Charging EcoFlow power bank from solar panel

[L' Hobo]

Mine never fails through winter, I honestly don't know why folks say it won't, I seem to have some sort of miracle setup.
I am overwhelmed with electricity.

I think I'll buy an Ambulance for a Toad, it would be nice to be overwhelmed by something?

 

[1967bowesj]

You won't get 10A from a 120w panel anyway

Who said anything about 10a from a 120w panel?

 

[chaser]

I think I'll buy an Ambulance for a Toad, it would be nice to be overwhelmed by something?

If it wasn't for the initial cost and all the faffing about I would get one and let it charge up in the day then bring it in the house and run the TV or something off it.
I think it's criminal all this solar energy being wasted on all these motorhomes just standing about.

 

[Simon G]

All this is beyond me, we have 200w solar two 100a matt batteries and one 100a engine battery, we have no fancy lithium or b2b just the bog standard Chinese solar controller and we never get anywhere near running out of power , never hookup unless it comes in the price.
My big problem is finding things to use all the spare electric.

I'll be round for you to set up my replacement van...

 

[Langtoftlad]

Please tell me about charging a powerbank from an EV charging point

• what sort of cable/connector, an assortment?
• cost & how do you pay?

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[chaser]

I'll be round for you to set up my replacement van...

There's hardly anything to do, put a couple of solar panels on the roof bring in the 2 wires to a Chinese controller, two more away from it to your batteries, it's not really rocket science is it?

 

[chaser]

There's hardly anything to do, put a couple of solar panels on the roof bring in the 2 wires to a Chinese controller, two more away from it to your batteries, it's not really rocket science is it?

Then I would just connect this power bank thing to the battery , beyond me why you need all this other gummins.

 

[jezport]

You won't get 10A from a 120w panel anyway

chaser yes they all charge via 12v but slow, max 10a i think.
I have our power bank and solar charger on a change over switch and it can easy top up the leisure batteries then switch over to pb. I do have 340 watts of solar though.
In the ops case i would go for a folding panel direct to pb. They could then fit a second solar controller to feed batteries when pb is full

Who said anything about 10a from a 120w panel?

 

[autorouter]

Please tell me about charging a powerbank from an EV charging point

• what sort of cable/connector, an assortment?
• cost & how do you pay?

There are different kinds of EV charge point, some have high voltage DC (over 400V), some have standard mains power (single phase or 3 phase) and some have both combined in one plug. Obviously you want the type that is the standard mains, which is known as 'Type 2', not Tesla, ChaDeMo or CCS. Often there are 3 types of connector on the same EV point, and you choose which one to use.

A Type 2 connector has 7 pins, 5 power pins and 2 signal pins. If all the pins are wired, it will have three phase wires, one neutral and one earth, plus two signal wires. However is can be wired so that it has one live, one neutral and one earth (just like house mains) plus two signal wires.

EV Charger Types, Connectors & Speeds | Pod Point

A guide covering the different types of electric vehicle connector types and charging speeds, from slow to rapid and everything in between.

pod-point.com

The wire needs some simple electroncs built into it, to tell the EV charge point how thick the wire is, whether everything is all safely connected and locked, and how much power to send.

You can buy a cable that connects a Type 2 connector on an EV charge point to a round blue 240V EHU inlet found on a motorhome. It has the correct built-in electronics to do the job.

Juicy Brucie EV-Cable — Bruce Lauderdale

www.brucelauderdale.com

There is no danger of overloading the EV charge point. The minimum you are likely to see is 7kW (= 32A mains circuit). For comparison, the maximum power from a camp site EHU point is 16A, about 3.5kW. Your charger is unlikely to be more than about 1.5kW, so will not stress the EV charge point at all.

To use a charge point, you download the app for that brand, and pay for the energy used. It is usually expensive compared to your house bill, at 50p to 75p for one kilowatt-hour, but your power pack probably only takes about 2kWh, so less than £2 to fill it.

I haven't used one of these cables, I made my own connection that works in a similar way.

 

[Simon G]

There's hardly anything to do, put a couple of solar panels on the roof bring in the 2 wires to a Chinese controller, two more away from it to your batteries, it's not really rocket science is it?

