Dual Battery Setup or Portable Battery

[Cymon]

I have a GZ 400 Lithium and 1400 Lithium.

The GZ Lithium’s don’t work well with the DC port and fridge (ARB 50) due to not providing a full 12v, but they do run fine on the AC plug.

As a side note, the fridge works better plugged into the GZ with the low voltage battery protection turned “off”, since you don’t have to worry about fully draining the GZ lithium batteries.


My initial setup was the GZ 400 Yeti plugged into the AC inverter in the back of the 4runner to charge while driving and the Fridge plugged into the Yeti AC. This worked just fine if you drive a lot between stops and the fridge will run about 16-20 hours before draining the GZ.

Setup link: Post 224
Cymon's Weekend Warrior and MFD Thread

After buying our trailer I started looking for a larger portable battery and found a great deal on an open box GZ 1400 Lithium open box item at REI. This item was awesome, same drawbacks at the 400 but could run the fridge for 3-4 days, but it is a pretty large unit.

My current setup that works best for me was when my OEM starter battery was going bad after 4 years was to upgrade to a OEM size X2 deep cycle battery and run an ARB wiring loom.
Explanation and wiring : Post 246 and 247
Cymon's Weekend Warrior and MFD Thread

Now I have a plug for the fridge to the 4runner battery that will run it for about 2 days before draining. I carry the Yeti 400 as backup and a Lithium jumpstarts for short trips, or when not pulling the trailer. If I know I’m staying for extended periods with the trailer I bring the GZ 1400 for all of my camp electronics and fridge.

If I started all over I would do the GZ 400 with upgraded single battery setup (I like the portability and interchangeability of the GZ). The 1400 is very much overkill most of the time for my needs at this point but I like having it for Hurricane prep her in South Florida along with my boulder 100 folding solar panel.

Anyway just my .02

 

[RAD4Runner]

Glad to find this thread.

... I ran 2 Jackery 160w Portable Power Stations ... Alpicool C15...

After running it on the road for a month constantly, I've found the Alpicool works great for 1 person ...

Good to know! I'm an essentialist-minimalist mountaineer/sailor (hard-boiled eggs and instant ramen for days - LOL) but I like my "home-cooked" meals when off-roading/car camping, I find ice in cooler messy, and there may be days when I could not replenish ice so I invested in an un-branded Alpicool from Ebay (Amazon will not ship Alpicool to Commie-fornia). Need to power it when I'm not driving. I do not plan to stay stationary for long periods so something the power the fridge in eco-mode at just around freezing (32°F) for 24 hours would work.

I like the exercise of designing and building a dual-battery system. However, a portable power station:
1 ) would save me time for adventures, instead of working on the truck.
2) would be ready to power small electronics and my efficient MacAir.

For jump-starting a dead battery, I could simply bump-start (thank God for my millennial theft deterrent - LOL), and/or buy a portable jump-starter.

Considering the Jackery 240

BTW, for everyone's convenience, there's a related thread here: Dual Battery Vs. Portable Battery

 

[jhguth]

running a 15L fridge overnight and driving during the day shouldn't require much, if any, of an upgrade to do

 

[Bguerr21]

Thank you!

 

[RAD4Runner]

... This set up worked amazingly well (for only $418) and allowed me to run the fridge 24/7 the entire trip. Fully charged after driving for several hours each day...

[MENTION=355709]silverslug[/MENTION], Do you plug the fridge into the 12V DC out of Jackery or the 110VAC?

Jackery says you could leave it plugged into truck's 12V to charge, while the fridge is plugged into and running from Jacker's output. Did this actually work out for you?

Also, IF Jackery is totally drained and is plugged in to charge, does it not strain the alternator having to charge truck battery and the Jackery at the same time? If it strains the stock alternator, we may have to use a smart battery isolator, similar to what they use in dual-battery system and audio systems. That connects the main /cranking battery to the alt first. When it senses that main bat is full charged (13.2V?), then it connects the second/house/audio battery to alt to charge it. Therefore, the alternator is not charging both batteries at the same time.

Also found this on Jackery Amazon Site:
"Q2: Can the Explorer 240 be charged while using?
A: Yes, Explorer 240 supports pass-through charging. But we don't suggest, it will cause damage to battery life.

Meaning: While driving and charging I would have to plug the Jackery into 12V outlet charge, and fridge into another truck 12V outlet to run it. When I stop driving, I'd have to plug the fridge into the Jackery outlet. Not very convenient nor transparent and requires shutting off and back on the fridge- not ideal, either.

Would appreciate your thoughts.

