The Camping Thread

[ThePursuit]

Originally Posted by blueoval

Looking at a battery/inverter portable setup for camping.

I Dont know a lot about power outputs etc, but have read about Lithium power packs and their compact nature whicl still packing a punch over the AGM counterparts.

I was hoping to run a small Waeco fridge and power a pod coffee machine off it with too much trouble.

I took my mates 4wd supacenter Adventure Kings 1500w inverter a few weekends back with his 100aH AGM battery supply and the https://www.victronenergy.com/invert...ct-250va-800va Inverter was beeping its nut off when I used the pod machine which is rated to 1200w max. Its possible the unit is a 1500w surge but Im not sure. Tha battery meter went down to 11.6v when the coffee machine was heating up so I dont think its the battery. Possibly the inverter being one of the first original units from 4wd SC which could be on its way out?

Anyway, I like the idea of a smallish portable battery and inverter to take with me on those off grid trips. So can anyone recommend me a unit that will supply enough power to power the fridge and coffee pod machine easily enough without alarms going off?

Is a Lithium/Inverter in one unit worth the added cost for the compactness and versatility alone? I am happy to pay good money for a unit that will do the job really well.

Gday Blueoval,

Lithium is definitely the way to go if the budget stretches. Check out iTechworld https://itechworld.com.au/collection...watt-itech1000 or if you can really stretch budget then anything from Victron is just awesome..... https://www.victronenergy.com/invert...ct-250va-800va

I’d say the inrush current may be too great for the cheapy inverter you borrowed from your mate, hence the beeping. Also battery voltage below 12v is not ideal either so more battery may be required for longer use. It’s a little bit like the ‘how long is a piece of string’ analogy. Ideally need to know the current draw under normal operation and peak operation to work out capacity and then how long you want to run it without charging from a particular source.

Happy to work through any questions you might have.

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by ThePursuit

Gday Blueoval,

Lithium is definitely the way to go if the budget stretches. Check out iTechworld https://itechworld.com.au/collection...watt-itech1000 or if you can really stretch budget then anything from Victron is just awesome..... https://www.victronenergy.com/invert...ct-250va-800va

I’d say the inrush current may be too great for the cheapy inverter you borrowed from your mate, hence the beeping. Also battery voltage below 12v is not ideal either so more battery may be required for longer use. It’s a little bit like the ‘how long is a piece of string’ analogy. Ideally need to know the current draw under normal operation and peak operation to work out capacity and then how long you want to run it without charging from a particular source.

Happy to work through any questions you might have.

Thanks for your help mate. What you say makes sense.

The power I need has to be at least 1500w. That unit you linked was 1000w. The coffee machine is 1200w. Would the unit you mentioned be good enough for what I need or should I go the next one up?

Is there an all in 1 battery and inverter unit on offer rather than a separate one?

[prydey]

Originally Posted by blueoval

Thanks for your help mate. What you say makes sense.

The power I need has to be at least 1500w. That unit you linked was 1000w. The coffee machine is 1200w. Would the unit you mentioned be good enough for what I need or should I go the next one up?

Is there an all in 1 battery and inverter unit on offer rather than a separate one?

You'll end up spending a lot of money just to be able to run your pseudo coffee machine.

You'll need a lot of battery to run a 1500w inverter especially if you want to use the machine multiple times. Probably need solar panels as well to be able to replenish the power used.

Another option is a generator although this may limit where you can go as some national parks etc don't allow generators. Honda do pretty quiet ones I believe.

When I go camping, if I have power I take my espresso machine and grinder. If I don't have power I bought a nanopresso by wacaco. I don't have the ability to steam milk though. I just do it on the stovetop. My brother recently bought an espresso maker called a flair. Quite pricey but he's happy with it. There are quite a few options for non powered coffee around as well as stovetop steamers (bailetti??) for milk....

[Tassie f100]

[QUOTE=blueoval;6478099]Thanks for your help mate. What you say makes sense.

The power I need has to be at least 1500w. That unit you linked was 1000w. The coffee machine is 1200w. Would the unit you mentioned be good enough for what I need or should I go the next one up?

