We have a van that we use on holidays etc. We keep it empty (not set up for camping) so that it is universal - haul mtb bikes, move big loads, go on holiday with bikes, gear and a staghound etc. One thing I'd really like is a small fridge for vegetables, one or two bottles of stout, meat, and milk. This power station looks pretty amazing, and it will charge up phones etc too. The only downside I can see is that it won't charge from the car; it will charge from a solar panel though.
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Bluetti EB150 Portable Power Station
- Thread starter Randall
- Start date
What a great unit, first time I’ve seen one.
Mark from Biker Bits does some spot on reviews.
trying to work out if I need it now
Mark from Biker Bits does some spot on reviews.
trying to work out if I need it now
WanderOn
Lofty Wiseman
Randall
Depending on the power consumption of your fridge and time you’re away it may not last.
A waeco 45l consuming 2.2A at 12v equates to 26.4W.
Divide 1000w/h by 26.4W gives you 37.87 hours of capacity without any charging.
A bit unusual it’s not setup for charging from the vehicle although large gauge cable would be required at 12V.
Depending on the power consumption of your fridge and time you’re away it may not last.
A waeco 45l consuming 2.2A at 12v equates to 26.4W.
Divide 1000w/h by 26.4W gives you 37.87 hours of capacity without any charging.
A bit unusual it’s not setup for charging from the vehicle although large gauge cable would be required at 12V.
I was hoping for your feedback. I could live with 2 days; or even just run it during the day, unless it's really hot. I wouldn't get too serious. I probably wouldn't get a 45l either, although smaller fridges don't necessarily use less power. It does look like an awesome out of the box solution; usb, 12v cigarette lighter socket, ac and dc, and it's all managed and fairly portable.
Our own fridge we generally keep at 10°C. It was a surprise to me; previous to that we'd get vegetables damaged by being too cold.
WanderOn
Lofty Wiseman
Let me know if I can help. I’m setting up my camper trailer with battery etc to charge off the car.
An update to the bluetti. I think this would easily serve my simple needs; I'd be happy with 10°C, this dude tested at -7 and a 60 liter empty fridge.
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I've still been looking into this WanderOn. There is a better model bluetti 2000 which charges via car, but the newer model (not available in aus yet) is supposedly better. Rather than play around with solar panels (would they get stolen if I left camp for the day; setting them up, running cables etc, not enough power anyway) I was considering, without knowing much, using the car to charge up / maintain the power station, via an inverter? It looks as though the 240 V ac charging is much quicker than the 12v dc (hence the inverter). With this station it looks it can be charged via "fast dual-way charging input"; basically two ac inputs for a charging time of 2hrs (see one of the pictures in the link above describing this). I was wondering if running the van with a big arse inverter connected with big cables directly to the battery for 30 mins or so could achieve this? Is this something like what you're doing?
I'm even considering setting it up at home with some solar panels - just run the fridge off it. When we're on holidays, unhook the power station and take it with us. We usually empty the house fridge and shut power off to the house while we're gone. This could possibly pay for the power station which sounds as though it will last 10years ("capable of recharging 3500+ times in cycles").
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WanderOn
Lofty Wiseman
Randall
Sorry about the slow reply. Been a bit hectic. I’ll draw up a mud map of what I’m installing and answer your question properly when I’ve had a decent sleep tomorrow. Kids and early starts are catching up with me.
Sorry about the slow reply. Been a bit hectic. I’ll draw up a mud map of what I’m installing and answer your question properly when I’ve had a decent sleep tomorrow. Kids and early starts are catching up with me.
absolutely no hurry. At your leisure. It will be a slow project for me
WanderOn
Lofty Wiseman
Randall
The bluetti doesn’t appear to have a decent 12V charging input. Guessing it’s not targetted
I’d be very cautious connecting an inverter to your starting battery of your van. Not good for that style of battery and quite possibly leave your starting battery flat. Obviously if the van was driving it would be ok as you would be drawing directly from the alternator. Just idling the motor doesn’t tend to allow the alternator to charge at full rate. (I put a hand throttle in my Landcruiser for running the compressor and winch. 1200rpm seems to be ample for the 1hz alternator.)
Below is a simplified drawing of the setup for my camper. I’ve left out irrelevant things like joins between car/camper, car’s second battery.
All the cables are quite heavy gauge
Most of what I have seen and installed for running a second battery is a DC to DC isolator between the starting battery and house battery. The DC to DC isolator modifies the voltage for the house battery (different charge profiles) and stops loads on the house battery draining the starting battery.
My setup will charge from the alternator when driving and not drain the start battery. I also have a 240V charger for topping up the batteries. Also has a solar input which I forgot to draw.
Biggest drawback with this system is that it is mounted permanently in the camper which is a reason you liked the bluetti.
I’m not really sure if I have answered your questions.
It maybe possible to mount the DC to DC isolator in the vehicle and disconnect the battery pack to use externally from the van. Would be a bit of mucking around to build a battery pack to move around.
Ive also included a photo of the battery cells and BMS. I bought all the individual components from China due to cost and cause I can. It’s stalled at the moment due to COVID and using my holidays to landscape instead of holiday.
