Hi all, I have just acquired a very small Camper Car and looking to start solo camping as soon as spring comes.
Would appreciate guidance on the following;
1) What is the best and most versatile portable power pack I can buy to use to power various items when I am pitched up in the Camper Car. Don’t want to use in-car sockets in case I drain the main battery and no leisure battery is currently installed.
2) If a site I pitch up on has electrical hook-up, what cable do I have to buy in order to link-up the above portable power pack to keep it charged.
How much stuff are you wanting to power? If it's just the odd light and charging a phone then the answer is quite different from if you're wanting to run a fridge/kettle/induction hob etc.
Lights, IPad and phone should be no problem, but I wouldn't recommend that you run a fridge and particularly a kettle off a battery pack as it would last very long at all. Even a very large caravan leisure battery wouldn't last more than a few hours, unless it was a compressor fridge and a very low wattage kettle. A normal domestic kettle and/or a camping fridge would really need a decent EHU supply.
Suitable EHU leads are readily available from any decent camping shop or caravan dealer.
Quote: Originally posted by Colin21 on 30/11/2022
Lights, IPad and phone should be no problem, but I wouldn't recommend that you run a fridge and particularly a kettle off a battery pack as it would last very long at all. Even a very large caravan leisure battery wouldn't last more than a few hours, unless it was a compressor fridge and a very low wattage kettle. A normal domestic kettle and/or a camping fridge would really need a decent EHU supply.
Suitable EHU leads are readily available from any decent camping shop or caravan dealer.
Thanks v. much Colin for great guidance. So I need EHU lead for the larger appliances which I will get. As for battery pack, do you have any recommendations on a good performer?
Sorry, can't really help with a recommendation as I have never used one, my comments were very much a generalisation based on my knowledge of electrics.
If you are staying at a Caravan Club site (and the other club might now be the same) you must have a 'proper' outdoor hook up cable with appropriate weatherproof connections on each end.
You will not be able to use a household cable reel.
Ditto at Colin21 regarding fridge/coolbox. You'll kill a battery faster than you can eat the rapidly defrosting contents if you try do what you suggest, sorry.
As for battery packs try EcoFlow they have a few different ones depending on power needs. add in a portable solar panel and you can keep it topped up. As for EHU you’re going to need a camping one used in tents with 13amp plugs at one end. Unless you have some built in sockets in the car.
How many days are you looking at doing? Do you really need a fridge ? with the right prep a good icebox will last days. We’ve done 5 days without needing to top it up.
You really need to work out what your power needs are in amp hours. Then build your battery needs round that. look for low power kettle ect not 12 volt as they are pointless. Are you planning on cooking much? If so gas will be better option use add in gas kettle and that’s sorted that. Or low power induction hob we’ve one only 800 watts for when on EHU.
Quote: Originally posted by Just-us3 on 01/12/2022
As for battery packs try EcoFlow they have a few different ones depending on power needs. add in a portable solar panel and you can keep it topped up. As for EHU you’re going to need a camping one used in tents with 13amp plugs at one end. Unless you have some built in sockets in the car.
How many days are you looking at doing? Do you really need a fridge ? with the right prep a good icebox will last days. We’ve done 5 days without needing to top it up.
You really need to work out what your power needs are in amp hours. Then build your battery needs round that. look for low power kettle ect not 12 volt as they are pointless. Are you planning on cooking much? If so gas will be better option use add in gas kettle and that’s sorted that. Or low power induction hob we’ve one only 800 watts for when on EHU.
Brilliant, thank you - fully understand. Will move forward in this regard. Most appreciated
For tablet/phone charging a standard powerbank will suffice. A 20000mAh one will charge up a typical phone 4-5 times. You can also use your car power supply when driving to charge the phone or the powerbank. Anker are a decent brand.
If you need to power something more substantial eg laptop then an Anker Powerhouse/Jackery type device would be useful. These have 3 pin and 12V sockets as well as USB.
For the kettle consider using gas? Suitcase stoves are around £10-£15. Great for cooking too. If you want to use an electric kettle you'll need a proper cable/hook-up as already mentioned. Tip: take a good quality vacuum flask and fill it with boiling water in the morning, saves you wasting gas doing another boil later!
And fridge... I use a decent quality coolbox with icepacks. Many campsites offer freezers for icepacks. Some even have fridges. Even without this you should be able to keep stuff cool for a couple of days without a fridge if you properly prep your coolbox before leaving.
Quote: Originally posted by Speaker12 on 01/12/2022
Some suggestions...
For tablet/phone charging a standard powerbank will suffice. A 20000mAh one will charge up a typical phone 4-5 times. You can also use your car power supply when driving to charge the phone or the powerbank. Anker are a decent brand.
If you need to power something more substantial eg laptop then an Anker Powerhouse/Jackery type device would be useful. These have 3 pin and 12V sockets as well as USB.
For the kettle consider using gas? Suitcase stoves are around £10-£15. Great for cooking too. If you want to use an electric kettle you'll need a proper cable/hook-up as already mentioned. Tip: take a good quality vacuum flask and fill it with boiling water in the morning, saves you wasting gas doing another boil later!
And fridge... I use a decent quality coolbox with icepacks. Many campsites offer freezers for icepacks. Some even have fridges. Even without this you should be able to keep stuff cool for a couple of days without a fridge if you properly prep your coolbox before leaving.
Thanks Speaker12, great advice and most appreciated.
If you are using EHU (purchase hook up mentioned in post above) - do not buy a power pack (eg Jackery) unless you need one. You are looking at £250 upwards which you won't need if on EHU.
If you are going off grid for more than a couple of days with a power pack - you will need a way to recharge the pack (eg solar panel).
Fridge - the dometic 3 way cool box works great on 230v and gas (although you can't run it on gas whilst in your van). They work on 12v but not particularly well. If you want to run this at 230v from a power pack - you would probably need one costing £500 upwards.
You could start off with ehu and a single induction hob, travel kettle. Stay on a few sites with ehu and see how you get on. If you are going to cook and therefore need to refrigerate you could try a 12v/mains coolbox about £50 upwards. Can't really comment how cool they are but I suspect on 12v they are not great.
Quote: Originally posted by gari on 02/12/2022
If you are using EHU (purchase hook up mentioned in post above) - do not buy a power pack (eg Jackery) unless you need one. You are looking at £250 upwards which you won't need if on EHU.
If you are going off grid for more than a couple of days with a power pack - you will need a way to recharge the pack (eg solar panel).
Fridge - the dometic 3 way cool box works great on 230v and gas (although you can't run it on gas whilst in your van). They work on 12v but not particularly well. If you want to run this at 230v from a power pack - you would probably need one costing £500 upwards.
You could start off with ehu and a single induction hob, travel kettle. Stay on a few sites with ehu and see how you get on. If you are going to cook and therefore need to refrigerate you could try a 12v/mains coolbox about £50 upwards. Can't really comment how cool they are but I suspect on 12v they are not great.
Don't bother with a 12 volt cool box unless you plan on only using it from the car with the engine running. Even like that they only keep stuff fairly cool at best, and not even that if it's a really hot day. I think they cool to something like 15 degrees below ambient temperature so if it's 30 degrees outside the box it will be no lower than 15 degrees inside. They absolutely slaughter batteries too.
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Topic: Advice please on PowerPack / Site Hook-Up
via mobile 01/12/2022 at 6:23am
