thinking of building a portable/expandable system for Camping and Emergencies

[ikk]

OK I been messing around a bit, and collecting a few things over time. I currently have a Duracell Power 600 that I take with me camping that holds a 28 Amp hour battery( my Duracells inverter just stopped working although every thing else works) as well as a 10 amp hour Lithium all in one system that has a built in 150 watt inverter and 12 volt hookup. with these two items I tend to be OK for a week camping using a 15 watt solar cell for the lithium and a 70 watt flexible panel for the Power 600.

I know I can go an easily go with an already made system, but I am looking at expand ability and longevity of the unit. I would like to have a system with different size boxes that could be used based on power needs by connecting units for more power as well as charging units all at one time during the day. My thought was having a base unite with a larger battery say 55 amp hours(don't want to go bigger as I want it manageable to lug around) and smaller units with smaller batteries(15 to 30 amp hour) that could be all linked and make one large battery say running some appliances at home during a power outage.

The main box would house a large inverter as well as a large battery, terminals for jump starting a car and some USB and 12 volt connections. The smaller batteries would have a 15 to 30 amp hour battery with just 12 volt and USB connectors. I was thinking of something like the Makita boxes to house everything or make my own boxes out of wood


At the end of using the system from camping, or the emergency I would combined the batteries, and connect a charging system to keep them maintained when not in use for long periods of time.

Would this be something that would work for the long term or is having different size batteries going to cause problems?

 

[verdesardog]

It would be best to have the batteries all the same, more smaller ones or less larger ones. The charge and discharge characteristics would be different for different batteries. Otherwise seems like a good idea.

 

[ikk]

It would be best to have the batteries all the same, more smaller ones or less larger ones. The charge and discharge characteristics would be different for different batteries. Otherwise seems like a good idea.

So for an example I were to build a base unite with 3 33 amp hour batteries for a total of 99 amp hours, and two smaller units each with the same 33 amp hour batteries. I could hook them all up for a total of 165 amp hours. as well as charge them all together.

 

[calicamper]

The cool charge controllers are designed to sit in the battery box and track box temp also and will shut things down if the box gets too hot. I built exactly this type of set up but small 18amp hr battery by design. The whole system is in a 50caliber ammo box. In my case bolted to my trailer. When we arrive at our location I set out two 10watt panels plug them in. Plug in our tent lights and 12v charging hub to pre wired plugs off a small 6 fuse fuse box also mounted in the ammo box. And were all set. Our power needs is at worse 6-7 amps for a very short time and typically only 1-4 amp load for a two or 3hrs in the evening. No fridge. Works great.

 

[calicamper]

Ideally you want your battery gear and controller in the same box especially if the controller has temp tracking capability. I think most controllers were designed with off grid static systems in mind like parking lot lighting or say backup cell tower power etc. Those applications drove the controller market and design of the controller and needed functions. So batteries seperated out in different boxes defeats that added bonus of most controllers.

 

[ikk]

I was thinking of having an all in one system at first but as I got to thinking its nice being able to have the ability to have a few different boxes. I could have the main one say in a the main gathering area of the campsite connected to lights a possible future fridge, as well as anything else as well as being able to jump-start a vehicle (have had my son once not completely shut the door and the truck light was left on for a long time only to need a jump). have separate box to go to a tent, and if needed, we have a 12 volt shower that someone can use another box when needed.. Also as I have a 2 story house I would not need to run extension cords throughout the house during power outages. Each room could have its own box to run lights (I currently have 4 goal zero led lights each use a 1/4 watt) charging Ipads, laptops, and so on. while the main box could be the main room to attach to the TV and used for appliances that can run with the inverter.

 

[Happy Joe]

I have a similar system (though not in one box) I like being able to carry the battery and inverter (80 watt, Velcro attached) to the use/recharge point.
At home/off season the 35 AH battery becomes a part of a computer UPS (for charge maintenance).
In case of power failure I unplug it and carry it to any of the 110 volt LED table lamps (used it a couple of weeks ago ...only house in sight that had lights on).
For long trips (on the order of a week or more) it gets recharged from a small portable solar array or can be recharged from the vehicle.