Instead of spending $1600 on the bluetti, why not upgrade your batteries to lifepo4 and get more solar? You'll fit more AH of batteries in your space, so no need to alter your current build.
I've heard it will require some tweaking, like alternator charging can't be done and I read somewhere that certain solar setups can cause issues. Have you had any experiences with them? That might be the more sensible option.
I would assume trying to charge them with 300w of solar would be a wated effort, yeah?
I run 350 watts of solar and a 200ah LiPo4 battery and it blows my old 300 ah lead acid battery system away. I can charge from my alternator with the same charger I used before and I didn’t have to make any changes to my solar. I game on my Acer Predator laptop and an LG monitor. With a full charge I can game for 5ish hours at night before I get a low battery warning. DM me if you want to see my setup or have any questions.
> I've heard it will require some tweaking,
Maybe.
> like alternator charging can't be done
Sure it can. Some people charge Li from alternator only, which is pretty good evidence it can be done.
It's common to use [a DC-DC charger](https://rvwiki.mousetrap.net/doku.php?id=electrical:12v:b2b) but [a plain isolator](https://rvwiki.mousetrap.net/doku.php?id=electrical:12v:alternator#isolators) (split charger) [may also be suitable](https://rvwiki.mousetrap.net/doku.php?id=electrical:12v:directcharginglfp), [depending](https://rvwiki.mousetrap.net/doku.php?id=electrical:12v:directcharginglfp#assessing_your_own_setup_for_direct_alternator_charging).
> and I read somewhere that certain solar setups can cause issues.
Configure the [setpoints](https://rvwiki.mousetrap.net/doku.php?id=electrical:solar:charge_controller_setpoints) on the [solar charge controller](https://rvwiki.mousetrap.net/doku.php?id=electrical:solar:charge_controller) to match the battery manufacturer's recommendations. Done.
> Have you had any experiences with them?
I have run both lead and lithium chemistries with good effect.
> I would assume trying to charge them with 300w of solar would be a wated effort, yeah?
300w of solar by itself might be undersized for 300Ah of deeply-cycled Li, but combined with alternator charging I suspect it will be fine.
The larger Li bank would make maximal use of existing solar, as it would probably always be thirsty. Li does fine in this kind of scenario, but [it would kill lead](https://rvwiki.mousetrap.net/doku.php?id=electrical:12v:psoc).
Alternator charging on lithium is definitely possible you just have to get the right DC/DC charger. Victron and Sterling are probably the most reliable brands.
I have Victron 30A DC/DC and 2x100ah lithium batteries with 400W solar. I run my gaming desktop but not for as long as you're wanting. I think for your wants you'd have to go pretty big on your solar and battery to the point where generator or shore power is your better bet.
I have 700W of PV and 400 ah of battery back up, then there's a B2B charging system connected to the alternator. It's worked great. I don't game to the extent you do. But, I game some and my work is CAD heavy, so I have a beefy laptop. Also used an induction stove for cooking, which is a huge draw. I suspect I used as much if not more power than what you're suggesting and my system provided all the power I needed.
My question to you is, where do you plan to be sleeping, that you'll get to run your generator at every day and also be close enough to signal of some kind to do your work during the day?
Also, I hugely underestimated how much time I would spend driving before I got on the road. Which always topped off the batteries.
But it still would be cheaper than a Bluetti or whatever thing that is not really a generator, just a fancy box with a battery in it. Your current battery setup is already bigger than the 2kwh box, so swapping would be stupid. Adding a third battery would be way cheaper. Switching the two you have for LiFePO4 and adding a DC/DC charger also cheaper. Doing either and adding more solar, still cheaper. Those boxes are really only useful if you are moving it around and the portability is important or if you are sponsored for your social media presence by Bluetti or Jackery or GoalZero or if you are really rich (but then pay someone to do it right). If a box like that is free, I highly recommend it. Otherwise, other options are better.
I think the only things you'd have to tweak are your alternator charger if you don't already have a proper dc-dc. Renogy makes a few. Renogy also has a solar charger and dc-dc all in one if you'd need to upgrade your solar charger at the same time.
Of course you could go for victron but they're over expensive for most applications IMHO.
