Power banks (2 Viewers)

[autorouter]

If you really want to go down the route of connecting the solar to the Ecoflow, you'll need a connector. Anderson connectors are better than MC4 for easy disconnection. MC4 are weatherproof, but lock together and need a tool to release them. Or you can snip the locking tabs.

You'll need a changeover switch too, unless you want to unplug and plug in all the connectors.

Two possibilities for the connection. The wires from the solar panel can be connected to the solar panel input of the Ecoflow. Or the motorhome solar controller output can be connected to the 12V charging input of the Ecoflow.

Anderson SB50 (120A) Connector Housing - Grey

Anderson SB50 double pole power connector housing in grey for currents up to 120A. Ideal for making removable high-power connections to batteries.

www.12voltplanet.co.uk

Anderson SB50 Double-Pole & PP75 Powerpole Connector Terminal

Terminals to fit Anderson PP75 Powerpole connector housings and Anderson SB50 Double Pole connector housings

www.12voltplanet.co.uk

 

[Langtoftlad]

Or the motorhome solar controller output can be connected to the 12V charging input of the Ecoflow.

Aha

 

[RM_Marine]

Looks like Costco are reducing the ecoflow it's it offer in the next few days

 

[GMLS]

I brought this from costco all the units recharge from dead to 80% on 240v demestic in around an hour

Anker 757 PowerHouse 1229Wh Portable Power Station with 2...

Keep your home running during blackouts or take the comforts of home out and about with the Anker 757 Power Station. From camping essentials to microwaves and other appliances the Anker 757 Portable Power Station is perfect for when you need power. 6× Longer-Lasting Rated to provide 3,000...

www.costco.co.uk

I have to say that it's not bad as I didn't want to install loads of things in the motorhome and not be able to use them elsewhere

I do which Id gone for the bigger unit but I wouldn't of gotten the solar which I've used quite alot

Anker 757 PowerHouse 1229Wh Portable Power Station | Cost...

Keep your home running during blackouts or take the comforts of home out and about with the Anker 757 Power Station. From camping essentials to microwaves and other appliances the Anker 757 Portable Power Station is perfect for when you need power. 6× Longer-Lasting Rated to provide 3,000...

www.costco.co.uk

Anker 767 PowerHouse 2048Wh Portable Power Station | Cos...

Anker PowerHouse 767 brings power to any place you need it. Thanks to tough 4.72-inch wheels that can travel up to 125 miles, no obstacle or terrain can stop this portable power. The portable power station packs a punch with a massive 2048Wh capacity and 2400W AC output, making it easy to power...

www.costco.co.uk

Anker 767 PowerHouse 2048Wh Portable Power Station with A...

Anker PowerHouse 767 brings power to any place you need it. Thanks to tough 4.72-inch wheels that can travel up to 125 miles, no obstacle or terrain can stop this portable power. The portable power station packs a punch with a massive 2048Wh capacity and 2400W AC output, making it easy to power...

www.costco.co.uk

V happy with our 767 and that's a great price.

 

[Langtoftlad]

Can someone tell me what does the [for example] 1229Wh actually mean in comparison to my fitted leisure batteries?

AFAIK these power banks are effectively a portable self contained lithium battery.

I have 2x Banner 110Ah lead acid batteries, so I know I have 55Ah of juice discharging to 50%.
But all these power banks seem to be measured in Wh and I don't know how to compare.
And I want to compare what I have so I can make a rational choice of what sized power bank I might buy...


Edit:
I've found an online calculator which suggests a simple formula Wh/Volts
So the above 1229Wh Anker 757 is 1229 divided by 12 = 102.42 Ah

I presume that, being lithium, I could use 80% ?
So about 80Ah of usable 'juice' - perhaps a little less due to electrickery gubbins inefficiencies

Does this sound about right?
If so, adding an effective 145% to my battery capacity makes one of these things a bit more attractive

But please tell me if I've got it completely wrong.

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[RM_Marine]

Lithium you can use all of it

I brought one of the 1229 ankers as I have two 100ah batteries so in theory doubling my current set up and having a 1500watt inverter

 

[Cush]

My understanding is pretty much the same as you for the watt hours and I got confused with the mill amp hours that it stated (that phrase is from memory but might be wrong). I think you have more juice than you calculate as you have two batteries so 2 times 50% of a 110.

not all appear to have LiFePO4 batteries in them.
when it makes financial sense I will be going that route

i will probably go for the biggest output available from its built in inverter and rig my van solar to support it

following with interest

 

[autorouter]

I've found an online calculator which suggests a simple formula Wh/Volts
So the above 1229Wh Anker 757 is 1229 divided by 12 = 102.42 Ah

I presume that, being lithium, I could use 80% ?
So about 80Ah of usable 'juice' - perhaps a little less due to electrickery gubbins inefficiencies

Does this sound about right?
If so, adding an effective 145% to my battery capacity makes one of these things a bit more attractive

Yes, sounds about right.

