar (I use 4, 400w residential type panels) which tops it off rather rapidly in the desert southwest of the US, plus I run another 200w portable folding panel to boost the trailer's 12v main battery beyond the Ecoflow's 30a 12v. Great unit though, I can pull it to bring in my land rover for vehicle only trips (though 3.6kw is WAY overkill for overland travel needs) and if needed, I can trickle charge it off the car's 12v as well, though only at 8 or so amps for those trips.
Before I put the full system in my y62, I used a ecoflow river mini. Ran my 95l Dometic overnight and a few hours into the day. Built in mppt solar controller, 300w AC inverter ect. Worked great
I made my own, using the Luna box as a basis. Added a small inverter and a small AC charger. I use it when I go camping and at home during load shedding.
They’re actually not designed to be used like a UPS. I checked this when I spoke to the manufacturer of one. They’re not supposed to be left plugged in charging.
I have a Bluetti AC200Max and B300 battery for camping and home emergency use. 2kW output so limited for some uses but couldn't do without.
Thanks great review
Rather than going with a full electrical setup, I’ll be going with a Bluetti AC200L connected via its solar input to a supplementary 120Ah battery using a 12v to 24v stepup converter. The later being connected via usual system to alternator
I have an Anker 767 , it is in my little one man camper (Ford Grand Tourneo ) it has been great , a big plus is when i sell the vehicle the anker just wheels out .:)
I had a long hard look at these things when I was considering backup power for the house and perhaps for my camping trips, which are generally a week or so.
My conclusion was that the built up versions were a better option when/if you needed to replace or upgrade something down the track and their effective use came down to how you could get the power back into them whenever you needed to use them longer term.
Given the costs and limitations I've decided that a quality pure sine wave petrol generator with a bit of fuel I already store will keep our fridge freezer going until we can use up perishables and our camping LED lights and non electrical cooking methods will be a better option.
Likewise when camping I can get by with an esky and my other power needs are easily met with a couple of phone power banks that can be charged off the vehicle or via a portable solar panel.
Having said that we have very reliable grid power where we are and my trips are very different to what many people do so use case, as you pointed out.
As an alternative to an expensive dual battery set up I think that these things are great and can be dual purposed when/if the power goes down.
Excellent video, well explained and pointing out so many things that most who are flogging these things, which is nearly everyone these days, fail to point out.
I've been using a Bluetti 2k watt system for about 2 years. To get the value out of it, it lives in the Garage on a "Gorilla Trolley" as a backup supply for the house. When I go to the river for the day, it comes with me on the trolley with the Engel Fridge. And when I go away, the fridge and Bluetti either go in the back seat or the tray depending on requirements. My feeling was if I am going to spend the money on it, I want more than just a single use out of it.
I also use the Bluetti Solar panels which seem to be of good quality, although a bit expensive.
I have been looking at a Redarc GOBLOCK100 system for my overland vehicle as I don’t need AC for anything I plan to use.
I like the locking base to hold the Goblock 100 unit in place when I need it in my vehicle.
Andrew, I found in South Africa that several units are explicitly banned from being permanently plugged into the mains ! ( in the small print ) Then there was a scare about overcharging a lithium battery, fire hazard. So let the buyer beware at all times !
I wish there were more available here in the US like the one in the thumbnail. Almost all of the 100-1500 Kilowatt hour boxes available here have up to a half dozen 110v AC outlets, but no more than a couple 12v DC outputs and those are usually pretty low amperage. I'd love to find a backup/replacement for our Goal Zero which hasn't been very reliable, but I can't find anything with equivalent 12v outputs
I bought the Ryobi 36V Power Station Inverter. I like the ability to use the batteries in other products when not needing the power station. It works well however bluetooth app not available in AU.
Will be interesting to see the new gen goal zero’s in the coming months
I had a ac180. First it had a short so went back. Then a month later the screen went.
