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Portable power banks

J

Jimmylondon07

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682
Location
Dartford
Vehicle
Grand California 600
Have been considering getting one of these for a little while and saw the Ecoflow Delta 2 is in the Prime day sale down from £1,099 to £699. I imagine I’d mainly use it to power a small heater and any appliances we want to run in our awning, I know you can also charge the leisure batteries off it when off-grid but there are question marks about earthing. For anyone that has one, worth the money?
 
Have been considering getting one of these for a little while and saw the Ecoflow Delta 2 is in the Prime day sale down from £1,099 to £699. I imagine I’d mainly use it to power a small heater and any appliances we want to run in our awning, I know you can also charge the leisure batteries off it when off-grid but there are question marks about earthing. For anyone that has one, worth the money?
I don't know much about them specifically, but powering a heater from a battery isn't really feasible. It's quoted capacity is 1024Wh so a 2kW fan heater would last 30mins before the battery runs flat
 
Have been considering getting one of these for a little while and saw the Ecoflow Delta 2 is in the Prime day sale down from £1,099 to £699. I imagine I’d mainly use it to power a small heater and any appliances we want to run in our awning, I know you can also charge the leisure batteries off it when off-grid but there are question marks about earthing. For anyone that has one, worth the money?
We have one of these, we mainly use it on our small motor cruiser which is moored on a pontoon without power, we wanted to get rid of the gas hob and now use an IKEA induction hob for the light cooking we do on board.
It also powers our Lavazza coffee pod machine and luxury of luxuries an electric milk whisker/heater.
Typically it uses about 5% of capacity for two mugs of flat white joy.
We can also use it to replenish the house batteries through the shore power plug, probably not super efficient but does the job, the Victron charger it feeds would complain if the earth/polarity was wrong.
The price given is misleading, it is for the extra battery that can only be of use if connected to the Delta 2 station which still costs over £800.
Heating would be a stretch but a small plug in 350 watt thing would take the chill off the cabin for a few hours.
We are very happy with the power station and would thoroughly recommend it.
 
We have one of these, we mainly use it on our small motor cruiser which is moored on a pontoon without power, we wanted to get rid of the gas hob and now use an IKEA induction hob for the light cooking we do on board.
It also powers our Lavazza coffee pod machine and luxury of luxuries an electric milk whisker/heater.
Typically it uses about 5% of capacity for two mugs of flat white joy.
We can also use it to replenish the house batteries through the shore power plug, probably not super efficient but does the job, the Victron charger it feeds would complain if the earth/polarity was wrong.
The price given is misleading, it is for the extra battery that can only be of use if connected to the Delta 2 station which still costs over £800.
Heating would be a stretch but a small plug in 350 watt thing would take the chill off the cabin for a few hours.
We are very happy with the power station and would thoroughly recommend it.
Great feedback, thanks. So this isn't the full unit?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B9B9MPX6/?tag=eliteelect-21
 
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I have an Anker 1064 power bank. It does what it says on the tin, provides a kilowatt of power, so:

It can boil my 1kw kettle in about 7 minutes.

It can charge my MacBook up about 17 times:

It can power my zizzle portable induction hob AND my Remoska together if I'm cooking outside without gas BBQ or inside without hook-up.

Whilst it can provide surge current I limit myself to just over a Kw of total appliance load.I cook almost exclusively with electric, my 1 6kg gas bottle is only half-used in over 200 nights, and it gives me peace of mind for when I might stray off grid, not so much these days but still do.
 
Gre

Great feedback, thanks. So this isn't the full unit?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B9B9MPX6/?tag=eliteelect-21
That is a great price for the main unit. It is not the addon extra battery. I bought a Delta 2 8 months ago in Germany and paid around 950 euro after claiming the VAT back.
For me its a game changer for wild camping and going off grid as the 2 leisure batteries are not very good for anything over 3 days without EHU or extended drive. And I'm nervous about letting the charge drop too low on the AGM's and causing damage.
The Delta 2 powers my 750W electric kettle, charges ebike batteries and allows me to keep the leisure batteries fully charged when the Cali is in garage (no electrical hookup there). Its pure sine wave output is safer for more delicate electrical components such as my Epson projector. And the 100W USB-C and fast charging USB-A connections are great for the laptop.
I use the 12V cigarette connection to keep it topped up when on the move (cable and connector does get hot so I use a lower 6A setting) and I also have a 100W foldout solar panel to keep it charged up when parked up, or rapid charge it on a campsite.
 
