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Hi all. Excitedly collecting my Tourneo Custom next week and have been thinking about what to do with it. It'll mainly be a family bus but I also plan to use it for bike trips and camping on occasion. I originally thought I'd get a leisure battery and diesel heater as a minimum but have seen these mobile power stations pop up on my timeline and brief conversations have suggested they may be able to provide the power I need for a day or two away?
Anyway, you lot will know about this stuff so how good are they, which ones should I look at or avoid, what size do I need without going over the top (prices seem to be all over the place) and is there anything else to know?
No idea, but a 'mobile power station' sounds like some new trendy name for a battery/inverter!
I bought a Jackery 1000 v2 the other week when they were on sale, mainly tp charge up my ebike without having to negotiate with B&Bs or youth hostels about doing so. It works fine and does the job well. As the name suggests, about 1000 Wh of power, which is fine for me. It'll become redundant in future if/when I get an EV with vehicle to load capability, but that's a few years off.
Dead simple to use and set up. I've got it timed to only charge up at home on cheap rate electricity overnight, so I'm saving pennies charging my ebike at home too.
I have an Anker Solix 800 Plus, with a 100w Solar panel for my 'adventure bus' (Vauxhall Vivaro Life) - getting a three day test this weekend, powering the cool box and charging phones. Buy them in a 'sale' and do not pay the full price. Anker, Jackery and Bluetti seem fine.
Should be a bit of a test this weekend as we're off grid for two days (third has power) and this particular unit I have has two camping lights, which is why I bought it. These double as a torch or a light. I 'should' be able to run the cool box and charge the battery pack with solar, although the weather isn't looking too great. I shall report back on charge rates.
It's also the first test of my Van Gear bed system (that sits under the parcel shelf) and our Thermarest Mondo Kings.
The power station has enough juice in the USB C to power a laptop directly. It will also power an electric camping kettle if needed.
Thanks team. So realistically something around £500 should be able to charge phones, run a small heater for a few hours and boil a kettle or two?
I don't plan to need it for more than a couple of days at a time and usually less than that so most charging etc can be done on the move in the van. Not sure I'd need solar but guess it depends how efficient they are and how long the pack lasts?
The kettle might be a challenge as the wattage output may not be high enough. check the specs on whichever one you want first
I fitted a leisure battery to our last van and I can't say we got that much benefit. Handy but for short trips you can get by with a good power bank for many things. I've just bought a small mobile power station (an Anker via a deal on hotUKdeals) which does look quite handy for bigger devices and more flexible for camping and work. For making a brew a small gas stove is very cheap.
The kettle might be a challenge as the wattage output may not be high enough. check the specs on whichever one you want first
Though, you can also get low wattage kettles for caravan use (and also, some very cheap crap kettles fit the bill just by coincidence- those terible ones you get in cheap hotels that take an hour to make a cup are ideal)
We have a camping kettle, that's OK for 10A hook up - takes just short of a litre and is 1kw, so works fine on the Anker power bank. It does use about 10% (80kw) of the capacity boiling a full kettle. Any heater and you'll gobble a 800-1000 kwh battery in an hour !
Many have a surge capacity of about 1600w (short burst of power) and consistent draw of a bit less than that. I believe the large cool box uses about 40w so I'd have 20 hours of constant use out of my battery, but I'm hoping to connect the solar which can put in about 80w in good sun, 30-50w in cloud, so I suspect we'll get a few days chiller use. I plan switching the cooler off overnight as ambient temperature will be lower.
@fossy this might be a stupid question but what happens when the Anker is full and it's still plugged in to the solar panels?
When full, it stops charging - the battery has software/hardware to stop charge, or if the fridge is on, it will keep the battery topped up. According to the instructions you can draw power as you charge. Comes with mains and car 12v chargers, then if you opt for the solar as well - you usually get a 'bundle deal'. Most come with an app, so you can monitor what it's doing with regards charge and discharge rates, and turn it's in-built light on. I've so far tested it with the kettle, mains charged it, and used solar to check it works. It will get some proper use this weekend.
I bought a DJI 1000 power bank last year and it is pretty good.
I can run my 800w toaster and 1200w microwave at the same time. My 2kw kettle uses 1850w in normal operation so that works.
Plugged in my mitre saw and the start up peak was 3500w before it settled down, no issues.
I can lug it around, 20kg I think.
Operates quietly except when drawing 1500w + and the fan has a slight noise.
Runs silently when the TV or electric blanket is plugged in.
I bought a wi-fi dongle to connect it to the DJI home app.