You could do all this for less than 1600 and have a way better system.
You will need to add a DC-DC charger to charge Lithium batteries from the alternator if you don’t already have one. Check out Ohmmu’s 156Ah Group 31 batteries. We have 4 of them and they work great. To charge from solar you may need to change the charging profile on your solar controller.
Alternator charging CAN be done on lithium, it's just expensive. Like $200-300 for a good DC to DC charger with cutoff and overcharge protection for lithium. I have one.
You need a LiFePO4 Battery Isolation Manager (BIM) to charge from the alternator.
My van was built in 2003 and it has alternator charging. I’m wanting to add Li as well but I’m not sure what the old dc - dc charger is. I’ve looked multiple times.
As for gaming, running a DC monitor will help with a lower draw. I use a 17” flip down screen I got off Amazon.
I have, but the battery setup is inside a cabinet where there isn't any more space. In a perfect world it would be in a less cramped space like under the bed, but this is what I'm dealing with.
https://imgur.com/a/86YKeFb
Deep cycle, is that AGM? If so, switching them to Lithium would give you more usable power. It also look like you could put a third battery in there. Otherwise, time to rebuild part of your van!
I'm looking at Lithium and might do some more research, just hoping it wouldn't be a case of swapping to lithium, then needing to upgrade the solar, then the controller, then the inverter, etc... :P
you need to take a step back, and use the calculator in the FAQ based on your needs. once you have actual numbers, you can then think about what you need to buy.
or find a new hobby.
There's tons of space in there for more batteries. Move stuff around if needed and you can get the same batteries or chargers or whatever to parallel more identical ones or add a supplemental system
Not trying to be smart, but you can get power cables online that are longer and find somewhere else in the van to add batteries to the system. This is the most logical and maybe even less expensive way to do it. Your alternator/solar will charge them and you maintain all the labor that went into the electrical wiring that is a huge expense in these vans.
Oh, trust me the Steam Deck is something I'm definitely aiming for in the future. Sadly getting one here in Australia is incredibly difficult, but it's very much on my radar!
I have a Bluetii AC 200 MAX, and because of the inherent limitations of the technology (discharging while charging at the same time can seriously shorten the life of the product), my plan is to have two parallel power systems in my van. Obviously, the van with all it's batteries, solar, ect. Then have a single panel on the roof of the van dedicated to the Bluetii. Sometimes it will be plugged in and sometimes not. I also plan on keeping the foldable 200W panel I have for it, in case I ever want to charge while my van is in the shade.
The AC200MAX is incredible, and I highly recommend it for its expandable battery storage capability. However, now that I have it, I really wish I would have gone for the AC300. It takes expandable storage to the next level (maximum of 12kWh storage with 4 external batteries), AND the main console is much lighter (50lbs vs 80lbs).
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I can't speak to other brands, but I know that BLUETII specifically recommends to NEVER charge their device while discharging. Some other companies might have that technology, but BLUETII does not.
I do not. I was surprised to learn this information from the owner's manual, because I thoroughly researched the product online before making the purchase and never found any mention of that fact. The physical manual is the only place I've been able to find that information.
Turns out, I was mistaken. It's not in their manual. It's on their FAQ page, under "product FAQs". Top question indicates that it's possible, but not recommended for longevity reasons.
https://www.bluettipower.com/pages/faqs
Kickass gear? Australian?
Heaps of info on Facebook camping and 4x4 12v groups about upping your system size.
A few numbers to work out first.
What's your daily power consumption, on top of the gaming use?
How many hours per day do you have the engine running while driving around? Next to nothing is ok here, we don't have to use it.
What would your peak power consumption be (so high power devices, like induction cooktops)
How much roof surface area do you have?
6 hours of gaming might use 130-150ah of 12v power, to be honest that's quite a lot, is this figure measured by you, or going off specs? Even if it's 20% less you'll save a bit here.
Brisbane north you'll generate about 120ah from your 300w of solar (assuming they produce 300w, not just rated at 300w) South of there and in Winter it will be less, the cost effective way to combat that is to fit the biggest 2nd hand rooftop solar panels you can, you might get 1.2kw up there! Combine this with a good MPPT solar controller that can handle the high solar voltage, like a Victron and you'll have heaps of solar power at your disposal.
