Power banks

[POH]

Thinking of getting one, but my other brain is asking do you really need one we mainly stay on sites but use some aires in France and Spain would use for wife's hairdryer and maybe the kettle, the one I am looking at is the Eco flow delta 2 1024 wh .Thanks

 

[Guigsy]

My view is it's more practical to properly install a lithium battery and the associated upgrades. It'd charge while you're driving, whenever you're on hookup, and the solar is on the roof, so doesn't have to be put out (which you can't do on an Aire).

But plenty of others rate them.

 

[BikerGraham]

We have the same one with a portable 160w solar panel. Find it handy to have for when not on EHU.

 

[Landy Andy]

Got a Ecoflow 2. Charges from flat in just over an hour. Can be charged by a solar panel, and leaves you to park in the shade. When the sun doesn’t shine you can charge via engine slowly, or get their “Alternator” that will charge it from flat to full in 1.3hrs. Ours will charge E-bike batteries, run hair dryer, and straighteners. Can do more but we don’t really use 240v whilst in the van. We’ve run our Nija air fryer off it whilst playing with it. Nice simple single package, that doesn’t affect your van. No messing with what you have, and that’s works, so don’t fiddle with what works.

 

[Cush]

Thinking of getting one, but my other brain is asking do you really need one we mainly stay on sites but use some aires in France and Spain would use for wife's hairdryer and maybe the kettle, the one I am looking at is the Eco flow delta 2 1024 wh .Thanks

What sort of leisure battery do you have? If lead acid and you don’t see yourself going lithium then I reckon you will get one to have a short term 240 luxury when off grid. You might then consider a bigger one so you can run an air fryer too.

My name is Cush and I’m a powerbank user!

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[the1andonly]

My view is it's more practical to properly install a lithium battery and the associated upgrades. It'd charge while you're driving, whenever you're on hookup, and the solar is on the roof, so doesn't have to be put out (which you can't do on an Aire).

Couldn't have put it better. Do you really need high power mains devices. I even made do with a MSW invertor until new laptop forced the issue.

 

[Guigsy]

Couldn't have put it better. Do you really need high power mains devices. I even made do with a MSW invertor until new laptop forced the issue.

My laptop charges at a reasonable speed from a 12v to USB C PD adaptor. It's only 30w, but that's enough to slowly charge it even when it's in use. It means I don't need an invertor or laptop power supply. One USB C cable... that also works for the phone, tablet, etc. Simples!

 

[the1andonly]

My laptop charges at a reasonable speed from a 12v to USB C PD adaptor. It's only 30w, but that's enough to slowly charge it even when it's in use. It means I don't need an invertor or laptop power supply. One USB C cable... that also works for the phone, tablet, etc. Simples!

Lucky lad. my old fujitsu charged from a 12V brick- 19V. This new hp has a usb C orifice but wont charge from it even spent over 30 quid on a fancy charger and cable, no joy. You will use hps own 240v charger no 3rd party ones either, it has a 3 connection plug +- and sence so restricting supply.

 

[fishplug]

Couldn't have put it better. Do you really need high power mains devices. I even made do with a MSW invertor until new laptop forced the issue.

In the old PVC I simply bought an adaptor for my laptop that ran from the cigarette lighter socket. Laptops run off batteries which vary in voltage but the input range is most likely somewhere between 7.5 and 14.8v - so converting power from a 12v battery to 240v via an inverter only to knock it back down again to 7.5v isn't very efficient.

Most modern laptops will charge from USB-C now so a £10 PD socket with a suitably rated fuse directly from your leisure batteries or fuse box will power that.

As for hairdryers - I saw a great little trick from the True Blue Traveller's YouTube channel where they just attached an extension to the diesel heater's output vent!

I really like the concept of the powerbanks and I love the versatility and the fact that they're truly silent (compared to my petrol 'silent generator') but.... I've yet to find a genuine need for one in the van and the new PVC is being built as a 12v only system as a result.

Doesn't stop me wanting one, but I don't know what I would do with it in reality.

 

[Tigger-Tim]

Thinking of getting one, but my other brain is asking do you really need one we mainly stay on sites but use some aires in France and Spain would use for wife's hairdryer and maybe the kettle, the one I am looking at is the Eco flow delta 2 1024 wh .Thanks

I use an ecoflow delta 2 for exactly that.

We normally stay on sites, so I just plug it in to charge when needed. But I can use the ecoflow to power my coffee machine, wife's hairdryer. Also an induction hob.

I know I could fit lithium and an inverter. But I'm content with the power bank.

As a bonus, I've been able to use it at home when we had a BBQ at the bottom of the garden, and when we had a power cut.

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[Landy Andy]

Only reason we bought one was for our E-bike batteries. We can not charge them from 12v, only 240. An alternative is to buy two spare bike batteries but the ecoflow delta 2 in a sale is cheaper than just my bike battery, let alone a second one, and obviously it gives us the freedom, and options to use it in other scenarios.

