What is best battery power pack?

[Lisa Truck Gypsy]

I'm looking for an all in one battery power pack to charge my phone/camera/speaker/computer/fan and also use my computer while plugged into the power pack (not all at the same time). I need 2 outlets and a USB charger.

I want to keep it inside my truck bed so I want to be sure it doesn't offgas or have to be vented. I also plan to recharge it by plugging it into the outlet at a campsite. I currently do not want to deal with solar power/invertors and all the other stuff at this time. I also am limited on space.

I've looked at the Anker Powerhouse which provides 434 Wh and the Xantrex which provides 1500W. I'd love to hear comments regarding each of these or other products that might work better.

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

I don't have much first jand experience with prebuilt ones as I built my own. I can say this with almost absolute certainty ... there are no all in ome units tjat you need to worry about off gassing. All of them use SEALED lead acid batteries and do not carry this risk.

For your own convenience run as much as possible from the 12v cigerette lighter sockets. Cell phones you can just use the regular in car chargers. For laptops you can order powee cords from Amazon, New Egg, Frys, etc. You will use about half the power doing this and your charge will go farther.

Fans can be power hogs. If you run via the regular household socket you will be frusterated quickly. A 12v (cigerwtte socket) will be better but they are designed to run when the car is running and so are not built for efficiency. They can be pricey but Home Depot sells an 18v battery powered fan. It can be plugged in to charge the battery AND you can fit it on top of a 5 gallon bucket of water and it will send out a micro fine mist to help cool. This fan is also compatible with the Ryobi One+ tools and batteries.



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[John61CT]

There is no "best" depends on a lot of variables.

ArkPak 730 with a Firefly Oasis battery gets my vote

See this thread for some discussions

https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=23759

 

[John61CT]

This one includes a pure sine wave inverter

http://www.ebay.com/itm/162518702857

The pics imply the panel's included (it's not)

And note the "confusing" specs on capacity

"Suaoki 400Wh/120,000mAh "

So 120AH storage capacity?

At how many volts would that need to be?

Crazy. . .

 

[Lisa Truck Gypsy]

This one includes a pure sine wave inverter

http://www.ebay.com/itm/162518702857

The pics imply the panel's included (it's not)

And note the "confusing" specs on capacity

"Suaoki 400Wh/120,000mAh "

So 120AH storage capacity?

At how many volts would that need to be?

Crazy. . .

What is the purpose of a pure sine wave inverter?

 

[Lisa Truck Gypsy]

OK...here's the deal...I hate figuring out electrical stuff. Please someone figure out how much battery power I will need. Here is what I will be running (not at the same time). I've taken the info below from the devices.

Laptop charger- Input 100 -240 V 1.5 A Output 19 V 4.74 A
Cell phone charger- Input 100/240 V .2 A Output 4.8 V .4 A
Camera charger Input 100-240 V Output 8.4 V .4 A
Portable speaker DC In = 5V
Small led or compact florescent lamp ????

When I am looking for a portable battery pack what are the numbers I should be looking for to power these items? Will 400Wh be enough? I don't know what the importance of a pure sine wave or the benefit of a 19V plug built in would be. Someone please help.

 

[John61CT]

I addressed the more general questions in the other thread.

For all the above uses, DC direct is best, keep the AC chargers for when you have access to mains.

Laptops vary in usage a lot. Get a Killawatt unit and plug everything in with batteries depleted, play graphics intensive games or run benchmarking software to get a conservative watt-hour estimate over say four hours.

Or just get the ArkPak 730 with a big G31 deep-cycle and you should be fine, maybe only need to recharge every other day or three.

How will you recharge BTW?

Sticking with DC means you don't actually need the inverter.

A DIY setup with a more powerful charger and cheap battery box will be better and save you heaps of money.

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

You know the traditional cigerette lighter socket on the dash of your car? Most of them don't actually light cigerettes anymore but the socket has remaimed the same. This is a 12v socket, sometimea referres to as a ciggy socket. It connecta to your car battery which is 12v DC (direct current).

The all in one battery packs use 12v batteries so that they play nice with the starter battery in a car. You can use these packs to jump start a car. You can also charge them while driving by plugging it in to the 12v ciggy socket in the dash.

An inverter changes 12vDC in to alternating current like what is in the two and three prong outlets in your home. This allows you to use common household electronics while powered by a battery not your local power plant.

Some AC devices don't care much about what sort of inverter ypu have, they will work with any inverter. Some electronics only work with fancy Pure Sine Wave Inverters.

I would strenuiously encourage you to buy a 12vDC cigfy socket charger for your lap top. You will be able to charge it directly from the dash or from the battery pack. Using a 12v charger on your laptop will extend the useful power of your battery. It simply uses less energy foe the exact same results. Either post or search for the model number of your laptop and 12v charger and you will find one for $15-$30.

Use a car charger for your cell phone. Any battery pack you buy will have at least one 12v ciggy socket that ypu can use the same.chrger in. The reasoning is the.same as the laptop
Why "spend" 10 amp hours to charge the device when you cn spend 5 for the exact same result.

Without getting bogged down in the math I would suggest you go somewhere that sells them and pick them up. Get the largest one you can pick up and handle at above waste level. Some have ligjts built in. Some have tire inflators, some have fancier inverters. Just buy the biggest one you can lift and afford. Therw have been several suggestions that would work well for you.