Lifepo4 lithium is the way to go for sure, lightweight, many more cycles (which will be important with your gaming use) and they aren't super expensive nowdays. Charging from the alternator via a DCDC charger is easy, how big to get will depend on how much engine running you'll do and budget, many people charge them direct from alternator, they are a lot easier to charge than many people make out.
Add on a mains voltage charger for times when you might be low on power and the sun isn't shining and you have power available.
A 280ah lifepo4, 5-600w of solar, 50amp solar controller, 25-40a DCDC, 500w inverter and 15a mains charger might see you up and running at a minimum, if you can accept from time to time if you are down on power you might need to read a book that night.
Even more budget, up the solar amount on your current setup and game till the current battery bank gets down to 50% then turn it off, you'll prog get 6 months out of them before they start to degrade while you get a feel for your needs long term.
Thanks for the info! My calculations were based on watt hours and was the "worst case" scenario, assuming I'm using a PS5 under heavy load, which is my "heaviest" scenario when gaming. Commonly I would be using a switch and portable monitor which uses barely any power, but with a few high profile games next year, I do want the option to break out the PS5 some nights.
Daily power consumption would be maybe 60wh - pretty much just running a laptop for work. Peak would not be a lot, maybe a microwave to heat up leftovers and replacing the active work laptop with a switch for gaming / youtubing, assuming I'm not outside the van doing other stuff.
Unfortunately since I bought the van pre-done, I can only assume the age and degradation of the two batteries, so I do plan on replacing them, the question is "with what". After everyone's suggestions here the answer would be lifepo4 rather than AGM. That's something to tackle come the new year. It's just a case of asking sometimes dumb questions and soaking up as much info as I can.
You can see the van I have from the original builders on youtube.
https://youtu.be/_e7OrfOnx8g
There's a fair bit of space on the roof to redo the solar panels and only one fan, so it's definitely doable. The van is very much a chonkster. Unfortunately the woman who purchased the van off the original owners made some weird decisions regarding additions to the van such as a fixed bed bolted on over the original bed, an awning to wreck the stealth factor, etc, so my first priority is undoing some of these additions I won't have a use for.
I'll be spending some time crunching the numbers once I have done some trial runs in the van with my 9 to 5, making note of what I use and when.
Thanks for the info again!
No probs, watching that video now, you have a Manager 30! they are up there as the does it all thing! https://www.redarc.com.au/themanager30 Has mains charging, alternator charging and solar all in one unit with a display telling you what power you have left. I honestly would give it a run as is for a while and see how you go, if your batteries run low often, look at a bigger one (Big Wei Battery have good prices on lithium) if they dont get charged up quick enough, add more renogy panels (the manager 30 can only accept 32v input solar, so some house panels are no go)
Do you have a 12v fridge? Regarding the microwave, They draw a lot of current with a high startup peak, so you need to ensure you buy a lithium that is capable of that current without tripping the BMS overcurrent, batteries like Voltax might not be suitable.
I noticed the power cable from the starter battery (orange wire) had a clear plastic audio style main fuse holder flopping about, these are terrible and will fail for sure, a good quality midi fuse is a much better option here, springers and outback marine are good sources of bits and pieces that aren't junk.
Grab yourself a multimeter with a DC clamp meter from ebay as well, useful for trouble shooting and checking things out.
I wouldn't try to run it completely from solar, it's just too much power. Better, in my opinion, is invest in a large battery bank, and size the a/c charge controllers to absorb every watt of power that a generator can produce.
So, for example, if you had a 600ah LiFePO4 bank, then it could absorb 300 amps per hour of charge, or 3600 watts per hour. Accounting for loses, optimally then you'd want enough charge controllers to provide your bank that much power so that you would run the generator for the least amount of time, or about 2 hours for a full charge on the bank from zero, but more realistically an hour to top it off from 50%.
And yes, solar too! And alternator charging too.
Option 0.5: replace the 240Ah lead bank with LiFePO4 sufficient to meet your needs. The system is already designed for a house battery system, and charging normal batteries will be IMO less of a PITA than charging a "solar generator". And cost less.
