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Power Station Build

AnOldURAnOldUR Member Posts: 1,699
edited March 31 in Battery/Electrical & Solar
I'll have to eat some crow here. When forum or Facebook threads come up from members using power stations, I'll chime in saying that an onboard battery upgrade is a better option if you don't need the power station for uses outside of camping. Now here I am building a power station.  ;)

This started because I upgraded our onboard 100Ah batteries with newer, more compact 300Ah. That left me with two LiFePO4's with a lot of life in them. We carry a 12V compressor fridge in the back of our Wrangler and keep it set as a freezer. Works great for keeping frozen foods for longer trips. I've used different ways of powering it, but wasn't satisfied with them. Repurposing the old batteries made sense.

We won't be able to give the system a good test until we head out for our first longer trip at the beginning of May, but I have my hopes up that this will be worth the time and cost of the components used. We had the little 375W inverter that we used for blowing up an air mattress when tent camping. It probably won't get much use mounted in this build, but we'll see. The solar controller was left over from when I upgraded our rooftop panel and needed a new larger controller. I also already had the NOCO charger. Everything that I needed to purchase came to about $220. I'm not sure about the overall cost benefit, but it was a fun project that should be useful.









2 x 120V AC outlets
120V Power Inlet (for charger)
12V Volt Meter
Type C and QC 3.0 USB Sockets
Cigarette Type Port
Anderson 45 amp Port (output)
Anderson 45 amp Port (solar input)
Disconnect Switch
Stockton, New Jersey
2020 nuCamp T@B 320S * Jeep Wrangler
60,865 camping miles through the end of 2025

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Comments

  • pthomas745pthomas745 Administrator, Moderator Posts: 4,496
    I am also guilty of saying all the same things about power stations!  When my propane fridge died a couple of years ago, I used my original lead acid trailer battery to support the 12V fridge I now carry. It was nice to get the 12V fridge out of the trailer for a little legroom, and the extra battery was useful for that. My portable panels could recharge it easily.  When the old lead acid finally showed signs of giving up a year ago, I purchased a 50 amp hour lithium battery.  Worked fine.
    Then I stumbled across the Will Prowse "milk crate" power station builds.  He laid out the plan in detail, so I ordered the various parts and worked one up.  Not at "finished" at AnoldUr's here, but it works quite well.  The larger inverter handles my laptop that I carry better than my smaller inverters I use inside the trailer,and I can charge it on shore power or solar.  It was a nice project for me, just one more step of my Tab Education.
    Here is the Will Prowse video for anyone who might like to jump in.

    2017 Outback
    Towed by 2014 Touareg TDi
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