So I’ve ordered an Ecoflow delta 2
I just love when they call them "solar generators". When all they are is a fancy battery pack with accessories. They "generate" nothing.
Or did someone just work out how to put the Sun into a marketable box? 🤠🐾
One feature of the global low cost products you are missing is the ability to recharge them via AC in 1 hour. If you use a second 1.5kw inverter in your vehicle this means in a pinch you can charge it in just a short journey or period of high idle. You can get around the dc output issue by using a cheap ac/dc transformer you sacrifice some efficiency but when you can charge it so quickly when necessary who cares. In Black Friday sales they were £650 gbp that’s an unbeatable deal
i made one myself used a 100amps lifepo4 lithium battery charging it with an Havensis dual charger both from the engine and as an mppt from the panels. The dual charger also charges the vehicle battery when the 2nd battery is full and disconnects if the 2nd battery voltage drops below a set value so that the vehicle battery never discharges when you need it
Built a budget system - marine battery box, MPPT controller on clearance for $29, 100Ah LiFo.
Powered from car cigarette lighter socket by an iMax RC battery charger - perfect affordable DC to DC charger, or 10A folding glass bi panel PV. 300W inverter charges power tools on the road.
I think the power banks like the Bluetti 180 will negate the need to install a second battery in a 4x4. I have the smaller AC70 and it will easily run my camping fridge and provides more amps than does the built-in AGM in the car which is limited in size and being AGFM it can only be run down the 50%. So Even the AC70 can give me about 60AH compared to the 43 from the 86AH AGM under the hood. The cost saving is also another factor. No wiring, no need for a DCDC charger and no labor costs for an Auto Elec.
My experience with the bluetti EB 70.
Equipment; Bluetti EB70, Allpowers 200W monocrystaline foldable solar panel, Kings 90lt dual zone fridge, 8m "home made" extension cable, which was made by a very good friend of mine who has been installing off-grid solar in houses for 30 years.
Test: to see how long I could run the king's fridge powered by the bluetti with a solar panel plugged in.
Situation: I carried out this experiment in my house and backyard in the northern rivers of New South Wales in mid summer. The bluetti and the fridge were in my downstairs bathroom which has a brick wall that sits in the Western sun all afternoon and is a very hot room. The solar panel was outside in the backyard up on a table. I charged the bluetti to full from 240 volts, and pre-chilled the fridge on 240 volts. The fridge was set to minus 18° on the small compartment and 4° on the large compartment.
I filled the fridge full of soft drinks to have something inside of it.
After a day or two when I played around with the position of the panel and decided to just leave it laying flat on it's back, I ran the fridge for a fortnight non-stop from the bluetti battery pack which charged during the day from solar and happily ran the fridge overnight. There was a mixture of fully sunny days cloudy days and rain did not matter everything ran fine.
This bluetti or even a bigger one would be a great setup for somebody who does not want to install a dual battery system in their car
I have a small 500Wh Powerstation in my Jeep, that runs my 55L fridge permanently and i charge my camera and drone on it. never had a problem with that configuration. The powerbox charges on the cigarette lighter and in case of need, i have a 100W solar panel.
I Just built my own portable battery box with a 100 amp lithium and Redarc 40 amp DCDC
same. DCS 100ah LIFEP04, redard BDCD1225D, as many plugs, sockets and whatevers i desired, all packaged in a weatherproof Pelican case and it works pefectly. Much cheaper than the commercial units and if it stops working, i know exaclty where to start looking.
Got a big old goal zero solar generator and I can’t believe how I camped without it… quiet power all night and day… unbelievable
thank you for not calling them a solar generator!
If your not in Australia or Africa check out the Clayton power power bank, not really portable but is a credible all in one vehicle solution.
These things are very handy in South Africa for all the load shedding pity they're a bit expensive😢
please do a delica fitout
I use a agm 200 ah renogy batt and a 2000 w inver. I charge at home and use till i need to re charge i can go to 30 amps or so plenty of power
My bad 4000 watt inverter
Excellent video, thanks Andrew.