A battery can be specified in either Wh or Ah. The Wh is the amount of energy stored. The Ah is the amount of charge stored. The voltage is how much energy is in each unit of charge. In a 12V battery, 1Ah of charge can store 12Wh of energy. So a 100Ah 12V battery can store 100 x 12 = 1200Wh of energy.

If you are comparing batteries with different voltages, then you need to know the Wh of each battery. If the batteries you are comparing are all 12V, as they mostly are with motorhomes, then Wh or Ah are just as good.

 

[Reallyretired]

I have one and although not specifically for motorhome use, I have used it in the winter to boost the charge of the batteries in storage where solar has not been adequate. No ehu at store.

 

[Langtoftlad]

autorouter or anyone.
Picking your brains again
Looking at the Anker 757, seems like it has only a mains charging connector and an XT-60 port for both solar and 12v car charging.
So I presume I can plug my folding panel's PWM output directly into that XT-60 socket (it accepts 11v to 30v input).

Is there any reason why I shouldn't use a power bank as a pseudo EHU to power the van's 240v system as required (obviously I wouldn't use it for heating/water, and not for the fridge except in an emergency, running out of gas)...
It would be simpler to use the conveniently installed sockets rather than either relocate a 20kg brick or run extension cables.
Presumably doing this would top up my leisure batteries too for the 12v system?

TIA

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[Reallyretired]

It would work but obviously the power is limited.
I have used my ecoflow to top up the van batteries while in storage in the winter.

 

[Cush]

autorouter or anyone.
Picking your brains again
Looking at the Anker 757, seems like it has only a mains charging connector and an XT-60 port for both solar and 12v car charging.
So I presume I can plug my folding panel's PWM output directly into that XT-60 socket (it accepts 11v to 30v input).

Is there any reason why I shouldn't use a power bank as a pseudo EHU to power the van's 240v system as required (obviously I wouldn't use it for heating/water, and not for the fridge except in an emergency, running out of gas)...
It would be simpler to use the conveniently installed sockets rather than either relocate a 20kg brick or run extension cables.
Presumably doing this would top up my leisure batteries too for the 12v system?

TIA

I understand that the ankers have a built in mppt solar controller so not sure how that would, or if that could work. I’m looking at taking the feed from roof panels and diverting it to the anker before it gets to my onboard solar controller. The 757 can handle up to 300 watts of solar so your foldable panel should be within limits. Can you bypass the pwm? Although the 12v car charger goes in via the same charging port as the solar it may be at too high a voltage. I would contact anker and ask.

im planning on holding off until I can afford the 767 as it can handle my solar (>300 watts) and the built in inverter will produce more power, acting as a portable / short term ehu for storage and travelling too.

keep us updated. Following with interest

 

[Langtoftlad]

I understand that the ankers have a built in mppt solar controller so not sure how that would, or if that could work. I’m looking at taking the feed from roof panels and diverting it to the anker before it gets to my onboard solar controller.

If I was going to have someone alter my onboard electrics, I'd go the whole hog and have lithium leisure batteries installed.

The 757 can handle up to 300 watts of solar so your foldable panel should be within limits. Can you bypass the pwm? Although the 12v car charger goes in via the same charging port as the solar it may be at too high a voltage.

Again above my technical paygrade and I'd lose the flexibility of using the folding panel to charge my leisure batteries.
As I said, the Anker XT-60 port accepts 11-30v
If it accepts 12v from the car socket, it must have some electrickery or the internal MPPT doesn't care.
The maximum voltage of my folding panel is 17.5volts so I'd imagine that would be acceptable to the Anker.

 

[Langtoftlad]

It would work but obviously the power is limited.
I have used my ecoflow to top up the van batteries while in storage in the winter.

The Anker effectively doubles my leisure battery capacity.

I wouldn't 'want' to use it to top up the installed leisure batteries, I'm hoping it would give me [limited] 230v functionality and/or extra 12v capacity

I see some non ehu sites which offer battery charging - so that would also expand horizons/options.
Wasn't there a funster who used to lug his battery into McDonalds to recharge ?

What do you generally use your Ecoflow for?

 

[Cush]

If I was going to have someone alter my onboard electrics, I'd go the whole hog and have lithium leisure batteries installed.


Again above my technical paygrade and I'd lose the flexibility of using the folding panel to charge my leisure batteries.
As I said, the Anker XT-60 port accepts 11-30v
If it accepts 12v from the car socket, it must have some electrickery or the internal MPPT doesn't care.
The maximum voltage of my folding panel is 17.5volts so I'd imagine that would be acceptable to the Anker.

