Portable power station instead of a leisure battery?

[Qnapper]

I bought the Poweroak AC200P some time back and very pleased with it. Just back from 21 day run to Germany and never required EHU as used onboard solar to top it up every day. Used it for everything from boiling kettle to using 2000watt hair dryer (no me the wife) and used a 240 volt fan nearly 247. Down side is it's heavy, but we can manage that.
LINK:

BLUETTI AC200P Portable Power Station | 2,000W 2,000Wh

Meet all your needs, anywhere, anytime. BLUETTI AC200P solar generator features a massive 2,000Wh capacity to power your equipment, no more worry about power outages interrupting your work.

www.bluettipower.com

 

[t6blo]

I‘ve been considering one of these power stations instead of a leisure battery/split charge/solar install.

My new (to me) van will be staying as a Kombi with the addition of a swivel seat and a table - no camping, running a fridge 247 etc

So, my power requirements are fairly low/short duration and would only be some additional LED lights, iDevice charging, an occasional boil of a kettle, and perhaps running a cool box - typical use case would be before or after a walk/bike ride when we would have lunch, get changed, chill out.

Maximum duration 2-3 hours before the van would be started and the station starts to recharge.

I expect this usage, for this duration, would be take too much out of the van/starter battery but isn’t enough to warrant a full blown leisure/split charge/solar install.

I also like the idea that it could be removed from the van for other uses or to charge from the mains indoors.



What I don’t know is whether you can run lights, usb, inverter at the same time and do this without having to interact with the power station - which will be built into a wheel arch box - whilst I would need to access it to take it in or out, I don’t want to have to touch it to turn the outputs on or off whilst in use.

I also don’t know how to calculate what size station I would need?

Any thoughts or feedback welcomed

 

[Dellmassive]

@t6blo I'd say give it a go.

Try a mobile box.

It works out for you t then great.

If it doesn't, then you will have the Mobile unit backup your permanent van install.


......

I also have similar to @Qnapper now.

I have and used a Bluetti AC200max for 5 day camping trip with solar to recharge..... It worked well.

But I was disappointed at the rate of the apparent self discharge with nothing switched on.... I seemed to be loosing 0.5-1% per hour.

This was easily overcome by increasing the solar charging capacity.

...

My fave is still the Ecoflow delta pro.

Take a look at the Jackory range, they are becoming popular.

....

Also take note of the cell tech an recharge cycles....

Some units will state 800. Charge cycle life.

Yet others will show 4000 - 8000 charge cycle life.

....

 

[MarkHob]

I've got a Ecoflow Delta waiting to go in my van in July when it's delivered. Will be used to power a small Alpicool fridge, phones and charge an ebike. Used an inverter in my previous transit to charge the bike which was fine but a pain to have to keep the engine running. I'm hoping the Delta will act a bit like a buffer between the engine and bike. Will report in once it's installed.

 

[jimthevan]

I bought the Poweroak AC200P some time back and very pleased with it. Just back from 21 day run to Germany and never required EHU as used onboard solar to top it up every day. Used it for everything from boiling kettle to using 2000watt hair dryer (no me the wife) and used a 240 volt fan nearly 247. Down side is it's heavy, but we can manage that.
LINK:

BLUETTI AC200P Portable Power Station | 2,000W 2,000Wh

Meet all your needs, anywhere, anytime. BLUETTI AC200P solar generator features a massive 2,000Wh capacity to power your equipment, no more worry about power outages interrupting your work.

www.bluettipower.com

View attachment 130074

what solar set up have you got to charge this? considering one of these cheers Jim

 

[Qnapper]

what solar set up have you got to charge this? considering one of these cheers Jim

I have a 200watt solar panel on the roof, so by about 2/3pm here in Spain it is fully charged. Since my post aabout the Bluetti AC200P I have changed to a 180amp under the seat LiFePO4 Battery with 3,500+ Life Cycles to 80%. This covers more than what we need for "off grid" campervaning. I still have the Bluetti AC200P, which we use now at home saving us loads of money as Spanish electric is expensive. If I where you I would look at "under the seat" battery.

 

[jimthevan]

I have a 200watt solar panel on the roof, so by about 2/3pm here in Spain it is fully charged. Since my post aabout the Bluetti AC200P I have changed to a 180amp under the seat LiFePO4 Battery with 3,500+ Life Cycles to 80%. This covers more than what we need for "off grid" campervaning. I still have the Bluetti AC200P, which we use now at home saving us loads of money as Spanish electric is expensive. If I where you I would look at "under the seat" battery.

