Super simple portable battery box
- Thread starter chuppie
- Start date
Nice! It's very similar to one I built (including the exact charge controller,) at a fraction of the cost of a commercial product. If I had to do it over again, I'd use the 50A connectors like you did rather than 45A Anderson Powerpoles, simply because it's easy to bolt the 50A connectors to the box.
BTW, I discovered that if I (seemingly) fully charged the battery via the solar charge controller, then hooked it up to my sophisticated AC-powered charger, it would dump several amps into the battery for quite a while. That means that the cheap charge controller stops the bulk/absorb stage too soon (on mine it was at 14.1V,) and it didn't continue to charge appreciably in float. In use, it doesn't matter much because I rarely need more battery capacity, but I do hook it up to the fancy charger occasionally and run an equalizing charge. Seven years later, the battery is still going strong.
BTW, I discovered that if I (seemingly) fully charged the battery via the solar charge controller, then hooked it up to my sophisticated AC-powered charger, it would dump several amps into the battery for quite a while. That means that the cheap charge controller stops the bulk/absorb stage too soon (on mine it was at 14.1V,) and it didn't continue to charge appreciably in float. In use, it doesn't matter much because I rarely need more battery capacity, but I do hook it up to the fancy charger occasionally and run an equalizing charge. Seven years later, the battery is still going strong.
Did you build this? If so, what was the total cost?
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Nice job, but can you provide more details on the components and the wiring?
I like the Anderson SB idea, much better than external posts sticking out!
I'd like to do the same for G31, so I could use Firefly Oasis to withstand PSOC situations. Here's a pricey OTS unit, includes a small AC inverter/charger rather than solar.
​ArkPak 730
LFP even better, but lots higher-level maker skills required there.
Forget ciggie plugs, Blue Sea twist lock or Hella/Merit style better. I'd just put in lower-amp Anderson PP style ports, then make various pigtail-adapters as needed.
Is that solar controller respectable? Suspiciously cheap to me, <$20 including shipping from China.
I'd like to do the same for G31, so I could use Firefly Oasis to withstand PSOC situations. Here's a pricey OTS unit, includes a small AC inverter/charger rather than solar.
​ArkPak 730
LFP even better, but lots higher-level maker skills required there.
Forget ciggie plugs, Blue Sea twist lock or Hella/Merit style better. I'd just put in lower-amp Anderson PP style ports, then make various pigtail-adapters as needed.
Is that solar controller respectable? Suspiciously cheap to me, <$20 including shipping from China.
Solar controller works in a both 18ah battery and on type 24. I'm not a big battery power user while camping, just for my CPAP and charging latterns and phones. I have a 100 watt panel and I'm down grading to a 50 watt panel because 2 amps is plenty and the panel is much easier to handle. The CIG lighter jack is on there for my mini inverter we use on the laptop. I am adding a USB charging port as soon as I get motivated to order one.
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