[MERLEANDSARAH]

https://www.costco.com/Goal-Zero-Yeti-1000-Lithium-Portable-Power-Station.product.100338966.html
We are serious considering this as an alternative to a house battery. No good way to hide it in a camper build, but lots of good uses. 110 power, USB ports, charge at home, on the go, or with solar. For a minimalist camper set up, no need for wiring, inverters, house batteries... What do you guys think?

 

[Greenmanedlion]

Lithium ion has a lot of pluses. Unless it's a crap battery. In which case it'll burn you.

 

[RansomRidge]

It looks like a clean simple solution. Of course the battery is the key. 1000 watts / 12 volts = 83 amp hours. That's certainly smaller than the 105 ah battery that some have as their "house" or aux battery under the drivers seat. The inverter seems over sized for that battery- clearly you would not get much life from the battery using the full power of the inverter. But for small items it should do well.

Defining your power requirements would be a big factor in determining if this would meet your needs.

The recharge times shown on GoalZero's page are worth noting- 15 hours when plugged into the grid. Yet they show "as fast as 6 hours" using solar, depending on the array. They must have a he** of an array and controller!

The Goal Zero's site is also devoid of details on the battery.... For instance look at the Trojan site to see a complete run down on their batteries- notably the charging profiles and life expectancy. Lithium batteries are great but they don't last forever- could you get a replacement battery?

 

[Greenmanedlion]

My iPhone 6 has acceptable life at 3 years of age despite it being primarily used as a portable Netflix viewer 4-5 hours + a day for its whole life. Although it finally got weak enough that I bought a $10 3000mh portable lithium unit from Aldi. Normally I wouldn't by one so cheap, but I trust the quality of Aldi merchandise.

 

[MOWO]

It's really going to fall down to what will be your 'off grid' power consumption needs will be. Need to charge a couple mobile devices, laptop, and power the occasional 100-200 watt product over 24-38 hours you could probable get by with this. If you're talking a 3-day campervan trip with 12v fridge, rooftop fan, small tv, plus the aforementioned then you'll probably come up short and really spoil the rest of your vacay with the realization to lack of power now.

Like mentioned before, this is a pretty pricey 'rig' for what it delivers... mainly being mobile convenience with an all-in-one (somewhat) easy to carry solution. Which can be a con down the road. What happens when the battery performance drops or degrades to a worthless state... I don't see battery replacement options. Whats the warranty length?

Lithium (LIFEPo4) is the future of 'deep cycle' house batteries... their price will come down, but hasn't quite reached 'cost to performance' of a very good VRLA battery on today's market.

Speaking of which, we have a small China import business and was contemplating bringing a high quality 12v 100Ah LIFEPo4 battery stateside for my Metris upfit. Anyone else interested?

 

[Imants]

I have the standard Mercedes house battery under the drivers seat. I was thinking about adding a second agm battery that would be charged frome the house battery using a dc to dc charger. That way the new battery would just look like a load on the house battery and should not cause any problems for the Metris charging system. Now I wonder if there is a dc to dc charger that will charge a lithium battery?
If there is , I might be interested in a lithium battery for this purpose.

 

[RansomRidge]

Imants- Here's a battery to battery charger that I'm going to try. Its small and charges a variety of battery types. Its actually intended to charge batteries for trolling motors, hence the IP68 rating. I have not gotten mine hooked up yet. https://sterling-power.com/collecti...oducts/battery-to-battery-chargers-waterproof

 

[MERLEANDSARAH]

Thank you all. As usual, very good information and lots to think about.

 

[MakerMark]

Thanks for the info... To each his own, but I can't help it... If you need a TV, you shouldn't be camping! I expect my aux battery to be more than enough for my needs.

 

[pearll]

Inergy Kodiak makes one also. Problem to me is that it is not fast charging, one of the benefits of lithium. Not sure either if the are repairable, if your battery needs to be changed etc. There are videos on youtube on how to build one for less.

Goal Zero charges a lot. Those AGM battery Yeti 1250 are crazy expensive for what you are getting. It is only a 12 volt 100 amp battery, of which only 50% is usable. Very high price to that portability.

Most RV / Travel Trailers have a second "house battery" Using AGM deep cycle batteries. Not that hard to set that up. Lithium is more difficult.

 

[MOWO]

Thanks for the info... To each his own, but I can't help it... If you need a TV, you shouldn't be camping! I expect my aux battery to be more than enough for my needs.

I guess so because I met MANY part time and full time campers who watch TV. why wouldn't they? Should people give up their coffee maker just because they camping? I have a friend who been camping for decades, they have a TV but no fridge, just ice/cooler. Again, everyone will have their way of camping.

 

[MOWO]

Using AGM deep cycle batteries. Not that hard to set that up. Lithium is more difficult.

Why is lithium more difficult?

 

[Greenmanedlion]

I guess so because I met MANY part time and full time campers who watch TV. why wouldn't they? Should people give up their coffee maker just because they camping? I have a friend who been camping for decades, they have a TV but no fridge, just ice/cooler. Again, everyone will have their way of camping.

I don't have a TV in my house. Well, actually, I do have a 1986 Sylvania 27" cabinet TV in my living room but it's only hooked up to a VHS/DVD player. All my Marx Brothers stuff is on VHS and the world is an incomplete place without them.

But seriously, I don't get the "Camping Has To Be ________" assertions. They main point of camping, like any vacation, is to enjoy yourself and have fun. That can encompass anything from a bivvy bag under the stars to a tent to a Westfalia style setup to a converted Van Hool double decker with granite floors and a hot tub.

If a TV is part of someone's fun, who am I to quibble? The most back to basics people I know are the more traditional among mennonites (and by know I mean "am friends with") and outside the Old Order Amish, they only have two
Unbreakable precepts: 1) Respect my way of life. 2) Don't disrespect someone else's way of life.

I agree, emphatically.

 

[kllcbosmetris]

1. TV doesn't have to be just TV. Many 23-27 monitors are dual use these days = TV + Laptop/Computer Monitor
2. In a 'bug out' type of situation (i.e. Houston), where you will be on the road and possibly without an internet access, you might want to watch the news to see what is going on.
3. You can get plenty of channels with a basic thin/flat HDTV antenna. Say you are in a rain storm, wouldn't you wanna watch something rather than listen to raindrops on your roof all night?

It is good to have an option. Doesn't mean you will spend your nights watching sitcoms every night.

 

[kllcbosmetris]

https://www.costco.com/Goal-Zero-Yeti-1000-Lithium-Portable-Power-Station.product.100338966.html
We are serious considering this as an alternative to a house battery. No good way to hide it in a camper build, but lots of good uses. 110 power, USB ports, charge at home, on the go, or with solar. For a minimalist camper set up, no need for wiring, inverters, house batteries... What do you guys think?

The best thing about this is you can take it with you to charge (i.e. office, hotels, starbucks even). No need to wait for a sunny day for the solar. Is that the best option on the market? Brand and the capacity wise?