Thanks for the reply, will look into a Lifepo4 - cheers

 

[Turk3y]

I am looking at similar, my issue is many only have the one 12v output via cigarette lighter adapter, I hate these and have always been a point of failure for me .

The Bluetti AC200 max has a high amperage DC out that looks perfect and has a good inverter (albeit high vampire draw). The issue I see is charging it as it's DC in is very slow and sun is not as plentiful in the UK compared to Spain
They sell an extender charger but not sure that would actually work well. It seems a separate DC step up convertor and push it into the solar input is discussed on their forum but seems a bit iffy.

Also having all the plugs hanging off the front seems a bit messy but is totally removable. But will take up space.

I have seen the Clayton LPS units which seem pretty much perfect, small easy to wire, great charging and monster output.... but the cost is high as it's pretty much industry level not consumer , having Victron level of performance/ quality/ warranty does somewhat take the sting out but if there was a more portable option that has good input output I would love to know.


Ecoflow, Anker, Bluetti, Jackery all seem to have cons for a well rounded setup. The Bluetti seems the closest so far but my hunt continues

 

[T6ChrisO]

I've actually done a bit of a U-turn since my last post.

The outlay of the Clayton is just too many £££££ so im speaking to @AJCConversions and we've decided a 230ah Roamer (or equal approved) and a high wattage solar panel will do the trick nicely at a much lesser cost. I was also struggling to find a location for the Clayton unit.

Off to AJC tomorrow to number crunch and bang our heads together

 

[moomin-j]

Off to AJC tomorrow to number crunch and bang our heads together

@T6ChrisO - don't forget Brandon @AJCConversions & Ben like the odd chocolate biscuit!!

 

[T6ChrisO]

@T6ChrisO - don't forget Brandon @AJCConversions & Ben like the odd chocolate biscuit!!

View attachment 218501

Taking a pack of Rich Tea just to wind him up

 

[Turk3y]

I've actually done a bit of a U-turn since my last post.

The outlay of the Clayton is just too many £££££ so im speaking to @AJCConversions and we've decided a 230ah Roamer (or equal approved) and a high wattage solar panel will do the trick nicely at a much lesser cost. I was also struggling to find a location for the Clayton unit.

Off to AJC tomorrow to number crunch and bang our heads together

Just reading dellmasives thread on the Roamer. They posted to recommend a Victron charger to enable induction hob use but that is over £1k. Ouch but probably more inverter power than I would need for a "camping" induction hob.

Really interested in what AJC manage to come up with. Any £ saved is a win as long as it's then not lost to install costs.

 

[T6ChrisO]

Just reading dellmasives thread on the Roamer. They posted to recommend a Victron charger to enable induction hob use but that is over £1k. Ouch but probably more inverter power than I would need for a "camping" induction hob.

Really interested in what AJC manage to come up with. Any £ saved is a win as long as it's then not lost to install costs.

Another cost saving is the option of ditching Roamer and going with Fogstar Drift. 230ah still but £250ish cheaper

Link - Seat Base Lithium Leisure Battery - Fogstar Drift 12v 230Ah

Another £100 cheaper if you dont go for the seatbase option - Lithium Leisure Battery - Fogstar Drift 12v 230Ah

 

[ArtD]

I have a 200watt solar panel on the roof, so by about 2/3pm here in Spain it is fully charged. Since my post aabout the Bluetti AC200P I have changed to a 180amp under the seat LiFePO4 Battery with 3,500+ Life Cycles to 80%. This covers more than what we need for "off grid" campervaning. I still have the Bluetti AC200P, which we use now at home saving us loads of money as Spanish electric is expensive. If I where you I would look at "under the seat" battery.

Qnapper - am I missing something on diy vs ready power stations i.e. assuming I would go with 200Ah LifePO4 and 2kW inverter, then adding mppt and charges and monitors (we talking decent qulity but perhaps I wouldn'g go roamer way at this stage), excluding all cables/boxes/busbars etc. I summarised it around £1.5k. Assuming going with power station like bluettie or similar to get similar level of 200AH (i.e. extra battery to match it) I ended up with £1.9k (including some fuse boxes too). So overall £400 difference between the two.
I get the point that diy is allowing for more but so does power station (different applications). In both situations you could charge back from your alternator and solar (simultaneously for some power stations). And therefore question is whether £400 different is worth number of hours put to this work vs £££ that can be earned elewhere and put but for things like solar panels or even coffee...
I do not want to extend this post further but having list of peole arguing either way, but looking for more pragmatic approach from some of you instead...thx

 

[roadtripper]

The Achilles's heel of most portable power station approaches is the limited recharge rate from a 12v source, usually about 8 amps Vs 30-50 amps of a discrete DC-DC and battery.

