As a break from the trailer (I'm still working on tearing the sides and deck off of it, I've got a few pictures of a recently completed project. I spent most of last summer renovating and retrofitting a small tent trailer for my wife and myself to use, but when I started to look around for a way to get power into it, I wasn't terribly happy with what I found. I did _not_ want a massive bank of batteries and wiring to let us have a few basics like a fan and some lights, and the portable power stations you can purchase for about $300 have a very limited capacity, so I set out to build a portable battery box that would supply the power we wanted, but still be something that was aesthetically pleasing and reasonably efficient. First step was a 3/4" plywood cabinet. The feet are nailed in through a piece of neoprene rubber that acts as a vibration isolator and keeps the battery from jiggling around too much. A coat of mahogany stain and 4 coats of varathane and you have an attractive box that doubles quite nicely as a small table.
Inside however is where the real heart of the matter is. I'm sure you noticed the three holes in the face of the box. Those are 12 volt adapter plugs. Each wired back to a fuse panel and designed to take 72, 150, and 230 watts current draw moving from left to right. They're connected to an independent fuse panel on the right side of the box, which in turn is wired to a toggle switch that will allow a draw of about 1000 watts. The negative terminal has a master cutoff switch for travelling, and there is space in the box to fit both a trickle charger (for charging at campsites that have power, and a 1.8 watt solar panel that will charge the battery and keep it topped up through the day. The battery itself is a heavy duty deep cycle unit with 120 amp hours capacity. This translates to 1440 watt hours, which in turn would run a 100 watt bulb for just over 14 hours without interruption. Seeing as the light I have draws 2.5 watts, and even our cooler (hello portable fridge!) only draws 65 watts, we've got enough power available for even an entire weekend of camping, and with moderation and lots of sun, I think we could draw it out to an entire week. It'll be interesting to see how the unit holds up under stress, but I think it was worth the effort. The entire cost was about $300 stretched across the whole winter (those batteries are bloody expensive) but what I end up with is a unit that is much more versatile than the commercial battery packs and holds a far larger charge. Worth the outlay I think.
As a break from the trailer (I'm still working on tearing the sides and deck off of it, I've got a few pictures of a recently completed project. I spent most of last summer renovating and retrofitting a small tent trailer for my wife and myself to use, but when I started to look around for a way to get power into it, I wasn't terribly happy with what I found. I did _not_ want a massive bank of batteries and wiring to let us have a few basics like a fan and some lights, and the portable power stations you can purchase for about $300 have a very limited capacity, so I set out to build a portable battery box that would supply the power we wanted, but still be something that was aesthetically pleasing and reasonably efficient. First step was a 3/4" plywood cabinet. The feet are nailed in through a piece of neoprene rubber that acts as a vibration isolator and keeps the battery from jiggling around too much. A coat of mahogany stain and 4 coats of varathane and you have an attractive box that doubles quite nicely as a small table.
Inside however is where the real heart of the matter is. I'm sure you noticed the three holes in the face of the box. Those are 12 volt adapter plugs. Each wired back to a fuse panel and designed to take 72, 150, and 230 watts current draw moving from left to right. They're connected to an independent fuse panel on the right side of the box, which in turn is wired to a toggle switch that will allow a draw of about 1000 watts. The negative terminal has a master cutoff switch for travelling, and there is space in the box to fit both a trickle charger (for charging at campsites that have power, and a 1.8 watt solar panel that will charge the battery and keep it topped up through the day. The battery itself is a heavy duty deep cycle unit with 120 amp hours capacity. This translates to 1440 watt hours, which in turn would run a 100 watt bulb for just over 14 hours without interruption. Seeing as the light I have draws 2.5 watts, and even our cooler (hello portable fridge!) only draws 65 watts, we've got enough power available for even an entire weekend of camping, and with moderation and lots of sun, I think we could draw it out to an entire week. It'll be interesting to see how the unit holds up under stress, but I think it was worth the effort. The entire cost was about $300 stretched across the whole winter (those batteries are bloody expensive) but what I end up with is a unit that is much more versatile than the commercial battery packs and holds a far larger charge. Worth the outlay I think.
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