It's pretty simple, and it works! Just keep in mind it also takes 'babysitting' to charge and discharge the extra battery manually. An expansion battery is automatic so you kinda get what you pay for 👍
Great video as always. On occasion I've used my EG4 server rack battery only to extend run time on my EcoFlow. I bought a couple of 12V batteries during Black Friday so that I could charge my smaller units like the Jackery 500 as you had demonstrated in a previous video. I also decided that when I go camping on the beach that I will use the 12V batteries to power my 12V fridge with an adapter cable. After 4 years of using my Jackery under windy, sandy and high humidity my 12V port stopped working. The 12V batteries I can live outside and not worry about the wind and sand and humidity. I don't believe in buying extension batteries, if anything I buy just a duplicate power station. Thank you for this great video.
Make up a power box put 6 cigarette lighter ports and put a fuse block inside the box use 10 gauge wires or whatever gauge will handle 20 amp fuses cigarette lighters can be found at most auto wreckers they are the ones that have steel barrel and ceramic isolation on the positive side if using auxiliary ports you are limited to 15 or less amp fuses car adapters for usb chargers are usually cheaper than the built in ones used in most power boxes and you can get a variety of 12 volt appliances from ovens to coffee pots the reason I suggest cigarette lighter ports over auxiliary ports is my 12 volt electric oven will blow a 15 amp fuse and the auxiliary port starts to melt under the load after it is used for any time over 10 minutes you can use auxiliary ports for 4 of the port and lower gauge wires and fuses and mark the 20 amp cigarette lighter ports in red but i find its simpler to just have them all the same
Great video. You should also mention about XT60 and XT60i because some power station requires XT60i to be able to charge at higer than 120W when the power source Voltage is higher than 12V so it can charge at higher power.
Yeah, I failed to point that out. It's hard for me to remember every detail about every brand. This video wasnt scripted, I just fly by the seat of my pants.
This is a great expansion technique. It will allow your power station to last "forever" as long as the solar input can provide more than your average use over the lifetime of the internal battery. (That way the internal handles short term high use, and the external battery will recharge the internal when your use is at or below average.)
@ my guess is that a lot of reviewers who are getting their units for free don’t want to show you don’t need the proprietary batteries. I understand that. I appreciate your videos and your opinion.
@@Jasonoid Absolutely! I have plans to buy a small "power" shed for my offgrid campsite in the spring, and really am liking the idea of a 48V DIY system for continuous power for the place. The more I learn about 48V systems the better I like them. 👍
Super video as always Jason. Glad you have a consulting services as there is nobody better than you. Your recommendation on my RV setup is still going great and maintaining solar charging of my batteries. I have my RV in storage with solar access and my batteries my 4 100amp LiTime remained charged. You rock. Plus my BougeRV300 that you gifted me is still super handy. You double rock
Excellent video! I think this is way better than using a DC to DC converter. It will cost less and be much more efficient. You can also use the 48v battery for a larger project down the road!
That was a complicated build haha Inside the box I have a 200amp fuse on the postive wire and the shunt terminal on the negative wire. I'll consider it.
This looks like a good idea; use my panels to charge a battery like this, and use the battery to charge larger power stations. I'll need a 48V MPPT controller, but that may be about it. Not as efficient, but if I do a 24V battery instead, I can also use it to charge smaller power stations. I'm going to avoid drawing any more income until next year (only a few weeks) to keep it away from the taxman this year; so I've got time to think about it. A nice thing about retiring recently is that I no longer have to get up extra early to scrape a layer of global warming off the car.
Thanks for another great video! Hey, another channel covered the sema show and they did a mention that next month Harbor Freight is releasing a new line of power stations up to i think 2000 wh... this would be great to review, given their stores are everywhere making replacement easy in thr event of a problem... I'd love to see a comprehensive review!
Based on what specifications they've released it looks like they're a few years behind on their abilities and features. Think last generation Jackery specs. Their ONLY high point is that you can just pop into Harbor Freight and walk out with a new one if you have any warranty problems.
24 volts seems to be the sweet spot for price and size. If using with regular appliances I can keep a fridge, deep freeze and small loads happy because over a day the Delta will not use more than it's been recharging with.
The problem with 24V is that with a lot of units anything under 28V is considered to be coming from a 12/24V cigarette lighter port, so it's limited to 8 amps. When you use 36V or 48V The unit uses its maximum amperage input specifications.
Thanks! I was looking into how to setup an AC Charger -> 48v LiPo battery -> Solar input to my Anker Solix F3800 (not just for the extra capacity, but primarily to be able to utilize the full inverter in the F3800, which you cannot when it's charging with AC) and this video addressed that perfectly, even with links to all the cabling needed!
Thanks for the super chat! Using a 48v battery to keep the 240v output enabled works great! I also have a second dedicated video for the F3800 and using the Chargeverter as well if that interests you at all: ua-cam.com/video/T_zZceBWZHk/v-deo.html
@@Jasonoid I saw your other video on using the Chargeverter as well, but that seemed like overkill for my needs. I am using the F3800 in a workshop near my house - where I DO have AC power from the house via heavy-duty extension cord - I'd feel ok pulling 15amp, ~1500 watts max thru that cord, but nothing more. For not too much more than the price of the Chargeverter alone, I got the Litime 48v 60ah battery (nearly doubling battery capacity of my F3800), the charger, AND a battery monitor from Litime. For me, biggest plus will be getting full inverter usage with the 3800 since it won't be on AC charging with this new setup. With the F3800 you don't ONLY lose 240v with the AC charging active, it also limits 120v AC output to the left bank of AC outlets and only ~1200w of the 6000w inverter when AC charging is active.
*** Make certain the input voltage of the power station allows at least 56 volts! *** Preferably 60 volts. A 48v LiFePO4 with a nominal voltage of 51.2v is charged at up to 58.4v. It will rapidly settle down a little lower than that, but if you charge while connected to the power station... Ouch. If you charge "disconnected" it will drop fairly rapidly down to 56 volts, but best to check with a meter if your power station requires less than 60v.
I just purchased my first 100ma 12v stand alone battery & charge controller a few weeks ago to store power and charge up my power stations. Just got all my cabling and will be setting it up this or next weekend. Btw, got the ac180 & ac180 for great deals last month...I mean you always need one more power source lol.
Most buck converters on Amazon are cheap & will not current regulate. At best, they'll cycle off for "short protection" then cycle back on... constantly till they die. For longevity, they are best used at 50% the advertised rating. Better off getting an additional 24v battery IMO
Excellent presentation. Thank you. This is really valuable info for folks that tinker. I originally had a "power station" as my "main power" just like you describe in this video and used some LiTime Mini's to boost the capacity and stay charged. Most of my stuff is 12-13v for car/van/truck camping. I actually ended up making my LiTime Mini's the main power with the "power station" being secondary. I found that I saved 10-15 watts by not passing everything through the "power station". I now just only use the "power station" when absolutely needed for 120v or USB-A/C and once its gets low, I recharge it from the Minis. I save a ton of power by running my fridge and anything else 12-14v directly from the Minis with no power robbing converter/booster/power station needed. Your setup allows for things to run either directly via the LiTime battery setup or "power station" assuming you pick the right battery voltage for your stuff.
Yeah, if you only run 12v devices, a standalone battery will always be most efficient. No conversion losses or background power being used. I have a cool product I'll be testing here in a few weeks that might apply to your situation 😁👍
Thank you for making this simple to understand and the links to purchase from and now being able to make them myself , valuable information... Great Video , Jason ! ! ! Bless You All , Happy Holidays !
@@Jasonoid Would it be possible then to have the power station be charged by solar, then connect to the battery via DC out and the battery feed the powerstation via one of the DC ins? Assuming the power station has 2 IN, one could be used for solar and the other for the battery. So it effectively extends the usable capability of the powerstation. Thing would be, the DC out from the powerstation into the battery would charge the battery slower than the battery feeding the powerstation, so one would have to pay attention to that. The idea is to leave it all connected all the time. What do you think?
Jason , Forgot to say that I will be going from the battery to the Bluetti Charger 1 then to the power station box , what size up wire with proper size fuses at the battery and the name of the complete set up with the proper fuses and where to purchase this complete set up .... Thanks Jason , Dave .
Gotcha! That all makes sense now! Just FYI, the Bluetti charger one says it comes with the DC wiring included now...which wasn't the case when I reviewed it! Great news since it will just hook right up to your battery now: shrsl.com/4ps8n However, if you want to run your own wiring, you'll want to run 6awg wires from your battery to the Bluetti Charger 1 since it's capable of pulling 50 amps. With that 6awg wire you'll want to use a 60 amp fuse. You'll probably need to get some SB50 crimpers to complete the install if you are doing it yourself: 6 AWG Wire: amzn.to/4eM20Gm 60 amp Fuse: amzn.to/3Ntzyx2 SB50 Anderson Crimpers: amzn.to/3NuDGNe SB50 Anderson Connections (6 awg terminals): amzn.to/3Nsspgk
@Jasonoid Thanks, Jason . I will look at the links later when I have my time to spare ... I Did get the wire with the Charger 1 from Bluetti it's like 20ft long, I will be making up some shorter ones because it will drive me nuts with all the wire laying around . Now that 20ft wire with the Charger 1 has a breaker already on it, will I need to install a breaker on my new shorter set of wire that im going to be buying or will the fuses be enough ? Thanks in advance .