 

[ElectroBoy]

[MENTION=355709]silverslug[/MENTION], Do you plug the fridge into the 12V DC out of Jackery or the 110VAC?

Jackery says you could leave it plugged into truck's 12V to charge, while the fridge is plugged into and running from Jacker's output. Did this actually work out for you?

Also, IF Jackery is totally drained and is plugged in to charge, does it not strain the alternator having to charge truck battery and the Jackery at the same time? If it strains the stock alternator, we may have to use a smart battery isolator, similar to what they use in dual-battery system and audio systems. That connects the main /cranking battery to the alt first. When it senses that main bat is full charged (13.2V?), then it connects the second/house/audio battery to alt to charge it. Therefore, the alternator is not charging both batteries at the same time.

Also found this on Jackery Amazon Site:
"Q2: Can the Explorer 240 be charged while using?
A: Yes, Explorer 240 supports pass-through charging. But we don't suggest, it will cause damage to battery life.

Meaning: While driving and charging I would have to plug the Jackery into 12V outlet charge, and fridge into another truck 12V outlet to run it. When I stop driving, I'd have to plug the fridge into the Jackery outlet. Not very convenient nor transparent and requires shutting off and back on the fridge- not ideal, either.

Would appreciate your thoughts.

I run a Jackery 500 in pass-through mode; it powers my 12V fridge while driving and the Jackery is being charged from a 12V port (cigarette lighter port) during the drive. In this mode it supplies about 65W to the fridge when it cycles on to cool, 2W when idle. During this time the Jackery draws about 38W to charge itself. This way you can keep the Jackery almost topped off while driving.

The Jackery website FAQ states “ All Jackery portable power stations, except Explorer 160, support pass-through charging.”
Maybe it reduces the lifespan of the Jackery but so what. I use this operational setup for my convenience. If the battery wears out and won’t hold a charge past the warranty period I’ll buy another. If you really want to get maximum lifespan from this battery technology you probably should not charge it past 90% or discharge it under 20%. But I’m not that OCD. I just use it.

On a recent trip where I drove 6-8 hours a day it stayed 70-90% full. Overnight it powered the fridge and would drop down to 40-60% after 12+ hours. It depends on the ambient temp, time, load, etc. There was one day where I didn’t drive enough to charge the battery much so I plugged in into an AC (motel) outlet to charge up to 100% overnight for the next day’s use on the road, and powering the fridge while I hiked.

 

[RAD4Runner]

I run a Jackery 500 in pass-through mode; it powers my 12V fridge while driving and the Jackery is being charged from a 12V port (cigarette lighter port) during the drive. In this mode it supplies about 65W to the fridge when it cycles on to cool, 2W when idle. During this time the Jackery draws about 38W to charge itself. This way you can keep the Jackery almost topped off while driving.
...
On a recent trip where I drove 6-8 hours a day it stayed 70-90% full. ...

Awesome. Thanks [MENTION=200736]ElectroBoy[/MENTION]!
38W to charge would not be too much for even the stock alternator. This would be minimally invasive way to implement power for my fridge (primary objective) when not driving. Bonus is I would not have to buy extra USB outlets and inverter for my laptop is needed.

 

[jp.vegas]

I run a Jackery 500 in pass-through mode; it powers my 12V fridge while driving and the Jackery is being charged from a 12V port (cigarette lighter port) during the drive. In this mode it supplies about 65W to the fridge when it cycles on to cool, 2W when idle. During this time the Jackery draws about 38W to charge itself. This way you can keep the Jackery almost topped off while driving.

The Jackery website FAQ states “ All Jackery portable power stations, except Explorer 160, support pass-through charging.”
Maybe it reduces the lifespan of the Jackery but so what. I use this operational setup for my convenience. If the battery wears out and won’t hold a charge past the warranty period I’ll buy another. If you really want to get maximum lifespan from this battery technology you probably should not charge it past 90% or discharge it under 20%. But I’m not that OCD. I just use it.

On a recent trip where I drove 6-8 hours a day it stayed 70-90% full. Overnight it powered the fridge and would drop down to 40-60% after 12+ hours. It depends on the ambient temp, time, load, etc. There was one day where I didn’t drive enough to charge the battery much so I plugged in into an AC (motel) outlet to charge up to 100% overnight for the next day’s use on the road, and powering the fridge while I hiked.

Exactly what I'm doing with the Jackery 500 and ARB fridge. I've had standard dual battery setups in my previous rigs and this time I opted for the portable power station. The Jackery's regulated 12v output is the best for this use case. No need to worry about the fridge shutting off as battery voltage drops as you would with a traditional dual battery setup. Yes, the fridge has several selectable voltage cutoff levels too but it's easiest not to worry and just enjoy regulated output from start to end of the charge.