That is a great price for the main unit. It is not the addon extra battery. I bought a Delta 2 8 months ago in Germany and paid around 950 euro after claiming the VAT back.
For me its a game changer for wild camping and going off grid as the 2 leisure batteries are not very good for anything over 3 days without EHU or extended drive. And I'm nervous about letting the charge drop too low on the AGM's and causing damage.
The Delta 2 powers my 750W electric kettle, charges ebike batteries and allows me to keep the leisure batteries fully charged when the Cali is in garage (no electrical hookup there). Its pure sine wave output is safer for more delicate electrical components such as my Epson projector. And the 100W USB-C and fast charging USB-A connections are great for the laptop.
I use the 12V cigarette connection to keep it topped up when on the move (cable and connector does get hot so I use a lower 6A setting) and I also have a 100W foldout solar panel to keep it charged up when parked up, or rapid charge it on a campsite.
Thanks for the info. I assume you've had no issues with plugging the van in to the Delta to charge the leisure batteries when you're without EHU then? Thought I read something about earthing issues but electrics aren't really my thing.
 
I assume you've had no issues with plugging the van in to the Delta to charge the leisure batteries when you're without EHU then? Thought I read something about earthing issues but electrics aren't really my thing.
None whatsoever. Tried it several times without issue. Going from a little less than half charge to fully charged takes several hours and uses about 90% of the Deltas capacity.
 
We have the EcoFlow delta max and add on battery, had a short 3m EHU made and have had it plugged it to the side of our GC on a number of occasions without issue. I have read somewhere that you lose around 10% of the EcoFlow battery capacity when using it this way, dont ask me how! It’s just something I read somewhere. We were considering installing lithium, but I can barely change a lightbulb, so was going to be expensive, although it would have been cheaper than the ecoflows we purchased (we have way more battery capacity than we need at +4000wh), but if/when we sell the van, we just take these out……
 
And am I right in thinking it’d be possible to trickle charge the leisure batteries and the Delta at the same time if ever I got around to fitting one of Roger’s solar panel kits with a Victron MPPT controller?
 
waste of money. i've seen them in action. a brass band to charge a laptop a few times that you can charge from the van anyway ? you can make coffee on the hob,you can use the van heater etc, if you're in a tent off grid i get it for lighting and phones etc,in an ocean? pointless , save your money and have a holdiday instead
 
And am I right in thinking it’d be possible to trickle charge the leisure batteries and the Delta at the same time if ever I got around to fitting one of Roger’s solar panel kits with a Victron MPPT controller?
We use a portable solar panel connected to a victron mppt controller. The controller (behind the seat) is the connected to the leisure battery under the passenger seat. This then shows the amount of charge on the VW control panel saving the cost of the Bluetooth version. We also use the panel to charge the power station both at home or while travelling. Finally the portable panel allows you to park in the shade with the panel in the sun
 
Hey this is a bargain in my eyes if you can nab for £699, i paid just over £800 about 8 months ago now. We use it on every camping trip, and used our little 500w heater to help now and again take chill from up top. We use our kettle and airfryer as well as using it for office days when i need to take my laptop and monitor somewhere nice to work :).

I did a few vids on this i.e. how i use it for kettle and also using to charge van / use the kitchen end plugs.
 
Hey this is a bargain in my eyes if you can nab for £699, i paid just over £800 about 8 months ago now. We use it on every camping trip, and used our little 500w heater to help now and again take chill from up top. We use our kettle and airfryer as well as using it for office days when i need to take my laptop and monitor somewhere nice to work :).

I did a few vids on this i.e. how i use it for kettle and also using to charge van / use the kitchen end plugs.
That’s a really great video, thanks. Where did you get the additional sockets from and how did you wire those up?
 