@Jasonoid Thanks Jason , Now I feel comfortable with my soon too be new set up just waiting on my new lifepo4 smart battery to arrive . I will look up those links tonight and order those things and yes I would rather build the wires myself since I will be needing many more cables made for the future . Again thanks Jason for making this really simple for a beginner .
Check ETAKER F2000. It is multi input and output and best of all, it charges your RV car battery back. It can even jump start it. It can do input of 1000w DC + 1000w solar to a total of 1800w output. The ports are bi directional and customizable.
Great Video Jason , Question : I have the Elite 200V2 and just order the Litime 12.8V 230ah deep cyle battery , going with oversized from the battery out a couple feet I need to know what size fuse to put just after the battery before I connect to whatever the connect Bluetti has to charge with at the power box, haven't had time to read about it yet is it the xt60 charge at the upper left of the power station ? Shall I go with the 4 awd cable from the battery out a couple feet ? Also could you tell me where I could go and buy this wire already made with the proper fuses ? Thanks Jason , Dave .
Thanks for the Super Chat! The Bluetti Elite 200V2 supports up to 20 amps input via the solar charge controller. If you wanted to connect directly to your 12v battery, the power station will probably charge around 8 amps or about 100 watts (due to the low voltage). A power station needs higher voltage to charge quickly. That's why in this video I used a 48v battery instead of a 12v battery. In order to charge faster from your 230ah 12v battery, you'll need to purchase something like the Bluetti Charger 1 to boost up the voltage: ua-cam.com/video/NeBx70G2g6s/v-deo.html If you aren't worried about charging faster, using the wiring in the video would work just fine: 10 AWG Ring Terminal to Anderson With Fuse: amzn.to/41qZdyt Anderson to XT60: amzn.to/41srCEy
Jason, i've seen this method on many batteries, but what I'm not sure on is, what restricts the amount of current? The only thing that it could be is the solar power station's input and some sort of controller in there. How would this work with a dumber MPPT charge controller? For example, if you were to connect the 48v battery to the solar input terminals of an MPPT charge controller, attached to a 24v battery or 12v battery bank, would the 48v battery try to dump all its power in? Would the MPPT limit the current input? I know a lot of build yourself DIY solutions with server rack batteries, hybrid inverters and the like usually beat a power station on price/performance, but this expansion battery capability is something I'm not sure works with those solutions.
In almost every situation when you're dealing with electronics the device will never pull in more amps than it needs. That being said, it probably wouldn't hurt to have some in-line fuses or circuit breakers when doing this kind of thing because it's always better for your fuse to blow or your circuit breaker to trip rather than to fry some internal circuitry in your power station. Even if the chances are extremely small. That being said I've been doing this with almost every power station I've ever owned and have never had any issues and I don't use any small level current limiting devices or fuses. I do have a Class T fuse that I run everything through usually, but those are rated at hundreds of amps and thousands of peak amps.
@andrewr05 I get that with a power station. I'm talking about those hand truck diy builds that attach a hybrid mppt inverter like a growatt to a 48v battery. I'm not sure what if anything would limit the amount of current going into the solar input.
@@justicator Well, in that case you wouldn't be plugging into the solar input of the off-grid inverter. You'd be connecting your batteries up together as your main battery bank. But even if for some reason you did want to connect a battery into the charge controller it would still act the same way. It isn't going to draw more amperage than it's asking for.
@@andrewr05 sorry andrew, to clarify, I have a 12v system at home, but have some smaller batteries that i want to charge my main bank with on cloudy/rainy days. I dont have a good DC to DC solution, so I was wondering if its possible to plug spare batteries into my mppt charge controller when my main bank is low. My concern is that if i have a 100ah battery like in jason's video, I dont think my charge controller or wiring can handle all 100amps if the battery were to want to dump it all at once. Fusing wouldn't really help if theres nothing limiting the current, and would just blow instantly if i used a 40a fuse for example. I dont really understand what component is limiting the current draw from a raw battery like in jason's video
Looking at the specs on my EG4 6000xp solar charge controller it lists both a usable current and the max solar short circuit current (17 amps and 25 amps). You'd want to stay below the max ISC current listed in the manual when designing your solar array or battery connection. Power stations don't have that spec and I haven't seen an issue connecting a battery up to a power station, the power has always been limited properly. You can always be safe by using fuses and the proper wire size just in case something goes wrong.
@@markk171 just remember there are pros and cons to both routes. The DIY route is less money but more work since you have to charge the battery manually. The expansion batteries cost more but they are fully 'hands off'. They charge and discharge automatically with the power station 👍 it all depends on what you want to do and how you want to spend your time.
Apparently no blue tooth or app monitoring on smaller 60 amp. Thar also does not have low temperature. So 100 ah has more features than just size upgrade. WouldLike the smaller size one to move around though.
I didn't know if the output capability of a stand alone battery could exceed the input limitations of a power station and burn up the power station. I know you can exceed input voltage and burn it up. I have the Litime's 140 Ah battery and the BMS on it is 150 amps. I guess the power station charge controller will keep the input current draw at a safe level for itself. Am I right?
I am running a Delta 2 Max. It allows 15A max input, so would I use 15A fuses in the adapter? Any advantage to using an XT60i plug into the Delta 2 Max instead of a standard XT60? Also, looks like the Ecoflow needs the female XT60 for the solar inputs. Thanks for another great video!
@@DesmondCrusoe I'd recommend using the Bluetti Charger 1 connected to your 12v battery. It will charge your AC180 at the full 500 watts. I have a recent video on the Charger 1 from a few weeks ago 👍 the price is really good right now and they now include the wiring to hook it up!
Very cool. Wouldn’t something like the EcoFlow alternator charger be really nice to have if you had this external battery with an EcoFlow Delta 3+? I believe if you had the alternator charger, then you could have control through the app of going both directions?
@@Jasonoid I thought it did! I totally didn’t realize it didn’t support 48v batteries though. That’s too bad! It would have been the perfect solution if it did! Maybe in version two they will add that if it’s possible!
Check ETAKER F2000. It is multi input and output and best of all, it charges your RV car battery back. It can even jump start it. It can do input of 1000w DC + 1000w solar to a total of 1800w output. The ports are bi directional and customizable.
Good vid. Connectors: Do you know if the XT60 connector will work with the Delta 2 which has the orange connector (XT60i - has additional metal piece integrated)? I have a River 2 which uses the XT60 connector so that's what I'd like to use for EF D2 also. Thanks.
Yes the XT60 connector will work with the Delta 2, but it will limit you to 8 amps. If you want the full amperage input to get closer to 500W you need an XT60i. But, your unit should have come with an XT60i to MC4 adapter, so you can just use that. 👍
@@andrewr05 Thank you. I just don't have the other end to connect to batt, so I'll order a cable with ring connector for batt and has XT60i at other end. Hopefully that will work for River 2 also. Thanks.
That xt60i setup should work just fine for the Delta 2. However, do NOT connect the River 2 up to a 48v battery. The voltage of a 48v battery is too high and will fry the power station.
Thanks Jason for all the time and effort you put into your videos they are very helpful. I have a Bluetti AC200L and was wondering if you could use the Bluetti D40 which you recently reviewed to charge that 48 volt battery with a step up converter of course to the 48 volts since it puts out 12. Then add the Bluetti Charge 1 or solar panels inline with the 48V batter input or charge through the alternator input of the D40. Trying to figure how to use the AC200L to kind of manage an external battery that is connected to it.
I don't think that would be a good solution with the D40. The D40 is such a unique device and its use case is very limited. What's your main goal you are trying to accomplish?
I have a dumb question, not exactly related to this scenario specifically. Now that the weather is colder outside, do any of the "Factory Made" (aka Anker, Blueti, Ecoflow) powerstations have low temp charging protection??? So if my Anker C1000 is in the backseat of my pickup with a pecron charger hooked up, and I get back in the truck and start it up and drive off, the pecron is gonna start offering to charge the C1000, but will it be damaged by charging while COLD??? Thanks Another Great Video!!
I would be willing to bet that every known brand power station has low temp cutoff. They would be drowning in litigation if they all failed due to temperature.
Newer models seem to mention low temp charging protection in the user manuals. Some even state they have icons on the screen that will show up if you try charging them in low temps. Older power station models don't mention this at all so it's hard to know if they even have protections in place. It's a newer trend for sure. There are three power stations right now that actually have built in heaters: the Pecron E1000LFP, the EcoFlow DPU, and the Bluetti AC500. Kinda cool to see a budget, lightweight model with heaters, the E1000lfp, I'll be testing that soon.
@@andrewr05 So far all I've found in the manual in the manual for MY ANKER C1000!! "4.Low-Temperature Alert: When this icon shows, stop using the power station until the icon disappears." It shows a snowflake on the display, and the manual says "stop using the power station until the icon disappears." So I'm not convinced it will stop charging on it's own
@@dannydivine7699 MyBluetti AC200Max is worded just as confusing me, but I have clarification from their customer service reps that it does indeed self-limit it's charging when it is too cold. You will likely want clarification directly from Anker to be safe.