...and the conventional split charge relay to charge from the engine alternator? What inverter do you use with all your excess power??

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[chaser]

...and the conventional split charge relay to charge from the engine alternator? What inverter do you use with all your excess power??

Have only got a Chinese cheapy for just in case, everything else in the van is 12 volt

 

[chaser]

...and the conventional split charge relay to charge from the engine alternator? What inverter do you use with all your excess power??

This is my full solar electrical setup and inverter. Roughly £40 the lot.
By the way it isn't charging at 14.9 it just flashes about when the battery is full.

 

[starquake]

Exoflow do some good portable solar panels.

They do, but other brands are cheaper. You just need a standard solar panel with the "standard" solar connectors (MC4), then a MC4 to delta 2 "patch" lead for connecting between the MC4 standard and the XT60 standard the ecoflows typically use (the ecoflow standard is good for 60 amps so don't worry about over powering, it can handle a lot more than the units can accept.).

The key piece is buying panels that are in the ecoflow model you own's acceptable voltage range. The larger ecoflows can typically work with the higher power "domestic" panels which use higher voltages (as they work up to 60 volts on "most" models, but check your own).

We are using a Allpowers portable foldable array with our Ecoflow along with a MC4 extension to allow it to be placed anywhere around the van so we can handle any shading on a campsite) and a MC4 to XT60 patch lead. This allows a lot more flexibility on both location and "angle" to capture a lot of solar. At moment we only have 100W, but I am adding a second 200W to the existing 100W (total of 300) next time we do a order from Amazon. Should add the allpowers foldable panels fit in our lockers "better" than some rival brands which definitely do NOT fit.

 

[Graydo]

Tried a similar setup at the weekend.

I have a permanent 10 amp 12 volt socket in the back of the van which will charge the ecoflow delta 2 with the appropriate cable from the leisure batteries (two 110 lithiums).
The leisure batteries are replenished with the 100 watt solar panel on the roof.

I DONT connect the ecoflow directly to the solar panel via mttp

This gives me the option of 230 ac wherever I want.

I tried plugging the ecoflow into the van with an ehu cable (which would make all my pre-wired 3 pin sockets in the van active) but found that the leisure batteries regarded this as a bona fide ehu and started charging from the ecoflow, thus just shunting power around from batteries to ecoflow and back again.

I find with the fridge on gas and the heating off I could easily run for a month from an 11 kg refillable bottle with the delta 2 taking care of occasional electrical use via a 3 pin extension cable to power toasters/hairdryers etc and the lithiums taking care of lighting etc.

I'm going to test this theory in August when we return to europe for 6 weeks and hope to be largely self sufficient.

One excellent feature of the ecoflow is the ability to alter power settings when charging so not to trip campsite electrics and a pass through function that acts as an UPS.

Good units

Graydo

 

[starquake]

I have a permanent 10 amp 12 volt socket in the back of the van which will charge the ecoflow delta 2 with the appropriate cable from the leisure batteries (two 110 lithiums).
The leisure batteries are replenished with the 100 watt solar panel on the roof.

We may do saem this weekend, we leave tmrw, and it's so hot, we are thinking of taking the ICE machine which has a 10A constant draw on the 12v... We'll run it with our solar ocnnected on the array in the day (it'll still discharge slightly) then recharge using the leisure battery and the 12V 10A socket in evening, rinse, repeat, that way we'll be using the roof solar AND the solar array (portable) connected equally, and exercising the leisure battery a little. I'll probably set the delta2 for 60W charging when not using solar.

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[1967bowesj]

Tried a similar setup at the weekend.

I have a permanent 10 amp 12 volt socket in the back of the van which will charge the ecoflow delta 2 with the appropriate cable from the leisure batteries (two 110 lithiums).
The leisure batteries are replenished with the 100 watt solar panel on the roof.

I DONT connect the ecoflow directly to the solar panel via mttp

This gives me the option of 230 ac wherever I want.

I tried plugging the ecoflow into the van with an ehu cable (which would make all my pre-wired 3 pin sockets in the van active) but found that the leisure batteries regarded this as a bona fide ehu and started charging from the ecoflow, thus just shunting power around from batteries to ecoflow and back again.