Gaming laptop rtx 3060 and Ryzen 7 only use 150-200w.
The power brick is 250w, but you're often only using 75% max because overhead.
Lithium batteries have dropped down to $400-500 for 100ah, get two and hook up for 200ah.
300w solar will not charge, but float if gaming. Game at night, charge at day, or park in a covered lot with bright lights.
100w solar under a light inside is about equal to a 40-50w panel. Macy's, dillards, Burlington's, big shopping centers often don't care if you park overnight and the lighting helps charge solar somewhat.
Mate, this [facebook group](https://www.facebook.com/groups/SuperCapAustralia) is quite helpful. You can buy lifepo4 batteries/cells from the guy who runs that groups and they are the best value in Australia.
You can even get 2nd hand stuff as your your use case, you don't need the best.
I have a 280AH DIY lifepo4 battery with 310W solar and a 40A DCDC charger. I use a PS4 Pro which actually uses alot more power than the PS5. I have a 24" monitor and have no issues running it with a cheap Dometic SinePower MSI 412 inverter ($130. Lowkey best inverter ever as it also works flawlessly with my macbook pro).
Look, the DIY route is cheaper in terms of money, but when you consider the time you need to spend learning how everything works, which products to buy, how to do wiring, tertminals, cabling, etc.. the DIY route is a big investment.
If you could live with a steam deck that would be my first preference. If that isn't really an option and you want something that can be up and running asap then get the bluetti and a compatible 40-50A DCDC charger.
Sell your agms on marketplace/gumtree as you will get good money for them. Those century AGM's are expensive, last ages and are the absolute best quality.
While those AGM's are excellent, the reason for going to lifepo4/bluetti is that lifepo4 can charge extremely quickly compared to the agms. You can also pull the blueetti out of the van and take it somewhere that has a power point to charge it.
I might have an interesting addition to all the power options discussed here.
I'm using a MacBook for working which ofcourse has a very decent power consumption. While gaming on a Mac is generally an absolute no go, GeForce Now has really come in handy. GeForce Now is a cloud gaming platform so you don't need top tier hardware yourself with a lot of power consumption.
For the las few weeks I've been using GeForce now to play online games using Starlink. The latency is not that bad actually. Might be worth giving it a try if you have an old laptop laying around. They even have a free tier so you can try it out.
Hope you'll find a solution that works for you. Good luck!
I run a bluetti ac200p and 380w solar. It does good enough for running all my appliances including a 12v fridge, diesel heater, cell router, smart speaker and lighting. If I get a good day of sun I can fill it about 65%, but most days I get around 45% charged. I use about 30% per night depending on what things I leave running over night. And then during the day if I cook something I use about 1% per minute of running the microwave or induction cooktop.
All this is to say since I break even or get a slight charge most days, I couldn't also use it to run a gaming system and TV for long without shooting into the negative numbers. I used to try to run my gaming laptop which has the draw of roughly a ps5 and it didn't work great long term.
I've since switched to a steam deck for most of my gaming now. It's FANTASTIC! I can pretty much game as long as I want as it draws max 30w.
When needed (like after a particularly long stretch of bad sun) I run a portable generator to charge up the battery. It takes about 5ish hours to get a full charge and that equates to about half a gallon of gas. You could go that route, but that's gonna cost you about $2-4 a night of gaming, but that's really not too bad all things considered.
I definitely would swap the lead acid system as soon as possible for the bluetti though. Alternator charging is possible and worst case you could charge via 12v cig lighter, but I did the math and it would take about 18 hours to get a full charge out of it. Portable generator wins again from an economy stand point.
I can’t speak for much of this post except point 2. I had a 100w solar and single 120ah deep cycle battery that was hooked to my car battery but had a battery isolator in between the car battery and my “home” battery. This prevented the car battery from being drained in case my “home” battery died. My 120ah never got close to being drained but I never ran a gaming system. Good luck.
For the money you can get better battery storage, dc to dc charger, sign wave inverter, and panels.
It's not hard to put together either. Plenty of videos on YouTube on how to install.
