Hey campers! I’ve been running my V2 platform camper on my Power Wagon about two years now. I picked it up used from the expo forum and absolutely love it even if we haven’t camped in it much. We’ve been mostly full-time travelers for 9 years now, and our home on wheels is an Airstream, but the GFC helps us explore away from wherever home may be.
I am running two 100w Renogy panels up top that I have used to power two different power stations in that time: Goal Zero 400 and a Bluetti EB3A. I really only use the power station to run a Dometic fridge, but they occasionally power / charge other electronics. Unfortunately, both of those have failed over time. The Bluetti most recently complains of DC output overcurrent, but I’ll check in with their support. I’m not holding out much hope. The Goal Zero is DEAD.
It have seen the power stations struggle with warmer temps in the back of the truck during summer months. I am wondering if anyone might have a more rugged recommendation. I love the simplicity of the power station along with the flexibility to pull it out and power other things. I’d prefer to find a more rugged power station before I try to install a more permanent power system, but I’m eager to hear other opinions. Thanks for any help y’all might have!
I have a Goal Zero Yeti 1000x (or maybe 1500x?) and the problem I have with it is the LiFePo batteries- they simply can’t take the heat of Southern California. Also these units have a lifetime of hundreds, not thousands of charge cycles, so their lifetime can be pretty short.
All this to say that you probably want to avoid lithium polymer chemistries. You might need to build something custom with some other more rugged batteries. That’s my long term plan, personally.
Aren’t there power stations with a battery type that has thousands of charge cycles?
When I was looking at the jackery’s, the hundreds charge cycle was what kept me from pulling the trigger. During my research I found power stations with a different type of battery that had a huge gain in lifespan. It’s been years since I did the research so I do not remember the type.
If all you’re using your power station for is running a fridge and charging miscellaneous electronics, you might be able to get by with just DC. AC Inverters can run hot and exacerbate your heat problem.
I’ve been running one of these for about 6 months. It powered my Iceco GO20 fridge and kept my phone, puck lights, and Surface charged on a 9500 mile road trip from NJ to WA, through all the national parks in UT (in the July heat), and back to NJ. I kept it charged via the outlet in the bed of my Tacoma. I might add solar eventually, but haven’t really needed to yet. I can’t speak to the longevity in terms of charge cycles since I haven’t had it very long, but overall I’m impressed with it, especially for the price compared to some other units out there. Here’s my thread about it. There’s some good teardown reviews on YouTube too.
Ecoflow Delta 2 in my GFC. It stays back there and I haven’t had any issues. Since I have it sitting on my “shelf”, I’ve been thinking of adding a hard foam for it to sit on just to absorb vibration.
I second the ecoflow delta 2. Amazon currently has $450 off if you pair with the 220W solar, making it $1200. Pricey, but it’s a joy to use/monitor with the ecoflow app.
Thank you, all, for your input! I like the idea of the Flex with the swappable batteries, that’s a clever idea. I should have added that I had a brief fling with an EcoFlow River Pro that I bought through Costco, but ended up returning it within that first year when it failed to take a charge. Maybe I should give the EcoFlow products another serious look given how many folks are vouching for them here. Heck, I see Costco has the River 2 Pro for $399, which seems like a fantastic deal. You get the newer chemistry batteries with 3k cycles, just at a smaller capacity. The Bluetti I have been running is pretty small, but the capacity was suitable for my needs and solar. I think the River 2 Pro would be nearly 3x the capacity of the Bluetti that croaked, so maybe it’s worth a shot. Sadly, Costco doesn’t have any of the Delta 2 models, and I don’t want to pick up an original Delta they have with the older chemistry and reduced cycles. Still, that larger capacity would give even more flexibility, like backup for power outages at our cabin.
I haven’t necessarily given up on the idea of a more DIY solution, but these newer power stations have so many great features and offer a lot of useful simplicity for the price when compared to separate solar charge controllers, batteries, inverters, etc.