Is there an all in 1 battery and inverter unit on offer rather than a separate one QUOTE. If you are going to do bush camping,you really have to go basic.Use a gas burner to heat water and use either campfire or gas bbq for cooking.240v kettles etc can use 2000w or more which means big inverters and big batteries for extended use.A 2000 w kettle requires not much less than 200 amps out of the 12v battery.Doesn’t take very long to flatten a 120ah battery.

[prydey]

The benefit of lithium is depth of discharge. AGM should never be taken below 50% regularly. Some even say 70%. This means 100ah battery is good for about 30-50ah of use. Regularly taking it lower will shorten its life substantially. Lithium can go 80-100% depth of discharge so you only need about a third the capacity of AGM.

It's expensive though however if you invest in a decent setup it should last many many years.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by blueoval

Thanks for your help mate. What you say makes sense.

The power I need has to be at least 1500w. That unit you linked was 1000w. The coffee machine is 1200w. Would the unit you mentioned be good enough for what I need or should I go the next one up?

Is there an all in 1 battery and inverter unit on offer rather than a separate one?

Its not the max power output of the inverter but the continuous rating it supplies which is important and be careful of powerpack inverters advertised as sinewave as a few I have come across will do more harm than good.

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

Its not the max power output of the inverter but the continuous rating it supplies which is important and be careful of powerpack inverters advertised as sinewave as a few I have come across will do more harm than good.

Oh? Thats interesting. I was hoping to get a unit that would charge laptop battery ok with something like this https://itechworld.com.au/collection...ging-itech300p

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by blueoval

Oh? Thats interesting. I was hoping to get a unit that would charge laptop battery ok with something like this https://itechworld.com.au/collection...ging-itech300p

I bought one like that from Jaycar (as I have a trade card) its a pure sinewave which will not damage the electronics in a laptop as thats exactly what I use it for.
I live offgrid and have found you can normally get everything which will power 12 24v devices. But my ASUS eep has this weird 18v power supply with a unique power plug no one sells so use this for said duties.

Powering a frig is the hardest thing to reasonably achieve with solar/battery unless to are moving most days.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

I bought one like that from Jaycar (as I have a trade card) its a pure sinewave which will not damage the electronics in a laptop as thats exactly what I use it for.
I live offgrid and have found you can normally get everything which will power 12 24v devices. But my ASUS eep has this weird 18v power supply with a unique power plug no one sells so use this for said duties.

Powering a frig is the hardest thing to reasonably achieve with solar/battery unless to are moving most days.

Laptops are normally 19v

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by prydey

Laptops are normally 19v

Yes and why its hard to find the odd square plug adaptor, Its technically not a laptop, 18v mate.

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

I bought one like that from Jaycar (as I have a trade card) its a pure sinewave which will not damage the electronics in a laptop as thats exactly what I use it for.
I live offgrid and have found you can normally get everything which will power 12 24v devices. But my ASUS eep has this weird 18v power supply with a unique power plug no one sells so use this for said duties.

Powering a frig is the hardest thing to reasonably achieve with solar/battery unless to are moving most days.

Ok thats good to know. Am I better off getting a unit like this then?

https://www.goalzero.com/shop/last-c...power-station/

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by blueoval

Ok thats good to know. Am I better off getting a unit like this then?

https://www.goalzero.com/shop/last-c...power-station/

Actually there is a great comparison between the different models on youtube somewhere I view recently.
What the Yanks call Jackery's, shows the ones you linked here just gotta watch what you use them for.
The biggest problem with them is recharging them as via power they are slower to recharge than via a larger solar panel due to a panel supplying a much higher boost rate (with no controller) than the regulated power coming in from AC.
I can recharge mine in a couple of hours using an unregulated 64W Canon solar panel, where as I have used a 240v regulated socket (at a motel) to recharge, with it taking something like 6 hours.

Note.. the MPPT built in controller can regulate the boost charge from a unregulated solar panel, hence why they are more efficient at recharging than mains power. Normally for anything else, never use a unregulated solar panel over 40W.