Wire size is determined by the amps you need to move through the wire. The 10 awg wire supporting 30 amps is plenty for what is seen in this video. If you have a power station that takes in more amps, change your wire accordingly.
Another informative video. So if I have a Anker F3800(which I do), you're saying I can hook up 2-sets of connectors and plug each one into the 2-XT60 ports and charge the F3800 at its max 2400W(1200 ea port)? Specs say this battery is 5120Wh. If I'm doing the math right, this battery can totally recharge it to 100% 1.33 times? If so, how long might it take to recharge to 100% from empty? Just curious. Thanks!
Notice how I said in the video that the Pecron E3600lfp allowed for both charging ports to come from the same source in parallel mode. This is NOT the case for the Anker F3800. The F3800 will not charge if there is a common ground between the two charging ports so you have to use a separate battery / source for each port. That is explained in this video: ua-cam.com/video/T_zZceBWZHk/v-deo.html
I would love to get 4 of those batteries. I have 2 Delta Pro's each with 2 extra batteries. 2 of those in series would max out the solar input with 1600 watts.
I don't think many of these 48v batteries can be connected in series. Please confirm with the manufacturer before wiring them in series. It could damage the BMS and ruin the battery.
@@Jasonoid Ok, thanks for the info. I didn't suspect that. I'm presently have 8 12.8v batteries in series. I can recharge the Delta Pro at 1600 watts. Glad I didn't go down that path and release it wouldn't work.,
@@Jasonoid I have 4 Eco-Worthy 12.8v 100 ah and 4 LiTime 12.8v 100 ah.The LiTimes are out of my Ryobi 48v riding mower since grass cutting season is over.
I reviewed the DJI power 1000, it's a very niche unit. The solar charge controller only accepts up to 30v so it would not work with a 48v battery. It would work with a 24v battery though 👍 I got a video about the new DJI accessories coming soon! I just started testing them.
Every LFP battery has an internal battery management system (BMS) that protects the battery in many different ways. One of those features is called low voltage discharge protection. These LFP batteries are pretty bullet proof. You can't overcharge them nor over discharge them. They stop charging and discharging automatically. They are MILES ahead of lead acid batteries.
@Jasonoid I see fuses on both the positive and negative wires. I thought that a fuse was needed only on the positive wire. Are they needed on both? Thanks!
@@teuton6167 it was extremely hard to find a 10 awg ring terminal adapter that would support multiple connection types for all power stations. This one fit the bill 👍
I got a delta pro. Can these batteries run in series? The Delta Pro has 150v input and it pulls 15.9 amps. So I'm guessing if these batteries can run series i could pull the max 1600 watts?
@@jaysonstebbins2539 That would work, but you would need the ability to charge the battery bank @100 + Volts. Unless you disassembled the series connection every time you want to charge it and then individually charge the batteries at 48V each time.
Most 48v LFP battery do NOT support series connections. only parallel. You'd need to verify with the battery specs they support series connections before trying that....but.... it would technically work on the Delta Pro if the batteries could be wired in series.
what about buying the connecting cable from manufacturer of the powerplant, then cannibalize the cable and wire it to your own 48v array? The the powerplant would charge the array.
Lots of people have tried with different brands and the cables that go back and forth between the battery and the power station have communication lines in them which requires some circuitry so that the units can handshake before they will recognize that a battery is even connected.
Awesome video!!! Just what Ive been looking for. Currently I have a Pecron e1500lfp with a 200W solar and an etaker alternator charger all working together in my SUV - BUT I've been wondering if I could add a 48V like this to my setup instead of getting the $999 Pecron expandable battery - would that be possible? 🤔 Any thoughts on this would be super appreciated!!!
Unfortunately the high voltage "solar" input on the Etaker only goes up to 48V. ("48V" 16s LiFePo4 batteries top out at 58V) So there wouldn't really be a way to combine the two. But you can put the e-taker into the low voltage input port and then the 48V battery into the high voltage inputs of the Pecron, as that takes 32-95V.
You didnt really talk much about, or pricing to be specific, on a charge controller to charge the 100ah battery which is a huge added cost. Yellow Eg4 one is $800 so with Ankers black friday sale at $1,800, for the largest expansion battery, after taxes etc I believe is a good deal. No need for separate charge controller, cables, etc. Sure the expansion battery isn't as much capacity but the ease of setup makes it worth it in my opinion. I do wish Anker would come out with a larger expansion battery or even better, an expansion battery with more solar inputs and some outlets.... so basically a power station. I like the idea of keeping the large f3800 at home to power the cabin but taking an expansion battery off to use for camping. I was regretting buying the Anker f3800 instead of Eg4 server racks but I wanted something portable anyways to take in the RV, camping, etc.
There are too many options to discuss in one video. You can literally do hundreds of different combinations of products when it comes to solar and batteries. This video covers one option. I don't always want to make a 40 minute video.
So far, with more of a budget, I like the Temgot 12v 300ah which comes in just under 16 cents per ah and has a built in display as well as the Bluetooth. I was skeptical of the display but having used one now for a little bit I’m loving that feature 🤷🏻♂️
If i put an MPPT between the battery and power station, is it possible to charge both the battery and power station with a solar panel? (I have a Bluetti AC70P)
I just run the charge controller to the battery and then the battery to the power station. That way the battery is constantly topping up the power station and then the solar panels are charging the battery.
@Jasonoid Check ETAKER F2000. It is multi input and output and best of all, it charges your RV car battery back. It can even jump start it. It can do input of 1000w DC + 1000w solar to a total of 1800w output. The ports are bi directional and customizable.
@@sumyap3869 You would just need to get a 48V charger and plug it into the power station. Then during the hours you wanted to use the electricity you would have it pull from grid power and charge the batteries up. During that time though you would want to disconnect the battery from the solar input though.
@@Jasonoid Im using it to light my room now with 2 ceiling lights. Using the DC only version. It has replaced any bigger power station I have to recharge DC stuff. The Best thing I love about it is using the Ecoflow DPU's 2 USB C 100 ports simultaneously to charge it up super fast. And the Pop up light at the top I started to get the Jackery 100 (mini) but I'm glad I got this instead
@@Moes_Prep_and_Tech I have the DC only version too. It's a little beast and the light is pretty cool too. I didn't know you could dual charge it with the inputs! I'll have to test that! Thanks!
@@Jasonoid It an dual charge at 140 watts each. (Middle port and the Right Port) The DPU can only do 100 each minus the transfer loss but I'm okay with that. Im glad I chose the the DC Version over the AC version because of the Extra DC Options with Same Battery Capacity. Question have you every checked out the Jackery 100, It's very Unique.I've never seen anything like it. Lifepo4 in the palm of your hand airplane friendly
@@Jasonoid It has 140 dual charge actually but the 100 each on the DPU is good enough for me, It's in the middle and right inputs. Have you ever checked out the Jackery 100? Its the smallest LifeP04 I've ever seen, fits in the palm of your hand, Airplane friendly
From what I gather on their website it looks like they include a normal MC4 input cable. So get yourself a pair of ring terminal to MC4 cables or if you'd like to go the same route as in the video look @3:33 and the links are in the video description for that.
Now all you need is a golf cart; I've been looking for an inexpensive golf cart myself. I have been watching many videos of installing 48-volt lithium batteries in the older golf carts.
@@Jasonoid There are tons of cheap 36 volt ones but I haven't seen any cheap 48 volt ones. Maybe it's because there aren't any 36 volt golf cart lithium batterys.
@@kevinholland415636v models have less power and range. Vatrer makes a 36v battery. I think Li Time does too: www.vatrerpower.com/products/38-4v-105ah-lifepo4-golf-cart-battery-built-in-200a-bms-4000-cycles-rechargeable-lithium-battery-max-7-68kw-power-output?srsltid=AfmBOoqRdcwvpTFdR7BnVDlfs3vBgLrJrDzaodnhcD2OaltLDD0Ezj9Y
An important thing to mention is that the external battery has to be charged by the power station or by other means, and when you want to use the extended capacity, you have to connect to the power station. You can't leave it all set like the extended batteries that are sold for the power stations. Unless you make another system (such as solar panels going to a charger that go to the battery, and then the battery connected to the powerstation permanently). Having to keep the stand alone battery charged manually (with a floating charger for example) and using it only when the power station runs out has its limitations... A stand alone 12v or 24v battery though would be a better fit to plug a fridge for example, since no inverter would be needed which consumes watts for being on. But then one would have to charge that battery with the powerstation DC out for example and deal with that as well. Cheers
I always enjoy your content. I click "Like" before you even start talking. You're one of the best out there, on this topic. (You hear the 'but' coming, right?) Please don't call these "DIY expansion batteries". Call them fake solar input, because that's what they are. The battery capacity of the power station is not changed in any sense, by routing the capacity of these external batteries to the solar charge controller of a power station. Also, there's no guarantee a power station will last "5X Longer", or any multiple of "X" longer, without knowing the output capacity of the external battery, the solar input limits, and the load connected to the power station. You're very good at what you're doing, but go the extra mile and don't create false terminology or false expectations. This is a "hack" or a work-around that can definitely be used to extend run-times, but be transparent about the limitations.
