Portable Power Station to Maintain Batteries

[Sotally Tober]

I may be forced to store my next boat in an indoor storage unit without electrical. That said, I've been exploring different solutions to maintain my 6 batteries in lieu of an electrical outlet.

Question: Assuming all my batteries are fully charged prior to plugging in, could a product like the EcoFlow Delta Portable Power Station (Buy EcoFlow DELTA Pro Portable Power Station - EcoFlow US) with a 3.6kWh capacity provide enough juice to the 6 onboard battery chargers to maintain my batteries for a prolonged period of time? This set up would be maintaining as opposed to recharging them.

Here is the set up:
FOUR Pro Charging Systems Eagle Performance i1225 25 Amp chargers (i1225-OB | Eagle 12v 25 Amp Industrial On-Board Charger with Rings (batterystuff.com))
TWO Pro Charging Systems Professional Series PS1s (PRO Charging System PS1 Professional Series w/ (1) 12V Output PING 15A per Output PING (amazon.com))

 

[Farny]

I may be forced to store my next boat in an indoor storage unit without electrical. That said, I've been exploring different solutions to maintain my 6 batteries in lieu of an electrical outlet.

Question: Assuming all my batteries are fully charged prior to plugging in, could a product like the EcoFlow Delta Portable Power Station (Buy EcoFlow DELTA Pro Portable Power Station - EcoFlow US) with a 3.6kWh capacity provide enough juice to the 6 onboard battery chargers to maintain my batteries for a prolonged period of time? This set up would be maintaining as opposed to recharging them.

Here is the set up:
FOUR Pro Charging Systems Eagle Performance i1225 25 Amp chargers (i1225-OB | Eagle 12v 25 Amp Industrial On-Board Charger with Rings (batterystuff.com))
TWO Pro Charging Systems Professional Series PS1s (PRO Charging System PS1 Professional Series w/ (1) 12V Output PING 15A per Output PING (amazon.com))

I would think it would work for a while? You headed off the grid? curious why you wouldn’t just plug your onboard chargers into shore power?

 

[Sotally Tober]

I would think it would work for a while? You headed off the grid? curious why you wouldn’t just plug your onboard chargers into shore power?

This is for use when the boat is stored in the indoor storage unit without an electrical outlet. Unfortunately these units have no electrical option.

 

[zpaul]

Anker has some good power stations with Solar charging

https://www.anker.com/a1780

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

There was a member here who was using a Jackery power station to do what you are talking about. In his case he was using the Jackery throughout the day to power everything and keep the batteries topped while floating….

Better check with the storage place though about doing what you are planning..

 

[Sotally Tober]

Anker has some good power stations with Solar charging

https://www.anker.com/a1780

Unfortunately Solar is not in the cards due to the individual indoor storage unit. Thanks for the tip though.

 

[Sotally Tober]

There was a member here who was using a Jackery power station to do what you are talking about. In his case he was using the Jackery throughout the day to power everything and keep the batteries topped while floating….

Better check with the storage place though about doing what you are planning..

Just found the thread and thanks for the tip.

I'm really curious as to how long these Portable Power Stations can maintain during float mode especially in my set up...

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Well..the power source you mention has 3.6 KWH of energy. If I knew what the draw is I can figure out how long that battery pack would last.

In theory once the batteries are fully charged you should be able to just let them sit fully isolated for some time without any issues.

 

[CaptRedbeard]

Not sure if this would apply to you, but I'll throw it out there. I keep my boat at an indoor storage unit (barn) with no electrical. I typically pick up my boat the evening before a boat outing, park it in my driveway, plug in my onboard charger to an extension cord, then load up and go in the morning. Much easier IMO, especially with kids, to not have to drive to pick the boat up with kids in the truck.

 

[fatboyroy]

My friend in texas have something similar, when I was visiting i plugged my RV and it ran my fridge, tv, radio, light and fan with occasional coffee maker for 4 days straight. I would think to maintain 6 battery it should last over a month before you need to charge it. Once you plug the charger it should tell you Hours Left in the screen. Not sure if it makes a difference but low amp charging probably better to maintain battery and take less juice from power supply? like 2amp instead of 15 and 25 in your choices.

 

[Farny]

This is for use when the boat is stored in the indoor storage unit without an electrical outlet. Unfortunately these units have no electrical option.

Bummer

 

[biffdotorg]

Well..the power source you mention has 3.6 KWH of energy. If I knew what the draw is I can figure out how long that battery pack would last.

In theory once the batteries are fully charged you should be able to just let them sit fully isolated for some time without any issues.

You nailed it, this is exactly how to figure it out.

Up here in MN, I use an Ecoflow Solar Generator to power my fish house. It's called a solar generator, since it has a solar controller, but I can charge it by AC or DC in my truck/sxs as well. They are rated in AH or KW/hr like the monster he is considering. We add up the draw of all the items in the fishhouse and from that we know how many hours we can run between charges.

