# Portable power pack



## Leeroy Jenkins (May 16, 2015)

I want to share this with you all. I'm going on a cross country trip with my wife and 2 kids this summer for a month. Gonna hit up a lot of the National Parks and doing a lot of camping. My wife needs a CPAP. We got the usual cell phone, cameras and laptop to keep charged.

I looked at the Goal Zero 400 below but was. I was not impressed for the $450 price tag. It only has 33 amp hours capacity.

Goal Zero Yeti 400 Portable Power Station | Power Packs | Goal Zero

So I set out to build my own improved version. I wanted something in the 45 amp hour range so it could provide enough power but small enough I could use a 3amp charger on it. It can take up to a Group 27 battery so it can surpass the capabilities of the $1600 Goal Zero 1250 by putting a deep cycle Gr 27 battery. Ultimately I'd like to look into LiPo batteries for a power source.

My uses for this will be mostly powering my wife's CPAP. Though last night I did my 1st test and for 8 hrs it ran her CPAP, charged 3 phones, charged a video camera and ran 2 small CPU fans via the USB and the voltage went down to 12.29 volts on my 12v 45AH Deep Cycle AGM battery. This is an extreme version of a scenario I may run into on a cross country trip I'm doing this summer with my family. I'm still researching now if that voltage drop is acceptable.

So I got the items below and a 12v 45 AH deep cycle AGM wheelchair battery all for $300. Its less $$ than a Goal Zero, modular and more powerful.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01A...keywords=newport+vessels+trolling+motor&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007...e+inverter&dpPl=1&dpID=51+uc8wnz0L&ref=plSrch

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00E...Y340_QL65&keywords=3+amp+battery+tender&psc=1

I chose the inverter I did so I could have clean power and the charger at only 3 amps because as stated I will be recharging off my vehicles inverter. So far it's worked very well. Next I'll be looking into solar chargers.

Also I didn't buy the Battery Tender off Amazon. I found it locally for only $49.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Great way to go. While it works for you, I have a question, because based on my CPAP using 6.67 Amps per hour with the water heater, 8 hours would use 54 amps and that's going direct 12 VDC without the inverter's 5-10% inefficiency. How many amps or watts does your wife's CPAP use?


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## Leeroy Jenkins (May 16, 2015)

paraquack said:


> Great way to go. While it works for you, I have a question, because based on my CPAP using 6.67 Amps per hour with the water heater, 8 hours would use 54 amps and that's going direct 12 VDC without the inverter's 5-10% inefficiency. How many amps or watts does your wife's CPAP use?


It's rated for 2.5a @ 12v. No heater or humidifier is used on hers. If I had to guess it draws even less than what it's rated. I think hers is a Resmed model.

I'll throw a meter on it tomorrow and see what I get.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

LEEEEERRRROOOOOOYYYYYY JEEEEEENNNNNKKKKKIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNS!

I got nothing for you in regards to the power pack, sounds like you got what you need...HOWEVER...we need to see some pic of your trip! :glasses:

Your friend,

Slippy :vs_wave:



Leeroy Jenkins said:


> View attachment 46666
> I want to share this with you all. I'm going on a cross country trip with my wife and 2 kids this summer for a month. Gonna hit up a lot of the National Parks and doing a lot of camping. My wife needs a CPAP. We got the usual cell phone, cameras and laptop to keep charged.
> 
> I looked at the Goal Zero 400 below but was. I was not impressed for the $450 price tag. It only has 33 amp hours capacity.
> ...


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## Leeroy Jenkins (May 16, 2015)

Slippy said:


> LEEEEERRRROOOOOOYYYYYY JEEEEEENNNNNKKKKKIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNS!
> 
> I got nothing for you in regards to the power pack, sounds like you got what you need...HOWEVER...we need to see some pic of your trip! :glasses:
> 
> ...


Oh absolutely!


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

The CPAPs I have seen in the last 10 years all use a 120 VAC to 12 VDCpower supply. If your wife's does, try looking for a 12 volt DC cord for her CPAP if you want to save power. The inverter to CPAP power supply is wasting some power from the battery.