@@Jasonoid - Yeah, but you really should lead with it and not risk confusing viewers into thinking you're actually extending the battery capacity of the power station. I get that your revenue is a factor of views, but I greatly respect your content and hope to continue doing so.
I have seen a FLOOD of videos showing this exact same concept. But, how do I charge the external battery? Plug it in in the woods off grid? Really? It HAS to be able to be CHARGED by the power station, IN the field. Otherwise, it is of very limited use. You charge it up before you leave a house, and use it ONCE. This is NOT a solution, at all.
@@Jasonoid And you were the guy I jumped on about it, instead of all the others. Sorry. I guess I respect and trust you more than them, so I got snippy. Again, sorry, man. Your videos are great, and I am a long time subscriber. It is something that irritated me about all the videos being made about it.
Thanks for the video. Overall, I found your video to be informative and helpful, tho, I don't really agree with the title of this video. This does not really make your power station last 5x longer... At least from my point of view, imagine your title was "Simple Trick to make your car last 5x longer", and then you are shown a "portable gas tank"... that's not a trick. It is just more fuel. If the title said, "Simple trick to add more battery storage to your PowerStation", then yea... again with the caveats that typically the power station won't recharge these.
The word 'longer' seems to mean different things to you I. '5X longer' runtime is what the video is talking about. The EcoFlow Delta 3 plus in the thumbnail has 1024wh of capacity, adding on an additional 5120wh will make it have a 5X longer runtime. That's exactly what the video is about. I think you are getting caught up too much in a play on words...
Hi Jason, Great video as always! I have two Pecron E2000LFP power stations and recently found a good deal on the Goal Zero Yeti Home Integration Kit. I was considering getting an expansion battery, and this seemed like a potentially better option than the Pecron expansion battery (even though the price has come down). Do you think this would work well with my Pecron E2000LFPs? Thanks for your expertise! Regards,
It all depends if you are wanting a system that does everything automatically or if you are willing to do some of the work yourself. For example, an expansion for the E2000LFP connects up to the power station and it's automatically charged and discharged with the head unit. You kinda set it and forget type of thing. Going the DIY route is usually more affordable BUT it also requires a little babysitting. For example, once the expansion battery dies, you have to manually charge it up. You have to connect and disconnect it when you want to use it. For me the DIY option works well since I have the solar panels and the charge controllers I can dedicate to the batteries. If you aren't going to have room for more solar or you don't want to 'manage' the charging yourself, it might be best to stick with the branded expansion batteries.
Thanks for the quick reply! I understand it might work with some extra effort, but I'll need to weigh my options before deciding. I appreciate you clarifying that for me. Regards,
Hi Jason; I absolutely love your channel. I have learned a great deal over the past few years by watching you! I was intrigued by the setup you described in this video and put together a smaller arrangement - Anker 757 and a 100 AH/12 volt battery - which doubled the run time of the 757; and I used a 20 amp fuse (Anker 757 solar spec is 10 amp/11 - 30 Volts). However I ran across this source (ua-cam.com/video/fPOFAkIHLRE/v-deo.html) which recommends a 100 Amp fuse for my simple system - based on the premise that this is the level of fuse that could handle a short from the battery - since lithium batteries can discharge almost all at one if a short circuit occurs. I was a little taken aback by this. I would appreciate any insight you have to offer on this. Thank you, Arthur
Interesting video. Each LFP battery has a built in BMS which protects against short circuits as a first line of defense. Putting a fuse larger than what your wire is rated for will just cause your wire to burn in the case of a short circuit. For example, if you ran 12awg wire rated for 20 amps, and you put a 100 amp fuse on that wire, the wire would just melt/burn if something bad happened and the fuse wouldn't blow. Always match the fuse rating with your wire ampacity. If you need to pull high power / amperage, install a larger wire and fuses.
That argument USED to be the case... It's actually not cheaper to go DIY on a small system anymore... The power stations seen in the video (the Bluetti AC180 and the Anker C1000) are the same price as a decent quality 2000w pure sine inverter lol... $400. You'd have to spend money on the battery, solar charge controller, and all the fuses and wiring. Probably near $800 for a decent 2000w device and a 100ah battery. Prices have dropped significantly in the last 6 months. Not to mention that diy systems are extremely loud when under load. These power stations are significantly more quiet, compact, and simple.
@@lawrencedavidson6195 I've built plenty of small DIY systems, I know what is involved in building one. 3 times the capacity? A 100ah LFP 12v battery has 1280wh, the Bluetti AC180 has 1152wh of capacity, seems pretty dang close. The Renogy 2000w inverter is priced at $269 on sale right now. That's more than half of the price of the Bluetti. (so it's similar to the 1800w of the Bluetti output) The wire and fuses and hardware for that DIY project alone would be $100 additional. What about adding a case to enclose it all or some short of smart shunt to track capacity? Add another $150 for both those items. Stacks up quick.
@@Jasonoid I made an error with "3 times the capacity" so i deleted my comment. However, the 100ah battery IS more capacity. For those who don't want to, or cannot build their own power station, a ready made one is lovely to have (and prettier to look at). But, with prices of most if not all solar stuff going down, if you shop around you can still build your own power station for less. I have also built quite a few and assisted friends to build their own. Cheers, and greetings from sunny Jamaica.
The whole purpose of using a battery like this is to get a longer runtime when electricity isn't available in your home. Backup power lasting longer during a power outage.
Awesome video! This has got to be the most economical way to increase capacity on a power station.
It's pretty simple, and it works! Just keep in mind it also takes 'babysitting' to charge and discharge the extra battery manually. An expansion battery is automatic so you kinda get what you pay for 👍
Great video as always. On occasion I've used my EG4 server rack battery only to extend run time on my EcoFlow. I bought a couple of 12V batteries during Black Friday so that I could charge my smaller units like the Jackery 500 as you had demonstrated in a previous video. I also decided that when I go camping on the beach that I will use the 12V batteries to power my 12V fridge with an adapter cable. After 4 years of using my Jackery under windy, sandy and high humidity my 12V port stopped working. The 12V batteries I can live outside and not worry about the wind and sand and humidity. I don't believe in buying extension batteries, if anything I buy just a duplicate power station. Thank you for this great video.
Great points, especially about using batteries instead of power stations in Sandy environments! Oh man.... I hate sand and how it gets everywhere!
Make up a power box put 6 cigarette lighter ports and put a fuse block inside the box use 10 gauge wires or whatever gauge will handle 20 amp fuses cigarette lighters can be found at most auto wreckers they are the ones that have steel barrel and ceramic isolation on the positive side if using auxiliary ports you are limited to 15 or less amp fuses car adapters for usb chargers are usually cheaper than the built in ones used in most power boxes and you can get a variety of 12 volt appliances from ovens to coffee pots the reason I suggest cigarette lighter ports over auxiliary ports is my 12 volt electric oven will blow a 15 amp fuse and the auxiliary port starts to melt under the load after it is used for any time over 10 minutes you can use auxiliary ports for 4 of the port and lower gauge wires and fuses and mark the 20 amp cigarette lighter ports in red but i find its simpler to just have them all the same
Great video. You should also mention about XT60 and XT60i because some power station requires XT60i to be able to charge at higer than 120W when the power source Voltage is higher than 12V so it can charge at higher power.
Yeah, I failed to point that out. It's hard for me to remember every detail about every brand. This video wasnt scripted, I just fly by the seat of my pants.
This is a great expansion technique. It will allow your power station to last "forever" as long as the solar input can provide more than your average use over the lifetime of the internal battery. (That way the internal handles short term high use, and the external battery will recharge the internal when your use is at or below average.)
I'm surprised nobody else is covering this. Great way to build your battery bank on the cheap vs the proprietary batteries for the power stations.
There are lots of videos on the topic, mostly with 12v batteries, not too many with 48v batteries 👍
@ my guess is that a lot of reviewers who are getting their units for free don’t want to show you don’t need the proprietary batteries. I understand that. I appreciate your videos and your opinion.
Thanks Jason - love the info! Will probably go in this direction in the near future.
I think going with a 48v battery gives you a lot of flexibility in the future. Maybe even build you own DIY system once you feel comfortable about it?
@@Jasonoid Absolutely! I have plans to buy a small "power" shed for my offgrid campsite in the spring, and really am liking the idea of a 48V DIY system for continuous power for the place. The more I learn about 48V systems the better I like them. 👍
Super video as always Jason. Glad you have a consulting services as there is nobody better than you. Your recommendation on my RV setup is still going great and maintaining solar charging of my batteries. I have my RV in storage with solar access and my batteries my 4 100amp LiTime remained charged. You rock. Plus my BougeRV300 that you gifted me is still super handy. You double rock
Good to hear from you, Ray!
Excellent video! I think this is way better than using a DC to DC converter. It will cost less and be much more efficient. You can also use the 48v battery for a larger project down the road!
Thanks for checking out the video!
May you please make a video on building that inline shut you have here. Looks awesome. Thanks.
That was a complicated build haha
Inside the box I have a 200amp fuse on the postive wire and the shunt terminal on the negative wire. I'll consider it.
@Jasonoid - ahh OK. No worries. Thank you for your time.
I really love this. So cool!
Thanks for checking out the video!
