Starlink Mini 12V Setup Proposal - Looking for Feedback and Suggestions

kt_indiana_vanlife · 2025-03-03T13:16:50-0500

Intro
Hey everyone! This is my first time "vanlife-ing" it up. I have been trying to avoid bothering the online community, but I think the time has come. I might be in over my head when it comes to my electrical system. I'm very new to van life and electrical systems, but went ahead and bought myself a van last December. It has a custom build and custom electrical system with 2 home batteries. Everything is about 5 years old. Thank you in advance!

Problem Statement
I have been having some issues running my 12V heater, my Starlink mini (110V inverter), and my laptop (110V inverter). My battery seems to die insanely fast. Luckily it is getting warmer out and I won't be needing my heater for awhile. That leaves my starlink mini and laptops as my top concerns.

Attempt at a Solution
My friend, who also lives in a van, suggested I convert my Starlink mini to run off 12V. I was hoping this would be an easy conversion, but after I made the modifications I am feeling very uncertain about what I have done. I have yet to test out my Starlink on the system. I am afraid to fry it or something. I have learned a a lot but I would be great to get some feedback on my setup!

Inspiration Videos

Equipment Links

Blue Sea 12 Circuit Fuse Box (Mine is from 2020)
Round Toggle On/Off
DC/DC 12V Step Up to 24V
ChargeIt! Mini 200W Type-C PD Charger
Startlink Mini USB-C Cable
Other - 16awg wires, #8 Ring Terminal Connectors, Electrical Tape, and Crimp Connectors

Testing my Setup Results in the Following:

The switch's light goes on and off when toggling it
There is a red light with in the PD Charger that I assume indicates that it has power
Charging a battery pack via one of the USB-C ports worked
Charging a pair of wireless headphones did NOT seem to work
Charging a USB-C lamp also did NOT seem to work

Have Not Tried

Running my Starlink
Charging my Dell Laptop

Questions

Am I using the right fuse (15amps)?
Am I using the right gauge wires? (16awg, but the 12V to 24V Step-Up came with 14awg, and I think the Starlink cord is 20awg?)
The PD Charge that I am using does not have many reviews. Was a dupped? What should I use instead?
The 12V to 24V Step-Up also does not have rave reviews. Is there a different brand I should use? What Wattage/Amperage should this need?
Do you think it is safe to test my Starlink on this set up?

Proposal

Existing Setup

bullfrog ! · 2025-03-03T14:56:27-0500

Hi! What type of batteries are you using for “house” batteries? It is not unusual for lead acid or AGM batteries to not be capable of holding a charge if they have been regularly discharged below 50%. If they are the newer technology lithium batteries this shouldn’t be an issue. You need to determine your exact loads and usage as your description seems to indicate you have regularly discharged and ran electrical components below their required voltages which can damage them. Long runs of smaller gauge wire in DC circuits doesn’t help matters.

rruff · 2025-03-03T16:43:51-0500

kt_indiana_vanlife said:
Testing my Setup Results in the Following:

The switch's light goes on and off when toggling it

There is a red light with in the PD Charger that I assume indicates that it has power

Charging a battery pack via one of the USB-C ports worked

Charging a pair of wireless headphones did NOT seem to work

Charging a USB-C lamp also did NOT seem to work

You don't mention checking any voltages. Do you have a multimeter?

Great post BTW!

abnorm · 2025-03-03T17:10:53-0500

WHY the Chargeit? That looks sketchy..........This should work the same................

https://www.amazon.com/Outlet-Charger-Charge-Socket-Suitable/dp/B0CWG4XNL4/ref=sr_1_3?

AND what is the 12V heat ?...............that's not easy

maki2 · 2025-03-03T17:46:32-0500

I charge my laptop using a 12v charger adapter. I charge my cell phone and tablet from a 12v outlet. I have a vinyl cutter that I run some days but I run it off 150watt inverter plugged into a 15amp 12v outlet, as that is all it requires for power and it does not even need a pure sign inverter.
Running small stuff off a huge inverter is likely what is draining your battery so quickly. It makes no sense to do that when the appliance be it cell phone, laptop, etc does not need a large inverter or in the case of the phone any inverter.

kt_indiana_vanlife · 2025-03-03T22:10:42-0500

bullfrog ! said:
Hi! What type of batteries are you using for “house” batteries? It is not unusual for lead acid or AGM batteries to not be capable of holding a charge if they have been regularly discharged below 50%. If they are the newer technology lithium batteries this shouldn’t be an issue. You need to determine your exact loads and usage as your description seems to indicate you have regularly discharged and ran electrical components below their required voltages which can damage them. Long runs of smaller gauge wire in DC circuits doesn’t help matters.

Thank you for the quick response! The batteries are about 5 years old, the previous owner stated they were still good, and not used very much (the van only has 25,000 miles). I also had O'Reilly's test them and they claim that they both past their simple test. The batteries are lead-acid Renogy, each 200Ah. I also use a Renogy Charge Controller and it definitely has gone below 50%. It has dropped to 0% in less than 2 hours before, just running my 12v heater? Very concerning.