I hope this helps.
The bluetti doesn’t appear to have a decent 12V charging input. Guessing it’s not targetted
I’d be very cautious connecting an inverter to your starting battery of your van. Not good for that style of battery and quite possibly leave your starting battery flat. Obviously if the van was driving it would be ok as you would be drawing directly from the alternator. Just idling the motor doesn’t tend to allow the alternator to charge at full rate. (I put a hand throttle in my Landcruiser for running the compressor and winch. 1200rpm seems to be ample for the 1hz alternator.)
Below is a simplified drawing of the setup for my camper. I’ve left out irrelevant things like joins between car/camper, car’s second battery.
All the cables are quite heavy gauge
Most of what I have seen and installed for running a second battery is a DC to DC isolator between the starting battery and house battery. The DC to DC isolator modifies the voltage for the house battery (different charge profiles) and stops loads on the house battery draining the starting battery.
My setup will charge from the alternator when driving and not drain the start battery. I also have a 240V charger for topping up the batteries. Also has a solar input which I forgot to draw.
Biggest drawback with this system is that it is mounted permanently in the camper which is a reason you liked the bluetti.
I’m not really sure if I have answered your questions.
It maybe possible to mount the DC to DC isolator in the vehicle and disconnect the battery pack to use externally from the van. Would be a bit of mucking around to build a battery pack to move around.
Ive also included a photo of the battery cells and BMS. I bought all the individual components from China due to cost and cause I can. It’s stalled at the moment due to COVID and using my holidays to landscape instead of holiday.
I hope this helps.
WanderOn
Lofty Wiseman
If I haven’t answered your question or created confusion please let me know. More than happy to help
Redtail
Richard Proenneke
I would have a chat to your local auto-elec. There's some pretty good systems around these days that will do what you're asking.
AGM batteries are cheap, effective and simple. Lithium are light, efficient and expensive!
Nor all DC/DC chargers are created equal. My Traxide system is awesome and takes advantage of the smart alternator in My 2011 Discovery 4.
My mate just installed an Intervolt with a lithium battery in his Prado 150, and that's a sweet setup. He can charge it all up via the plug in the unit via AC or solar.
I've looked at things similar things to the Bluetti, and from what I can tell, they rely on precharging via AC over 6-8 hours.
(And just to add to the confusion, the yanks call them "generators"!)
Whereas I can charge my aux battery in less than an hour with the Traxide setup.
And as mentioned, make sure you use fat cables - firstly for the current draw, secondly for low resistance (and low heat). No point dying in a fire on holidays.
AGM batteries are cheap, effective and simple. Lithium are light, efficient and expensive!
Nor all DC/DC chargers are created equal. My Traxide system is awesome and takes advantage of the smart alternator in My 2011 Discovery 4.
My mate just installed an Intervolt with a lithium battery in his Prado 150, and that's a sweet setup. He can charge it all up via the plug in the unit via AC or solar.
I've looked at things similar things to the Bluetti, and from what I can tell, they rely on precharging via AC over 6-8 hours.
(And just to add to the confusion, the yanks call them "generators"!)
Whereas I can charge my aux battery in less than an hour with the Traxide setup.
And as mentioned, make sure you use fat cables - firstly for the current draw, secondly for low resistance (and low heat). No point dying in a fire on holidays.
WanderOn
Lofty Wiseman
These days the argument for lithium is that it is cheaper in the long term and also has a far better depth of discharge. An AGM will quote an amp hour rating eg 100a/h. The safe discharge of an AGM is 50%, meaning you only have 50a/h to use. Lithium Iron Phosphate claim 100% but life span becomes shortened exponentially. 80% is a more realistic figure quoted
A good lithium will have matched cells and a BMS that will stop over discharge and damage.
Weight is also a huge difference. The 120a/h AGM I installed in my car weighs about 35kg. The 280a/h battery in the picture weighs 22kg and is considerably smaller
You’re definitely right about finding a good auto electrician. I’m not the best at explaining things and my background is heavy industry and underground mining so my knowledge of what’s available for automotive is limited.
If you’re super keen, you can import the battery cells and BMS from China. As with everything There are good and bad suppliers. At the moment with postage factored in the 280 a/h cells are pretty good value as compared to smaller cells. I’ll be setting the BMS quite conservative to get maximum life from the cells.
A good lithium will have matched cells and a BMS that will stop over discharge and damage.
Weight is also a huge difference. The 120a/h AGM I installed in my car weighs about 35kg. The 280a/h battery in the picture weighs 22kg and is considerably smaller
You’re definitely right about finding a good auto electrician. I’m not the best at explaining things and my background is heavy industry and underground mining so my knowledge of what’s available for automotive is limited.
If you’re super keen, you can import the battery cells and BMS from China. As with everything There are good and bad suppliers. At the moment with postage factored in the 280 a/h cells are pretty good value as compared to smaller cells. I’ll be setting the BMS quite conservative to get maximum life from the cells.
yes, I would only get the lithium iron phosphate at this point - they look awesome re charge cycles etc. I have an e mtb, so I'm reasonably familiar with battery care ie between 20 and 80%, store at around 30%, do a balance (full) charge every now and then. I've been keeping my phone between 20 and 80% too.