This looks like a good idea; use my panels to charge a battery like this, and use the battery to charge larger power stations. I'll need a 48V MPPT controller, but that may be about it. Not as efficient, but if I do a 24V battery instead, I can also use it to charge smaller power stations. I'm going to avoid drawing any more income until next year (only a few weeks) to keep it away from the taxman this year; so I've got time to think about it.
A nice thing about retiring recently is that I no longer have to get up extra early to scrape a layer of global warming off the car.
Scraping the windshield in the morning is probably one of the worst chores in life...
Thanks for another great video! Hey, another channel covered the sema show and they did a mention that next month Harbor Freight is releasing a new line of power stations up to i think 2000 wh... this would be great to review, given their stores are everywhere making replacement easy in thr event of a problem... I'd love to see a comprehensive review!
I saw those new models. They might be a good contender based on the pricing. I'll have to check them out when they are launched!
Based on what specifications they've released it looks like they're a few years behind on their abilities and features.
Think last generation Jackery specs.
Their ONLY high point is that you can just pop into Harbor Freight and walk out with a new one if you have any warranty problems.
24 volts seems to be the sweet spot for price and size. If using with regular appliances I can keep a fridge, deep freeze and small loads happy because over a day the Delta will not use more than it's been recharging with.
The problem with 24V is that with a lot of units anything under 28V is considered to be coming from a 12/24V cigarette lighter port, so it's limited to 8 amps.
When you use 36V or 48V The unit uses its maximum amperage input specifications.
@andrewr05 24 volt speed works just fine for my use case.
Thanks! I was looking into how to setup an AC Charger -> 48v LiPo battery -> Solar input to my Anker Solix F3800 (not just for the extra capacity, but primarily to be able to utilize the full inverter in the F3800, which you cannot when it's charging with AC) and this video addressed that perfectly, even with links to all the cabling needed!
Thanks for the super chat! Using a 48v battery to keep the 240v output enabled works great! I also have a second dedicated video for the F3800 and using the Chargeverter as well if that interests you at all:
ua-cam.com/video/T_zZceBWZHk/v-deo.html
@@Jasonoid I saw your other video on using the Chargeverter as well, but that seemed like overkill for my needs. I am using the F3800 in a workshop near my house - where I DO have AC power from the house via heavy-duty extension cord - I'd feel ok pulling 15amp, ~1500 watts max thru that cord, but nothing more.
For not too much more than the price of the Chargeverter alone, I got the Litime 48v 60ah battery (nearly doubling battery capacity of my F3800), the charger, AND a battery monitor from Litime.
For me, biggest plus will be getting full inverter usage with the 3800 since it won't be on AC charging with this new setup. With the F3800 you don't ONLY lose 240v with the AC charging active, it also limits 120v AC output to the left bank of AC outlets and only ~1200w of the 6000w inverter when AC charging is active.
*** Make certain the input voltage of the power station allows at least 56 volts! *** Preferably 60 volts.
A 48v LiFePO4 with a nominal voltage of 51.2v is charged at up to 58.4v. It will rapidly settle down a little lower than that, but if you charge while connected to the power station... Ouch. If you charge "disconnected" it will drop fairly rapidly down to 56 volts, but best to check with a meter if your power station requires less than 60v.
I clarified that in the video @ the 4:15 mark
I've purchased some of the Li Time Battery Monitors to connect to my Li Time batteries which provide a visual read-out of the battery's voltage.
I just purchased my first 100ma 12v stand alone battery & charge controller a few weeks ago to store power and charge up my power stations. Just got all my cabling and will be setting it up this or next weekend. Btw, got the ac180 & ac180 for great deals last month...I mean you always need one more power source lol.
That's awesome! I think you'll enjoy that extra power!
You could also use a 48V to 36V/24V/12V buck converter in a pinch with this battery, if you didn't have other 12V batteries handy.
That's true! Drop down the voltage to something that a smaller power station can accept.
Most buck converters on Amazon are cheap & will not current regulate. At best, they'll cycle off for "short protection" then cycle back on... constantly till they die. For longevity, they are best used at 50% the advertised rating.
Better off getting an additional 24v battery IMO
Excellent presentation. Thank you. This is really valuable info for folks that tinker. I originally had a "power station" as my "main power" just like you describe in this video and used some LiTime Mini's to boost the capacity and stay charged. Most of my stuff is 12-13v for car/van/truck camping. I actually ended up making my LiTime Mini's the main power with the "power station" being secondary. I found that I saved 10-15 watts by not passing everything through the "power station". I now just only use the "power station" when absolutely needed for 120v or USB-A/C and once its gets low, I recharge it from the Minis. I save a ton of power by running my fridge and anything else 12-14v directly from the Minis with no power robbing converter/booster/power station needed. Your setup allows for things to run either directly via the LiTime battery setup or "power station" assuming you pick the right battery voltage for your stuff.
Yeah, if you only run 12v devices, a standalone battery will always be most efficient. No conversion losses or background power being used. I have a cool product I'll be testing here in a few weeks that might apply to your situation 😁👍
Thank you for making this simple to understand and the links to purchase from and now being able to make them myself , valuable information...
Great Video , Jason ! ! !
Bless You All , Happy Holidays !
Thank you! I'm glad you found this video helpful! Happy holidays!
Hi Jason, can you charge the battery at the same time it is connected to the Percon? Thanks for the info.
Yes!
You can discharge and charge any battery at the same time.
Yes, the Pecron power stations support charging and discharging at the same time with solar / DC input.
@@Jasonoid he meant the Li Time. Can IT be charged and discharged simultaneously
@@djcory2727 yes, the standalone battery can also be charged and discharged at the same time.
@@Jasonoid Would it be possible then to have the power station be charged by solar, then connect to the battery via DC out and the battery feed the powerstation via one of the DC ins? Assuming the power station has 2 IN, one could be used for solar and the other for the battery. So it effectively extends the usable capability of the powerstation. Thing would be, the DC out from the powerstation into the battery would charge the battery slower than the battery feeding the powerstation, so one would have to pay attention to that. The idea is to leave it all connected all the time. What do you think?
Jason ,
Forgot to say that I will be going from the battery to the Bluetti Charger 1 then to the power station box , what size up wire with proper size fuses at the battery and the name of the complete set up with the proper fuses and where to purchase this complete set up ....
Thanks Jason , Dave .
Gotcha! That all makes sense now! Just FYI, the Bluetti charger one says it comes with the DC wiring included now...which wasn't the case when I reviewed it! Great news since it will just hook right up to your battery now:
shrsl.com/4ps8n
However, if you want to run your own wiring, you'll want to run 6awg wires from your battery to the Bluetti Charger 1 since it's capable of pulling 50 amps. With that 6awg wire you'll want to use a 60 amp fuse. You'll probably need to get some SB50 crimpers to complete the install if you are doing it yourself:
6 AWG Wire: amzn.to/4eM20Gm
60 amp Fuse: amzn.to/3Ntzyx2
SB50 Anderson Crimpers: amzn.to/3NuDGNe
SB50 Anderson Connections (6 awg terminals): amzn.to/3Nsspgk
@Jasonoid
Thanks, Jason .
I will look at the links later when I have my time to spare ... I Did get the wire with the Charger 1 from Bluetti it's like 20ft long, I will be making up some shorter ones because it will drive me nuts with all the wire laying around .
Now that 20ft wire with the Charger 1 has a breaker already on it, will I need to install a breaker on my new shorter set of wire that im going to be buying or will the fuses be enough ?
Thanks in advance .
@@MrDaveR-uq7iq you can do either a DC breaker or a fuse. Either option will work just fine. The breakers are resettable which is an extra plus.
@Jasonoid
Thanks Jason ,
Now I feel comfortable with my soon too be new set up just waiting on my new lifepo4 smart battery to arrive . I will look up those links tonight and order those things and yes I would rather build the wires myself since I will be needing many more cables made for the future .
Again thanks Jason for making this really simple for a beginner .
In a RV set up, can this 48V batterrie be charged somehow via the “bluetti charger 1” or solar panels?
The "charger 1" would not work, but a standard solar charge controller would 👍
Check ETAKER F2000. It is multi input and output and best of all, it charges your RV car battery back. It can even jump start it. It can do input of 1000w DC + 1000w solar to a total of 1800w output. The ports are bi directional and customizable.
It would best to use a dedicated 48v battery charger or a 48v solar charge controller to charge the battery
@@Jasonoid Thank you :)
@@andrewr05 Thank you :)
Great Video Jason ,
Question : I have the Elite 200V2 and just order the Litime 12.8V 230ah deep cyle battery , going with oversized from the battery out a couple feet I need to know what size fuse to put just after the battery before I connect to whatever the connect Bluetti has to charge with at the power box, haven't had time to read about it yet is it the xt60 charge at the upper left of the power station ?
Shall I go with the 4 awd cable from the battery out a couple feet ? Also could you tell me where I could go and buy this wire already made with the proper fuses ?
Thanks Jason , Dave .
Thanks for the Super Chat!
The Bluetti Elite 200V2 supports up to 20 amps input via the solar charge controller. If you wanted to connect directly to your 12v battery, the power station will probably charge around 8 amps or about 100 watts (due to the low voltage). A power station needs higher voltage to charge quickly. That's why in this video I used a 48v battery instead of a 12v battery.
