Portable Generator Power Source for 12V Frig?

[Josie'slandcruiser]

Hi all,

Considering options for powering my Engel frig when the vehicle is not running. I ran across these "portable generator power sources" on Amazon and was wondering if one of these would be sufficient to power the frig for several hours. Was thinking of one of these as an alternative to installing a dual battery system (have two trucks I used the frig in.)


https://www.amazon.com/Suaoki-Porta...sr=1-4&keywords=portable+12+volt+power+supply

https://www.amazon.com/POWEROAK-Pow...rd_wg=CGAk3&psc=1&refRID=NAYFQE7E532J7689QCRR

https://www.amazon.com/WEIYI-100-Wa...rd_wg=CGAk3&psc=1&refRID=NAYFQE7E532J7689QCRR


I guess part of the issue is that I don't know what the power usage of the frig will be (obviously, will depend in part on the outside temperature.). Any comments/thoughts about this?

Thanks,

Alan

 

[jonyjoe101]

None of them showed what amp hour battery they contain, but the poweroak has a 400wh rating (400/12=33ah) it probably has the bigger lithium battery but it doesnt state what it actually has. With lithium they give confusing estimates with the WEIYI 100 watt, they also state 40,800 mah(150 watt) lithium battery? I say its a 100 watt (100/12=8.3 ah battery) which sounds right for the 143 dollar price point.

Now for a 12 volt fridge, if you set it for 40 degrees, it will consumed about 25 amps in a 24 hour period. I measured this with a dc wattmeter, and it didnt make much difference what the outside temp was. Even in summer with the fridge inside my van where it was about 100 degrees, it still used about 25 amps. Even though the fridge uses 6 amps, after the compressor starts it drops to about 4 amps and runs for about 15 minutes. The poweroak will run it for a day, the other units for 3 to 6 hours.
If you use the fridge for freezing even the biggest battery won't run it for long.

 

[john61ct]

Yes watch out for deceptive AH or WH ratings, and MUST have replacement battery available.

DIY will be much higher capacity, better value and best suited to your needs.

For this type of all-in-one, I'd go with

ArkPak 730 + either

Firefly Oasis

or Battle Born G31

 

[AndrewP]

All of these portable powerbox thingys are overpriced electro-glitter. Especially if you just want 12vdc & dont need a crappwave low output AC source.
If you dont mind getting hands dirty,
You can do much better just buy a good AGM battery, suitable enclosure, & associated wire, fuse & connectors.
Fit appropriate charging connector to the respective vehicles. You will be money ahead & have a higher capacity portable batterybox.

Agree 100% and going to copy the "electro-glitter". Amen. Get a good battery and a folding solar panel and consider the "problem" solved.


And don't buy "things" as a substitute for understanding. All of this stuff works really well when deployed with an understanding of what you are doing and where you are going. To me, the battery box electro-glitter implies you don't want to know, because if you did, you wouldn't buy one. Instead, you would build your own, with better components and connectors, and have a much more robust system.

 

[Josie'slandcruiser]

Thank you all for your replies, and insight!

-Alan

 

[Josie'slandcruiser]

Verkstad, can you please expand on this response?

Are you saying I can take a stand alone deep cycle battery and use it as a portable power source for my Engel frig?

Thanks,

Alan

If you dont mind getting hands dirty,
You can do much better just buy a good AGM battery, suitable enclosure, & associated wire, fuse & connectors.
Fit appropriate charging connector to the respective vehicles. You will be money ahead & have a higher capacity portable batterybox.

 

[JD914]

Get a good battery and a folding solar panel and consider the "problem" solved.


.

Gotta agree with this one. I have an Edgestar fridge and if I'm driving daily, I don't need to worry about the battery maintaining it's charge overnight. If I park for a few days, a solar panel keeps the battery charged enough to not have to worry about it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jonyjoe101]

If you open up one of the lithium packs this is what you find, maybe less batteries. They use the same 18650 batteries found in laptops. Most are either 3s 10.8 or 11.1 volt, fully charge to 12.6 volts. This one I built myself with 90 batteries 3s 30p which gives me a total of 65 ah. All 90 cells have there own 5 amp fuse as a safety feature. I used my 12 dollar solder iron to solder it together.