Below is a quick excel file of what I believe to be my expected/preferred loads. If I am not plugged in I pretty much only run my heater (sparingly), my Starlink, and laptop to conserve power (I don't want to lose my JOB haha). But based off of this my Battery should be able to run for 3 days without a charge if I am not mistaken?

kt_indiana_vanlife · 2025-03-03T22:12:26-0500

rruff said:
You don't mention checking any voltages. Do you have a multimeter?

Great post BTW!

Thank you! and great point, I have had it handy but did not think to use it. Smh. I will check the voltage of my PD charger tomorrow.

kt_indiana_vanlife · 2025-03-03T22:18:52-0500

abnorm said:
WHY the Chargeit? That looks sketchy..........This should work the same................

https://www.amazon.com/Outlet-Charger-Charge-Socket-Suitable/dp/B0CWG4XNL4/ref=sr_1_3?

AND what is the 12V heat ?...............that's not easy

Yeah... the ChargeIt was recommended in the linked YouTube video. My understanding is that it can provide 100Ws of power and 24V? But you are probably right I should look into a different device that provides 24V from the Step-Up device.

And you don't say. My heater is typically the device that runs my battery to the ground. The start up of the heater takes my battery down from 100% to 80% in about 5 minutes, and then stays there while it is running, draining just a little. Typically, I turn the heater on then drive around a bit to charge back up, after it has booted on. The heater is a 12V Eberspacher Heater (I believe similar to this link).

kt_indiana_vanlife · 2025-03-03T22:22:37-0500

maki2 said:
I charge my laptop using a 12v charger adapter. I charge my cell phone and tablet from a 12v outlet. I have a vinyl cutter that I run some days but I run it off 150watt inverter plugged into a 15amp 12v outlet, as that is all it requires for power and it does not even need a pure sign inverter.
Running small stuff off a huge inverter is likely what is draining your battery so quickly. It makes no sense to do that when the appliance be it cell phone, laptop, etc does not need a large inverter or in the case of the phone any inverter.

Ty, this is great to hear, I have since installed a 12V charger adapter, wired from my fuse box. That seems to be all good, although not testing out on the road yet, fingers crossed. Just working on getting a 24V system set up from my fuse box to get my Starlink enough power to run 8 hours M-F without draining the battery.

mpruet · 2025-03-03T22:51:08-0500

I run my Starlink mini from a USB port off of this battery ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZJDVDLC?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1 ). I don’t run it off of my house battery because I generally use Starlink as the sun is going down and the only thing I want to be running from my house battery then is my fridge and maybe LED lights. There are USB -> Starlink cords available from both Starlink and third party vendors. I’ll recharge the battery during the day when I have sunlight, or when I’m driving. This also allows me to run my Starlink away from my van if I want to.

bullfrog ! · 2025-03-04T01:03:07-0500

Lead acid batteries don’t live very long if regularly drained below 50% never the less draining them till they are totally dead so actually you have much less storage capacity than you think. I use an EcoFlo Delta ll to supplement my house batteries at night when running my heater. I charge it and my house batteries daily during daylight hours or on cloudy days by running a small propane generator as I am usually stationary weeks at a time. I did not want to update my electrical systems to lithium and the Delta ll allowed me to do this. Unlike lead acid batteries the new technology batteries can be much more deeply discharged without damaging them. Most likely you have damaged your house batteries and they will need to be replaced, if so converting to new technology batteries after checking to see if your solar system can be adjusted to charge them should be considered. Even so you probably need more storage capacity and the Delta ll can do that as it has many charging possibilities if your lead acid batteries are still fairly good or your system won’t support the new technology batteries. I keep my house batteries well above 75% and the Delta ll is usually only down about 40% on the coldest days.

rruff · 2025-03-04T01:30:25-0500

kt_indiana_vanlife said:
Thank you! and great point, I have had it handy but did not think to use it. Smh. I will check the voltage of my PD charger tomorrow.

If the voltage is good and polarity is ok, it should work fine. Bad connections or a faulty device are the common issues I think.

I like using the least amount of conversions as it's more efficient. The Mini appears to function with 12V-48V, and the cord is only for supplying power, so the USB-C thing looks unnecessary. Straight off your battery may not be enough if the charge is low and with wiring losses, but the 24V coming out of the booster would be fine. If you could get just a plug that fits the Mini and do your own wires, that would be best. I use mostly 12g copper wiring, and you could get a very long run with minimal loss. As I recall the Mini uses ~30W on average, and with 24V you'd have ~1.25A through the wires.

Camper · 2025-03-04T02:20:05-0500

I'd start with a new Lithium 200AH battery from Amazon or eBay.

But, the real simple way is to buy a new 2000WH power station.

More rigging with out of date, weak batteries would not work for me.

