Author Topic: lifepo4 diy power station?  (Read 575 times)

rcjordan

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lifepo4 diy power station?
« on: November 10, 2022, 06:48:21 PM »
This vid is li-on but it's the general idea.  With the entrance of less expensive, far safer lifepo4 it seems like large (clunkier) diy powerstaions are do-able.  Debbie says we're paying a premium for a case, some gauges, and a couple of fans.

Build your own portable POWER STATION (1200w, USB-C and MORE!) - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adY-S8AH_Jc

creative666

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Re: lifepo4 diy power station?
« Reply #1 on: November 11, 2022, 06:23:00 AM »
Very impressive  8)

He would make a fortune selling those here in South Africa considering our power utility situation!

rcjordan

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Re: lifepo4 diy power station?
« Reply #2 on: November 11, 2022, 01:27:44 PM »
So I emailed my nerd buddy about this yesterday.  Apparently, we're on the same wavelength. He just picked up one of these for $75 on FB.

Xantrex AHTR-50 XM 1800w, 12vdc-to AC Power Inverter with a built in transfer switch.

https://www.amazon.com/XM-1800-DC-Power-Inverter/dp/B00197TCVQ

(Also branded as Thermo King for $150 less.)

This inverter is used by big rig sleeper cabs to power appliances.  Also getting popular in the RV crowd.

He picked up some HUGE, refurb gel cell batteries used in server farms and is cobbling together a backup pack for his freezer.

creative666

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Re: lifepo4 diy power station?
« Reply #3 on: November 13, 2022, 07:47:20 AM »
I spoke to a mobile coffee guy who serves out of his trailer at the beach very close to where I live, I sent him the video and he tells me there is a local guy who builds very similar battery packs. They start at R3500 ($205) - but very customiseable and will come through and build exactly to your requirements.

We travel to a hairly rurual town along the coast once a month to where my in-laws live, it might be worth getting one to keep for road trips.

ergophobe

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Re: lifepo4 diy power station?
« Reply #4 on: November 13, 2022, 09:33:17 PM »
Nice DIY setup and some nice inverters, both the one you linked and ones up to 5,000W that Amazon shows me.

1800W and 20A should cover most use cases. Our setup is 30A and 3,000W which I guess mostly lets you run more stuff at once.

I’m already starting to think I should have gone bigger though. It’s looking more and more likely that any EV charging station I will put in will be 2-way, which means that I’ll have over 100KWH of storage, at which point you have the battery power to run things like electric heating or cooling, electric dryer, etc, for several days.

But as always, if you build everything to future proof it, your costs go up very quickly and half the time the future ends up looking different than you expected.