What options do we have for charging Power station?

[NorthWestv2]

First post so go easy on me!

I’ve decided to go down the route of using a power station in the campervan conversion I’m doing which is now ready for the electrics to be installed.

I’ve purchased a cheap VDL 1500 power station for £480, spec here:

VDLPOWER HS1500 PORTABLE POWER STATION 1228WH/1500W-VDLPOWER

THE RELIABLE AC PURE SINE WAVE OUTPUT PROTECTS YOUR APPLIANCES FROM DAMAGE SUPER-Q FAST CHARGING BATTERY---2 Hours to Full It uses fast charging technology, so you don't need to carry a heavy adapter. VDL HS1500 Portable Power Station is a stylish and compact portable power station, which is a...

vdlpower.com

The three main input charging options are:

1) AC input (comes with PC monitor style charging lead into VDL Power station with standard uk 3 pin socket) 700W, 100-120V/60HZ

2) DC 5521 (comes with DC cigarette lighter charging lead with DC 5521 connection into VDL Power station) input Max 200W, 12-30V/Max 7A

3) XT60 input (solar, comes with MT4 to XT60 into VDL Power station charging cable) Max 300W, 12-30v/Max 10A

I would like to use the alternator to (trickle) charge the power station, not expecting quick charge but every little helps. I would also like to introduce solar at some point (important because I know you could use the XT60 input to charge the VDL Power station off the alternator but I don’t want to lose the option to charge off solar)

The setup I am planning will be;

- to secure the power station in the van safely so it can’t move around whilst being driven but can be removed if required to use outside the van.

- install mains electric hookup discretely with the AC input charging lead connected to one of the sockets on the remains electric hookup, purpose being to automatically charge the power station when an AC charge is connected to the mains hookup. Also will have a few dedicated sockets for
Ad hoc AC devices whilst plugged into the mains electric.

- no leisure battery in the setup, the power station essentially would be the leisure battery.

- charge the power station via DC input

- charge the power station via solar input XT60

The questions I have are around the charging of the power station using DC input. As mentioned above, there is a DC5521 to cigarette lighter lead included with the VDL unit. I hate cigarette lighter sockets and cables and want to know what options are available to charge the power station off DC while having future ability to add solar panels to the setup.

Initial thoughts are to purchase a DC DC battery charger: would something like a Victron 12v 12v 18A be sufficient and avoid causing any issues to the alternator ( I believe is rated at 140A on my 2020 T6.1 2.0TDI)

Second thoughts are do I need a battery charger or can I just connect to the vans battery/alternator directly with the power stations DC input?

Thirdly, can I rewire the cigarette lighter and utilise (Anderson or similar to XT60) connection to the power station and (trickle) charge from there?

Any info apppeciated,


Cheers,
Matt

 

[Dellmassive]

Initial thoughts are to purchase a DC DC battery charger: would something like a Victron 12v 12v 18A be sufficient and avoid causing any issues to the alternator ( I believe is rated at 140A on my 2020 T6.1 2.0TDI)

-- you need to install a buffer leisure battery to be able to use a dc-dc charge on a Portable power pack.

you cant install it directly.

++

do I need a battery charger or can I just connect to the vans battery/alternator directly with the power stations DC input?

- you connect the vans 12v direct to the 12v input, but id use an ignition feed, or use a leisure battery as it will flatten your starter battery - also not the power will be limited to 100w/8A slow charge as the 12 socket will get VERY HOT.

+++

Thirdly, can I rewire the cigarette lighter and utilise (Anderson or similar to XT60) connection to the power station and (trickle) charge from there?

--- yes - we done that over here, that stops the 12v socket from melting.



+++++++++++

Portable Power Packs - LifePo4 Battery Boxes -- How I done It --

-- 100w/160w 12v charge without melting your 12v socket -- As we all know these packs can only be 100w slow charged from 12v, well i say SLOW, but in no way is it actually SLOW, 8A and 100W is a lot of power. but, when compared to mains 600w or 1500W fast charge, 100w does seem slow...

www.t6forum.com

 

[Dellmassive]

the only draw back with these portable power packs is the slow recharge rate from 12v. . .

all are limited to the 100w / 8A input limiter, as above this the 12v plug socket will melt.. . . .

in a nutshell they can take longer to charge than drain down - so net effect is they run flat over the weekend ( unless you can recharge via mains mid way)

but there is an easy fix - fit a lithium battery alongside as a storage buffer battery, you can double, tripple, quadruple, . . . the run time of the PPP.

and if you need more, then you can fit solar or a dc-dc charger to recharge the storage battery.

++++++++++++++++

so they are great if you can charge at home and take with you,

or

you can charge from mains mid trip,

or

get a additional leisure battery as a storage battery, then use solar to charge the storage battery - that will intern charge the portable power pack.


+++++++++++++++++++


in my testing a PPP with a 100ah lithium storage battery and 100w solar will see most people self sufficient.

+++++++++++++++++++

 

[Dellmassive]

also note, that you can only connect 12v van input - or solar at once.

 

[NorthWestv2]

Thanks Dell, that’s really useful info!

-- you need to install a buffer leisure battery to be able to use a dc-dc charge on a Portable power pack.

As you identified, I didn’t include any leisure batteries in my setup - I assume one single leisure battery would suffice if solely being used to charge the PPP?

This setup I assume isn’t oversimplified if I then connected the leisure battery to PPP?
I would assume a LifePo4 leisure battery would be best (matching to the type of PPP battery I am using)?

This would also allow me to use DC 5521 to charge off leisure battery AND use XT60 for future solar array connection which is what I didn’t want to lose and inevitably would lose by using the third point I made about connecting ignition/ciggy lighter wiring directly to XT60 input on PPP.

In terms of using the power, I was planning on using the PPP to power the fridge in the van, would you do similar or connect to the leisure battery directly and add a fuse?

Thanks.

 

[Dellmassive]

Yep. One 100ah lithium will do it.

You could use AGM if you wanted to.

Plus the DC DC charger.

Then fused connections to your PPP.

 

[benp1]

Hopefully it's only a matter of time before someone comes up with a switch to cover off two inputs and one output that is automatic. I.e. when the 12v feed is on (with the ignition on) it diverts to that, and when it doesn't solar is automatically connected. doesn't need voltage/current tracking, just a switch with a sensor/relay built in

I guess you could somehow connect the ignition 12v feed to the USB-C input (on an EF unit) and put power in that way... but you'd lose the USB-C port for output use

Would be cheaper than putting in a leisure battery setup just to keep the PPP charged

 

[roadtripper]

Not the same cost band but the Clayton units are pretty much built for this type of built in all in one use.

LPS II 3000 - 2 kWh

www.claytonpower.com

 

[Dellmassive]

Not the same cost band but the Clayton units are pretty much built for this type of built in all in one use.

LPS II 3000 - 2 kWh

www.claytonpower.com

Lovely units...

But big dollar.

The 2kwh box is £4600+

..

 

[roadtripper]

Lovely units...

But big dollar.

The 2kwh box is £4600+

..

Agreed, but it does put everything you need into one straight forward unit. Had a good read of the manual and they seem to have covered most things, even including use as an emergency jump starter, which is neat.

On a different price scale an enclosure and voltage cut off module has just arrived to experiment with recharging my small pack. Initially from the cigarette socket with decent guage wire, if it goes well will consider more hard wired option to avoid the socket.

I'm hoping I can set it at a fair high level so it mostly connects while the van is running. I'm only running some occasional lighting off the pack so it's mostly just needing to be topped off.