Battery Power Stations

Tim

Tim

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Goal Zero, Jackery, Rockpals, etc, etc.

I’m looking for a battery power station to charge phones, kindles, etc and power a CPAP.

I’m thinking 500-600w will do.

Anybody have a preferred brand? I kinda suspect they’re all the same, just different skins.

I have propane/gas generators covered, looking specifically for a lightweight no hassle battery for this purpose.
 
Take a look at Ecoflow. In general, units using the lithium ion phosphate batteries will outperform those using lithium ion, and look into the rated cycles if you're planning on regularly discharging the unit as opposed to keeping it charged up in case of emergencies. Jackery is reliable, but you are paying more for outdated tech and marketing at this point.
 
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I have one of these in my cart. Haven’t pulled the trigger yet. I think @Chdamn has one to run his cpap when he’s camping. I need to go ahead and get one. I have a flexible 100w solar panel that I’d carry to let mine charge some during the day when I wasn’t using it.


Portable Power Station 320Wh, Lifepo4 Solar Powered Outdoor Generator, 240W Emergency Power Supply, Cpap Battery Backup for Camping, Home Office and Hunting Gear https://a.co/d/2DjPwsc
 
I bought a 300w Rockpals several years ago and it works great. Probably haven't used it in 4 or 5 months and just checked it and it's still at 100% charge.
 
I've got a Yeti Goal Zero for my old 12v CPAP I've ran at the hunt club since 2014. Dunno how it's still functioning but it is.
Charges in half a sunny day with a single 100W panel. Purchased a Jackery a coupla years ago for a backup.
Thus far I've been diggin the LiFeP04 batteries for the trolling motor and electronics.
Future battery operated purchases will use these.. 🤠 👍
 
Tim said:
I’m thinking 500-600w will do.
Click to expand...
I am not familiar with the brands mentioned, but just thinking out loud, Consider a 12v lead acid battery. 600w at 12v is 50 amps. Thats a lot of current and puts you in #6 or #8 wire. A 200 amp hour battery (pretty good size) would be drained in 4 hours. 600w is also equivalent to 10 standard incandescent bulbs like we used to get. Long story short, you’re probably overestimating your needs substantially.

Still, I would consider the option of a solid plate lead acid battery and an inverter and solar charger. Portable, but not light weight but will run a decent amount of 120vac equipment for several hours.
 
Tim,
Jackarys aren’t bad but they are 5-6 year old tech at this point. Take a look at the power stations by Bluetti. They are the current industry leader in power station units. They use LiFePO4 battery’s that can be discharged 3500+ times and still retain a 80% capacity. Great warranty, reasonable prices per watt hour - not cheap but competitive with other companies.

These are what all the off grid, car/bus/car dwellers are using these days.

Checkout this video on the AC180.


www.bluettipower.com

BLUETTI: Portable Power Station, Solar Generator Kit

Explore BLUETTI for your off-grid solar power solutions. Shop solar generator kits, portable power stations, solar panels, and more.
www.bluettipower.com www.bluettipower.com
 
I don't know much about these but I have looked into them a little.

FWIW, Amazon has the VTOMAN 600x on sale for $239 right now. I'm a bit tempted...
 
Thanks y’all. I just snagged this one for $209+tax delivered.

BLUETTI Portable Power Station EB3A, 268Wh LiFePO4 Battery Backup w/ 2 600W (1200W Surge) AC Outlets, Recharge from 0-80% in 30 Min., Solar Generator for Outdoor Camping (Solar Panel Optional) https://a.co/d/gyZRpsq
 
Burt Gummer said:
I have one of these in my cart. Haven’t pulled the trigger yet. I think @Chdamn has one to run his cpap when he’s camping. I need to go ahead and get one. I have a flexible 100w solar panel that I’d carry to let mine charge some during the day when I wasn’t using it.


Portable Power Station 320Wh, Lifepo4 Solar Powered Outdoor Generator, 240W Emergency Power Supply, Cpap Battery Backup for Camping, Home Office and Hunting Gear https://a.co/d/2DjPwsc
Click to expand...
Yep. Had to send the first one back. On a trial run at the house the power would flash off and back on real quick a few times a night.

Which would stall the cpap and I’d wake up struggling to breathe.

They replaced it and the second one is fine.
 
I've been waiting for this to come to market. I've got 2 Juiced electric bikes. They are developing a charging station that also works as a battery bank in an emergency.