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## Leeroy Jenkins (May 16, 2015)

paraquack said:


> The CPAPs I have seen in the last 10 years all use a 120 VAC to 12 VDCpower supply. If your wife's does, try looking for a 12 volt DC cord for her CPAP if you want to save power. The inverter to CPAP power supply is wasting some power from the battery.


It does run on 12v dc. Problem is I can't find find the cord to fit it because it's a discontinued model. I'm looking though.


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## I'd_last_a_day (May 12, 2015)

Leeroy Jenkins said:


> View attachment 46666
> I want to share this with you all. I'm going on a cross country trip with my wife and 2 kids this summer for a month. Gonna hit up a lot of the National Parks and doing a lot of camping. My wife needs a CPAP. We got the usual cell phone, cameras and laptop to keep charged.
> 
> I looked at the Goal Zero 400 below but was. I was not impressed for the $450 price tag. It only has 33 amp hours capacity.
> ...


Yeah Goal Zero seems like such a rip off! Somewhere along the line, I forget if it was in here, it was recommended to me that this was a much better value (so I just saved it in my Amazon cart but never pulled the trigger on it)...

https://www.amazon.com/Inergy-Kodia...d=1496729008&sr=8-1&keywords=kodiak+generator

This one looks interesting as well, only slightly more than the Kodiak above but a LiFePO4 battery!! Unfortunately just 1 review ugh, I'd really like to see way more reviews (for both).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016LICFVG/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2611DH3W1FA7Q


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Leeroy Jenkins said:


> It does run on 12v dc. Problem is I can't find find the cord to fit it because it's a discontinued model. I'm looking though.


Unless the cord to CPAP connector is weird, can you build your own cord before Radio Shack is gone? That was what I did. The CPAP had a standard co-axial connector. I was able to put together parts right off the shelf at RS.


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

Leeroy Jenkins said:


> ...and the voltage went down to 12.29 volts on my 12v 45AH Deep Cycle AGM battery...I'm still researching now if that voltage drop is acceptable...


Opinions vary, but from what I've been able to find, 12.29 volts SOC on an AGM is just about where you want to recharge to maintain long battery life. (Measured with no load after an hour or so of rest.)

Looks like a nice system.


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## Leeroy Jenkins (May 16, 2015)

Great thanks guys....


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

Leeroy Jenkins;1186954. Though last night I did my 1st test and for 8 hrs it ran her CPAP said:


> Since most group 27 batteries are LA batteries I'll take a stab at this.
> If after resting 3-4 hours the battery voltage was 12.29v the battery still had about 64% charge left. As you probably know it's best to not overly discharge the battery too deeply but you should be fine for cycling the battery that low for several years. Just don't discharge it much lower on a regular basis.


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## Leeroy Jenkins (May 16, 2015)

John Galt said:


> Since most group 27 batteries are LA batteries I'll take a stab at this.
> If after resting 3-4 hours the battery voltage was 12.29v the battery still had about 64% charge left. As you probably know it's best to not overly discharge the battery too deeply but you should be fine for cycling the battery that low for several years. Just don't discharge it much lower on a regular basis.


Cool thanks!


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## Brettny (Apr 26, 2017)

That looks like a real nice setup you have. You will have to update this when you get back from your trip.
They sell quite an aray of battery chargers now that would put out more amps for around the same money. Mabe the compact size is what you needed? 
Since you have a deep cycle battery i think your discharge rate should be fine.


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

Just for fun for all of you looking for a "Solar Generator"
https://www.smartflower.com/en

Wouldn't recommend it but it is an interesting option.


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## Leeroy Jenkins (May 16, 2015)

Brettny said:


> That looks like a real nice setup you have. You will have to update this when you get back from your trip.
> They sell quite an aray of battery chargers now that would put out more amps for around the same money. Mabe the compact size is what you needed?
> Since you have a deep cycle battery i think your discharge rate should be fine.


Thanks.. I will definitely update it. So ar it works great. I know they make chargers with higher charge rates but I'm limited to only 3a because I have a 150watt power source...a 5 amp charger requires more than the 150 I have.


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