I think the bluetti unit looks good because it has nearly everything included and it's a portable "all in one". I might try to find someone who can advise and install some solar panels - enough to keep 2000wh bluetti charged and run the fridge and lighting off it. It will also be some independence from the grid and useful if there's a disruption to power. Then I can start working toward a small van of some sort
We had a power outage a while ago for a few days - we were doing our cooking / coffee making via a jacketed hobo stove.
yes, I was wondering about something like this too. I was theorising on such a thing, and didn't know if it existed or not. I assume it can put out a much higher charge when needed? Can a car battery accept a huge charge in while a huge charge is going out? That's why I was thinking of using an inverter with the car while on idle, or as wanderon suggests, having to run a bit higher than idle. That will have to be something to investigate - a smart alternator for my van.
this one has a few different options with charge time supposedly down to 2 hours (2000wh capacity). That's with AC and solar or two ac via solar and ac input. I was wondering why just straight 12v couldn't also go via solar input at a higher rate direct from battery (not cigarette lighter). Perhaps it can?
WanderOn
Lofty Wiseman
Randall
Just found manual. Probably I should have looked earlier. Would have resulted
in far less of my opinion.
You can connect to lead acid battery via the solar input but there’s some buttons to press as below
This has a maximum input of 8.2A at 12V which would work out to be 20 hours to do a full charge. Probably a good option when you’re going for a drive. You could use a simple isolator solenoid to automatically protect your starting battery from over discharge and the bluetti would regulate volts to suit itselfhttps://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0370/4986/0229/files/User_Manual-AC200P_4aefd644-b5e7-49f0-bb20-5716c9748478.pdf?v=1612404506. These are a lot less than a DC to DC
The solar has a maximum of 12A but alot higher voltage range. Eg if you had solar panels charging at 50V at 12A for 5 hours this would equate to 3000W/h which is more than the bluetti capacity. 5 hours of good sun is generally used for solar calculations. You obviously get more than that but that would be the optimum charging period of the day.
The solar input appears to be quite efficient. From memory alot of automotive grade solar inputs have a lot lower voltage input.
Again. Apologies for not reading the manual earlier. I’m usually the bum hole that points out someone isn’t reading the manual.
Hope this helps a bit more
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aha - thankyou for that. I could have read through it and not realised what it was saying
; that's why I rely on interpretive videos or knowledgeable folk like you .I'm going to look into the possibility of a smart alternator in the van and charging via inverter and the 2 ac inputs. We've been exploring on foot, with the dog
, just random places that I like the look of. Only use a map to get to a start point then just follow our noses and get back to the car or van in 2hrs or so. I'm enjoying the exploring and navigation. We have a few tents so we're going to start camping a few days here and there in interesting areas. Maybe take bikes (non e powered). So I'll look at getting a fridge and probably something like the bluetti. I think with just a fridge and an led light, I probably won't need to charge while away. We should do this anyway prior to considering a tear drop or some other small camper.And from one of your previous posts (I forgot to mention) thankyou for the description of the isolator solenoid. I know I'd seen them mentioned in videos but did not understand the significance of them. My ancient experience with dual battery setups was in the days of the battery switch (along with lock in hubs)
.I bought one of these; do you have something like this? Just tried it from the usb of my laptop - it is very bright and points the light down. Very light weight, light wires etc; not rugged, but it should last if it isn't stepped on or crushed.
It sounds as though smart alternator is not what I thought, and therefore not a better option than a standard alternator for dual battery setup. My simplistic understanding is that smart alternator is actually designed to use a lot less energy during normal operation. It can increase power output during times of extra load, but I don't think it exceeds what a standard alternator outputs normally. A standard (dumb) alternator just pumps out the same power all the time, regardless of load needed. It uses more energy than a smart alternator. https://www.club4x4.com.au/the-truth-about-alternators/
Just found high output alternators
Just found high output alternators
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WanderOn
Lofty Wiseman
Haven’t worked out lighting for the camper yet. I have a couple of small LED lights in the boot of the landcruiser that are permanently wired. Was maybe thinking rigid strip lights like the ones 4WD stoopid centre sells.aha - thankyou for that. I could have read through it and not realised what it was saying
I'm going to look into the possibility of a smart alternator in the van and charging via inverter and the 2 ac inputs. We've been exploring on foot, with the dog
And from one of your previous posts (I forgot to mention) thankyou for the description of the isolator solenoid. I know I'd seen them mentioned in videos but did not understand the significance of them. My ancient experience with dual battery setups was in the days of the battery switch (along with lock in hubs)
I bought one of these; do you have something like this? Just tried it from the usb of my laptop - it is very bright and points the light down. Very light weight, light wires etc; not rugged, but it should last if it isn't stepped on or crushed.
Apologies about slow reply. Had a social media break.
Always a pleasure to help. I try not to let my opinion get in the way. (Have lots of them if you want me to share.
)