In order to charge faster from your 230ah 12v battery, you'll need to purchase something like the Bluetti Charger 1 to boost up the voltage: ua-cam.com/video/NeBx70G2g6s/v-deo.html
If you aren't worried about charging faster, using the wiring in the video would work just fine:
10 AWG Ring Terminal to Anderson With Fuse: amzn.to/41qZdyt
Anderson to XT60: amzn.to/41srCEy
Jason, i've seen this method on many batteries, but what I'm not sure on is, what restricts the amount of current? The only thing that it could be is the solar power station's input and some sort of controller in there.
How would this work with a dumber MPPT charge controller? For example, if you were to connect the 48v battery to the solar input terminals of an MPPT charge controller, attached to a 24v battery or 12v battery bank, would the 48v battery try to dump all its power in? Would the MPPT limit the current input?
I know a lot of build yourself DIY solutions with server rack batteries, hybrid inverters and the like usually beat a power station on price/performance, but this expansion battery capability is something I'm not sure works with those solutions.
In almost every situation when you're dealing with electronics the device will never pull in more amps than it needs.
That being said, it probably wouldn't hurt to have some in-line fuses or circuit breakers when doing this kind of thing because it's always better for your fuse to blow or your circuit breaker to trip rather than to fry some internal circuitry in your power station.
Even if the chances are extremely small.
That being said I've been doing this with almost every power station I've ever owned and have never had any issues and I don't use any small level current limiting devices or fuses.
I do have a Class T fuse that I run everything through usually, but those are rated at hundreds of amps and thousands of peak amps.
@andrewr05 I get that with a power station. I'm talking about those hand truck diy builds that attach a hybrid mppt inverter like a growatt to a 48v battery. I'm not sure what if anything would limit the amount of current going into the solar input.
@@justicator
Well, in that case you wouldn't be plugging into the solar input of the off-grid inverter.
You'd be connecting your batteries up together as your main battery bank.
But even if for some reason you did want to connect a battery into the charge controller it would still act the same way.
It isn't going to draw more amperage than it's asking for.
@@andrewr05 sorry andrew, to clarify, I have a 12v system at home, but have some smaller batteries that i want to charge my main bank with on cloudy/rainy days.
I dont have a good DC to DC solution, so I was wondering if its possible to plug spare batteries into my mppt charge controller when my main bank is low. My concern is that if i have a 100ah battery like in jason's video, I dont think my charge controller or wiring can handle all 100amps if the battery were to want to dump it all at once. Fusing wouldn't really help if theres nothing limiting the current, and would just blow instantly if i used a 40a fuse for example. I dont really understand what component is limiting the current draw from a raw battery like in jason's video
Looking at the specs on my EG4 6000xp solar charge controller it lists both a usable current and the max solar short circuit current (17 amps and 25 amps). You'd want to stay below the max ISC current listed in the manual when designing your solar array or battery connection.
Power stations don't have that spec and I haven't seen an issue connecting a battery up to a power station, the power has always been limited properly. You can always be safe by using fuses and the proper wire size just in case something goes wrong.
It doesn’t hurt the expansion battery if it runs out of juice charging the power station?
It will shut off when it hits low voltage. The BMS will protect the battery. No damage done.
I am assuming this setup would work with an EcoFLow Delta Pro?
Yep, it definitely would!
@@Jasonoid Thanks...Good to know. Cause extra batteries for the EcoFlow are kinda pricey.
@@markk171 just remember there are pros and cons to both routes. The DIY route is less money but more work since you have to charge the battery manually. The expansion batteries cost more but they are fully 'hands off'. They charge and discharge automatically with the power station 👍 it all depends on what you want to do and how you want to spend your time.
Apparently no blue tooth or app monitoring on smaller 60 amp. Thar also does not have low temperature. So 100 ah has more features than just size upgrade. WouldLike the smaller size one to move around though.
I think it's the 'smart' battery series that has the extra features, so they might be launching smaller 'smart' 48v batteries soon.
What stand-alone charger do you recommend for that 48 volt battery? Love your videos!!!
I didn't know if the output capability of a stand alone battery could exceed the input limitations of a power station and burn up the power station. I know you can exceed input voltage and burn it up. I have the Litime's 140 Ah battery and the BMS on it is 150 amps. I guess the power station charge controller will keep the input current draw at a safe level for itself. Am I right?
I am running a Delta 2 Max. It allows 15A max input, so would I use 15A fuses in the adapter? Any advantage to using an XT60i plug into the Delta 2 Max instead of a standard XT60? Also, looks like the Ecoflow needs the female XT60 for the solar inputs. Thanks for another great video!
Thanks for this! I'm converting a shuttle bus and want to do this and use my Bluetti AC180 instead of solar since my bus has 2 batteries.
What voltage are your batteries in your bus?
@Jasonoid they're 12v but I want to use a 12v to 24v/36v stepup
@@DesmondCrusoe I'd recommend using the Bluetti Charger 1 connected to your 12v battery. It will charge your AC180 at the full 500 watts. I have a recent video on the Charger 1 from a few weeks ago 👍 the price is really good right now and they now include the wiring to hook it up!
@@Jasonoid thank you, I saw that video actually and was looking into that also!
Very cool. Wouldn’t something like the EcoFlow alternator charger be really nice to have if you had this external battery with an EcoFlow Delta 3+? I believe if you had the alternator charger, then you could have control through the app of going both directions?
@@WingAddict
I may be mistaken, but the alternator charger cannot have a 48V input.
It is only expecting common alternator voltages.
One benefit of the Ecoflow alternator charger is that is does allow power in both directions. It won't work with a 48v battery though.
@@Jasonoid I thought it did! I totally didn’t realize it didn’t support 48v batteries though. That’s too bad! It would have been the perfect solution if it did! Maybe in version two they will add that if it’s possible!
@@WingAddict input voltage is designed for 12v/24v batteries only. 12v-35v input range 😔
Check ETAKER F2000. It is multi input and output and best of all, it charges your RV car battery back. It can even jump start it. It can do input of 1000w DC + 1000w solar to a total of 1800w output. The ports are bi directional and customizable.
Good vid.
Connectors: Do you know if the XT60 connector will work with the Delta 2 which has the orange connector (XT60i - has additional metal piece integrated)? I have a River 2 which uses the XT60 connector so that's what I'd like to use for EF D2 also. Thanks.
Yes the XT60 connector will work with the Delta 2, but it will limit you to 8 amps.
If you want the full amperage input to get closer to 500W you need an XT60i.
But, your unit should have come with an XT60i to MC4 adapter, so you can just use that. 👍
@@andrewr05 Thank you. I just don't have the other end to connect to batt, so I'll order a cable with ring connector for batt and has XT60i at other end. Hopefully that will work for River 2 also. Thanks.
That xt60i setup should work just fine for the Delta 2. However, do NOT connect the River 2 up to a 48v battery. The voltage of a 48v battery is too high and will fry the power station.
@@Jasonoid Yes, I have a 25.6v on the way. If everything works out I might series another for the D2 only. Thanks.
Would this set up work for a Delta Pro 3 to keep it charged up? Thanks so much!
Yep
Hi, great informative video. Does the Delta 3 plus allow parallel input on the two 500w solar inputs?
Yep, that's how you get the full 1000 watts. 500w per port 👍 it allows power from the same source too
@ Thank you!!!!
Good day and thank you for the information. I have a Ecoflow Delta 2 can I use this method without any issues? Thanks in advance
Yes, this will work on the Delta 2 perfectly.
@ thanks for the quick response Jason. Love your videos. You and a few others are my mentors and teachers.
Thanks Jason for all the time and effort you put into your videos they are very helpful. I have a Bluetti AC200L and was wondering if you could use the Bluetti D40 which you recently reviewed to charge that 48 volt battery with a step up converter of course to the 48 volts since it puts out 12. Then add the Bluetti Charge 1 or solar panels inline with the 48V batter input or charge through the alternator input of the D40. Trying to figure how to use the AC200L to kind of manage an external battery that is connected to it.
I don't think that would be a good solution with the D40. The D40 is such a unique device and its use case is very limited. What's your main goal you are trying to accomplish?
I have a dumb question, not exactly related to this scenario specifically.
Now that the weather is colder outside, do any of the "Factory Made" (aka Anker, Blueti, Ecoflow) powerstations have low temp charging protection???
So if my Anker C1000 is in the backseat of my pickup with a pecron charger hooked up, and I get back in the truck and start it up and drive off, the pecron is gonna start offering to charge the C1000, but will it be damaged by charging while COLD???
Thanks
Another Great Video!!
I would be willing to bet that every known brand power station has low temp cutoff.
They would be drowning in litigation if they all failed due to temperature.
Newer models seem to mention low temp charging protection in the user manuals. Some even state they have icons on the screen that will show up if you try charging them in low temps. Older power station models don't mention this at all so it's hard to know if they even have protections in place. It's a newer trend for sure.
There are three power stations right now that actually have built in heaters: the Pecron E1000LFP, the EcoFlow DPU, and the Bluetti AC500. Kinda cool to see a budget, lightweight model with heaters, the E1000lfp, I'll be testing that soon.
@@andrewr05 So far all I've found in the manual in the manual for MY ANKER C1000!!
