Working on diy 12 volt power system for camping

[ikk]

I am working on a 12 volt portable power system for camping. Looked into Goal Zero and others and they are too expensive as well as if something goes wrong not easily able to fix. by building my own I can customize it to for my use as well as if something breaks I can purchase off the self parts to fix it. Currently this box will mainly be used to power 4 Goal Zero lights that pull a total of 1 amp for all 4, Run a 12 volt pump to blow up the air mattress, a battery charger to charge small batteries for flashlights as well as charge cell phones and tables and to use a 12 volt shower pump. in the future this will be charged by a solar panel which I have not wired yet but have put in a connection. Below are a few pictures of what I currently have. Any thoughts and ideas would be appreciated. This is still a work in progress as I do plant to add a battery meter to the front. If anyone knows of any good one that would be great.

This is the box it is in


This is the side You will see I have a solar connection not yet wired, a remote connector this is used to plug anything in like lights and be able to turn it off with a key remote. the last two connectors are always hot, what ever is plugged in with automatically work


This is the front. the button switch controls the 12 volt cigarette style plug and the 5 volt usb plugs as well as the battery charger


This is the top. I have the key remote that controls one of the plugs, I have a flashlight that can take either an 18650 or three AAA with adaptor, and last I have a 12 volt battery charger that can charge 4 AAA up to 4 18650. Off to the side you will notice storage for a 400 watt inverter, some cables, and a USB light


Under the hood is a 28Amp hour battery and all the connections. I don't have any fuses yet I may add one to the always on as this connection would be used to add an inverter if I wanted to.


The top also has some storage for adaptors to convert the Anderson power poles to SAE as well as some other adaptors.

 

[elpoffroad]

What battery did you use?

 

[ikk]

it's an FM12280 12 volts 28 ah. I pulled it out a Duracell power pack that the inverter stop working as well as some other issues. That is why I decided to do a DIY instead of buying something that I could not fix with off the shelf parts.

 

[mep1811]

Nice build. I made something similar. Can you post the link to the remote contolled plug?

Thanks

 

[ikk]

Here is the link to the remote relay.

http://http://www.banggood.com/DC-12V-10A-Relay-1CH-Wireless-RF-Remote-Control-Switch-Transmitter-Receiver-p-1040721.html?rmmds=search

 

[Bear in NM]

Looks great. I completed something similar this summer, but a tad larger as I have to run a fridge. My thoughts were the same. Build it myself, with the help of the folks here, and I can fix or modify.

I see you are using the Anderson Power pole connectors. That would have been my recommendation. Since you are doing PP's, it would be very easy to add a small ammeter that registers volts, amps, amp hours etc. into the system by wiring PP's on each end of the meter/display. Then you can plug this inline with solar and other devices to see exactly what each component is drawing or pushing (solar).

Let's see if the link works:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C1BZSYO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
GT Power RC 130A Power Analyzer Battery Consumption Performance Monitor

I have a meter hardwired to one of my solar controllers, but the one I linked has PP's on each end, that mate up with all of my accessories and solar. I use it for accessory load, or solar output, and even in line when charging my battery bank, as it shows the exact amps the batteries are taking. Probably my cheapest mod, and most useful. And note to self: Gotta get another 50 or 100 pack of PP's. These things are like candy....

Craig

 

[ikk]

Yeah I have two of those, not the best contrast on the screen. I have one of these which is great but I wanted a bigger screen with bigger font.

 

[Bear in NM]

Yes, I too have a mounted lcd meter that is line with my controller, but doing a meter like I linked with connectors on each end gives me the option to hook it up to different devices in the system, to see what they are doing/taking. Once you add solar, you are going to probably want to see volts and amps from the panel.

This stuff sure is fun. My camping and hunting buddies sure gave me the odd look this summer when I showed up with my goodies. But now they are talking about it, and we had a new goal zero panel up at the ranch, on the last trip. Hard to ignore the benefits.

Craig

 

[ikk]

I agree, I have two GT Power readers with PP on each end. I use them for testing everything 12 volts. I was hoping to find something simmaler just with a more mountable clean look that I could read from a short distance.