The consideration of what happens if the lithium battery helps burn your car/house/caravan to the ground is lost on many. Bluetti has safety built into it, not just relying on a battery monitoring system to save the day. The backyard setup by those other manufacturers won't have any of the redundancy or the amount of research and development. 200 amp hours is plenty enough to cause a lethal problem, and all outputs should be kept to a reasonable current level. Not everyone understands the importance of fuses, etc. They are handy devices for many different purposes.
I used a Bluetti AC200Max on a trip from Sydney to Broome and back - 3 months. Mounted it in the back of car on top of drawer with fridge next to it. Mounted a 1000W inverter in back to charge it with 400W AC charger (so replaces the DC DC charger with same current draw, mounted near Bluetti) and a second charge input from 12V in car. Just charging from 12V was way to slow. Solar was also an option used. Ignition activated relay at car battery to connect/disconnect inverter and 12V charge circuits. Connected fridge to DC 30A outlet because it screwed in and did not get hot at the connection like a cig socket does and camera gear to USB outputs. 240VAC used for toaster, jug, frying pan. Ran continuously for 3 months with zero issues. Just have to turn the AC off when not in use - standby draw was significant if left on over night accidentally. Only used gas to cook once in 3 months - not sure why… Now home, it runs my computer as an “uninterruptible” power supply - so still in use and not hard mounted in car as second battery etc.
@@zenmachine50 my only problem was the space that it consumed versus second battery in engine bay. In the end, worked ok. Also had a 4 outlet RCB protected power board at back door to car (Prado) to use for all 240VAC devices. Access easier and protection. The as supplied outlets in these things or the inverters people use from a battery typically do not have RCD protection.
I think the Bluetti AC 200max is a cheaper option for my camping setup it has everything you need built in also it can be charged efficiently from 12 volt while driving if you buy the DC charging enhancer for a couple of hundred dollars extra so for around three thousand dollars investment i would have all the power i need to live off grid for extended periods while camping & it is portable
Here's the solution to car charging :-
ruclips.net/video/s_-9vj-hF1M/видео.htmlsi=hdPlAriR-BsygjGP
@@mykol1842 I used the 400W charger instead of the supplied 500W charger for 2 reasons. Main one, it has no fan so you don’t need ear plugs and one less moving part to break when driving the outback roads. The second, the 500W charger only delivers around 460W to the device while consuming 500W. The 400W charger delivers 398 to 400W whilst consuming 400W.
This will be good
I just plug my utes system to additional solar panels on the garage roof when it's parked at home. It's more than capable of meeting the houses needs between dusk and dawn in an emergency if I don't go too crazy. I've never really seen a personal use for one of these 'solar generators/power boxes'. They always seem overpriced and underwhelming in regards to what you get for the money. Some people like these systems because it avoids the complexity and cost of hard wiring, but if you're capable of doing all that yourself I think you can get a better system for the $$$. I couldn't readily lift a portable system I'de require anyway.
Bluetti is not built for overlanding. First, it doesn’t come with a fast vehicle charging solution. Second, it doesn’t have high amp 12v output, and you can’t jumpstart your car with it. I had an AC200 for a while and ended it getting rid of it and setting up my own dual battery system
Cheers for taking the time to find and address the question some need to make a good decision on these units. The removable systems are becoming more popular in travel power installs these days and are very convenient especially if you are able to upgrade or change vehicles and towed equipment often.
Have you looked in to a local company TOPO? They seem to be the ducks nuts around Perth.
👍👍
Great info!
Howzit boet, I hope you and family are keeping well. Very well presented and informative, much appreciated 👌
Something you need to consider is how much power you are vacyou are going to consume..