"4.Low-Temperature Alert: When this icon shows, stop using the power station until the icon disappears."
It shows a snowflake on the display, and the manual says "stop using the power station until the icon disappears."
So I'm not convinced it will stop charging on it's own
@@dannydivine7699
MyBluetti AC200Max is worded just as confusing me, but I have clarification from their customer service reps that it does indeed self-limit it's charging when it is too cold.
You will likely want clarification directly from Anker to be safe.
Those thinner gauge extension cables are of concern.
@@thefpvlife7785
Most larger power stations only draw 15-20A.
Wire size is determined by the amps you need to move through the wire. The 10 awg wire supporting 30 amps is plenty for what is seen in this video. If you have a power station that takes in more amps, change your wire accordingly.
What do you think of using Ecoflow alternator charger for LFP to deltas.
This batteries doesn't need the Ecoflow alternator charger, but if you want to use a 12v battery you'll need the alternator charger.
I know this trick for years, but I use 12 volt @ 3amps.
In the U.K. the mains is 240volts.
Nice! 👍🙂
Another informative video. So if I have a Anker F3800(which I do), you're saying I can hook up 2-sets of connectors and plug each one into the 2-XT60 ports and charge the F3800 at its max 2400W(1200 ea port)? Specs say this battery is 5120Wh. If I'm doing the math right, this battery can totally recharge it to 100% 1.33 times? If so, how long might it take to recharge to 100% from empty? Just curious. Thanks!
Notice how I said in the video that the Pecron E3600lfp allowed for both charging ports to come from the same source in parallel mode. This is NOT the case for the Anker F3800. The F3800 will not charge if there is a common ground between the two charging ports so you have to use a separate battery / source for each port. That is explained in this video:
ua-cam.com/video/T_zZceBWZHk/v-deo.html
I would love to get 4 of those batteries. I have 2 Delta Pro's each with 2 extra batteries. 2 of those in series would max out the solar input with 1600 watts.
I don't think many of these 48v batteries can be connected in series. Please confirm with the manufacturer before wiring them in series. It could damage the BMS and ruin the battery.
@@Jasonoid Ok, thanks for the info. I didn't suspect that. I'm presently have 8 12.8v batteries in series. I can recharge the Delta Pro at 1600 watts. Glad I didn't go down that path and release it wouldn't work.,
@leguirerj that's awesome! Most batteries support a 4S config. What battery brand and model are you using?
@@Jasonoid I have 4 Eco-Worthy 12.8v 100 ah and 4 LiTime 12.8v 100 ah.The LiTimes are out of my Ryobi 48v riding mower since grass cutting season is over.
@@leguirerj crazy they allow an 8s connection! 👍
Very interesting info. Why doesn't anyone do the informative tests using the DJI Power 1000 unit?
I reviewed the DJI power 1000, it's a very niche unit. The solar charge controller only accepts up to 30v so it would not work with a 48v battery. It would work with a 24v battery though 👍 I got a video about the new DJI accessories coming soon! I just started testing them.
Hello Jason. I have two Renogy lithium 12 volts batteries, can I do this set up with only 24 volts?. I knew it won’t be as good with 48 volts. Thanks
If your specific batteries support series connections, yes you can do a similar process to get 24v instead.
Yes. They do support series connection. Thank you and great videos 👍🏾
I got 2 24vdc 100 amp lifepo4 batteries to connect in series to do this totat cost about 700 with cabling.
what about low voltage protection so one doesn't destroy the battery? (ie: test if the battery has a BMS with low V cutoff)
Every LFP battery has an internal battery management system (BMS) that protects the battery in many different ways. One of those features is called low voltage discharge protection. These LFP batteries are pretty bullet proof. You can't overcharge them nor over discharge them. They stop charging and discharging automatically. They are MILES ahead of lead acid batteries.
@Jasonoid I see fuses on both the positive and negative wires. I thought that a fuse was needed only on the positive wire. Are they needed on both? Thanks!
It's just the way the adapter came, the more the merrier I guess...
@@Jasonoid ok thank you. I’m no expert-just curious.
@@teuton6167 it was extremely hard to find a 10 awg ring terminal adapter that would support multiple connection types for all power stations. This one fit the bill 👍
I got a delta pro. Can these batteries run in series? The Delta Pro has 150v input and it pulls 15.9 amps. So I'm guessing if these batteries can run series i could pull the max 1600 watts?
@@jaysonstebbins2539
That would work, but you would need the ability to charge the battery bank @100 + Volts.
Unless you disassembled the series connection every time you want to charge it and then individually charge the batteries at 48V each time.
Most 48v LFP battery do NOT support series connections. only parallel. You'd need to verify with the battery specs they support series connections before trying that....but.... it would technically work on the Delta Pro if the batteries could be wired in series.
@andrewr05 that wouldn't be a problem. Two chargers on thier battery with a isolated would take care of that. :)
@Jasonoid that's fair. I could see the bms not allowing series. Cool thanks! Nice find on the battery too!
what about buying the connecting cable from manufacturer of the powerplant, then cannibalize the cable and wire it to your own 48v array? The the powerplant would charge the array.
Lots of people have tried with different brands and the cables that go back and forth between the battery and the power station have communication lines in them which requires some circuitry so that the units can handshake before they will recognize that a battery is even connected.
I wanna see you do this with a scrap tesla battery.
Awesome video!!! Just what Ive been looking for.
Currently I have a Pecron e1500lfp with a 200W solar and an etaker alternator charger all working together in my SUV - BUT I've been wondering if I could add a 48V like this to my setup instead of getting the $999 Pecron expandable battery - would that be possible? 🤔
Any thoughts on this would be super appreciated!!!
Unfortunately the high voltage "solar" input on the Etaker only goes up to 48V.
("48V" 16s LiFePo4 batteries top out at 58V)
So there wouldn't really be a way to combine the two.
But you can put the e-taker into the low voltage input port and then the 48V battery into the high voltage inputs of the Pecron, as that takes 32-95V.
You didnt really talk much about, or pricing to be specific, on a charge controller to charge the 100ah battery which is a huge added cost. Yellow Eg4 one is $800 so with Ankers black friday sale at $1,800, for the largest expansion battery, after taxes etc I believe is a good deal. No need for separate charge controller, cables, etc. Sure the expansion battery isn't as much capacity but the ease of setup makes it worth it in my opinion.
I do wish Anker would come out with a larger expansion battery or even better, an expansion battery with more solar inputs and some outlets.... so basically a power station. I like the idea of keeping the large f3800 at home to power the cabin but taking an expansion battery off to use for camping.
I was regretting buying the Anker f3800 instead of Eg4 server racks but I wanted something portable anyways to take in the RV, camping, etc.
There are too many options to discuss in one video. You can literally do hundreds of different combinations of products when it comes to solar and batteries. This video covers one option. I don't always want to make a 40 minute video.
So far, with more of a budget, I like the Temgot 12v 300ah which comes in just under 16 cents per ah and has a built in display as well as the Bluetooth. I was skeptical of the display but having used one now for a little bit I’m loving that feature 🤷🏻♂️
Sounds like an excellent option but you'd need a converter to boost the voltage to charge a power station faster.
@@Jasonoid fortunately, in my situation, while faster charging speed is always nice, it is not really a need. Love your channel 🙏
If i put an MPPT between the battery and power station, is it possible to charge both the battery and power station with a solar panel? (I have a Bluetti AC70P)
It would be difficult to charge both at the same time, however the solar panel could connect to either of them when needed.
I just run the charge controller to the battery and then the battery to the power station.
That way the battery is constantly topping up the power station and then the solar panels are charging the battery.
@Jasonoid Check ETAKER F2000. It is multi input and output and best of all, it charges your RV car battery back. It can even jump start it. It can do input of 1000w DC + 1000w solar to a total of 1800w output. The ports are bi directional and customizable.
How do I charge this additional battery via AC outlet instead of solar during off peak hours?
I bought a Noco 10 charger for my battery (a 100V 12A with a built in BMS).
@@sumyap3869
You would just need to get a 48V charger and plug it into the power station.
Then during the hours you wanted to use the electricity you would have it pull from grid power and charge the batteries up.
During that time though you would want to disconnect the battery from the solar input though.
This is the charger seen in the video: amzn.to/3ZskXas
A 48v LFP battery charger.
Did you ever do a video on that Anker C300?
Nah, no video on it. It's a cool device but it's just designed for small DC loads. I might use it to power my Starlink mini sometimes.
@@Jasonoid Im using it to light my room now with 2 ceiling lights. Using the DC only version. It has replaced any bigger power station I have to recharge DC stuff. The Best thing I love about it is using the Ecoflow DPU's 2 USB C 100 ports simultaneously to charge it up super fast. And the Pop up light at the top I started to get the Jackery 100 (mini) but I'm glad I got this instead
@@Moes_Prep_and_Tech I have the DC only version too. It's a little beast and the light is pretty cool too.
I didn't know you could dual charge it with the inputs! I'll have to test that! Thanks!