So from engine charging your nominal 200Ah Bluetti will take around 12 hours to replace 50% but a 200Ah discrete system will be 2 hours (50amps) or 3.5 hours (30amps)

The reason for this is the power packs limit charge to stop people causing thermal damage to the general 12v sockets. You can game this sometimes if you can arrange a higher current supply by using the solar input, and Victron do a 12>24v converter that can help with that (but not cheap)

 

[ArtD]

The Achilles's heel of most portable power station approaches is the limited recharge rate from a 12v source, usually about 8 amps Vs 30-50 amps of a discrete DC-DC and battery.

So from engine charging your nominal 200Ah Bluetti will take around 12 hours to replace 50% but a 200Ah discrete system will be 2 hours (50amps) or 3.5 hours (30amps)

The reason for this is the power packs limit charge to stop people causing thermal damage to the general 12v sockets. You can game this sometimes if you can arrange a higher current supply by using the solar input, and Victron do a 12>24v converter that can help with that (but not cheap)

how about inverter for 12v to power through acc input; but understand that it is a funny way around from dc back to ac back to dc

 

[Qnapper]

Qnapper - am I missing something on diy vs ready power stations i.e. assuming I would go with 200Ah LifePO4 and 2kW inverter, then adding mppt and charges and monitors (we talking decent qulity but perhaps I wouldn'g go roamer way at this stage), excluding all cables/boxes/busbars etc. I summarised it around £1.5k. Assuming going with power station like bluettie or similar to get similar level of 200AH (i.e. extra battery to match it) I ended up with £1.9k (including some fuse boxes too). So overall £400 difference between the two.
I get the point that diy is allowing for more but so does power station (different applications). In both situations you could charge back from your alternator and solar (simultaneously for some power stations). And therefore question is whether £400 different is worth number of hours put to this work vs £££ that can be earned elewhere and put but for things like solar panels or even coffee...
I do not want to extend this post further but having list of peole arguing either way, but looking for more pragmatic approach from some of you instead...thx

The Bluetti AC200P is a very good unit, all be it very heavy and big, so moving it around the campervan was a pain in the ass. The 180amp under the seat LiFePO4 Battery took about 90 minutes to install as all the cables from the AGM battery was alrady in place. The solar panel I fitted myself and if you look throgh my posts you can see the photo's. There is a port in the Bluetti AC200P to connect cable to existing wiring (if your campervan is converted for 12volt) and you can connect solar to it from your panels as need be... you can also charge it via 12volts with its supplied brick. The big problem is space.... do you have a place to store the Bluetti AC200P? - I found this a pain, so went down the route of the under seat. Sort of fit and forget mode, which for the past 2+ years has been great for us. Hope that helps.

 

[t6blo]

+1 for the limited charge current from van > power bank. One of the main reasons I sold the power bank and went from EcoFlow to leisure battery/dc-dc under seat. Space being another one of the main reasons.

 

[True Romance]

So my factory fit LB is now 7 years old and had another hard winter with van in storage. Was struggling last year so suspect it's on its last legs now.

Been looking at replacing with a lithium but under seat placement restricts size. Also would need to upgrade B2B (plus add inverter). All doable but would like to go completely off grid, however one small battery is going to cut it.

Now gone down the power station rabbit hole. Looking at the Bluetti AC200 (max or new L) model. This should allow us to go off grid and be able to run pretty much all 240v appliances we currently use.

The plan is we will more than likely be selling the T6 next year so could simply take the Bluetti with us when we go onto a bigger self build van.

Thoughts??

Thanks.

 

[T6ChrisO]

So my factory fit LB is now 7 years old and had another hard winter with van in storage. Was struggling last year so suspect it's on its last legs now.

Been looking at replacing with a lithium but under seat placement restricts size. Also would need to upgrade B2B (plus add inverter). All doable but would like to go completely off grid, however one small battery is going to cut it.

Now gone down the power station rabbit hole. Looking at the Bluetti AC200 (max or new L) model. This should allow us to go off grid and be able to run pretty much all 240v appliances we currently use.

The plan is we will more than likely be selling the T6 next year so could simply take the Bluetti with us when we go onto a bigger self build van.

Thoughts??

Thanks.

My Clayton LPS1500 lets me run fully off grid with access to 240v (upto 1500W). BUT with a fridge running you are looking at 2 days, 3 days max IF you arent recharging it via driving or solar