Portable power

[Jhop567]

I'm planning on buying/building a portable power station to run my CPAP when on the road or during power outages. I've looked at the Jackery 500, and Yeti 500. Any reviews from users or suggestions on building my own?

 

[Tundracamper]

I have a friend that can run his CPAP w/out the humidifier for like two nights on the 240 Jackery. I just purchased the 500 and am pretty impressed, though I don’t use a CPAP. I like the fact the Jackery is not attached to the vehicle and has many other uses.

 

[BCMoto]

My friend uses his Jackery 500 with his rosemead cpap and he can get 2 nights easy without charging it.

 

[static]

I also have the Jackery 500 and I've been quite pleased with it. I got the solar panel to go with it. I did a moderate amount of research when I chose it, and the Jackery package had among the best price:performance ratios I could find.

I use mine primarily to power a portable fridge while on trips. We just got back from a 3 week trip and it performed great. Here are some non-scientific observations:
- Depending on conditions, the solar panel produces between 20-70W in "real world" situations.
- The fridge draws between 5-45W.
- At no point during my trip did I get even close to draining the battery, despite running the fridge continuously the whole time. Between campsite charging via solar, and vehicle charging while in transit, I'm pretty sure I could keep the fridge running more or less indefinitely.

 

[Jhop567]

Thanks to all for the info. I had more or less settled on the Jackery set-up but just needed the little "push" to make the decision.

 

[DRAX]

Can't go wrong with Jackery, they make good products and their customer support/service is second to none.

 

[Mustang03]

I know I'm late to the decision, but wanted to throw in I run my cpap (w/0 humidifier on) on a Yeti-150. It goes one night easily and I re-charge it the next day with solar if in camp or via 12-volt if driving.

 

[Jhop567]

Thanks Mustang 03...Follow-up question- Where's the best place to purchase? According to the reviews from Amazon, they won't take it back if it's a BO unit.

 

[Wellspring]

Bluetti AC50S works for us.

 

[Mustang03]

Thanks Mustang 03...Follow-up question- Where's the best place to purchase? According to the reviews from Amazon, they won't take it back if it's a BO unit.

We got ours at REI. When (after warranty expired) the battery started going south (swelling), we went to Interstate Batteries and got a replacement which we installed ourselves without any trouble. Went that route because read some negative comments about ordering a replacement battery through the mail. At any rate, it still works just fine... good as new.

 

[DMS1]

I have made 3 DIY Solar Generators and they cost almost as much as buying one. So the ones I made all share the same charge controller and Inverter to save costs.

 

[T4R13]

I have made 3 DIY Solar Generators and they cost almost as much as buying one. So the ones I made all share the same charge controller and Inverter to save costs.

Curious where you got the charge controller/inverter. Looking for something cheap to use with a 50 ah battle born battery

 

[Old Tanker]

I'm planning on buying/building a portable power station to run my CPAP when on the road or during power outages. I've looked at the Jackery 500, and Yeti 500. Any reviews from users or suggestions on building my own?

No CPAP usage, but my wife and I have been using our Jackery 500 for a year now. A few observations:

1. 500 wh is quite a bit of juice. With the vehicle shut down and a fridge drawing current, it drops from 100% to 84% overnight.
2. It lacks a USB-C output and therefore can't recharge an iPad DC-DC. (The Jackery 1000 has a USB-C output).
3. It lacks an Anderson plug, so the fridge uses the cigarette lighter accessory jack. This connection is a little wobbly and is therefore augmented with duct tape as well as regular spot-checks.
4. It only has one 12v accessory jack, and therefore can run the fridge, but not the 12v LED light strip or the 12V jerry can water pump. Adding either of those requires unplugging the fridge or using the vehicle battery.
5. It is portable enough to bring into the tent to run or recharge electronics, at the cost of unplugging it from the fridge. This also makes it a handy backup system for home use during a power outage.
6. The handle makes it easy to tie down with a single Rollercam strap across the top.
7. It can power a corded drill, making it quite handy around the house.