@@Jasonoid It an dual charge at 140 watts each. (Middle port and the Right Port) The DPU can only do 100 each minus the transfer loss but I'm okay with that. Im glad I chose the the DC Version over the AC version because of the Extra DC Options with Same Battery Capacity. Question have you every checked out the Jackery 100, It's very Unique.I've never seen anything like it. Lifepo4 in the palm of your hand airplane friendly
@@Jasonoid It has 140 dual charge actually but the 100 each on the DPU is good enough for me, It's in the middle and right inputs. Have you ever checked out the Jackery 100? Its the smallest LifeP04 I've ever seen, fits in the palm of your hand, Airplane friendly
Pecron 1500 lfp adapter?
Anderson powerpole or MC4
From what I gather on their website it looks like they include a normal MC4 input cable.
So get yourself a pair of ring terminal to MC4 cables or if you'd like to go the same route as in the video look @3:33 and the links are in the video description for that.
Now all you need is a golf cart; I've been looking for an inexpensive golf cart myself. I have been watching many videos of installing 48-volt lithium batteries in the older golf carts.
The electric models are pretty expensive! I've looked occasionally but I haven't found anything amazing yet 😂
@@Jasonoid There are tons of cheap 36 volt ones but I haven't seen any cheap 48 volt ones. Maybe it's because there aren't any 36 volt golf cart lithium batterys.
@@kevinholland415636v models have less power and range. Vatrer makes a 36v battery. I think Li Time does too:
www.vatrerpower.com/products/38-4v-105ah-lifepo4-golf-cart-battery-built-in-200a-bms-4000-cycles-rechargeable-lithium-battery-max-7-68kw-power-output?srsltid=AfmBOoqRdcwvpTFdR7BnVDlfs3vBgLrJrDzaodnhcD2OaltLDD0Ezj9Y
Legit!
Thanks! Easiest setup ever!
Why charge a power station versus getting an inverter for your huge battery?
Why not have both the battery and inverter and use it in multiple ways? These batteries have many different uses.
An important thing to mention is that the external battery has to be charged by the power station or by other means, and when you want to use the extended capacity, you have to connect to the power station. You can't leave it all set like the extended batteries that are sold for the power stations. Unless you make another system (such as solar panels going to a charger that go to the battery, and then the battery connected to the powerstation permanently). Having to keep the stand alone battery charged manually (with a floating charger for example) and using it only when the power station runs out has its limitations... A stand alone 12v or 24v battery though would be a better fit to plug a fridge for example, since no inverter would be needed which consumes watts for being on. But then one would have to charge that battery with the powerstation DC out for example and deal with that as well. Cheers
Yep, I mentioned that clearly in the video
I always enjoy your content. I click "Like" before you even start talking. You're one of the best out there, on this topic. (You hear the 'but' coming, right?)
Please don't call these "DIY expansion batteries". Call them fake solar input, because that's what they are. The battery capacity of the power station is not changed in any sense, by routing the capacity of these external batteries to the solar charge controller of a power station. Also, there's no guarantee a power station will last "5X Longer", or any multiple of "X" longer, without knowing the output capacity of the external battery, the solar input limits, and the load connected to the power station.
You're very good at what you're doing, but go the extra mile and don't create false terminology or false expectations. This is a "hack" or a work-around that can definitely be used to extend run-times, but be transparent about the limitations.
I explain that clearly @6:56 when I talk about the disadvantages of using a battery like this.
@@Jasonoid - Yeah, but you really should lead with it and not risk confusing viewers into thinking you're actually extending the battery capacity of the power station. I get that your revenue is a factor of views, but I greatly respect your content and hope to continue doing so.
I have seen a FLOOD of videos showing this exact same concept. But, how do I charge the external battery? Plug it in in the woods off grid? Really? It HAS to be able to be CHARGED by the power station, IN the field. Otherwise, it is of very limited use. You charge it up before you leave a house, and use it ONCE. This is NOT a solution, at all.
You didn't watch the entire video, because I totally explained that...
@@Jasonoid And you were the guy I jumped on about it, instead of all the others. Sorry. I guess I respect and trust you more than them, so I got snippy. Again, sorry, man. Your videos are great, and I am a long time subscriber. It is something that irritated me about all the videos being made about it.
Thanks for the video. Overall, I found your video to be informative and helpful, tho, I don't really agree with the title of this video. This does not really make your power station last 5x longer...
At least from my point of view, imagine your title was "Simple Trick to make your car last 5x longer", and then you are shown a "portable gas tank"... that's not a trick. It is just more fuel.
If the title said, "Simple trick to add more battery storage to your PowerStation", then yea... again with the caveats that typically the power station won't recharge these.
The word 'longer' seems to mean different things to you I. '5X longer' runtime is what the video is talking about. The EcoFlow Delta 3 plus in the thumbnail has 1024wh of capacity, adding on an additional 5120wh will make it have a 5X longer runtime. That's exactly what the video is about. I think you are getting caught up too much in a play on words...
Hi Jason,
Great video as always!
I have two Pecron E2000LFP power stations and recently found a good deal on the Goal Zero Yeti Home Integration Kit. I was considering getting an expansion battery, and this seemed like a potentially better option than the Pecron expansion battery (even though the price has come down).
Do you think this would work well with my Pecron E2000LFPs?
Thanks for your expertise!
Regards,
It all depends if you are wanting a system that does everything automatically or if you are willing to do some of the work yourself. For example, an expansion for the E2000LFP connects up to the power station and it's automatically charged and discharged with the head unit. You kinda set it and forget type of thing.
Going the DIY route is usually more affordable BUT it also requires a little babysitting. For example, once the expansion battery dies, you have to manually charge it up. You have to connect and disconnect it when you want to use it.
For me the DIY option works well since I have the solar panels and the charge controllers I can dedicate to the batteries. If you aren't going to have room for more solar or you don't want to 'manage' the charging yourself, it might be best to stick with the branded expansion batteries.
Thanks for the quick reply! I understand it might work with some extra effort, but I'll need to weigh my options before deciding. I appreciate you clarifying that for me.
Regards,
Hi Jason; I absolutely love your channel. I have learned a great deal over the past few years by watching you! I was intrigued by the setup you described in this video and put together a smaller arrangement - Anker 757 and a 100 AH/12 volt battery - which doubled the run time of the 757; and I used a 20 amp fuse (Anker 757 solar spec is 10 amp/11 - 30 Volts). However I ran across this source (ua-cam.com/video/fPOFAkIHLRE/v-deo.html) which recommends a 100 Amp fuse for my simple system - based on the premise that this is the level of fuse that could handle a short from the battery - since lithium batteries can discharge almost all at one if a short circuit occurs. I was a little taken aback by this. I would appreciate any insight you have to offer on this. Thank you, Arthur
Interesting video. Each LFP battery has a built in BMS which protects against short circuits as a first line of defense.
Putting a fuse larger than what your wire is rated for will just cause your wire to burn in the case of a short circuit. For example, if you ran 12awg wire rated for 20 amps, and you put a 100 amp fuse on that wire, the wire would just melt/burn if something bad happened and the fuse wouldn't blow. Always match the fuse rating with your wire ampacity. If you need to pull high power / amperage, install a larger wire and fuses.
Why even buy a power station in the first place? Just buy the battery and attach an inverter to it. Recharge it with solar..simpler and waay cheaper.
That argument USED to be the case... It's actually not cheaper to go DIY on a small system anymore... The power stations seen in the video (the Bluetti AC180 and the Anker C1000) are the same price as a decent quality 2000w pure sine inverter lol... $400. You'd have to spend money on the battery, solar charge controller, and all the fuses and wiring. Probably near $800 for a decent 2000w device and a 100ah battery.
Prices have dropped significantly in the last 6 months.
Not to mention that diy systems are extremely loud when under load. These power stations are significantly more quiet, compact, and simple.
@@lawrencedavidson6195 I've built plenty of small DIY systems, I know what is involved in building one.
3 times the capacity? A 100ah LFP 12v battery has 1280wh, the Bluetti AC180 has 1152wh of capacity, seems pretty dang close.
The Renogy 2000w inverter is priced at $269 on sale right now. That's more than half of the price of the Bluetti. (so it's similar to the 1800w of the Bluetti output)
The wire and fuses and hardware for that DIY project alone would be $100 additional. What about adding a case to enclose it all or some short of smart shunt to track capacity? Add another $150 for both those items. Stacks up quick.
@@Jasonoid I made an error with "3 times the capacity" so i deleted my comment. However, the 100ah battery IS more capacity. For those who don't want to, or cannot build their own power station, a ready made one is lovely to have (and prettier to look at). But, with prices of most if not all solar stuff going down, if you shop around you can still build your own power station for less. I have also built quite a few and assisted friends to build their own. Cheers, and greetings from sunny Jamaica.
Bluetti is the most wanting power station around. Crap customer service extremely high rate of DOA.
This video wasn't really about Bluetti specifically
$1100 battery to charge your power station or use the elec in your home for free. Or buy another battery for your power station to add more wh. Hmmmm…
| "or use the electricity in your home for free"
Do you just not understand why these exist?
The whole purpose of using a battery like this is to get a longer runtime when electricity isn't available in your home. Backup power lasting longer during a power outage.
@ why not by the additional battery or more that belongs to that system?
@ for people to cheap to buy the additional batteries that belong and are designed for the system your using
@@jnmc-vx4fw
Because that costs three times the amount of money.