Screenshot_20230722_184911_DuckDuckGo.jpg
 
I want one to take camping for the coffee pot.
But that takes 1300 watts running and that gets pricey.
 
noway2 said:
Still, I would consider the option of a solid plate lead acid battery and ...
Click to expand...
The ONLY situation where a lead acid battery out performs a lithium battery is when it sits fully charged, suddenly delivers a lot of amps, then gets charged up full again. In other words, lead acid batteries are the best at starting motors. That's all they are the best at. If you can get one for substantially less money than a lithium battery, then that makes them almost as good as a lithium battery.
 
Two of us just got the ecoflow units, I got a smaller river 2 pro, he got uh, something larger in their line (can't recall which). Been looking at all of them for 6+ months at this point, I feel like I know too much about batteries.

I built my own system 4 years ago for the van, big ass AGM battery, a couple of control circuits, outboard charger. It wasn't just hooked directly to the alternator, it's no where near the same size/chemistry as the starting battery so charging them together is asking for trouble and/or reduced life and capacity.

it's worked well, but it's not small and it it's starting to show it's age. That AGM has been kept charged when not in use (any time the van is running the charger is automatically attached) but it's just old. It ran my fridge and stuff this last weekend but will be replaced with the river 2 here in the next few weeks after i wire up the new charging/load circult. Rather than doing pass-through charging (which it can do, others can not) I'm going to switch the load from the battery to the alternator when the van is on so that the battery can charge at max rate with no load attached. It's just a relay, and that little extra complexity is worth it to me to get max charging rate.
 
Tim said:
Goal Zero, Jackery, Rockpals, etc, etc.

I’m looking for a battery power station to charge phones, kindles, etc and power a CPAP.

I’m thinking 500-600w will do.

Anybody have a preferred brand? I kinda suspect they’re all the same, just different skins.

I have propane/gas generators covered, looking specifically for a lightweight no hassle battery for this purpose.
Click to expand...


I use Rockpals at shows. Been pleased with them.
 
What machine you got Tim? I can let you borrow my power supply and battery if ResMed Air Sense 10.

USA Resmed 370003 24v 3.75A DC Adapter Power Supply​

 
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Johnboy said:
What machine you got Tim? I can let you borrow my power supply and battery if ResMed Air Sense 10.

USA Resmed 370003 24v 3.75A DC Adapter Power Supply​

Click to expand...
That’s the one I have, thanks for the offer! I have one coming this week, thanks.
 
cubrock said:
I use Rockpals at shows. Been pleased with them.
Click to expand...
I looked at their site and found a 1300W/2000W max unit $515 off and ordered it.
Used code PRD500


www.rockpals.com

Rockpals 1300W Portable Power Station

ROCKPALS Portable Power Station 1300W - 1254.4Wh Outdoor Battery Backup Power, Solar Generator with 3 AC Outlets Peak 2000W Powerful, Emergency Power Equipment for Camping, Home, RV/Van, Outages, CPAP
www.rockpals.com www.rockpals.com

Order summary​

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Rockpals 1300W Portable Power Station × 1
1300W Power Station
tF3A35d40q_Y5EpPGJL_QKFDipFKdJESTGPMKW0UixEd2HyzFCEU7m9yGs4gepz1PLl44XYlk5NwbpnyVtO4-ZPlLF2kbJlwrSKW52GjgHoxrVhNCiVdWidEPc-6H2zQYcrLyerbgn4g4Xh-q32lBks78x39umGzm6pOcPgPOejqXCur-o2miBNJsgoBKLwqKZ_5-qZ-N97G771Zj7jNcddCicVd_xEaZo8TSOrgAH8kEfpPow=s0-d-e1-ft
PRD500 (-$515.00)		$1,059.99
$544.99​
Subtotal
$544.99​
Shipping
$0.00​
Taxes
$0.00​
Total
$544.99 USD​
You saved $515.00​
 
I’m looking at something similar but haven’t decided yet.
 
MacEntyre said:
The ONLY situation where a lead acid battery out performs a lithium battery is when it sits fully charged, suddenly delivers a lot of amps, then gets charged up full again. In other words, lead acid batteries are the best at starting motors. That's all they are the best at. If you can get one for substantially less money than a lithium battery, then that makes them almost as good as a lithium battery.
Click to expand...
Generally true.

The exceptions are a specifically built (and rather large, heavy, and quite costly) absorbed-glass-mat battery for telecom / electronics backup use, and this type wet cell battery:

27M-EFB battery | Interstate Batteries

www.interstatebatteries.com www.interstatebatteries.com

which is really just a modern version of a trolling motor battery. They can really run worthwhile loads for a long time and do not suffer ill effects when discharged, like a car battery does.

For more than 20 years I maintained a set of the AGMs here, surplus from data centers of the day (basically the same as a telephone company central office supply) and then as those batteries aged out, I switched to a bank of the EFBs.

