Battleborn battery + briefcase solar vs. Jackery 2000 plus

NH48K

Hi! About a year into our TAB400 ownership, we’re still newbies when it comes to boondocking. Our 2021 Boondock edition has its factory-installed solar panel and 2x 6v batteries, which still test effectively under load. However, we’ve found that a day or so dry camping in partially shaded sites depletes the batteries to 10v or less, running just the fridge, and pump, fan and lights only when needed. An hour or two on the generator helps a bit, but the charge drops back to 10v after several hours. So, we’re looking at ways to upgrade electrical capacity.

Being in the Northeast, where there’s often leafy cover in campgrounds, we favor including portable solar panels vs. upgrading the roof panel for additional input. So the two options we’re considering are (1) Battleborn lithium replacement batteries, combined with two briefcase solar units to boost input, or (2) a Jackery 2000 plus solar power station system. The published specs suggest either option would give us a sustainable power source for near unlimited boondocking with moderate sunshine and judicious use of 115v appliances. The Jackery option is several hundred dollars less than the Battleborn upgrade (dealer installed), and has the added benefit of doubling as a home backup when we’re not camping.

I would love to hear about the experiences of other TAB owners who have done either of these upgrades, particularly the Jackery or other external power station products.

Thanks!

pthomas745

Welcome to the Forums!

The 5 year old dual 6V have done well to get to that age…but what you are seeing with the voltage dropping that low is showing they are practically done.

The best "first" step is to add one of the many 200-230 amp hour lithium batteries what will slot right into the battery spot in the 400. The batteries you have now, when they were new, might provide about 135 amp hours of "usable" power. A lithium battery in the 200-230 amp hour range would provide "about" 190 to 220 usable amp hours, a considerable upgrade in power. You already have a 1200 watt inverter in the trailer, which would allow you to be able to run 110V appliances of up to "about" 900 to 1000 watts. Unless you plan on using some higher powered appliance in the trailer, the Jackery would be redundant.

Other owners have installed even larger lithium batteries in the trailer. The addition of a lithium battery is pretty straight forward, many owners have done this themselves. There are many posts about how to go about this.

2021 400 Lithium Battery upgrade

Note that many owners did not add Battleborn batteries, finding more cost effective and properly sized batteries from LiTime, etc.

Portable solar is a great idea in any situation, especially in places that have shaded campsites. With a properly sized portable setup you can do exactly what you are mentioning in your post. 200 watts would be about the minimum for decent charging of about a 200 amp hour battery setup.