10 devices with an average of 1500 watts a piece you will consume 15 kw power
with 2x 20 amp inlet
If you have an auxiliary battery, solar panels, mains charger and inverter these power banks are redundant. If you buy one of these them don't convert the vehicle to a dual battery system.
John Cardogan has done a great review on the Bluetti and the plug and play extra battery packs .
This topic doesn't really interest me, I came here just to listen to you speak. But, I learnt something.
I feel that there’s 2 essential aspects that your review completely missed.
1. Can you recharge your power box from the typical say Honda 2.0 Inverter portable generator, if for eg its night time & there’s no solar & your camped & not driving your car daily, let’s say your off grid camped in the WA Goldfields & the nearest caravan park with AC power is 700kms away.
Why bring this up?
A Europe based channel called “Homesteading Uncontained” who built a off grid garage / workshop on their rural property in France, recently bought a different brand “power station” to the ones your reviewing here to run their garage / workshop off grid.
They have solar panel connected but between night times and cloudy rainy days they weren’t getting enough charge to keep up with their power demands running construction electric hand tools etc.
So they did what most of us without mains power might do, & pulled out their old generator & got it running, plugged it into their power station to charge it up from the 220V AC from the generator.
No go!
The power station would NOT accept power from their old generator!
Apparently it wasn’t “clean enough” AC power to match the Hertz etc of mains power so the power station wouldn’t accept any charge.
So what did they do?
They Went out and bought a new “pure sine wave generator, started that up & plugged that in & the power station wouldn’t accept power from that new fancy sine wave generator either! 🙄
So - the question now arises, will any of the ones you are reviewing accept AC charge from a portable generator?
And yes, some will say “well if you have a generator why would you need a power station?
Facts are some campgrounds have “no generator” areas because left running all night so you can sleep with the air conditioner on, the noise of the motor keeps everyone else awake.
So this is where you need the power station fully charged because it’s silent.
You can go run your generator for a couple hours somewhere that it is allowed & charge your power station, so that you can go back to your “no generators allowed” campsite & operate silently overnight off your power station.
Even when camped alone remote, you might not want your generator running 24/7/365 because the noise becomes annoying after a while. So you might accept the generator running for a couple of hours during the day to charge your power station so you can sleep at night without the generator noise.
But not much good if your power station won’t accept charge from a portable generator source.
I can’t link the Homesteading Uncontained” RUclips link of 2 weeks back because the RUclips Algorithm will automatically delete the comment if I post links.
The next oversight?
The thermal runaway fires danger of lithium ion phosphate power stations inside cars and caravans in Australia’s summer heat wave conditions.
There’s a mistaken belief that Lithium Ion Phosphate battery’s don’t suffer thermal runaway fires events in the same way that EV lithium Ion battery packs can and do.
But this is demonstrably false.
Lithium Ion Phosphate battery’s CAN suffer thermal runaway events just like their EV Lithium Ion counterparts, it’s just that the “thermal runaway trigger temperature” is higher at 120 degrees C
So can a lithium ion phosphate battery power station get to 120C if left locked inside a car in 45 Degree C summer heat wave conditions?
The answer is YES it can!
And that’s because temps inside the locked car parked in the sun can easily get to 70+ C
So how does it then get to 120C to reach thermal runaway temp?
Well if your vehicle / van etc has solar panels and that lithium ion phosphate battery gets to 70+ C ambient temp inside the hot vehicle & it has to also cope with solar feed charge going into the battery at the same time, it’s possible to get the extra 50 C temps on top of the 70 C ambient temp inside the vehicle to reach lithium ion phosphate battery thermal runaway trigger point.
And why is that such a big issue?
Well the fire emits toxic cobalt fumes that are potentially fatal.
Also lithium phosphate battery thermal runaway fires create their own oxygen.
They will literally burn under fresh water. Normal dry powder extinguisher and water fire suppression methods do not work on Lithium battery fires & brigades won’t put their members at risk without breathing apparatus trying to extinguish lithium battery fires.
