Goal Zero or any portable Battery Outlet Charging Question

[HauKrazee]

Hey All!

I am wondering if anyone is able to charge their portable battery from the rear outlet when driving.

For some reason it constantly turns off and I need to turn it on again every couple mins. It seems like my Goal Zero is drawing too much power that the inverter turns it off.

The Goal Zero is able to charge while parked when the outlet is at 400W, doesn't seem to hold on when it is in drive and only outputting 100W.

 

[bigair96]

Track down the 12v charger for the goal zero. Always on backorder but awesome. Have one and used it on a week long trip. With that and a solar panel my fridge ran all week and my yeti 1400 was never below 75%

 

[HauKrazee]

Just so anyone else see's this or searches for Goal Zero stuff, here is the problem that I can't solve. I ended up buying the Goal Zero 12v Charger, and it didn't work. I actually said it was broken, and they sent me another one, and that one still also doesn't work. Here is the link.
Yeti 12V Car Charging Cable Yeti 12V Car Charging Cable / Goal Zero

Using the 12v charger, it was only providing 6w or has a message of Low Charge. So the 12v charger could not even charge it. So not sure if I have defective car accessory ports, but they power everything else properly. Also, the previous poster might be using the Lithium version.

I am using the Lead Acid version because I was able to double the power by chaining them to another battery.

So I am back to square one. I am able to charge with solar at nearly 70W clear day. And the draw from the outlet works when I am in park at 70W also.

The problem seems that I can't charge it while driving. The system shuts off almost immediately when I change gears. It also doesn't stay on for more then 30 seconds when I turn on the outlet as I am driving.

So hopefully this is useful to anyone else out there looking to use a Goal Zero Lead Acid battery version.

 

[HauKrazee]

It looks like they actually responded to my post on their site.

I just received this item and plugged it in to charge my Yeti 400 Non-Lithium battery and it was only providing 10 watts of charge on 5V and 10V. After a few tries, the light on the box part of it turned red. What does this red light mean?

This car charger will only supply power to the Yeti's when your vehicles engine is running. The red light indicates that the voltage isn't high enough to supply power through the cable. The voltage will only be high enough when the alternator in your car is charging the car battery. If the light on your car charger is still red when you turn your car on, please give us a call at 888-794-6250.


Just to clarify, I wouldn't be silly and not have the car running. It was running and not providing enough voltage it looks like.

 

[jhguth]

Might be due to the 4runners low charging system voltage, the original lead acid goal zeros had problems charging because of it

 

[HauKrazee]

Might be due to the 4runners low charging system voltage, the original lead acid goal zeros had problems charging because of it

Ya, I have not tested the Car Accessory Ports voltage output, but I am going to assume that this is the case with what is required of that Lead Acid Goal Zero system. I think I need a much higher voltage to charge this version that the 4Runner cannot output.

For those of you looking to get the Goal Zero, the Lithium version seems to work fine with the Car Accessory port as I have read some other posts online has some success.

 

[bigair96]

Ya, I have not tested the Car Accessory Ports voltage output, but I am going to assume that this is the case with what is required of that Lead Acid Goal Zero system. I think I need a much higher voltage to charge this version that the 4Runner cannot output.

For those of you looking to get the Goal Zero, the Lithium version seems to work fine with the Car Accessory port as I have read some other posts online has some success.

Yeah mine is lithium and charges just fine.