Power at the campsite and truck battery back up (1 Viewer)

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DKW

Joined
Dec 7, 2018
Threads
43
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Location
Fl, USA
Curious what others use.

I would like a portable power supply, that can power basic tent light and night fan and charge phone for a few nights recharge some during the day with a solar panel and/or cig lighter. Also have the ability to jumpstart truck - theres a schumacher 1200 portable power station and a few others that can do this like acopower 400 wh portable power generator.

Interested in what others do, home made solutions especially. This is really instead of second battery in truck.
 
Sounds like you're just talking about a jumper pack. Your options are limitless. Just go on Amazon and do a little searching. You'll just want to look at what charging options it has - ie. cigarette lighter, 120V AC, etc. If you want a solar charging option you'll need a charge controller to go with it that is intended for charging 12V batteries of the chemistry you choose (Lead Acid, Lithium, etc.)

In this section of the forum most guys will have a second battery with isolator and solar charging. But for what you're doing just about any jumper pack fits the bill.
 
Yes I have one of these smaller ones. I was thinking something like a 400w yeti but with ability to jump a car engine. Just what people have tried and and they are Happy
With. But as mentioned most may just have 2 batteries
 
I went real simple. I've had this thing for years.

booster_pac_es2500_sh6shy.jpg
 
I keep an Odyssey PC680 agm battery in the truck. It packs a powerful punch in a small size. I have used it temporarily in several vehicles as the main starting battery. My first lasted 9 years and I just bought another. Make sure to evaluate the ah capacity when you compare options.
Screenshot_20190522-213626.jpg
 
I have a dedicated jumper pack and I recently bought a Fexopower Lithium 444. I plan to get a 100 watt solar panel for when I want to leave the Flexopower at a basecamp.
 
I take along the 12V deep cycle battery from my boat. It's a size 29DC from Wally World with .... 105AH? And then I bring along my little 350W inverter to power small things like a fan or charge devices. It can jump start my truck if needed. I've thought of getting a larger inverter but really haven't needed to power anything big enough to buy one yet.

When home it goes back in the boat and the charger put back on.

I've always thought those jumpstarter packs were gimmicky wastes of money you buy someone as a lame Christmas gift. Maybe they are better? I would think they are limited on the power output and would take a substantially heavy one to even compare to a deep cycle marine battery.
 
I take along the 12V deep cycle battery from my boat. It's a size 29DC from Wally World with .... 105AH? And then I bring along my little 350W inverter to power small things like a fan or charge devices. It can jump start my truck if needed. I've thought of getting a larger inverter but really haven't needed to power anything big enough to buy one yet.

When home it goes back in the boat and the charger put back on.

I've always thought those jumpstarter packs were gimmicky wastes of money you buy someone as a lame Christmas gift. Maybe they are better? I would think they are limited on the power output and would take a substantially heavy one to even compare to a deep cycle marine battery.

Those jump-starter packs are not gimmicky because they work really, really well for jump-starting. I have used them multiple times and they have never failed me.

The jump-starter packs are very high power but low energy capacity because they can deliver huge amperage but only for a very small time, i.e. like tens of seconds. They were never meant to replace deep cycle batteries which excel at delivering energy for a relatively long time, i.e hours.

Since I camp fridge-less (and cooler-less for that matter), I skipped the dual battery setup and just carry a jump-starter.
 
I used the same jumpbox as @surfpig for years, until it finally wouldn’t charge anymore.

Now, I use a HaloBolt Amazon product ASIN B01B6N52E8
It’s touted to start a car dozens of times without needing a recharge.

I’ve used it to start 44 multiple times, on the same trail trip, when my VR wasn’t properly adjusted. I’ve also jumped my Tundra with it more than once.

The jumper function is foolproof. Hook it up wrong, you can’t jump. Hook it up right, you can jump.

The AC outlet is rated at 650W... so, no blow dryers, heaters, etc.

The two USB ports charge anything that is USB chargeable.

I recharge it thru a cigarette lighter port, while driving.

It generally lasts me, in use, for about 4 days without a recharge. Don’t use it and it holds a full charge for months.

If I’m on s long or very remote trip, I carry my Wife’s Halo Bolt as well.
 