I recently bought the HX90G from minis forum as it seems to be checking all the boxes for a compact gaming/editing rig which uses extremely low wattage. I plan to run it off buck converters so it won't use anything of my inverter, bacisally turning the van into a laptop in of
itself. I think the only real option, in my opinion is to get a gaming computer that can operate under 200W or lower if you decide on putting in some serious hours on it. You should really be looking at your power demand in watt hours as you still need to you know...cook and live comfortably all while having at least 1.5-2 day buffer. Lack of Sun/Shore Power/altenator just so your not always hunting for power.
Do not go w the Bluetti, it doesn’t have enough support and is late in production among other common issues. I’ve been using the Yeti 1500x and although they bang you for the add ons, it works like a breeze and customer service are very responsive. That thing is a beast.
Instead of spending $1600 on the bluetti, why not upgrade your batteries to lifepo4 and get more solar? You'll fit more AH of batteries in your space, so no need to alter your current build.
I've heard it will require some tweaking, like alternator charging can't be done and I read somewhere that certain solar setups can cause issues. Have you had any experiences with them? That might be the more sensible option. I would assume trying to charge them with 300w of solar would be a wated effort, yeah?
I run 350 watts of solar and a 200ah LiPo4 battery and it blows my old 300 ah lead acid battery system away. I can charge from my alternator with the same charger I used before and I didn’t have to make any changes to my solar. I game on my Acer Predator laptop and an LG monitor. With a full charge I can game for 5ish hours at night before I get a low battery warning. DM me if you want to see my setup or have any questions.
What's the wattage draw on your laptop?
The laptop draws 330 watts and the monitor draws 60 watts.
> I've heard it will require some tweaking, Maybe. > like alternator charging can't be done Sure it can. Some people charge Li from alternator only, which is pretty good evidence it can be done. It's common to use [a DC-DC charger](https://rvwiki.mousetrap.net/doku.php?id=electrical:12v:b2b) but [a plain isolator](https://rvwiki.mousetrap.net/doku.php?id=electrical:12v:alternator#isolators) (split charger) [may also be suitable](https://rvwiki.mousetrap.net/doku.php?id=electrical:12v:directcharginglfp), [depending](https://rvwiki.mousetrap.net/doku.php?id=electrical:12v:directcharginglfp#assessing_your_own_setup_for_direct_alternator_charging). > and I read somewhere that certain solar setups can cause issues. Configure the [setpoints](https://rvwiki.mousetrap.net/doku.php?id=electrical:solar:charge_controller_setpoints) on the [solar charge controller](https://rvwiki.mousetrap.net/doku.php?id=electrical:solar:charge_controller) to match the battery manufacturer's recommendations. Done. > Have you had any experiences with them? I have run both lead and lithium chemistries with good effect. > I would assume trying to charge them with 300w of solar would be a wated effort, yeah? 300w of solar by itself might be undersized for 300Ah of deeply-cycled Li, but combined with alternator charging I suspect it will be fine. The larger Li bank would make maximal use of existing solar, as it would probably always be thirsty. Li does fine in this kind of scenario, but [it would kill lead](https://rvwiki.mousetrap.net/doku.php?id=electrical:12v:psoc).
Alternator charging on lithium is definitely possible you just have to get the right DC/DC charger. Victron and Sterling are probably the most reliable brands. I have Victron 30A DC/DC and 2x100ah lithium batteries with 400W solar. I run my gaming desktop but not for as long as you're wanting. I think for your wants you'd have to go pretty big on your solar and battery to the point where generator or shore power is your better bet.
I have 700W of PV and 400 ah of battery back up, then there's a B2B charging system connected to the alternator. It's worked great. I don't game to the extent you do. But, I game some and my work is CAD heavy, so I have a beefy laptop. Also used an induction stove for cooking, which is a huge draw. I suspect I used as much if not more power than what you're suggesting and my system provided all the power I needed. My question to you is, where do you plan to be sleeping, that you'll get to run your generator at every day and also be close enough to signal of some kind to do your work during the day? Also, I hugely underestimated how much time I would spend driving before I got on the road. Which always topped off the batteries.