In this case, the draw of onboard chargers will drain that thing fast. But for maintaining, it may be enough. And obviously better than nothing at all. I debated adding solar panels to my fish house. But after doing the math, I knew I could run the AC LED televisions, the DC lights, and DC fans all at the same time for upwards of 8hrs. That is a very full fishing day for me.

The cool part about the EcoFlow units, is the ability to monitor the unit with an app on my phone. But even better, when plugged into AC, I can charge it to 80% in just over an hour. In case we come in for lunch etc.

So best of luck, it may be your best option. Do the math on the draw of your onboard charger and you will know how long it will run.

 

[Sotally Tober]

Well..the power source you mention has 3.6 KWH of energy. If I knew what the draw is I can figure out how long that battery pack would last.

In theory once the batteries are fully charged you should be able to just let them sit fully isolated for some time without any issues.

Reached out to Pro Charging Systems and this is what they said:
"The chargers come on for 5 minutes out of every hour to deliver curent if needed. It would probably be about an amp or so"

Just pulled out the manual and it looks like while in Float/Maintenance mode it draws an amp of power for 5 minutes and then shuts off for 60 minutes and then repeats this cycle.

 

[Sotally Tober]

You nailed it, this is exactly how to figure it out.

Up here in MN, I use an Ecoflow Solar Generator to power my fish house. It's called a solar generator, since it has a solar controller, but I can charge it by AC or DC in my truck/sxs as well. They are rated in AH or KW/hr like the monster he is considering. We add up the draw of all the items in the fishhouse and from that we know how many hours we can run between charges.

In this case, the draw of onboard chargers will drain that thing fast. But for maintaining, it may be enough. And obviously better than nothing at all. I debated adding solar panels to my fish house. But after doing the math, I knew I could run the AC LED televisions, the DC lights, and DC fans all at the same time for upwards of 8hrs. That is a very full fishing day for me.

The cool part about the EcoFlow units, is the ability to monitor the unit with an app on my phone. But even better, when plugged into AC, I can charge it to 80% in just over an hour. In case we come in for lunch etc.

So best of luck, it may be your best option. Do the math on the draw of your onboard charger and you will know how long it will run.

Awesome info. I'm thinking if I do end up in the non electrical unit, this may be the way to go.

 

[Sotally Tober]

Not sure if this would apply to you, but I'll throw it out there. I keep my boat at an indoor storage unit (barn) with no electrical. I typically pick up my boat the evening before a boat outing, park it in my driveway, plug in my onboard charger to an extension cord, then load up and go in the morning. Much easier IMO, especially with kids, to not have to drive to pick the boat up with kids in the truck.

It could possibly work as a last resort. They recharge very quickly with the amount of amps I have pushing to each battery.

My main concern is longevity. I've got a lot of money invested in the batteries and onboard chargers so I always push to have them hooked up to electrical to extend the battery life as long as I can.

 

[Sotally Tober]

My friend in texas have something similar, when I was visiting i plugged my RV and it ran my fridge, tv, radio, light and fan with occasional coffee maker for 4 days straight. I would think to maintain 6 battery it should last over a month before you need to charge it. Once you plug the charger it should tell you Hours Left in the screen. Not sure if it makes a difference but low amp charging probably better to maintain battery and take less juice from power supply? like 2amp instead of 15 and 25 in your choices.

It appears that there is only a 1 amp draw while in float/maintenance mode so I think we are good there.

We decided to use the 25 amp chargers to rapidly recharge the batteries. Recharge speed was the goat as we regularly run the sound system at full tilt for prolonged periods of time and needed a set up that would recharge overnight and be ready for the next day.

 

[adrianp89]

At this point I think you just bought property on the wrong lake lol

 

[Sotally Tober]

At this point I think you just bought property on the wrong lake lol

Not too many freshwater options here in Southern California. At least relatively affordable options.

 

[adrianp89]

Not too many freshwater options here in Southern California. At least relatively affordable options.

I think affordable went out the window a while ago ?

 

[fatboyroy]

It appears that there is only a 1 amp draw while in float/maintenance mode so I think we are good there.

We decided to use the 25 amp chargers to rapidly recharge the batteries. Recharge speed was the goat as we regularly run the sound system at full tilt for prolonged periods of time and needed a set up that would recharge overnight and be ready for the next day.

3.6Kwh is about 300aH - if you use 6amp every hour for 5min. it should last you about 25 days, that is if you bring back the boat with battery fully charged

300ah/6ah = 50hrs x 12 = 600hours / 24 = 25 days or more cause it will only charge if voltage go down or less if you bring boat back with drained battery.

The 12 is how many 5 min for each hour ----- (60 / 5) = 12