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Portable power thingy's


Kendorr

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I do watch certain vlogs on Youtube. Recently many of the vloggers have been given a 'Jackery' unit to try out and then post a review.

 

I know I constructed a power hungry boat, mainly due to a 240 volt fridge/freezer, and I also mostly use a 1kw kettle when I'm out and about. I'm based in a marina, but I leave for 3 to 4 months each year.

 

Anyway (sorry for the waffle) I decided that one of these units would be useful, but wasn't that keen on the Jackery. Having looked at various reviews, I bought the 'EcoFlow River

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393503879948?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item5b9ea8b30c:g:IhIAAOSwcQ9hFkY7&amdata=enc%3AAQAGAAACkPYe5NmHp%2B2JMhMi7yxGiTJkPrKr5t53CooMSQt2orsSU8qUIAeVPdz29zRlje3Lg9tiX9z4rSHj7NSmWIf7RzHbmiT0MX3pI8lCQN%2Bwc0qO5m6vvn0kInroNDjLMwXLR7mNk8NcT7EwXkI9RAzQC5nQM2qN8wlqSQiQCqQrib3OHgps8FgH2jd5aWf%2BoCSId1pvmRuQz8Oo813xPiP6cSaITaVsYAK1QGI%2Fp78F7C%2Foj7s8C4Ldg18itzxhKdXZkaENEkhQShrlXRHSJaPSKImvVazCPC%2BYYLhSrLr9FKnExbYnpK%2BQafuNI22z5zKJ3ml0bGEROzA22T%2B6uKERpKBFndN1rEKgmDSQv4D3y4fPvE8Avoxk3gVLUdrwXGZAzYBpIr8wWs3ML4wldK%2FpchzqIMoAeDw4jPzIlJiQEKjQJxIpPL%2B6PL0PLUZK0FkuIAdwdBKaOx5%2FLZ2fTgdChexnWM6dfbtXGd8kNXsgMEbmBme3QqXluBAl2gGIgVQBpmZ59Yt%2FqKC6ALWTaV4AHiG9KmKbDvE9n7qyL83aguobW%2FpCcIvoBJV51vBYHTkmcEmLbcSjsuqcq6b9KB2b5%2FOsxHpwhUVNMjQYdNKaIGCOZckHfMgGLpeiKLfYDjkwZzvvUXoT1DOfOlcWXtfCIOyP0uvrXdHbbXSDCNcuoCUk%2B53SgV3zPAGFeD4sWNiIvWlz3LuyF%2Bb0ne%2FsKrm8O8r%2B0hUmvkPCCLRsoEL5pC4d4xnpe6W0BVf5RZgEUme4U5o2ciwX9iRMRgXmaeEDmMcW%2BS57nBE8SgnviMu1J1r%2BBpTMSJ%2BM23vEvsVNKIeNtWVlYL3KwGS9GcFyGTzH3EjgdHte46XiAejbECcweYTe|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2334524

 

Now, I've been using it around the house, and I'm very happy with it. I think it will allow me another couple of days without having to run the engine.

 

I've also been looking at portable solar and decided to go for the Renogy 100w suitcase. This plugs directly into the Ecoflow for charging. The panel arrived yesterday and I'd taken the Ecoflow down to 75%. I've just set up outside and the panel is giving 70 watts and the Ecoflow shows it will be fully charged in 1 hour, for this time of year, I'm very impressed.

 

As I've said, I've bought these with my own English Pounds and it has cost just over £500. Quite pricey, but I'm sure my 4 @ leisure batteries will be happy.

 

Hope that may be of some use.

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For others reading the specifications. I am all but certain the recharge times are to recharge the device, not your boat batteries. I think it is just an inverter and charger strapped to a lithium battery so if speccing a new boat I don't see the difference between this and an inverter connected to a boat's lithium bank. The boat's battery plus a decent inverter would give far more AC output.

 

I also think the £500 would be better spent on  as much solar as you can fit on the roof and an MPPT controller. That would do a lot f very good things for a lead acid bank.

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16 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

I am all but certain the recharge times are to recharge the device, not your boat batteries.

 

Correct Tony.

 

I do agree with solar on the boat roof, I only have 160 watts up there, but this should be useful, kept fully charged, for those days when the solar isn't generating much, just as a back up.

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The ebay ad doesn't actually tell you how much power the thing stores, but from the suggested run times for various appliances it would seem to be in the range 400-800 Wh, equivalent to about 30-70 Ah at 12 volts. So of the same order as the usable power stored in a typical lead-acid boat battery. If that thing  gives you another couple of days without running your engine, so too would adding an additional battery to your domestic bank.

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I agree that the Ecoflow / Jackery units are just another battery, so installing one on a boat doesn't do anything that any other equivalent battery wouldn't do.

 

But each is quite portable, so it may be more useful in situations where you can take it off the boat.  E.g. if in summer you prefer to use your laptop / music player / tV /etc when sitting in a nearby field.  Or for non-liveaboards, being able to take it home midweek and recharge it fully, so perhaps avoiding having to run your engine if your batteries are low when you return to the boat.  Or avoiding having to run a noisy/smelly generator at shows etc.

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