Delta2 or better yet delta2 max. Avoid delta max as it’s not the good battery type. Wait for a sale and buy from rei or Costco for hassle free return if need be.
I have a couple small, cheap Jackerys that I use for things that don’t require a large power draw, like my water pump, LED lighting, phones/computer, etc., saving my Ecoflow Delta2 for the heavy lifting of powering my fridge and Starlink. Also cuts down on the cabling required as I can place these Jackerys close to the items they’re powering.
I just got the UPS fast charger for the flex solar generator…it’s pretty legit …I say that plus the rugged version and add the apl propane generator…they just came out with one that’s remote start…you solid for living out of it…and not worrying about power
0% to 100% in two hours for 2 batterys…idk about the generator time yet…
My plan is to upgrade my alp generator to the remote start and have everything hooked up…just to press the start from inside and be able to charge the solar generator or have it running…when I’m cooking or use the hot water stick heater or water boiler just to have it not running off the solar generator and eating the power…
I use a gorge foreman grill so it way easier to clean and cook but uses a lot of power.
I got the Delta 2 with Delta max (1st gen) add on battery inside the cab (rear seat footwell area) of my Ram 1500 Rebel. I made a wooden platform (wooden for now. Will make it out of metal when I finish testing my design) where I cut slots and have the straps go through the slots to hold the system down. Next to it on the passenger side I have the fridge.
See pics:
I’ve gone this way because I overland and drive solo 100% of the time, so the rear seat area is always unoccupied. The way that things (Ecoflows and fridge) only take up less than half of the back seat area. I can talk about how I organize stuff if there’s interest. Back to the Ecoflows:
So, with Delta 2 and Delta Max (gen 1) add-on battery, I have combined of around 3kw of power. To power it, I run a Victron 12-24v DC-DC charger and utilize the XT-60i cable. Highest I push out of Victron into Ecoflow is 450wh of power. I use the Ecoflows to run fridge (so fridge is on 24/7/365), Starlink (I leave the router inside anyways, just run a cable out for the dish to top of the GFC), charge my tablet while driving (I use it as an overlanding/ offroad navi, and the onboard usb-c charge speed is way too slow), and charge other USB devices (Devos lights, headlamp, drone, etc). I know the add-on battery is not LiFEPO4 like Delta 2, but that is completely fine with me since I got it for less than what a Delta 2 Add-on would cost while getting double the capacity. When I need to charge it at home, I just lower the window slightly and run an extension cord into the cab. If I set it to charge at 1500wh, it’d only take 2 hours to charge completely. But usually I let it charge at 200wh or so to reduce heat and stress.
I like EcoFlow because it’s a whole ecosystem of electronic products. With the app I can turn on and off output, and check charging and discharging level and remaining capacity. I also have a Wave 1 (the AC unit), which is also controlled via the app. I’ve yet to try this, but when my friend was overseas, he was charging his truck with Ecoflow (ecoflow AC output to Noco charger, wall outlet to Ecoflow) and was able to periodically reset the Noco charger by turning AC output on and off via the app since the unit was connected to wifi.
I also run a secondary (house) battery inside the camper.
I run a Li Times 100ah 12v LiFEPO4 that I also got for half off. I use Renogy controller for this application, since I need both ignition charging and MPPT for solar (solar hasn’t been installed yet. That is for future Eric to do). I put the LiFEPO4 in an All-Top battery box.
Originally I wanted a power source that doesn’t draw from the starting battery to power the camper lights, then I figured why not just go overboard since it was Black Friday. The benefit of this setup is I got 100ah (about 1000wh of capacity) for camper lights (way overkill) and I am able to run diesel heater directly from the 100ah battery without worrying about tripping fuse in the portable systems like Ecoflow, since starting sequence for heaters draw a lot of amperage. If I really want to, I can probably run an inverter to power my laptop or something when I work inside the camper as well. With both ignition charge and solar charge, I have unlimited amount of power I can use inside the “house.”