I put these batteries in a old 17 ah jump pack I no longer used, they barely fit with modifications. The led meter measure the voltage/amps going in during charging.

This is the inside view, I built this so it can run my 30 amp tire inflator. the xt60 connectors can handle up to 60 amps, the BMS is rated at 150 amps. I overbuilt it. I even put a usb adapter to charge my cellphone.


This is cutting edge but you can build something similar but just use a heavier simpler agm (lead acid battery). With lead acid you only get half its rated capacity, if you need 50 amps, you need to get a 100 amp battery.

 

[Steve F]

Verkstad, can you please expand on this response?

Are you saying I can take a stand alone deep cycle battery and use it as a portable power source for my Engel frig?

Thanks,

Alan

In it's simplest setup you can get a deep cycle battery, attach a set of alligator clips with a cigarette lighter socket on the other end and run the fridge off of that. It will work just fine, all these batteries in boxes are just an advancement on that

Cheers
Steve

 

[Martinjmpr]

You would also need some way to recharge the battery. A 100w solar panel kit would probably work IF you are using it in an area where you can get 8 - 10 hrs of good sun each day.
.
Otherwise, I'm not sure how long it would take to recharge the battery by somehow attaching it to your vehicle's battery while the vehicle is running. I'm assuming it would depend on how it's connected. If you're running through one of those 12v power outlet/cigarette lighter plugs, I think they can only handle maybe a few amps, so it could take a long time to recharge.
.
Somebody here who's smarter than me (which is pretty much anybody on this sub-forum :sombrero: ) can probably tell you the best way to recharge your battery.
.
BTW to get some really high amp hours at the cost of a large "footprint" you might consider instead of using 1 x 12v battery, use 2 x 6v golf cart batteries wired in series. You can find 200+ ah 6v batteries, wire two together in series and you could potentially run your fridge for several days before you need to recharge. The downside is cost (these batteries run ~$200+ each and you need two) and they are heavy and take up a lot of space.

 

[john61ct]

If you were considering spending $500 on the storage part, go Firefly Oasis, super quality, deals with PSOC abuse almost as well as LFP at 2x the price.

For 6v golf cars, Sams Club or Batteries+ sell a Duracell branded GC2 for ~$90, actually East Penn/Deka, excellent value!

But heavy and awkward, a single 12V true deep cycle would be easier to box and lug around.

 

[rudee13]

If you look on fjcruiser forum under camping equipment "solar charging system" by thorn661 he has detailed a very nice, simple solution for exactly what you want to do with a items listed from amazon. He's running a fridge with a panel + battery. Cheaper than the off shelve power packs and could be adapted for multi vehicles easily.

Sorry not sure how to link on tapatalk if you can't find it, ill try to figure it out.



Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[freedomrider]

All of these portable powerbox thingys are overpriced electro-glitter. Especially if you just want 12vdc & dont need a crappwave low output AC source.
If you dont mind getting hands dirty,
You can do much better just buy a good AGM battery, suitable enclosure, & associated wire, fuse & connectors.
Fit appropriate charging connector to the respective vehicles. You will be money ahead & have a higher capacity portable batterybox.

I bought one of the popular brands of electro-glitter powerbox thingies and somewhat regret it. I had more money than time and it seemed like a no-brainer. That was before I knew about this sub-forum and all of the great info contained herein. I'm a bit of an info nerd and just like learning new things but that may be unavoidable given all the threads about electro-glitter powerbox thingies that don't automatically do what they're advertised as excelling at.

Many thanks to the knowledgeable contributors here who are willing to answer essentially the same questions over and over.

 

[tpd]

If you look on fjcruiser forum under camping equipment "solar charging system" by thorn661 he has detailed a very nice, simple solution for exactly what you want to do with a items listed from amazon. He's running a fridge with a panel + battery. Cheaper than the off shelve power packs and could be adapted for multi vehicles easily.

This one:
http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/camping-equipment/641994-solar-charging-system.html

 

[gdlals]

Consider an ArkPak.