We use a portable solar panel connected to a victron mppt controller. The controller (behind the seat) is the connected to the leisure battery under the passenger seat. This then shows the amount of charge on the VW control panel saving the cost of the Bluetooth version. We also use the panel to charge the power station both at home or while travelling. Finally the portable panel allows you to park in the shade with the panel in the sun
Which portable panel do you have and where do you store them? I was originally planning on 2x 120W solar panels from SCS installed on the roof but could see the attraction of having a Delta that you can keep charged with portable panels, it’s just a space (and faff) issue I guess.
 
So did you buy the EcoFlow at that price? It’s a very good deal…..
 
Hey this is a bargain in my eyes if you can nab for £699, i paid just over £800 about 8 months ago now. We use it on every camping trip, and used our little 500w heater to help now and again take chill from up top. We use our kettle and airfryer as well as using it for office days when i need to take my laptop and monitor somewhere nice to work :).

I did a few vids on this i.e. how i use it for kettle and also using to charge van / use the kitchen end plugs.
Great video, I need to just add an extension with sockets like you have
 
Haha!!! Don’t let it get away! ;-)
Prime day ends today so I can’t hang around…though Black Friday isn’t far away haha. It’ll either be either one of these or eventually roof panels from Roger if/when the leaking bellows issue is ever sorted out (and assuming I still have the van by that point).

Think the Delta gives us enough back-up power in itself to cover the types of trip we’ll do and I like that I can move it to our awning and power things in there. But the permanent solar install would trickle charge the leisure batteries when we’re not using the van and gives us more internal space.

Obviously the answer is both at some point but I am ignoring that for now lol.
 
Prime day ends today so I can’t hang around…though Black Friday isn’t far away haha. It’ll either be either one of these or eventually roof panels from Roger if/when the leaking bellows issue is ever sorted out (and assuming I still have the van by that point).

Think the Delta gives us enough back-up power in itself to cover the types of trip we’ll do and I like that I can move it to our awning and power things in there. But the permanent solar install would trickle charge the leisure batteries when we’re not using the van and gives us more internal space.

Obviously the answer is both at some point but I am ignoring that for now lol.
I bought my delta max’s from a company called Energian, I’d never heard of them and they are an EcoFlow dealer. Before I ordered I searched google and although they have a website and a few reviews, I still wasn’t sure, at the time they claimed to be at the Southampton Boat Show, so I called them and they have been great. The units I bought were still cheaper than what Amazon are selling the Delta Max’s for on their Prime deal and they threw in covers for them both. Maybe worth dropping them a line to see if they’ll price match to give you a few more days to think about it? They have an online chat which they are quite responsive to. I also got a a marketing email yesterday from them to say that they will be at the Caravan and Motorhome Show, so I’m sure there are deals to be had…..
 
Which portable panel do you have and where do you store them? I was originally planning on 2x 120W solar panels from SCS installed on the roof but could see the attraction of having a Delta that you can keep charged with portable panels, it’s just a space (and faff) issue I guess.
we use an Anker 100w portable panel which on a sunny day gives us about 7watts. So if I plug it into the leisure battery it will bring it full and power the electrics for the day. We generally take trips of between one or two months to Europe and so on average we have better weather. We normally spend 3 or 4 days “wilding” and then check into a campsite to shower, laundry, swim ,etc. we have never been short of power. Normally we can fully charge the leisure batteries and the power station in a day. The power station is used for charging phones, tablets, cameras, drones and running the projector if football is on. The solar panel sits in the rear lower boat space and folds very flat. The faff level is minimal as it comes with integrated stand and is one connection. A small price for being parked in the shade, no cleaning, running cables through the van, and also the flexibility of using at home as well. But the whole thing to remember about solar is it only really works when you don’t need it. I.e in the summer you are usually outside consuming very little power and in the winter when your sat inside the solar is producing a small amount of energy. However, it’s better for the environment than running your engine and gives you peace of mind when parked up off site. Hope this helps
 
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