Dirtrider · 2025-03-04T07:54:06-0500

The thing that stands out for me was the 16G wiring. Losses due to heat and lower gauge won't be helpful. I would use 10g wires. Not expensive and shouldn't take to long to replace them all.
Make sure to use quality crimped end that are tight also.
Hard to read on my phone now but how many solar panels and what's the wattage? Wired in series or parallel

kt_indiana_vanlife · 2025-03-04T08:22:06-0500

mpruet said:
I run my Starlink mini from a USB port off of this battery ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZJDVDLC?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1 ). I don’t run it off of my house battery because I generally use Starlink as the sun is going down and the only thing I want to be running from my house battery then is my fridge and maybe LED lights. There are USB -> Starlink cords available from both Starlink and third party vendors. I’ll recharge the battery during the day when I have sunlight, or when I’m driving. This also allows me to run my Starlink away from my van if I want to.

I have been meaning to look into a portable charger as a back up, this sounds like a great option. Thank you for pointing it out. And agreed I don't like running my Starlink at night, other things take precedence haha

kt_indiana_vanlife · 2025-03-04T08:23:47-0500

Camper said:
I'd start with a new Lithium 200AH battery from Amazon or eBay.

But, the real simple way is to buy a new 2000WH power station.

More rigging with out of date, weak batteries would not work for me.

Yeah I am afraid this might be where things are trending for me. I need to start digging into what it would mean to get new batteries. Thank you for the response

rruff · 2025-03-04T09:56:53-0500

kt_indiana_vanlife said:
I need to start digging into what it would mean to get new batteries.

I bought a 100AH with BT and cold shut off last fall for $160 shipped and it seems nice. The BT makes it easy to see what is happening inside. So they aren't that pricey. A powerstation would work, but I like having individual components; makes it easier to fix if something goes wrong. Cheaper too.

Your wire size might be fine if you have short runs. Check a wire size vs amperage chart.

kt_indiana_vanlife · 2025-03-04T13:10:45-0500

bullfrog ! said:
Lead acid batteries don’t live very long if regularly drained below 50% never the less draining them till they are totally dead so actually you have much less storage capacity than you think. I use an EcoFlo Delta ll to supplement my house batteries at night when running my heater. I charge it and my house batteries daily during daylight hours or on cloudy days by running a small propane generator as I am usually stationary weeks at a time. I did not want to update my electrical systems to lithium and the Delta ll allowed me to do this. Unlike lead acid batteries the new technology batteries can be much more deeply discharged without damaging them. Most likely you have damaged your house batteries and they will need to be replaced, if so converting to new technology batteries after checking to see if your solar system can be adjusted to charge them should be considered. Even so you probably need more storage capacity and the Delta ll can do that as it has many charging possibilities if your lead acid batteries are still fairly good or your system won’t support the new technology batteries. I keep my house batteries well above 75% and the Delta ll is usually only down about 40% on the coldest days.

Thank you for the detailed explanation, I do like the idea of the EcoFlo Delta II. Sounds like something I would really benefit from. One thing I do not understand, how exactly do you charge the EcoFlo battery? Thru your inverter from your house batteries? Or do you have another system to set up your house batteries and the EcoFlo to your solar panels?

As a side note: I am sure my batteries are getting old, but sometimes they do preform well, so it's hard to justify buying new ones without knowing for sure my failures are the fault of the batteries, and not something like my fridge, heater, or starlink.

kt_indiana_vanlife · 2025-03-04T13:13:55-0500

rruff said:
If the voltage is good and polarity is ok, it should work fine. Bad connections or a faulty device are the common issues I think.

I like using the least amount of conversions as it's more efficient. The Mini appears to function with 12V-48V, and the cord is only for supplying power, so the USB-C thing looks unnecessary. Straight off your battery may not be enough if the charge is low and with wiring losses, but the 24V coming out of the booster would be fine. If you could get just a plug that fits the Mini and do your own wires, that would be best. I use mostly 12g copper wiring, and you could get a very long run with minimal loss. As I recall the Mini uses ~30W on average, and with 24V you'd have ~1.25A through the wires.

All makes sense. I like the idea of having the USB-C port for my Starlink, so I do not have to cut any cords from my starlink and I can unplug it if need be. But you might be right, I might just have too many things wired up together. I will attempt to use my multimeter to test voltage and amperage, and compare it to the values you suggested

kt_indiana_vanlife · 2025-03-04T13:32:48-0500

Dirtrider said:
The thing that stands out for me was the 16G wiring. Losses due to heat and lower gauge won't be helpful. I would use 10g wires. Not expensive and shouldn't take to long to replace them all.
Make sure to use quality crimped end that are tight also.
Hard to read on my phone now but how many solar panels and what's the wattage? Wired in series or parallel

I will look into 10G wires, thank you for the suggestion, choosing the wiring was definitely something I struggled with.

I have 2 solar panels in parallel and 2 batteries in parallel. Both are from Renogy "Renogy RNG-100D-SS is a 100 watt, 12 volt, monocrystalline solar panel with a sleek design and durable frame".

Starlink Mini 12V Setup Proposal - Looking for Feedback and Suggestions

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