Portable 500Whr / 2000Whr battery chargers

[danamano]

I found two portable batteries on sale, one is 500 Wh and the other is 2000 Wh. Are these worthwhile for a skoolie? Not sure what the tradeoff is vs regular Lithium Ion batteries and distribution system. Or what the cost difference would be.

https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Watt...8da10d41810INT

https://www.amazon.com/BLUETTI-Porta...51afe3efdb0INT

You can take it off the skoolie and use it elsewhere, for one thing.

[kazetsukai]

Depends on what you hope to accomplish with batteries/solar. These units combine a battery, inverter, charger, and solar charge controller and often work well when used within their limits- many skoolie builds I've seen use such systems with much success. However, if your use case exceeds the limits of those systems you will be disappointed.

Building your own requires patience, research and a willingness to learn but will result in a more capable, more cost effective system. On the other hand, some people need very little, and just want something simple to manage.

[john61ct]

You need to know your Ah consumption per 24hrs at 12V

Portable packs are fine for lights, a fan, screen devices

maybe a very efficient fridge

but not at all close with USA household appliances designed to run off mains.

[cadillackid]

the other thing I always wonder about these chinese units is are the batteries in them replaceable? and are they a common battery?


if you build your own and a cell goes bad you just change it out.. what about these units after you use them for a few years? will parts be available to repair them?

[john61ct]

The better (pricier) powerpaks offer replacement cells

Most expect you to buy a whole new setup.

I doubt most of the OTS units will last five years.

DIY proper LFP build is so much better value, in so many dimensions

with good care should last decades, in fact the infrastructure devices will likely burn out long before the cells would need replacing.