I find with the fridge on gas and the heating off I could easily run for a month from an 11 kg refillable bottle with the delta 2 taking care of occasional electrical use via a 3 pin extension cable to power toasters/hairdryers etc and the lithiums taking care of lighting etc.

I'm going to test this theory in August when we return to europe for 6 weeks and hope to be largely self sufficient.

One excellent feature of the ecoflow is the ability to alter power settings when charging so not to trip campsite electrics and a pass through function that acts as an UPS.

Good units

Graydo

Why not just isolate the 240v to the fridge and charger/12v power supply when you connect the EcoFlow to the van electrics. That will stop the cycle between battery ecoflow pushing power round. You then don’t need to drape an extension cable round the van. Easy enough to interrupt power to charger via switched spur outlet.

 

[Graydo]

Not having to trail a cable around the van was the original idea of plugging it into the ehu, but I am not electrically proficient enough to isolate fridges, chargers etc but I know exactly what you mean.

For the occasional use of projector, wife's hairdryer and toaster etc, I can live with minimal cable use.

Graydo

 

[1967bowesj]

Not having to trail a cable around the van was the original idea of plugging it into the ehu, but I am not electrically proficient enough to isolate fridges, chargers etc but I know exactly what you mean.

For the occasional use of projector, wife's hairdryer and toaster etc, I can live with minimal cable use.

Graydo

Do you have ebl charger, big blue box with all cables going to from it?
If yes just pull the charger fuse or pull the black kettle lead from it

 

[Graydo]

I have a victron mttp charger next to the battery if that's what you mean.

 

[Graydo]

Ah, you mean the schaudt unit under the passenger seat?

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[1967bowesj]

I have a victron mttp charger next to the battery if that's what you mean.

Something like this, there will be a power lead like an old kettle lead

 

[1967bowesj]

Ah, you mean the schaudt unit under the passenger seat?

Yes, if it’s easy to access just pull the kettle lead out it will stop the charger. It might not show on control panel you have mains connected is they sometimes use use that as a trigger feed

 

[Graydo]

Yes, I have one of those, do you recommend removing a kettle lead? And if so how will this affect tracker, alarm systems etc (I know it will only be temporary).

Graydo

 

[Graydo]

Yes, if it’s easy to access just pull the kettle lead out it will stop the charger. It might not show on control panel you have mains connected is they sometimes use use that as a trigger feed

Easy enough to get to, just four screws and a vented panel to remove.
Just not sure how it will affect all the other things I have attached to the unit.

 

[1967bowesj]

Easy enough to get to, just four screws and a vented panel to remove.
Just not sure how it will affect all the other things I have attached to the unit.

The kettle lead only powers the charger type transformer. The tracker will run from engine battery so it can get the start up pulse, same I expect for alarm. Easy to check, try disconnect the leisure battery while not on 240v see if alarm and tracker still work.
I take it everything works ok while off grid no electric, which is basically what you will be like with the lead isolated

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[1967bowesj]

You might even be able to use something like this instead of pulling the plug every time

https://amzn.eu/d/04SUStrn

 

[Graydo]

Yes, everything works ok not connected to hook up.
Assuming this only cuts off the charger and fridge how would I make this a permanent feature dont want to get under the table and remove that panel every time.

 

[Graydo]

You might even be able to use something like this instead of pulling the plug every time

https://amzn.eu/d/04SUStrn

Ha ha, you gave me the answer before I thought of the question.
Yes that looks like a more permanent solution thanks.
Graydo

 

[Graydo]

The kettle lead only powers the charger type transformer. The tracker will run from engine battery so it can get the start up pulse, same I expect for alarm. Easy to check, try disconnect the leisure battery while not on 240v see if alarm and tracker still work.
I take it everything works ok while off grid no electric, which is basically what you will be like with the lead isolated

Will removing the kettle lead stop the fridge from working altogether? Or would it still run on gas?

 

[1967bowesj]

Fridge would still have 240 to it but you just manually select gas.
There will be a normal trip consumer unit that you could throw the trip to fridge but really not needed just switch it to gas

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