I used the same jumpbox as @surfpig for years, until it finally wouldn’t charge anymore.

Now, I use a HaloBolt Amazon product ASIN B01B6N52E8
It’s touted to start a car dozens of times without needing a recharge.

I’ve used it to start 44 multiple times, on the same trail trip, when my VR wasn’t properly adjusted. I’ve also jumped my Tundra with it more than once.

The jumper function is foolproof. Hook it up wrong, you can’t jump. Hook it up right, you can jump.

The AC outlet is rated at 650W... so, no blow dryers, heaters, etc.

The two USB ports charge anything that is USB chargeable.

I recharge it thru a cigarette lighter port, while driving.

It generally lasts me, in use, for about 4 days without a recharge. Don’t use it and it holds a full charge for months.

If I’m on s long or very remote trip, I carry my Wife’s Halo Bolt as well.
I put a new battery in it recently. So I’m good for another ten years.

:lol:
 
I carry a jump starter pack and recently got a Yeti 400 lithium and 100 W panel. The Yeti will be used for running my fridge and charging phones, lights, etc. I wanted something portable so I could easily use it in my FJ, our trailer, or home during power outtages.
 
Man, I just don’t see how these little Halo battery packs are effectively jumping a vehicle. There just aren’t enough cranking amps.
 
As I said earlier, I had the same Booster Pack as surfpig, above. I used it for years, to bail me out of dead/low battery situations

When it started failing to charge, I mentioned, to my wife, that I was going to find a replacement.

QVC maven that she is, she immediately ordered the Halo Bolt... QVC honors a no questions asked return, with no return shipping.

So, I tried it and was sold... it’s even started my Tundra, in storage, when the battery was so dead, the key fob couldn’t unlock the doors. The truck started, first try, and I drove to have the battery checked. It had a dead cell.

Watch the videos, read the reviews, borrow one, buy one, with a good return policy... QVC will probably offer it again soon... it’s a big Xmas seller.
The Nevada summer heat kills batteries dead... I’m comfortable with it, alone, in remote areas... but, I also carry a small 18w “solar battery maintainer”... I leave it hooked up, while camping/hiking.

When trailer camping, I use a 90W solar system, backed up with a Honda eu2000i generator... I have jumper cables for the generator, but have never had to use them to jump my truck... the Bolt does it every time.

I’m not pushing the Halo Bolt, I’m merely offering a great alternative... and the OP asked for alternatives that offer campsite electrical support.

Do your research and free your mind... sometimes little guys are surprisingly powerful.
 
Man, I just don’t see how these little Halo battery packs are effectively jumping a vehicle. There just aren’t enough cranking amps.

Those little boosters can and do provide the cranking amps! Through the magic of capacitors and inductors. They idea is to store some charge (coulombs) and then deliver it very quickly, and since amps = coulombs/sec, this effectively multiples a small current dramatically. Charge a big capacitor for 60 seconds and then release the charge in 0.25 seconds and therefore produce a 240 times larger current.

Even the cheap walmart one had no trouble cranking the 4.7L v8 on my GX with a completely dead battery.
 
I believe its due to the LiPo (lithium-polymer) chemistry, not capaciters. Caps can deliver a lot of current, but its more an instantaneous thing, not like 10-20 seconds of cranking a stubborn car engine over. I run LiPo batteries in my RC cars and a pack not much bigger than a deck of playing cards can put out 276 amps continuously, and can put out a peak of over 500 amps. These LiPos are formulated to have really high discharge rates, which are rated with a number called their "C" rating. The C rating is the amount of current the battery can put out divided by its capacity. For example, i run 4.6 amp-hour batteries with a 60C continuous rating. So 60x4.6 gives you 276 amps it can deliver continuously. They often have a "max burst C" rating, which is the current they can deliver for a short "burst" of time. For what I run, that's 120C, so 120x4.6 amps = 552 amps! And again, this is on batteries that fit in the palm of your hand. Imaging those same C ratings applied to a battery more like the size of one of those jump packs. Its not hard to imagine a battery like that being able to crank over a car engine. The jump pack I have is rated at 18 amp-hours and 600 amps output, meaning its C rating is about 33, quite a bit less that those commonly used in RC cars, but more than enough to get the job done.
 

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