That all makes sense to me.

MASSIVE EDIT COMING UP
a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Ignore me! Have deleted my wittering. My dilemma is take feed from the panels or the mppt’s 12v output. For the 757 there doesn’t seem to be much difference in charging time between a 100w panel and the car charger.

I would Certainly give your plan a go. Like you, the ease of carrying the cube and using it as a boost and 240 inverter as well as in storage outweighs the desire to have the vans electrical infrastructure updated.

while reading about them they do seem to have some interesting electrical jiggerypokery in them such as GAN? Not come across that before

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[GMLS]

autorouter or anyone.
Picking your brains again
Looking at the Anker 757, seems like it has only a mains charging connector and an XT-60 port for both solar and 12v car charging.
So I presume I can plug my folding panel's PWM output directly into that XT-60 socket (it accepts 11v to 30v input).

Is there any reason why I shouldn't use a power bank as a pseudo EHU to power the van's 240v system as required (obviously I wouldn't use it for heating/water, and not for the fridge except in an emergency, running out of gas)...
It would be simpler to use the conveniently installed sockets rather than either relocate a 20kg brick or run extension cables.
Presumably doing this would top up my leisure batteries too for the 12v system?

TIA

So I have the 767 (very similar) and have connected either a single 120w Elecaenta folding panel straight into the xt60 connection on the unit or 2 of them via the accessory I got in the pack. You could connect the powerbank to your vehicle via a hook up no trouble.

 

[Langtoftlad]

So I have the 767 (very similar) and have connected either a single 120w Elecaenta folding panel straight into the xt60 connection on the unit or 2 of them via the accessory I got in the pack. You could connect the powerbank to your vehicle via a hook up no trouble.

The "issue" [if it is an issue] is that I already have a 150w folding panel complete with a wired in PWM solar controller.
I got this to supplement my existing single 120w roof panel.
Adding panels to the roof was problematic and expensive - so the 'portable' was my cheaper more practical solution.

So, ideally, I don't want to tinker with the folding panel wiring - I'm hoping that the Anker unit will see the pwm output in the same way as the car charger.

I'm not totally against the idea, in the future, of getting another solar panel purely for the power bank - but unlikely to be an Anker branded one - but I need to see how useful/flexible the Anker might be.

 

[autorouter]

Looking at the Anker 757, seems like it has only a mains charging connector and an XT-60 port for both solar and 12v car charging.
So I presume I can plug my folding panel's PWM output directly into that XT-60 socket (it accepts 11v to 30v input).

Is there any reason why I shouldn't use a power bank as a pseudo EHU to power the van's 240v system as required (obviously I wouldn't use it for heating/water, and not for the fridge except in an emergency, running out of gas)...
It would be simpler to use the conveniently installed sockets rather than either relocate a 20kg brick or run extension cables.
Presumably doing this would top up my leisure batteries too for the 12v system?

That would work fine, I think. You'd have to watch the AES fridge which would switch automatically to 240V if it senses a 240V supply, it's easy to forget if you're used to just letting it do its thing.

I have a similar setup, except it's built-in, not portable. A 48V lithium battery and a 48V inverter-charger. All the hab circuits work from a single 12V leisure battery, which is charged by a Victron Bluesmart IP65 charger from the battery/inverter or EHU if available.

I also have a 12V to 48V B2B that charges the 48V batteries while driving. Also the original split charge relay charges the leisure battery. There seems no reason why you couldn't charge the Anker 757 from the alternator, either just plugging into a socket from the leisure battery or even a separate B2B working from the starter battery/alternator. The advantage of a B2B is that you are not diverting charge that would be going to the leisure battery, they would both be charging at the same time.

If you wanted to keep the Anker 757 inside the MH and not have a cable to the EHU inlet, you could install a second inlet socket in a locker, and wire one of those Generator/EHU switches to switch between them.

 

[Langtoftlad]

AES fridge which would switch automatically to 240V if it senses a 240V supply

I'm basic - manual changeover - if I remember

 

[RM_Marine]

I currently charge the battery while driving from the cigarette socket and when not driving it gets topped up from the cigarette socket I've got connected to the leisure batteries that's topped up from the solar which at this moment in time is pushed 52wh at this moment in time

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[Langtoftlad]

I currently charge the battery while driving from the cigarette socket and when not driving it gets topped up from the cigarette socket I've got connected to the leisure batteries that's topped up from the solar which at this moment in time is pushed 52wh at this moment in time

That the process I'd anticipate too

 

[Reallyretired]

The power bank has its own solar controller so I dont know whether plugging the output of one controller into another would work.

 

[Cush]

The power bank has its own solar controller so I dont know whether plugging the output of one controller into another would work.