 

[starquake]

Thinking of getting one, but my other brain is asking do you really need one we mainly stay on sites but use some aires in France and Spain would use for wife's hairdryer and maybe the kettle, the one I am looking at is the Eco flow delta 2 1024 wh .Thanks

We find we need one for times off-grid in summer. The solar is better than what we have on our van (100W on van), 400 available vai delta2.

We have offgrid cooked some chips in airfryer + some toast on the toaster several times offgrid. You could say we could use the gas over for former, and gril for latter, but we were using the oven to cook something else at a different temperature at same time so wasn't as convienient.

Equally being able to use the van's microwave is convienient at times, ditto wife's hair straighteners.

Yes, it's a luxury, but it has allowed us to also use a cheaper 240v TV (£100 for a unit with dvd + aerial + hdmi for a firestick) instead of £190 for a 12V TV roughly or £3-400 for an avtex. The TV we have from Argos is fine.

We also use ours for power cuts at home (of which we've had... 28 this year joys of rural living). As we don't park the van at home we can't just plugin to the van for these, so it's rather handy being able to watch TV when the road has an all too frequent 20 min outage. We use the "ups mode" the delta2 has when it's at home, it does cause some devices to reboot when mains is lost, but works quite well in the whole, and stuff powered by USB (including our internet) is unimpacted.

 

[Jo662]

We have an Ecoflow Delta ,even though we have 200ah of lithium batteries.
We use it when we are on THS , as means we can stay off grid longer if we’re
not getting much solar,and staying in one place,

 

[POH]

got one thing is the 12 volt ciggy socket lead is to short anyone know where I gat get a longer one from as want to charge it while driving also what's this alternator charging I've heard about .

 

[Tigger-Tim]

...what's this alternator charging I've heard about .

EcoFlow 800W Alternator Charger - EcoFlow UK

- Charge while you drive, and stay powered up on the road.- 800W turbo alternator, 8× faster than traditional in-vehicle auxiliary power outlets. Top up 1kWh in only 1.3 hours. - A 3-in-1 fast charger, maintainer, and jump starter keeps your battery in mint condition.- Easy installation-...

uk.ecoflow.com

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[the1andonly]

Most modern laptops will charge from USB-C now so a £10 PD socket with a suitably rated fuse directly from your leisure batteries or fuse box will power that.

Unfortunately most is not all. I had a right old game with my new HP. it has a USBC but will not charge from it, I wasted over 30 quid on adaptors and cables specificaly for the job. Even the HP website was rather ambiguous about which series can and cant. The mains adaptor has 3 pins +-and sense so only HP supplies can be used. So i was forced to get a pure sine wave inverter and a old HP power supply.

 

[Guigsy]

Unfortunately most is not all. I had a right old game with my new HP. it has a USBC but will not charge from it, I wasted over 30 quid on adaptors and cables specificaly for the job. Even the HP website was rather ambiguous about which series can and cant. The mains adaptor has 3 pins +-and sense so only HP supplies can be used. So i was forced to get a pure sine wave inverter and a old HP power supply.

My wife's work HP has their proprietary power connector. Also charges on random USB C PD chargers just fine. The tell is that the (overpriced) dock is usb c.

 

[the1andonly]

My wife's work HP has their proprietary power connector. Also charges on random USB C PD chargers just fine. The tell is that the (overpriced) dock is usb c.

I think the problem is some series do and some dont. I suspect mine was an old series that HP was selling cheap (direct, but very high spec for price), no problem with that other than i wish HP had been up front about spec, then i wouldnt have played about with USB chargers.

 

[Pukka]

I can highly recommend this little power bank and it will charge a hp laptop

https://www.targetcomponents.co.uk/...wer/batteries-and-power-banks/bapre-ad10c100w

Prevo AD10C 100W USB-C Power Delivery PD 20000mAh Portable Fast-Charging Powerbank with Digital Display, Dual USB-C & USB-A with 100W USB-C Cable Included for Laptops, Ultrabooks, Chromebooks, Smartphones & Tablets

Prevo AD10C 100W USB-C Power Delivery PD 20000mAh Portable Fast-Charging Powerbank with Digital Display, Dual USB-C & USB-A with 100W USB-C Cable Included for Laptops, Ultrabooks, Chromebooks, Smartphones & Tablets

www.rlsupplies.co.uk

 

[starquake]

I think the problem is some series do and some dont. I suspect mine was an old series that HP was selling cheap (direct, but very high spec for price), no problem with that other than i wish HP had been up front about spec, then i wouldnt have played about with USB chargers.

The support for USB PD is not universal unfortunatly even with usbc ports, I have one personal laptop that doesn't work, one that does, but only on one of the 2 usbc ports.

I can say all recent macs work fine on usbc though (for many years).

