AWS
Custom Accessory Maker & Retired PM Staff
With the van gone and no solar set up yet. I need some power while camping, charge phone, caller batteries, kindle, small tent fan. So I got a little handy, and built a port-a-power.
Old ammo can, 35ah wheel chair battery, two amp charger, quick connect for solar if I get a small panel to charge on extended trips. It has connections for USB(2), "C" (2) and a cigarette power port plus a voltage monitor. I've been testing it here at the house and ran the fan 6 hours, charged my kindle and phone and only dropped the voltage from 12.9v to 12.6v so it should give me a few days of power. Cheap Jackery box.
I hate to tap the vehicle battery when back in the bush. But will probably add a port to the Nissan so I can charge while traveling.
Boat accessory panel
Bag of inline fuse holders.
Charger connector for later use of another charging source, like solar. I had a bag here from other projects so added while I was wiring. I fuse with as light a fuse as I can get away with. These are just an example mine have been here for years, I had to add ring terminals
Charger, 2A is plenty for this small battery. There are plenty of chargers out there I like this brand I have a multi bank in the boat and use one like it as a maintainer on the MC and had one 5A as backup on the van. It also fit in the box.
Battery is a 35Ah wheelchair SLA battery you might be able to get one from someone with a little scooter/wheelchair. When you change out batteries usually two one is still good but you change both at the same time. This is like the one I used. I use an SLA battery as you don't have to worry about tipping or gassing they are designed to be charged indoors. I had them in the van it a box and never had a problem with corrosion.
The box is one I had here I liked that I could put the panel in the top and have room for spare cables and adaptors.
Flambeaux Dry Box # 1408
Wiring is pretty self explanatory, plus to plus, neg to neg, fuse the plus side between the battery and the end.
I cut a piece of 2x6 to fit the bottom of the charger end of the box and screwed it in from the side. It is there to mount the charger on and keep the battery from sliding.
This is the power box I had in the van. It was set up to charge from the truck alternator(long cloudy weeks in the PNW), solar panel and if I was in a campground I could plug into shore power and park in a shady spot and the 5amp charger would keep the batteries topped.
Old ammo can, 35ah wheel chair battery, two amp charger, quick connect for solar if I get a small panel to charge on extended trips. It has connections for USB(2), "C" (2) and a cigarette power port plus a voltage monitor. I've been testing it here at the house and ran the fan 6 hours, charged my kindle and phone and only dropped the voltage from 12.9v to 12.6v so it should give me a few days of power. Cheap Jackery box.
I hate to tap the vehicle battery when back in the bush. But will probably add a port to the Nissan so I can charge while traveling.
Boat accessory panel
Bag of inline fuse holders.
Charger connector for later use of another charging source, like solar. I had a bag here from other projects so added while I was wiring. I fuse with as light a fuse as I can get away with. These are just an example mine have been here for years, I had to add ring terminals
Charger, 2A is plenty for this small battery. There are plenty of chargers out there I like this brand I have a multi bank in the boat and use one like it as a maintainer on the MC and had one 5A as backup on the van. It also fit in the box.
Battery is a 35Ah wheelchair SLA battery you might be able to get one from someone with a little scooter/wheelchair. When you change out batteries usually two one is still good but you change both at the same time. This is like the one I used. I use an SLA battery as you don't have to worry about tipping or gassing they are designed to be charged indoors. I had them in the van it a box and never had a problem with corrosion.
The box is one I had here I liked that I could put the panel in the top and have room for spare cables and adaptors.
Flambeaux Dry Box # 1408
Wiring is pretty self explanatory, plus to plus, neg to neg, fuse the plus side between the battery and the end.
I cut a piece of 2x6 to fit the bottom of the charger end of the box and screwed it in from the side. It is there to mount the charger on and keep the battery from sliding.
This is the power box I had in the van. It was set up to charge from the truck alternator(long cloudy weeks in the PNW), solar panel and if I was in a campground I could plug into shore power and park in a shady spot and the 5amp charger would keep the batteries topped.
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