a battery for charging things in a van
March 2, 2020 11:30 AM Subscribe
I'm looking for a large battery suitable for carrying in a car or van, used to charge personal electronics, including a laptop. It must be able to be charged from the vehicle's round 12v outlet. It would be nice if it could also jump-start a V6, but that is optional.
Budget is sub-$300. The Anker Powerhouse line seems like it might be good, but I'm unclear on whether it can be charged over 12v.
Is there some reason why you can't just upgrade your vehicle battery to the maximum physical size you can get into the hole and just charge from the car? I'd have thought you'd get much more capacity that way than an additional battery. How much do you need, and for how long will the vehicle be off?
You can get a voltage drop cut-off that will mean you can always start it if it gets too low - below a certain voltage it will turn the 12V off, which means the charging stops so you can know to turn the car on again.
posted by Brockles at 11:45 AM on March 2, 2020
You can get a voltage drop cut-off that will mean you can always start it if it gets too low - below a certain voltage it will turn the 12V off, which means the charging stops so you can know to turn the car on again.
posted by Brockles at 11:45 AM on March 2, 2020
Charging personal electronics at line voltage? (110V). You'll need more than just a battery. You need an inverter.
Typically, you have a "house" battery which is a Deep Cycle, or Marine battery. Ones the size of a typical car battery are referred to as M27. There's also the smaller M24 size. And larger ones typically referred to as "commercial". You can also look at golf cart batteries.
But it's not clear how "streamlined" you want the solution to be.
Regarding above. Any current starting battery will be the largest possible already. There's only one "size" really. You don't want to share duties with the starting battery. Each has a different discharge requirement. They do make dual purposed batteries, but compromises make it not an optimal solution.
posted by humboldt32 at 12:04 PM on March 2, 2020
Typically, you have a "house" battery which is a Deep Cycle, or Marine battery. Ones the size of a typical car battery are referred to as M27. There's also the smaller M24 size. And larger ones typically referred to as "commercial". You can also look at golf cart batteries.
But it's not clear how "streamlined" you want the solution to be.
Regarding above. Any current starting battery will be the largest possible already. There's only one "size" really. You don't want to share duties with the starting battery. Each has a different discharge requirement. They do make dual purposed batteries, but compromises make it not an optimal solution.
posted by humboldt32 at 12:04 PM on March 2, 2020
Looking at the Anker Powerline Powerhouse, it looks like it can be charged via USB-C PD. So you just need an appropriate adapter and a USB-C cable and you're in business.
posted by neckro23 at 12:54 PM on March 2, 2020
posted by neckro23 at 12:54 PM on March 2, 2020
Visit the forums at CheapRVLiving. Van dwellers deal with exactly this issue all the time.
One option is to put in a diverter to charge a 2nd car battery when you drive the vehicle. It has to be set up so that you only use the 'house' battery without drawing down the starting battery.
Lots of Jump Starters trickle charge off the cig. lighter, and can be used to start a vehicle, or power an inverter. Rated in terms of Capacity: mAh (milliamp hours, I think). More is more.
You can get solar charging mats that will top up a phone with some good sunlight. Many vandwellers get solar panels mounted to keep the house battery charged.
Inverters vary in amount of power they can handle and how clean the power is (mostly matters if you have a microwave cooker).
When I traveled in a minivan, keeping a phone and laptop powered was a constant challenge. If you're using GPS, the phone will use a fair bit of battery. Assess how much driving you do when the alternator can charge a house battery or how much time you spend camped out not running the engine. I recently bought a Prius because you can leave it in the On status, use it to run stuff, and it willpower on the gas engine occasionally to recharge the storage battery, like a generator.
posted by theora55 at 1:02 PM on March 2, 2020 [3 favorites]
One option is to put in a diverter to charge a 2nd car battery when you drive the vehicle. It has to be set up so that you only use the 'house' battery without drawing down the starting battery.
Lots of Jump Starters trickle charge off the cig. lighter, and can be used to start a vehicle, or power an inverter. Rated in terms of Capacity: mAh (milliamp hours, I think). More is more.
You can get solar charging mats that will top up a phone with some good sunlight. Many vandwellers get solar panels mounted to keep the house battery charged.
Inverters vary in amount of power they can handle and how clean the power is (mostly matters if you have a microwave cooker).
When I traveled in a minivan, keeping a phone and laptop powered was a constant challenge. If you're using GPS, the phone will use a fair bit of battery. Assess how much driving you do when the alternator can charge a house battery or how much time you spend camped out not running the engine. I recently bought a Prius because you can leave it in the On status, use it to run stuff, and it willpower on the gas engine occasionally to recharge the storage battery, like a generator.
posted by theora55 at 1:02 PM on March 2, 2020 [3 favorites]
Is there a reason you can't charge your laptop etc. via the car's cigarette lighter with an adapter?
posted by summerstorm at 10:55 PM on March 2, 2020
posted by summerstorm at 10:55 PM on March 2, 2020
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posted by jquinby at 11:41 AM on March 2, 2020