DIY Power Pack LiFePO4 WATTBOX

[OllieChristopher]

I plug my solar generator into into an inverter and inverter into the power port. It makes charging so much quicker.

 

[astropuppy]

The inefficiency of the inverter drives my ocd banana's. I built a very similar box using a 50amp Sun Cycle battery. However mine doesn't have solar; yet. I use a 150watt inverter to charge my laptop or run a box fan when camping. Its built from a plastic ammo box. Basically water proof when the lid is closed.

 

[OllieChristopher]

The inefficiency of the inverter drives my ocd banana's.

I can understand that. OTOH being used as a charging device with a power brick it will almost cut in half the charge time to my solar generator vs using a 12V socket.

 

[hg1027]

The inefficiency of the inverter drives my ocd banana's. I built a very similar box using a 50amp Sun Cycle battery. However mine doesn't have solar; yet. I use a 150watt inverter to charge my laptop or run a box fan when camping. Its built from a plastic ammo box. Basically water proof when the lid is closed.

Regarding the inverter, for your laptop, if it has usb-c, wouldn't it be more efficient to use a 12v to 65w power delivery adapter, like this?


And for the fan would it be better to find a 12v fan, or use a 12v charger to charge a tool battery? Dewalt and Milwaukee both make well reviewed fans.

 

[astropuppy]

Regarding the inverter, for your laptop, if it has usb-c, wouldn't it be more efficient to use a 12v to 65w power delivery adapter, like this?


And for the fan would it be better to find a 12v fan, or use a 12v charger to charge a tool battery? Dewalt and Milwaukee both make well reviewed fans.

Yes it would, but my - camping - laptop is old. We use it to play movies on rainy days. The fan is my shop fan; used to keep mosquito's at bay. We are not very sophisticated campers.

 

[OllieChristopher]

Yes it would, but my - camping - laptop is old. We use it to play movies on rainy days. The fan is my shop fan; used to keep mosquito's at bay. We are not very sophisticated campers.

Join the crowd!! I'm as basic as it gets. I just started "modernizing" so I can have an electric cooler, portable air compressor, and a few other comforts to go along with my soft shell camping I'm gearing up for. One thing I will continue to use is my JetBoil for eating and a washcloth shower to stay clean. I'm on the fence for a small portable potty.

 

[astropuppy]

We retired last year and bought a basic four wheel camper; total luxury for us. Carried a porti potty around in the new camper for months; Until one night I didn't feel like stepping outside and finally used it. Now we wonder why we didn't buy one years ago during our tent camping days for those midnight calls. No number two and emptying it is a breeze. Electric Coolers are great too, we love ours.

 

[OllieChristopher]

If those 4 wheel campers were not so hard to get I’d be all over it! Sounds like you have a nice simple rig that you and wife can enjoy.

 

[john61ct]

Not much logic worrying about "inefficiency" in the abstract

if the energy source is cheap grid or power from an alternator while driving.

From solar, yes for sure that factor becomes very important.

 

[woodslanding]

Do you have a wiring diagram for this setup? I do like the portability aspect of this, for use with a shell as opposed to a slide-in.

Not sure how 'my needs' would differ from yours... I'd figure on running a portable fridge/freezer, mostly. I guess I won't know until I build (or buy) something!

I can follow a diagram, but I've got a lot more study to do to figure out how I would wire these components together (which is maybe what I should do... if so, any suggestions about where to look would be welcomed!)

 

[RDinNHand AZ]

I suppose I could create one for you but I really think you would be better off in the long run to work out the plan. Remember there are two busses to connect to. The negative one is just a bar with threaded bolts to attach wire ends most of which I terminated with crimp-on connectors. The positive one has attachment terminals for each circuit with a push in fuse for each. There is a single electrical connection from the battery to Positive which I fused at 30 amps, the battery’s rated output. The negative one has a wire from the negative buss to the negative side of the battery large enough to carry 30 amps. Inputs and loads connect the same. Positive to the fused positive bus and negative to the negative buss. The wattage/SOC meter has to be in the negative circuit and has a shunt that is integral to that circuit. The disconnect can be in either the positive feed from the battery to the positive buss or in the negative feed from the battery to the negative buss. All the circuits from the busses terminate at open connectors to suit your purposes. I have 2 SAE connections, one cigar plug, two Anderson Powerpole connectors. In my case I wired the solar controller to the battery (fused of course) so I could both charge and monitor the battery wit all the circuits to the buss bars turned off. Your desires might be different.

 

[woodslanding]

Well, that's a ton of good info right there, thanks! Pasting into my build spreadsheet now.

But I do need to do a bunch of general reading on the topic to get up to speed on the ins and outs of these systems anyway, before I even start.