Gladiator Expedition Rigs

[Mules]

I’m still recovering from my operation, but I can’t sit around any more. I took a little trip to my camp ground to see how it faired this winter. I couldn’t get all the way with the truck because of a washout. Good thing I had my UTV. Looks like I’ll have some trail fixing this summer.

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[Mules]

Here's an interesting product. Some small and relatively cheap power stations are now capable of running much larger appliances. Pecron E600 for $299 can power up to 1200 watt appliances such as microwaves and hot plates due to it's large inverter. Basically this is cheaper than installing a large inverter. Only issue is it's battery only has 600wh capacity. If you are only going to use the power supply for cooking and LED lighting, this is a pretty cheap option. It can recharge pretty quickly by solar or AC also. I think I would need to drive/run my Gladiator for 1.5 hours to recharge it using my built in inverter or 3 hours with a 200Watt Solar collector.

I think this is the cheapest way to power an electric hotplate, coffee maker, and/or microwave. Your wife can even bring a hair dryer! Probably only good for one day before needing recharge.

 

[Mules]

Here's an interesting product. Some small and relatively cheap power stations are now capable of running much larger appliances. Pecron E600 for $299 can power up to 1200 watt appliances such as microwaves and hot plates due to it's large inverter. Basically this is cheaper than installing a large inverter. Only issue is it's battery only has 600wh capacity. If you are only going to use the power supply for cooking and LED lighting, this is a pretty cheap option. It can recharge pretty quickly by solar or AC also. I think I would need to drive/run my Gladiator for 1.5 hours to recharge it using my built in inverter or 3 hours with a 200Watt Solar collector.

I think this is the cheapest way to power an electric hotplate, coffee maker, and/or microwave. Your wife can even bring a hair dryer! Probably only good for one day before needing recharge.

Well I ordered the Pecron E600LFP. Do you ever get that feeling that something is too good to be true? I'll let you know how it works out.

 

[Mules]

So here is what I have been researching for electrical power for my camper. Currently the truck's stock battery and 400w inverter are marginal for my needs. I've narrowed my plan down to my "Ideal System" and my "Value System". I'm going value system for now.

1) Ideal System - Replace my stock Gladiator Starter battery with an 80AH Antigravity LiPO or a Dakota Lithium 135AH LiPO starter battery. Add a pure sign wave inverter and cables/fuse from battery to inverter. Cost $2,000 plus my install labor. With my 240 amp stock alternator included with the Jeep tow package, I only need to run the truck about an hour to recharge the batteries. This is cheaper, lighter, and I think better than an old school dual battery setup and I can always ad a solar panel and mppt controller later. I might do this when my stock battery needs replacement in a couple years. This would end up being a clean install and save weight over stock.

2) Value System - Pecron E600LFP Power station, charged by my 120v 400 watt stock Jeep's inverter. Cost $299. The reason I picked the Pecron was it's price and fast charging rate of 400 watt either from 120v supply or solar. It will take 2.2 hours driving my Jeep to fully charge it. If I recharged it using the 12v cigarette lighter plug (100 watt max) it would take 4 times as long. This should work for keeping my refrigerator running 2-3 days without driving, or less with LED lights, and minimal cooking. The nice thing is that I can add $200 worth of solar collectors to the roof, and be good without driving to recharge. Not enough power for heating the camper, but nice for my minimal needs. Hell I can even run a microwave, coffee maker, or hot plate on this thing.

 

[Mules]

Perfect day for a quick trip to the Huzzah River.

 

[Mules]

The sound of the river put me to sleep and what a great view for breakfast. This was a great weekend trip.

 

[aqcjeepGlad]

The sound of the river put me to sleep and what a great view for breakfast. This was a great weekend trip.

Very very nice and looks very peaceful!! I see a camper in the background, is that a campground or is the river open camping as long as you can get to it? Thanks

 

[Mules]

Very very nice and looks very peaceful!! I see a camper in the background, is that a campground or is the river open camping as long as you can get to it? Thanks

This was private property and private campground with rustic sites. In this part of Missouri, our state campgrounds and parks, restrict ATV and 4x4 vehicles usage.