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[Guigsy]

The support for USB PD is not universal unfortunatly even with usbc ports, I have one personal laptop that doesn't work, one that does, but only on one of the 2 usbc ports.

I can say all recent macs work fine on usbc though (for many years).

The port should have either a battery symbol (often with other symbols inside the battery) or a lightning symbol (Thunderbolt port) if it supports Power Delivery.

 

[POH]

having bought a delta2 got to thinking about a portable solar panel , can anyone recommend a cheapish one or do I really need one

 

[starquake]

having bought a delta2 got to thinking about a portable solar panel , can anyone recommend a cheapish one or do I really need one

We got a foldable one from Renogy that fit under our bench seat. Really it's more about dimensions for your use case. A friend uses a (very cheap) roof solar panel as he has a garage that fits it well.

The only thing you must do is check the voltage range is suitable for the delta2 (most are) and have a suitable length cable. We have a 5m cable, and a pigtail to connect to the delta2.

Some solar panels come with the pigtail/cabling, some dont.

The one we have is https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0CNPHD4VY/?tag=mhf04-21 (be sure to click the £30 off voucher) and is 200W. You may want 400W if you have room.

Should say it fits in the same space as the 100W foldable we previously ran with, which is why I say be careful on dimensions. It's also expensive cause it's foldable and ip65 rated you can get cheaper glass backed panels but they will be heavier and obviously larger.

You can buy a panel thats not foldable and works from £50 upwards -> above isn't cheap but is relatively light, solid, and fits under (our at least) bench seats locker.

 

[Clive Mott]

If you are tenting or living out the back of an estate car I can see the attraction, but for a motorhome then NO.
Spend that money if you need more energy on a bigger lithium leisure battery bank, maximised fit and forget glass based solar real estate and a chunky pure sine wave inverter connected into your mains sockets with one of my Cliveway units available from Roadpro. And nothing to store when driving nor lug about when parked up.

 

[mgibbons]

I tend to agree with Clive. I bought a motorhome in April as an experiment as I needed a solution to my wife's hair dryer needs when not connected to an EHU and I did not want to fork out for full lithium at the time. I bought a River 2 Pro for around £500 and a cheap suitcase solar panel. It works very well and it's a really impressive bit of kit. However ..... having experienced this method and done some research I am now investing in a full lithium setup with a Fogstar 300ah battery. It is many times more expensive at around £2500 - mainly due to the inverter - but will be so much better and less of a pain than lugging the RP around, trying to store it safely, trying to charge it, etc. The extra cost is particularly worth it to me on extended trips such as 4 weeks or more and when, as I expect, we spend most time of grid at Aires and cheaper campsites. If you're going to be mainly on EHU I would probably not bother. So, I would strongly recommend considering putting the money towards a full setup especially as the LiPo battery costs have come down so much. Cheers. Mark.

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[Laughing Gravy]

Only reason we bought one was for our E-bike batteries. We can not charge them from 12v, only 240. An alternative is to buy two spare bike batteries but the ecoflow delta 2 in a sale is cheaper than just my bike battery, let alone a second one, and obviously it gives us the freedom, and options to use it in other scenarios.

Same reason

 

[GMLS]

Wouldnt be without mine now.I have fitted a 12v to 24v transformer which allows for much faster charging from my lithium leisure battery

 

[French Charlie]

Got a Ecoflow 2. Charges from flat in just over an hour. Can be charged by a solar panel, and leaves you to park in the shade. When the sun doesn’t shine you can charge via engine slowly, or get their “Alternator” that will charge it from flat to full in 1.3hrs. Ours will charge E-bike batteries, run hair dryer, and straighteners. Can do more but we don’t really use 240v whilst in the van. We’ve run our Nija air fryer off it whilst playing with it. Nice simple single package, that doesn’t affect your van. No messing with what you have, and that’s works, so don’t fiddle with what works.

We have an Ecoflow River Pro 800w with a foldable solar panel. Brilliant for off grid parking, and a blessing at home when the power went out during the recent storms. Was very dubious about investing in this device but caved in to HQ1's demands. Glad I did.

 

[Andrewhr]

I have 2 delta 2s. They are not heavy so can be moved about easily. They allow far greater power usage if needed. I've not put in lithium yet because its a new MH, only had it a fortnight but will do so at some point. We will still have the deltas because if we install say a 2000w inverter we would have 5,600 watts available at any point so not overload anything. Just gives flexibility in my mind.

 

[Geistguy]

I am now investing in a full lithium setup with a Fogstar 300ah battery. It is many times more expensive at around £2500 - mainly due to the inverter

Can I ask why so much ? Our 300ah was around £800, 18 months ago, it was just dropped in and the control panel changed to Lithium, nothing else has been added or altered. I've looked at inverter but as yet not purchased one, when I do I would expect not to pay more than £250 for a 2kw. Since fitting we have spent 90+ days away, 85 off grid, and never been short of battery power.