Understand your thinking but as the same port is used for a12v car charger we thought there may be some electronic wizardry inside that senses the voltage and deals with it appropriately. Is that possible?

 

[Langtoftlad]

Just back from a shakedown trip with the Anker 757

It performed to expectations so I'm very happy with it
But there was one anomaly which hopefully one of you electrickery wizards can explain
I wanted to charge my leisure batteries from the 12v output socket but it didn't appear to work.

I have two 12v sockets wired directly into my batteries - one has my folding solar panel connector, so it charges. The other is an accessory socket which I use to power my portable fridge, my flagpole lights, even would charge the Anker...

But when I plugged in the Anker's 12v output into that accessory socket which is simply wired [and fused], nothing seemed to happen.

I'd hoped the Anker would charge the leisure batteries but I saw no evidence - I'm wondering why.

It's not a big issue as I can either use as a pseudo EHU and top up the batteries that way.
Or simply use the sockets the Anker has.

 

[Reallyretired]

The output is probably around 12v. As your batteries will be probably at a higher voltage no charging will take place. If you want to charge them you will need to plug a battery charger into the mains outlet on the Anker.

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[Pausim]

Just back from a shakedown trip with the Anker 757

It performed to expectations so I'm very happy with it
But there was one anomaly which hopefully one of you electrickery wizards can explain
I wanted to charge my leisure batteries from the 12v output socket but it didn't appear to work.

I have two 12v sockets wired directly into my batteries - one has my folding solar panel connector, so it charges. The other is an accessory socket which I use to power my portable fridge, my flagpole lights, even would charge the Anker...

But when I plugged in the Anker's 12v output into that accessory socket which is simply wired [and fused], nothing seemed to happen.

I'd hoped the Anker would charge the leisure batteries but I saw no evidence - I'm wondering why.

It's not a big issue as I can either use as a pseudo EHU and top up the batteries that way.
Or simply use the sockets the Anker has.

My guess is the same as Reallyretired, the Anker voltage is probably not high enough to charge your leisure battery. You may be thinking that a fully charged Li battery should have enough volts to trickle charge a lead acid one. However the internal battery in the Anker is very likely 52V or 26V to start with and will have been stepped down and regulated to something like 12.5V for the 12V output. I would just use the Anker sockets and take the load off the leisure battery so that it lasts longer.

 

[Langtoftlad]

Somewhere in the deep recesses of my few remaining brain cells, I knew a fully charged 12v battery is higher than 12v, infact my wee little chart suggests 12.5v is 90%soc so it makes sense that Anker's 12v output wouldn't be powerful to send any electrons that way...

Thank you, both.

 

[autorouter]

As Reallyretired says. However there are alternatives. You could use a B2B (DC-DC charger) to charge one battery from another. It would have to be the type that has a D+ trigger to turn it on, so it can be turned on with a 12V signal. Just wire the D+ to the 12V positive terminal.

If you are intending to buy a charger specially for this, then consider getting a CTEK CS Free. One of its operating modes is to charge from one battery to another, such as the leisure battery from the Anker 12V output.

It can also work as a standard 8A mains charger. As a bonus, it can charge from solar panels with its inbuilt solar controller. And it has a small inbuilt lithium battery so it can act as a jump-starter for a flat battery.

 

[Langtoftlad]

As Reallyretired says. However there are alternatives. You could use a B2B (DC-DC charger) to charge one battery from another. It would have to be the type that has a D+ trigger to turn it on, so it can be turned on with a 12V signal. Just wire the D+ to the 12V positive terminal.

If you are intending to buy a charger specially for this, then consider getting a CTEK CS Free. One of its operating modes is to charge from one battery to another, such as the leisure battery from the Anker 12V output.

It can also work as a standard 8A mains charger. As a bonus, it can charge from solar panels with its inbuilt solar controller. And it has a small inbuilt lithium battery so it can act as a jump-starter for a flat battery.

Thanks, but whoosh, way above my pay grade...

 

[MisterB]

As Reallyretired says. However there are alternatives. You could use a B2B (DC-DC charger) to charge one battery from another. It would have to be the type that has a D+ trigger to turn it on, so it can be turned on with a 12V signal. Just wire the D+ to the 12V positive terminal.

If you are intending to buy a charger specially for this, then consider getting a CTEK CS Free. One of its operating modes is to charge from one battery to another, such as the leisure battery from the Anker 12V output.

It can also work as a standard 8A mains charger. As a bonus, it can charge from solar panels with its inbuilt solar controller. And it has a small inbuilt lithium battery so it can act as a jump-starter for a flat battery.

You might need a second mortgage though if you do buy a CTEK CS FREE .... Bet they don't sell many in Yorkshire! Lol

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