The current protocol is to “remain upwind & let it burn itself out.
Recently there was a EV thermal runaway fire somewhere off Norway in a RORO (Roll On Roll Off) car ferry that had 500 EV vehicles aboard along with thousands of Internal Combustion cars.
Non of the on board fire suppression apparatus could extinguish the EV fire & it spread to all the other EVs then the ICE vehicles & all crew had to be evacuated by helicopter & the ship towed by tugs to shore while it berned itself out.
As a result of this catastrophe research was conducted to develop a method of extinguishing lithium ion thermal runaway fires.
The result was a method of pumping chilled brine direct into the lithium ion battery box compartment.
Chilled brine helps drop the temps below the thermal runaway trigger temperature.
The other thing chilled brine does is, being an electrolyte, which conducts electricity, it shorts out the battery bank - removing the stored energy that is fuelling the fire.
In time to come EVs in order to be allowed on board RORO car ferry’s for delivery from manufacturer to dealers, their battery boxes will have to be plumbed to a 2 inch / 50mm fire fighting quick connect fire hose coupling external on the vehicle (ie behind a external openable flap like a fuel filler cap / electrical recharging flap) so that on board chilled brine tanks contents can be pumped direct into the EV battery box.
These new “maritime regulations” once introduced will apply to all commercial vessels.
This means, the Tasmania car ferry, the Fraser Island Ferry, the Jardine River Car ferry, Dirk Hartog Island ferry and so on.
What this will mean is that, your caravan & 4WD with the Bluetti style lithium ion phosphate battery’s that ARENT installed in a metal sealed / plumbed fire fighting quick coupler etc to meet the regulations, won’t be allowed to board such commercial vessels.
Lithium Ion technology is highly risky and the coming changes will make many of the current systems being sold basically “illegal”.
If when your car or caravan goes up in flames, your insurer is going to wipe their hands of you.
Like I said, I think your review was pretty deficient in these respects.
Some great points. I had the privilege of a technical visit of the chilled brine fire suppression system on Smyril Line's Norona last year, which was fascinating. A killer issue for me is resistance to vibration damage for LiFePo4 or any other battery. A bit of research gave me a conclusion that testing regimes are nothing like hours of driving on real life corrugations, plus the jump start capability deal breaker has led to me sticking to proven AGM and I'll take the hit on cycle life, cycle cost and weight.
The problem with these battery boxes is they are rediculously expensive. They are not a substitute for a quality generator.
This Is complicated. Generators are started to be frowned upon if you are around other people while camping at this point due to the noise isn’t necessarily regarded as acceptable anymore.
mmm battery box next to the fuel pump..are you sure about that ASPW .. seems like perfect setup for a disaster
I was waiting for someone to pipe up with that.
I have just purchased the ac180 unit, its to power my fridge/freezer and lights etc on fishing trips and weekends away, should have enough power for what I need , and it was £400 cheaper in the Black Friday deals 😁🏴 , another enjoyable video Andrew
These boxes with 1200 amp hours of capacity and 4-6 110v AC outputs make zero sense. What is someone going to use one for that requires that much 110v output? It would last all of 30-40 minutes tops if you actually used all those 110v outputs. Dumb.
The real reason why PORTABLE ones exist is:
Those are way easier to SELL! Because even the dumbest person can use it.
Im comparison: A full DC Installation is complicated and tales a lot of time!
You do not believe me? If you can afford a 4x4 and a plane and a second (maybe) pick-up, each for 20-60.000$ you can easily, very easily afford an installation in each car. Of course.
Mobile stations are just due to marketing.
You do not believe that? Here you go: On a touring car you want to be able to repair your essential stuff - correct? Try to repair one of those!
The terms ‘solar generator’ and ‘power station’ for these devices has always given me the shits…they don’t make power, they don’t produce energy, they store it. It’s a bit like calling your fuel tank a service station😂