In the 70, 80's & 90's we used to run our "3 wheelers", dirt bikes and 4x4s as far up and down the river as we could until we drowned them! Dry out the distributor cap, and pray they'll start. Then drive (most likely tow) them home and change out the fluids.

Since then Missouri has outlawed driving in rivers except for river crossings and private property. Luckily my friends own some nice river properties. You have to hunt for them, but there's still plenty of public dirt/gravel roads with river crossings.

The pictures are from the Huzzah, Courtios, and Meramec Rivers, in Crawford County Missouri.

 

[Mules]

24 hours into my power station / fridge test and there are 10 beers and 59% power left.

Looks like I need to drink faster?

 

[Mules]

Drumroll please...

The results are in. The Pecron 600watt power supply ran my Iceco JPL42 with a 12 pack of beer for 44 hours. Daytime temperatures are hitting 80's.

It works fine running the fridge for a weekend trip.

Next up I will hook up the power supply to my truck's stock inverter, so that it will change when I am driving. With the fridge running it should keep the power supply topped off by driving (1) hour a day.

This works for now since my camping trips include me 4-wheeling the truck anyway. I typically don't stay in one spot for than more one or two days. If I add 100 to 200 watt solar to this, I'll be able to leave the fridge running in the truck continuously. My beverages might get warm if I have a few days of rain though.

I think 600 watt is the minimum size power supply to run a small fridge on. I would recommend getting a 1200 watt (100AH) or larger Lithium Phosphate power supply. This should last you 3-4 days without recharging.

 

[Mr._Bill]

I would normally recommend getting the largest capacity unit that will fit in the space available (and fit in the budget). Once you have it, you usually find other uses and needs for it. The solar panel increases its capabilities.

I bought a 38 quart fridge/freezer to use while traveling. I ran out of time to order, and bought a $140 jump starter with a 500 watt inverter at Home Depot. It actually works fairly well. I plug it into the outlet in the back seat so it charges while driving, and connect the fridge to the 12 volt port so it is always on. I cool the fridge in advance so it doesn't put that great of a load on the inverter box.

 

[Mules]

Portable or Roof Top Solar? Let me know.

Here's the story. I've been driving my truck to work and the store this week and this has been enough to recharge my power supply and keep my fridge running all week. Problem is if I park my truck for two days, my fridge drains the power supply.

I was thinking about just taping on a 100watt flexible solar panel on the roof. This should keep the fridge running when I park the truck for a couple days.

The problem I just thought about, is that when I camp, I always park my truck in the shade. This keeps my camper cool, but what about the solar panel on top? Maybe I should just use a portable panel and put it in the sun when I camp.

Tricky, which way to go?

 

[smlobx]

Nice beer!
on my Gladiator Overlanding rig I went with a portable fold up solar panel that has a long cord that I plug into my Redarc 1240. I like the flexibility of having a system like that because I can park the truck the most favorable way for me (level, view etc.) and just move the panel to best capture the sun.
this isn’t the best picture of mine in use but you get the idea.

 

[mx5red]

Portable or Roof Top Solar? Let me know.

Here's the story. I've been driving my truck to work and the store this week and this has been enough to recharge my power supply and keep my fridge running all week. Problem is if I park my truck for two days, my fridge drains the power supply.

I was thinking about just taping on a 100watt flexible solar panel on the roof. This should keep the fridge running when I park the truck for a couple days.

The problem I just thought about, is that when I camp, I always park my truck in the shade. This keeps my camper cool, but what about the solar panel on top? Maybe I should just use a portable panel and put it in the sun when I camp.

Tricky, which way to go?

There was recently a post discussing this, about overheating panels and reduced efficiency. The cascadia 4x4 hood panels went from 30W advertised (rubicon model) to like 10w. Flush mounted panels on a camper or Jeep top heat soak as well, I guess people who know what they’re doing mounting them to RVs or whatever mount them on a raised platform so that air still circulates beneath it.
Plus with folding panels you can aim them towards sun for better efficiency.
Strong recommendation was for fold out panels for short weekend campers.
Made a lot of sense to me.

 

[smlobx]

I had the thin panels affixed to my pop up truck camper and they only lasted about 2 years due to the reasons explained above. Replaced them with solid panels with a spacer beneath them and they have been going great ever since.
On a Gladiator we don’t have much roof top real estate and that is why I went with the foldable option.

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