Battery Power Packs

G

Gene&Mary

New member
We are looking at the Goal Zero Yeti 500x or the Ecoflow River Pro portable power packs for using in our boat and RV. Can these units be connected directly onto the terminals of the existing 12v batteries to add additional amp hours to the existing battery?

Thanks

Gene
 
Hi Gene,

Not sure how you'd do that without a battery charger. 12V DC ports would probably be to low and you'd probably need out ports to have power protection? I use an EcoFlow Delta Mini on my boat so I'm interested in what you find out.

- tom
 
NO you cannot connect the LiFePO4 directly to the 12 volt battery, The Li battery is a higher voltage than FLA or AGM batteries (13.4 at rest vs 12.7 volts. There could be a large inrush current, and either the BMS would shut it down, or there could be damage to both FLA and or the Li battery.

You use a battery to battery charger from the 12 volt start battery to charge the Li battery. There are several, and they have a much different profile from the FLA or AGM battery.

I built my system so I could either run on the 12.7 volt house batteries, or the 13.4 volt Li battery. I used a double pole double throw switch, (all off in the center position.). For example when charging the Li battery from outboard alternator, I would run the freezer off the house battery. Then full power from the B to B charger goes to charging the Li battery. Usually my day's run with the Honda 150 (about 40 amps available) would charge up the Li bank. I could charge it thru a mains power charger if necessary. The 120 volts could be from shore power, or a Honda generator.
 
I have one of those units, a Yeti 3000X, courtesy of SDG&E, our local power company. It's a battery, an inverter and a DC-DC converter packaged together, with a small external charger. Also has Bluetooth. Sells at Costco for $3500.

So, I got it because it's free and had a Li battery inside. Then I found out that the battery is 10.3 volts ( 3 cells at 3.6 VDC?), so it's not good fit for the boat. The 3000 model puts out 3000 WATT-hrs at 10.3 VDC And with the supplied charger, it takes 13 hrs to charge from the wall. The solar panels which come with it take 24 hours to recharge it. It will run the house refrigerator for about 22 hrs, which is a plus.

So, since I can't pull the battery out and use it, and the inverter is designed to operate with an input of 10.3 VDC and it takes a long time to charge, it's useless. It sits in the garage taking up space; anyone who wants it can stop by and pick it up, free. It's useless to me.

Boris
 
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