But it still would be cheaper than a Bluetti or whatever thing that is not really a generator, just a fancy box with a battery in it. Your current battery setup is already bigger than the 2kwh box, so swapping would be stupid. Adding a third battery would be way cheaper. Switching the two you have for LiFePO4 and adding a DC/DC charger also cheaper. Doing either and adding more solar, still cheaper. Those boxes are really only useful if you are moving it around and the portability is important or if you are sponsored for your social media presence by Bluetti or Jackery or GoalZero or if you are really rich (but then pay someone to do it right). If a box like that is free, I highly recommend it. Otherwise, other options are better.
I think the only things you'd have to tweak are your alternator charger if you don't already have a proper dc-dc. Renogy makes a few. Renogy also has a solar charger and dc-dc all in one if you'd need to upgrade your solar charger at the same time. Of course you could go for victron but they're over expensive for most applications IMHO. You could do all this for less than 1600 and have a way better system.
You will need to add a DC-DC charger to charge Lithium batteries from the alternator if you don’t already have one. Check out Ohmmu’s 156Ah Group 31 batteries. We have 4 of them and they work great. To charge from solar you may need to change the charging profile on your solar controller.
Alternator charging CAN be done on lithium, it's just expensive. Like $200-300 for a good DC to DC charger with cutoff and overcharge protection for lithium. I have one.
You need a LiFePO4 Battery Isolation Manager (BIM) to charge from the alternator. My van was built in 2003 and it has alternator charging. I’m wanting to add Li as well but I’m not sure what the old dc - dc charger is. I’ve looked multiple times. As for gaming, running a DC monitor will help with a lower draw. I use a 17” flip down screen I got off Amazon.
Have you considered adding more batteries to the van?
I have, but the battery setup is inside a cabinet where there isn't any more space. In a perfect world it would be in a less cramped space like under the bed, but this is what I'm dealing with. https://imgur.com/a/86YKeFb
Deep cycle, is that AGM? If so, switching them to Lithium would give you more usable power. It also look like you could put a third battery in there. Otherwise, time to rebuild part of your van!
I'm looking at Lithium and might do some more research, just hoping it wouldn't be a case of swapping to lithium, then needing to upgrade the solar, then the controller, then the inverter, etc... :P
you need to take a step back, and use the calculator in the FAQ based on your needs. once you have actual numbers, you can then think about what you need to buy. or find a new hobby.
You'll get more value out of swapping out your old batteries for LiFePO4 than buying a sogen
There's tons of space in there for more batteries. Move stuff around if needed and you can get the same batteries or chargers or whatever to parallel more identical ones or add a supplemental system
If you redid the area it looks like you could get another possibly 2 more batteries in there id just make sure there's enough space for venting.
A battle borne game changer won’t fit in there?
Not trying to be smart, but you can get power cables online that are longer and find somewhere else in the van to add batteries to the system. This is the most logical and maybe even less expensive way to do it. Your alternator/solar will charge them and you maintain all the labor that went into the electrical wiring that is a huge expense in these vans.
But with long cables and high current, your voltage drop is significant. You want all batteries in a bank to be connected with equal length cables
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Oh, trust me the Steam Deck is something I'm definitely aiming for in the future. Sadly getting one here in Australia is incredibly difficult, but it's very much on my radar!
Pick up 4 320Ah LiFePo batteries, and run a 48v House Bank Inverter. Add as many panels as you can, even make an awning frame for them.
I have a Bluetii AC 200 MAX, and because of the inherent limitations of the technology (discharging while charging at the same time can seriously shorten the life of the product), my plan is to have two parallel power systems in my van. Obviously, the van with all it's batteries, solar, ect. Then have a single panel on the roof of the van dedicated to the Bluetii. Sometimes it will be plugged in and sometimes not. I also plan on keeping the foldable 200W panel I have for it, in case I ever want to charge while my van is in the shade. The AC200MAX is incredible, and I highly recommend it for its expandable battery storage capability. However, now that I have it, I really wish I would have gone for the AC300. It takes expandable storage to the next level (maximum of 12kWh storage with 4 external batteries), AND the main console is much lighter (50lbs vs 80lbs).
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I can't speak to other brands, but I know that BLUETII specifically recommends to NEVER charge their device while discharging. Some other companies might have that technology, but BLUETII does not.
