Lets see your mobile aux/house battery set-up

[chorky]

After looking at some options, I think I have concluded that no current ready to go system (Jackery, goal zero, or equip mobile battery box) will suit my needs. So I probably will be having to build my own - as much of a pain as that is. After reading several sources (and researching other options in the past for other vehicles I have had) I concluded that a 200ah rating is needed. Even for just a 3 day weekend.

My idea is to have a mobile battery box to house 2 batteries via Anderson connector. Those batteries would be hooked up to a PDC in the bed to power various things like fridge, camp lights, water pump (when not powered by the engine running), air compressor (when not powered by engine running), and maybe charging a phone or two. That PDC would also have wired a DC/DC charger (probably red-arc) so that I could, if desired, switch out battery types if realizing I needed something different. The DC/DC charge indicator circuit (connects to a 'key on, engine on' circuit) would also be wired through a relay of one of the factory aux switches so it would have to be manually powered on, in order to close the circuit that recognizes the 'key on, engine on' signal. This way, batteries could be removed and the DC/DC charger would remain "OFF" since no batteries are connected, and thus electrical charge power is not needed.

So, only the batteries would be 'removable' as the system would essentially be designed to be permanently in the bed. I suppose the system could also be in the cab, but my truck and TJ usually gets upwards of 130 degrees in summer sun on a daily basis..... Not good for batteries.

The need for a mobile system (or mobile batteries) is real considering cold winter temps for 6 months out of the year, so an onboard system of lithium batteries won't work without risking damage to expensive batteries. I would honestly much prefer AGM batteries and just leave them in the bed all the time. However, I think in order to have the battery capacity I need for a 4 day weekend trip once a month, AGM would not last long enough...

So I would love to see other folks current on-board set-up's. I'm really not interested in something like a Jackery or goal zero. Because of their proprietary and integrated circuits they simply won't work for my application and I have seen many people showing real world experiences of those systems simply not working even for a fridge due to the 'start-up' voltages being high and the integrated system shutting down for protection - thus, no working fridge after just a couple hours. No offense to anyone who is successfully using one of those systems.

Curious to see what folks here have success with. Probably going to cross post this on another site that is also full of good info.

Sponsored

 

[Acano363]

I built a system using Victron 2000 multiplus and a 2 Battle Borne batteries on a rv a while ago. I since sold the rv but stored the parts away for the next project. I been searching for some inspiration for the Gladiator myself.

 

[chorky]

I built a system using Victron 2000 multiplus and a 2 Battle Borne batteries on a rv a while ago. I since sold the rv but stored the parts away for the next project. I been searching for some inspiration for the Gladiator myself.

Yeah. I have been trying to figure out a good 'camping' set-up for, oh, 5 years now. and finally just now figured it out. well at least the theory of it. but so far everything is adding up perfect. its just a matter of putting it into action at this point.

 

[Jt-wrx]

my system is in a vanlife build but without the van, I did an enclosed aluminum cargo trailer adventure pod for fishing/hunting etc. we find more versatility in having ability to unhook from camp although it isn't overland friendly lol, forestry roads and getting on and off lakes for ice fishing no probs, the trailer is lifted, the gladiator is lifted so we can still park it more places than all but off-road specific trailers

having said that, I put 360w of panels on top, feeds a goal zero 1500x (140 amp hour), runs a dometic cfx-75 fridge/freezer, a webasto 2kw diesel heater, and any of our lighting/charging needs otherwise, easily tops things up but yes things are set up to protect the unit from extreme cold which is mounted high in trailer (insulated roof) as well as my 20 liter water jug gravity set up mounted up high in the trailer, not too hard to keep things above freezing with this set up and we see -20c routinely up here in Canada

biggest draws have actually come from summer use in the desert, we hit the northern tip of the Sonora that comes up into Canada, the freezer is the big power suck overnight in this situation, during ice fishing season we just run it on fridge both sides and it's nothing compared to driving a freezer side

good luck with your project, I'd be tempted to contemplate dual 100 amp hour units, electric battery warmer with thermostat control set only to come on and protect at minimum threshold temps, insulated travel bag or box, that way you could move one at a time, to cab or wherever warm or for charging duty etc.

I was going to go this route with a thermostat and electric battery blanket and insulate box for goal zero as I didn't want to take it in and out for each weekend mission, that was before I decided to just heat the trailer full-time so I could keep water in there as well...with the Webasto diesel heater,

when I have shore power I just use an electric heater to keep hours off the off-grid gear, hope that gives you couple more ideas, sounds like you may need to look at a more versatile redundant solution

edit - my panels are all renogy, started with a 160w, then added 2-100w, flat mounted, I couldn't find the 160's when I went to add more panels, even during really dark cloud and light rain inputs range from 40-60w now which is about what we draw, as soon as conditions improve we gain and topped up by the end of the day no sweat, winter summer sun easily getting 120-130w dead of winter by late morning, now into spring and sun by lunchtime 215w or better, and last summer mid-day sun I saw up to 288-290w input, pretty happy with my set up

 

[Free2roam]

I just got two Renogy 100 watt solar panels. Need to continue to build my system. Will end up with two 100 ah Renogy batteries. Probably going all Renogy. Would love BB Batteries but out of my price range. Need two more solar panels and the controller.

Thinking I use the two while traveling to keep things topped off and two set up that are repositionable to capture more sunlight.
Don't really want to use the electrical system to keep my batteries charged.

Sponsored