Depending on ambient temps, I get a projected ~40-45 hours of runtime for the fridge alone, assuming I don't use the Jackery to run or charge anything else. I've got solar panels so I'll deploy those to charge if we're in any place long enough that it makes sense to do so. To charge the Jackery faster while driving, just use the truck's built in 120v inverter and that will charge faster than the 12v socket will but either one works. The plus to using the 12v is that it's on when the truck runs and I don't have to remember to switch it on like the inverter.

The only con to not having a traditional on board dual battery setup is the potential of being able to jump the starting battery from the auxiliary one, or, in more extreme scenarios, being able to run both batteries in parallel to support high current winching. In order to minimize the "stuck" factor, I keep a portable Lion jump pack in the truck at all times so that should deal with anything that kills the main battery for some reason. Handy to help other people too without needing to mess with jumper cables etc.

 

[ElectroBoy]

Exactly what I'm doing with the Jackery 500 and ARB fridge. I've had standard dual battery setups in my previous rigs and this time I opted for the portable power station. The Jackery's regulated 12v output is the best for this use case. No need to worry about the fridge shutting off as battery voltage drops as you would with a traditional dual battery setup. Yes, the fridge has several selectable voltage cutoff levels too but it's easiest not to worry and just enjoy regulated output from start to end of the charge.

Depending on ambient temps, I get a projected ~40-45 hours of runtime for the fridge alone, assuming I don't use the Jackery to run or charge anything else. I've got solar panels so I'll deploy those to charge if we're in any place long enough that it makes sense to do so. To charge the Jackery faster while driving, just use the truck's built in 120v inverter and that will charge faster than the 12v socket will but either one works. The plus to using the 12v is that it's on when the truck runs and I don't have to remember to switch it on like the inverter.

The only con to not having a traditional on board dual battery setup is the potential of being able to jump the starting battery from the auxiliary one, or, in more extreme scenarios, being able to run both batteries in parallel to support high current winching. In order to minimize the "stuck" factor, I keep a portable Lion jump pack in the truck at all times so that should deal with anything that kills the main battery for some reason. Handy to help other people too without needing to mess with jumper cables etc.

Ditto on all you said.
I haven’t used the 120 inverter to charge the Jackery yet, but that’s a great idea if you need to charge it faster. The power converter brick can output 24 volts @ 3.74A (up to 90W). The power conversion factor of the brick isn’t great, I bet you’re burning up 10W or so as heat, but the Jackery electronics lower the input charge current as you get close to 100%, then turns off charging. It’s been working well for me so far. Maybe I’ll get a solar panel to use when camping for several days.

 

[jp.vegas]

Ditto on all you said.
I haven’t used the 120 inverter to charge the Jackery yet, but that’s a great idea if you need to charge it faster. The power converter brick can output 24 volts @ 3.74A (up to 90W). The power conversion factor of the brick isn’t great, I bet you’re burning up 10W or so as heat, but the Jackery electronics lower the input charge current as you get close to 100%, then turns off charging. It’s been working well for me so far. Maybe I’ll get a solar panel to use when camping for several days.

Yeah, it's not the most efficient brick and it does get warm, but it works and charges at twice or more the rate of the 12v outlet. Solar is great if you're going to be in place for a bit. Even an hour stop for lunch can add a few % to the charge while you're just hanging out. We don't typically stay in one place more than a night but even then, an hour or two of morning sun while you're having breakfast, packing up camp all adds up. Same in the evening if you get someplace while it's still light out.

The solar for me is probably more practical to use at home if the power goes out for an extended period, at least that's how I see it. I still bring the panels when I go though as they fold up and don't take much space at all.

 

[RAD4Runner]

...To charge the Jackery faster while driving, just use the truck's built in 120v inverter and that will charge faster than the 12v socket will ...

...I haven’t used the 120 inverter to charge the Jackery yet, but that’s a great idea if you need to charge it faster. ...

Good to know, guys, and that;s what the Jackery 500 specs say:
"RECHARGE TIMES
AC Adapter:7.5 Hours
12V Car Adaptor:16 Hours
SolarSaga 100W Solar Panel: 9.5 Hours"
Thanks again!

 

[2112 R]

For those of you with a portable power solution (Jackery / Goal Zero) where and how are you storing / mounting it?

I understand this is a different question than the OP so I created another main one here specific to this question: Jackery, Goal Zero Portable Power Cargo Mount Ideas
Pics would be very appreciated if possible.