Power Station w/DC-DC Charger & Solar

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I left the power station on and the fridge running for the last couple days for testing. Fridge was set to 33 and on Eco mode. Negligible driving/charging during that time, guessing I might have charged 4%. In 48 hours the power station dropped from 100% to 20%. For trips when I'm doing a lot of driving and on the move every day I could probably get by for a little while in this configuration buuuuuut... Bluetti just released the new Charger 2 and I want to have cold beers in the fridge 24/7. So I just ordered it. I have a 180a alternator in my 100 series so I'm hoping to get close to the 800w rate the Charger 2 claims to have. If I find myself needing more power while camped I believe I can get 200-300w of solar on the roof via a flexible panel.
 
GTV said:
I left the power station on and the fridge running for the last couple days for testing. Fridge was set to 33 and on Eco mode. Negligible driving/charging during that time, guessing I might have charged 4%. In 48 hours the power station dropped from 100% to 20%. For trips when I'm doing a lot of driving and on the move every day I could probably get by for a little while in this configuration buuuuuut... Bluetti just released the new Charger 2 and I want to have cold beers in the fridge 24/7. So I just ordered it. I have a 180a alternator in my 100 series so I'm hoping to get close to the 800w rate the Charger 2 claims to have. If I find myself needing more power while camped I believe I can get 200-300w of solar on the roof via a flexible panel.
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Having cold beer is important. I start to worry when I'm down to a reserve of 1/2 case.

I could be missing something but I'd be very careful with that alternator and drawing 800W. 800W @ 12V is 67 amps. OK your voltage might be a little higher 13.3V, still...

I am speculating that the 180A alternator will eventually fry at low RPM's if you're drawing that kind of power from it.

I had a 100 series too. Great truck. But I replaced the 180A alternator on my 200 series with a 390A. For an 800W draw it would say "hold my beer".:beer:
 
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FrazzledHunter said:
Having cold beer is important. I start to worry when I'm down to a reserve of 1/2 case.

I could be missing something but I'd be very careful with that alternator and drawing 800W. 800W @ 12V is 67 amps. OK your voltage might be a little higher 13.3V, still...

I am speculating that the 180A alternator will eventually fry at low RPM's if you're drawing that kind of power from it.

I had a 100 series too. Great truck. But I replaced the 180A alternator on my 200 series with a 390A. For an 800W draw it would say "hold my beer".:beer:
Click to expand...

The charger is capable of drawing up to 800w. There are settings on the app to charge at slower rates which is better for the system as a whole. I plan to charge at the slowest rate that will allow me to arrive to camp at 100% charge. In the event that I need a faster charge rate, it's there.
 
GTV said:
The charger is capable of drawing up to 800w. There are settings on the app to charge at slower rates which is better for the system as a whole. I plan to charge at the slowest rate that will allow me to arrive to camp at 100% charge. In the event that I need a faster charge rate, it's there.
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Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! OK.
Sounds like you know what you're doing. :cheers:

I'd love to throw 800W at my Goal Zero when on the road.
 
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FrazzledHunter said:
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! OK.
Sounds like you know what you're doing. :cheers:

I'd love to throw 800W at my Goal Zero when on the road.
Click to expand...

I’m still very much learning 😂 Thanks to everyone for the guidance.
It’s been a fun process, I feel really good about how the project is turning out.
 
I can finally put a bow on this project. I'm super happy with how it all came out. Super simple, super effective. Uses every mm of available space. Charges fast, I've seen as high as 618w. Time will tell if 1024wh is enough or augmenting with solar is necessary but I'm not thinking I'll need it.
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Nice. Bummer access to the panel is on the front rather than the side. Surprisingly I have found myself using the USB ports more than I expected for charging phone, mini speaker, and led camp light.

If you do find yourself needing solar based on my limited experience get a folding panel that is at least 200 watt. Which means you will get around 150 watts on a normal day. I am often hiking and away from my rig so I keep a blanket with the panel. I deploy it on the roof using the blanket to slide it and protect the roof. In more remote areas I deploy it more optimally.
 
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TheIcemanCometh said:
Nice. Bummer access to the panel is on the front rather than the side. Surprisingly I have found myself using the USB ports more than I expected for charging phone, mini speaker, and led camp light.

If you do find yourself needing solar based on my limited experience get a folding panel that is at least 200 watt. Which means you will get around 150 watts on a normal day. I am often hiking and away from my rig so I keep a blanket with the panel. I deploy it on the roof using the blanket to slide it and protect the roof. In more remote areas I deploy it more optimally.
Click to expand...

The power station is super easy to control via the app, if I need to plug something in I just have to open the drawer a bit for hand space. It’s no big deal. I do keep a multi USB plugged in to charge all the things.

I don’t *think* I’ll need solar but my latest idea is to put a flexible panel directly on the roof skin under the stock roof rack (once I go back to an OEM rack). I know flexible panels aren’t the best and shading it under a rack is terrible but my goal with everything on this build is for every component to be integrated and have a permanent, fixed home. I hate having to move a bunch of crap back and forth to camp. The roof skin is big enough to fit 200-300w so even if I only get 25% of the rated power it would still be a substantial improvement. Or I could just idle the truck for a bit and let the DC charger do its thing.
 
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I have seen that. I think mounting the panel on the roof ribs will allow for much better airflow and cooling. And if it does mess up the paint that’s better to happen on the roof rather than the hood.
 
you may know this already but it's not like you get 90% of the panel's power if you shade 10% of it. For standard panel internal cell wiring, it's more like zero power...
 
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