I'll consider buying the DJI 2000w expansion battery when they drop below £500 (currently £799)
I paid £599 for the DJI 1000 on the run up to Xmas.
Not used it for camping, yet. I have the cigarette lighter car adaptor so I can charge it from the car and a solar panel up to 120w.
But I do use it daily to avoid peak pricing on the octopus agile tariff.
Great piece of kit.
Brilliant info, keep it coming, they sound just the job!
I watched a video, probably sponsored 🤔, by a North American cinematographer who was using the DJI system in the back of his pickup in sub zero conditions taking pictures of the aurora. Seemed to work well for him.
Having built a few vehicles previously with split charge and deep discharge battery's etc etc for fridge/lighting I wouldn't bother nowadays and use a powerbank instead. Heating though would still be via an ebberspacher.
Here is another thing, if you accidentally flatten your car battery you can run a car charger off one, or ensure your 'battery booster' is charged. I'm going to see how we do this summer and maybe buy another solar panel, but I can't see I'll need to. Worse case I can run the car to top it up. I've got a Norco booster just in case - I've seen people flatten their vehicles.
I went for Anker as I've alot of their stuff and I am pleased with the quality. The 800 plus has an extending arm that you can pop one of the torch/lamps to so you can have one at a different height - e.g. as a reading light. The fan kicks in when you run something powerful through it, or are fast charging from the mains. I've not enabled the 'super fast' mains charge as it charges fast enough - superfast is good in an emergency, but not really for regular use.
This weekend we're with friends who do lots of wild swimming. My wife has an electric hot water bottle (lidl special) which is basically like a self contained kettle. When she goes for a dip, I can plug the 'hot water bottle' into the pack and heat it in 10 minutes. The 'hot water bottle' then lasts for a few hours, so she can warm her feet/toes etc back up quickly.
We also have a couple of small solar panels that we use to keep power banks charged for the phones - we managed 3 nights on one 20,000mah battery for charging both phones.
My van does have a Webasto diesel heater, but it's linked into the van's heating - on cold mornings it kicks in to produce heat to the blowers in about one minute. There is/was a kit that you could get to operate it separately from the car engine (it's fitted as a pre-heater in colder climates and has a separate remote), but not in the UK.
Be interesting to see what low wattage electric heaters could be used.
Decent review, and I just learned something too - the standard threads for the 'pole' for the lights.
TBH, i'd probably drop something else into the mix for most cooking purposes. I have a tiny stove, fuel and a kettle in a bag, ready to go. Even if i have the whole thing, including 3 pans and a 1l fuel bottle it fits into a small (15x25cm) kit bag.
Can set it up and have it heating water in a minute. If it's raining, i run it under the tailgate.
Cheers Mert, been thinking about a gas stove for cooking duties as well. Main thought for the power bank is to replace the leisure battery and diesel heater I'd planned as a first mod. Seems a no brainer if it will cover those bases and also have other uses.
We cook on gas, and boil the kettle. I can recommend the Camping Gaz Party BBQ CV400 - we take it everywhere. We've even done a stir fry on the beach (the lid doubles as a wok).
I'm currently powering my tumble dryer with my DJI power 1000. I doubt I'll ever take my tumble dryer camping but it's good to know that it can dry my pants!
Glamping to the max?
I'm currently powering my tumble dryer with my DJI power 1000.
You must be really desperate.. Agile price is going to be about 5p in a few minutes!
I really should stop looking at this thread..... I'm now wondering how I can justify one a 'power station' 😩
(I do actually have an idea.... we have a beach hut with a gas stove and fridge but our lighting solution is not the best and one of these would give us lots more options - the problem is we're barely using the beach hut ATM 😬)
You must be really desperate.. Agile price is going to be about 5p in a few minutes!
I thought I'd empty the slightly more expensive stored power prior to refilling with cheaper 5p power 😂
It is the only way I can justify the power station, by using it often and wisely ⚡⚡😬
I have àn ecoflow river 2 max and 200w solar panel. Its been great and if these had been around a few years ago, wouldn't have bothered fitting a leisure battery in the van.
If you want to run a diesel heater from it make sure it has a high enough power output at 12v. I looked in to them a while ago and a lot of them would only do 10A at 12v.
I’ve got a camper with a lithium battery and all the chargers and wiring that goes along with it, I’d seriously consider using one of these power stations next time.
Xbox 360 power supplies can be modified to run diesel heaters. Then you can run them off 240v
I did that for my garage heater and it works spot on.