Do not worry about off gassing. Put it out of your mind. Move on. These thimgs don't use that sort of battery and are very safe.

You get what you pay for. Keep it charged between uses. The more.you spend up front the less frustration in the long term.

I hope that helps.

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[user 37446]

I bought a Stanley 1000 and promptly gave it to my son as he had a slow tire leak and needed something that would be available in the trunk to re air the tire, as well as possible jump starts. I had read up on almost all of the SLA battery jumpboxes and felt the Stanley did the best for the price. 

Read Amazon review on them, compare then decide. The Stanley did not have an inverter but Bestek makes lots of models and you'd likely only need a 300-400 watt model, and they dont cost much at all. I bought a 400 to use in my Prius but someone wanted it much more badly than I did one early morning while I was parked, so much so they had to break the window, they were that desperate.  :s

 

[jonyjoe303]

anker powerhouse 434 wh equals to 36 ah lithium battery (434 watts / 12 volts = 36 amps). Thats a decent size lithium comparable to a 72 ah lead acid.

The lithium you can take it down to 0 percent, without damaging it and you dont have to charge lt all the way up like an agm.

My netbook uses about 12 amps to run for 5 hours from a inverter, my lights and phone charger use even less power. If you have a dc wattmeter you can get a rough estimate what your equipment will use.

 

[John61CT]

IMO better if you get one or the other, to get an AC Killawatt.

Conservative measurement since you add the DC-AC conversion inefficiency, plus you don't need an oversize inverter to measure AC devices, know what you need buy a rightsize one.

And your Lithium-ion battery will last longer if you don't discharge all the way down, but stop before Voltage drops much, avoid the shoulder.

Same with charging, 97% SoC is better for longevity than 100%.

20% is best for cold storage

 

[John61CT]

And yes, Anker is a good brand, just check pricing on replacement battery.

Avoid the Xantrex ones unless cheap on eBay

 

[Lisa Truck Gypsy]

I'm still confused with all this talk about inverters, sine waves, DC AC etc.
I just want to know that given the potential load that I am using, what amount of Wattage should I be looking for in a all in one battery pack?
And what brands are said to be good.
thanks

 

[John61CT]

As for how big a battery you need, there are two ways to go.

1 Buy as big as you can physically manage, and that is likely to be enough.

2 Get a Killawatt meter and measure your AH consumed per 24 hours, with the laptop, it all depends on your usage patterns. Then you may find out something smaller will be enough.

------
This is a niche product category full of IMO scamming deceptive vendors and shoddy, or if quality then at least grossly over-priced products.

They are putting a battery in a box, adding some plugs, switches and converters that cost hardly anything and adding a huge markup.

Both the chargers and inverters they include are woefully underpowered and likely poor quality.

You will get much better value learning about this stuff and buying good quality and value components yourself. Especially if you don't actually need all-in-one-unit portability, just set it up in a corner section of your van.

But, if you really are willing to pay a lot more money for maybe less than you need just to save yourself a bit of effort learning about these topics, then the only two vendors I've seen so far I think would be decent quality, are Anker and the ArkPak solution.

 

[XFILE36]

I have seen one item like an air conditioner that needed a pure sine wave inverter. Read these 2 blogs from Bob and you will understand more: http://www.cheaprvliving.com/basics-solar-power/
http://www.cheaprvliving.com/solar-power/solar-basics-understanding-batteries/
By the way, I don't think he addresses lithium batteries. Lithium is good bc you can discharge it almost all the way, whereas lead you can only discharge halfway. Also, it doesn't off-gas. If you can afford it, buy lithium with all in one.

 

[jonyjoe303]

200 watt inverter is probably all you need (laptop 19 volts x 4.9 amps = 93  watts), all your other appliances use even less. 

I have a 200  watt (400 peak) modified sine inverter and it runs everything netbook,chargers, even my hotgluegun and solder irons.
I only encounter one laptop that required a pure sine inverter, it was a large 17 inch laptop, the wall adapter kept shutting down with the modified sine inverter.

 

[John61CT]

Again, laptops do not need ANY inverter at all.

Just get the car version adapter, that will let you run straight off your 12V battery, much more efficient to keep everything DC.

 

[John61CT]

That also holds true for most any device with a power brick or wall wart, especially electronics.

Just look at the Output specs and buy a matching 12V DC version.

Something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Parts-Express-12V-2A-Converter/dp/B000KGKFA4

All possible tip size/polarity and voltage combinations available, cheaply enough most could order a bunch of different ones and keep spares.

The higher efficiency will mean more hours usage and/or smaller battery.

Especially with large consumers like monitors/flat TVs, but then check the amps consumed as well.

If you do need higher amps, then it will cost a little more, but still lots less than using an inverter, and remember more efficient power usage is worth a lot when you're off the grid.

http://www.powerstream.com/dcdc-12V.htm

 

[Lisa Truck Gypsy]

OK so I did some research for my needs and decided to go with the Anker Powerpack. Can't wait to get it here and test it out prior to leaving. Now I need to find a good GPS unit. Any recomendations?

 

[John61CT]

OK so I did some research for my needs and decided to go with the Anker Powerpack. Can't wait to get it here and test it out prior to leaving.

Great Lisa! Look forward to reports as you're using it over time.