 

[Tundracamper]

No CPAP usage, but my wife and I have been using our Jackery 500 for a year now. A few observations:

1. 500 wh is quite a bit of juice. With the vehicle shut down and a fridge drawing current, it drops from 100% to 84% overnight.
2. It lacks a USB-C output and therefore can't recharge an iPad DC-DC. (The Jackery 1000 has a USB-C output).
3. It lacks an Anderson plug, so the fridge uses the cigarette lighter accessory jack. This connection is a little wobbly and is therefore augmented with duct tape as well as regular spot-checks.
4. It only has one 12v accessory jack, and therefore can run the fridge, but not the 12v LED light strip or the 12V jerry can water pump. Adding either of those requires unplugging the fridge or using the vehicle battery.
5. It is portable enough to bring into the tent to run or recharge electronics, at the cost of unplugging it from the fridge. This also makes it a handy backup system for home use during a power outage.
6. The handle makes it easy to tie down with a single Rollercam strap across the top.
7. It can power a corded drill, making it quite handy around the house.

Thought of adding adapters? I often use a USB-C to regular USB adapter to charge my iPad using a regular USB wall plug.


Also, you can get 12V plug splitters. As long as you don’t exceed 120 watts, you should be able to power whatever you want.

 

[Outdoordog]

I have the jackery 500, I love it, but there's an issue that bugs me.

When my fridge go idle for too long, the jackery will shut off. So I have to keep my fridge at lower Temps so that the fridge turns on more frequently.

I also got the solar panels with it, I can go about a week without charge with the panels, powering my fridge and some other things, mostly my phone and Bluetooth speaker.

Might get the 1000 later, and a larger fridge.

 

[DMS1]

Curious where you got the charge controller/inverter. Looking for something cheap to use with a 50 ah battle born battery

Curious where you got the charge controller/inverter. Looking for something cheap to use with a 50 ah battle born battery

I set up my Battery boxes with powerpole connectors so that I can use a victron charge controller and an 100 watt and\or 600 watt inverter, I move them to one of the 3 battery boxes as needed. Saying that, most of the devices I use are 12v or run from USB, I use the 100 watt inverter to charge my laptop and the 600 watt inverter to run a soldering iron and to charge my dewalt and porter cable tool batteries if needed. I only use the victron charge controller and solar panels when camping, the rest of the time I recharge the batteries with a battery charger.

 

[Tundracamper]

I have the jackery 500, I love it, but there's an issue that bugs me.

When my fridge go idle for too long, the jackery will shut off. So I have to keep my fridge at lower Temps so that the fridge turns on more frequently.

I also got the solar panels with it, I can go about a week without charge with the panels, powering my fridge and some other things, mostly my phone and Bluetooth speaker.

Might get the 1000 later, and a larger fridge.

Seems like there is a market for a 1W device that will draw like 15W for just a few minutes every few hours to keep these units running.

 

[Outdoordog]

Seems like there is a market for a 1W device that will draw like 15W for just a few minutes every few hours to keep these units running.

It would have to be shared with the DC plug. I can have other things plugged in, but if my fridge goes idle too long, it'll shut off DC while still giving power to usb or AC.

 

[Old Tanker]

It would have to be shared with the DC plug. I can have other things plugged in, but if my fridge goes idle too long, it'll shut off DC while still giving power to usb or AC.

Run a 12V splitter and put a small load on the other side? Maybe a single LED?

 

[Tundracamper]

Run a 12V splitter and put a small load on the other side? Maybe a single LED?

Splitters are like $12 on Amazon. I like the LED idea (might be really bright though - a 10W LED is a lot). Would be even better if it would just cut on randomly ever so often. The parasitic load in idle would probably be 1 or 2 watts and then the temporary load like 13 watts, just enough to keep Jackery awake.