The batteries were arranged to power my entire ham radio station, for a week of regular use in an emergency. Later I backed that off to three days' storage.

Now, I have converted to Bioenno LiFePO4 20aH bricks.

www.bioennopower.com

12V, 20Ah LFP Battery (PVC, BLF-1220A)

Click here to download the Material Safety Data Sheet for LiFePO4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) batteries. Price: $192.99 (battery only); $212.99 (battery including charger); $419.99 (battery+charger+power box) The Bioenno Power Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) Battery Model BLF-1220A is a...
www.bioennopower.com www.bioennopower.com

way more powerful per unit weight and size, actually portable, and with the flat discharge curve of the chemistry involved, more useful. The pack includes a charge controller that prevents overdischarge.
 
Just a side note to add, LiFeP04 are not to be charged below 32 deg. Using them below 32 is fine just can't charge them. Not sure why but all of mine have that warning with them and all my chargers cut of charging to them at 38 deg. The self contained units like these might have a t-stat that controls that, I don't know.
 
The BLUETTI EB3A showed up yesterday. I charged it to 100%, plugged in the iPhone and CPAP. I used a DC (cigarettte lighter style) adapter for the CPAP. After 8 hours, the battery was down to 40%.

I was hoping to get a full weekend out of it, so I may be returning in favor of one with more capacity. Otherwise, I like the machine, setup and app.

EDIT : For the ~$210 I paid. I may as well keep this one for charging devices - phones, etc.
 
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MacEntyre said:
The ONLY situation where a lead acid battery out performs a lithium battery is when it sits fully charged, suddenly delivers a lot of amps, then gets charged up full again. In other words, lead acid batteries are the best at starting motors. That's all they are the best at. If you can get one for substantially less money than a lithium battery, then that makes them almost as good as a lithium battery.
Click to expand...
My next boat batteries will be lithium. Especially for my trolling motor
 
Crankbait said:
My next boat batteries will be lithium. Especially for my trolling motor
Click to expand...
I like them but for the price I can not justify them.
Maybe one day when I can not move my current AGM's do to the weight then I could justify it.
The cost now is just crazy.
 
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Tim said:
The BLUETTI EB3A showed up yesterday. I charged it to 100%, plugged in the iPhone and CPAP. I used a DC (cigarettte lighter style) adapter for the CPAP. After 8 hours, the battery was down to 40%.

I was hoping to get a full weekend out of it, so I may be returning in favor of one with more capacity. Otherwise, I like the machine, setup and app.

EDIT : For the ~$210 I paid. I may as well keep this one for charging devices - phones, etc.
Click to expand...
Get a solar panel to charge it with?
 
Tim said:
The BLUETTI EB3A showed up yesterday. I charged it to 100%, plugged in the iPhone and CPAP. I used a DC (cigarettte lighter style) adapter for the CPAP. After 8 hours, the battery was down to 40%.

I was hoping to get a full weekend out of it, so I may be returning in favor of one with more capacity. Otherwise, I like the machine, setup and app.

EDIT : For the ~$210 I paid. I may as well keep this one for charging devices - phones, etc.
Click to expand...
See if they have a kit to hook 2 together.
 
Tim said:
Then I’m hauling 2 units instead of 1 larger unit.
Click to expand...
I'm probably in the same boat as you except I sure as hell aint camping out anytime soon. I like to be able to defecate indoors on working toilet.

My use case is SHTF and power outages. I'd like to be able to power a cpap and a few other things like lights and so forth. Maybe a blender for margaritas.
 
Tim said:
yeah, I was trying to avoid hauling around to much 'stuff' to get this done. But that may be the answer.
Click to expand...

Just make sure that you purchase enough solar cell to charge that thing up in your natural lifetime.
 
Since you're talking about running a medical device that I'm guessing is pretty important for your sanity, I wouldn't cheap out. Jackery and Ecoflow both make great products, I'd stick to one of them. Jackery has gotten glowing reviews by LTT on YouTube, ecoflow from other channels I often watch. Both companies should offer a solar trickle charge option as well.
 
Tim said:
The BLUETTI EB3A showed up yesterday. I charged it to 100%, plugged in the iPhone and CPAP. I used a DC (cigarettte lighter style) adapter for the CPAP. After 8 hours, the battery was down to 40%.

I was hoping to get a full weekend out of it, so I may be returning in favor of one with more capacity. Otherwise, I like the machine, setup and app.

EDIT : For the ~$210 I paid. I may as well keep this one for charging devices - phones, etc.
Click to expand...
Tim,

Turn off the heated tube and the climate control. The machine needs those in winter not summer.
 
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