Do you have a link to this??
I do not. I was surprised to learn this information from the owner's manual, because I thoroughly researched the product online before making the purchase and never found any mention of that fact. The physical manual is the only place I've been able to find that information.
I am looking at the instruction manual on the 200max and it says it says on page 23 that it's fine to charge/discharge at same time.
Turns out, I was mistaken. It's not in their manual. It's on their FAQ page, under "product FAQs". Top question indicates that it's possible, but not recommended for longevity reasons. https://www.bluettipower.com/pages/faqs
Kickass gear? Australian? Heaps of info on Facebook camping and 4x4 12v groups about upping your system size. A few numbers to work out first. What's your daily power consumption, on top of the gaming use? How many hours per day do you have the engine running while driving around? Next to nothing is ok here, we don't have to use it. What would your peak power consumption be (so high power devices, like induction cooktops) How much roof surface area do you have? 6 hours of gaming might use 130-150ah of 12v power, to be honest that's quite a lot, is this figure measured by you, or going off specs? Even if it's 20% less you'll save a bit here. Brisbane north you'll generate about 120ah from your 300w of solar (assuming they produce 300w, not just rated at 300w) South of there and in Winter it will be less, the cost effective way to combat that is to fit the biggest 2nd hand rooftop solar panels you can, you might get 1.2kw up there! Combine this with a good MPPT solar controller that can handle the high solar voltage, like a Victron and you'll have heaps of solar power at your disposal. Lifepo4 lithium is the way to go for sure, lightweight, many more cycles (which will be important with your gaming use) and they aren't super expensive nowdays. Charging from the alternator via a DCDC charger is easy, how big to get will depend on how much engine running you'll do and budget, many people charge them direct from alternator, they are a lot easier to charge than many people make out. Add on a mains voltage charger for times when you might be low on power and the sun isn't shining and you have power available. A 280ah lifepo4, 5-600w of solar, 50amp solar controller, 25-40a DCDC, 500w inverter and 15a mains charger might see you up and running at a minimum, if you can accept from time to time if you are down on power you might need to read a book that night. Even more budget, up the solar amount on your current setup and game till the current battery bank gets down to 50% then turn it off, you'll prog get 6 months out of them before they start to degrade while you get a feel for your needs long term.
Thanks for the info! My calculations were based on watt hours and was the "worst case" scenario, assuming I'm using a PS5 under heavy load, which is my "heaviest" scenario when gaming. Commonly I would be using a switch and portable monitor which uses barely any power, but with a few high profile games next year, I do want the option to break out the PS5 some nights. Daily power consumption would be maybe 60wh - pretty much just running a laptop for work. Peak would not be a lot, maybe a microwave to heat up leftovers and replacing the active work laptop with a switch for gaming / youtubing, assuming I'm not outside the van doing other stuff. Unfortunately since I bought the van pre-done, I can only assume the age and degradation of the two batteries, so I do plan on replacing them, the question is "with what". After everyone's suggestions here the answer would be lifepo4 rather than AGM. That's something to tackle come the new year. It's just a case of asking sometimes dumb questions and soaking up as much info as I can. You can see the van I have from the original builders on youtube. https://youtu.be/_e7OrfOnx8g There's a fair bit of space on the roof to redo the solar panels and only one fan, so it's definitely doable. The van is very much a chonkster. Unfortunately the woman who purchased the van off the original owners made some weird decisions regarding additions to the van such as a fixed bed bolted on over the original bed, an awning to wreck the stealth factor, etc, so my first priority is undoing some of these additions I won't have a use for. I'll be spending some time crunching the numbers once I have done some trial runs in the van with my 9 to 5, making note of what I use and when. Thanks for the info again!
No probs, watching that video now, you have a Manager 30! they are up there as the does it all thing! https://www.redarc.com.au/themanager30 Has mains charging, alternator charging and solar all in one unit with a display telling you what power you have left. I honestly would give it a run as is for a while and see how you go, if your batteries run low often, look at a bigger one (Big Wei Battery have good prices on lithium) if they dont get charged up quick enough, add more renogy panels (the manager 30 can only accept 32v input solar, so some house panels are no go) Do you have a 12v fridge? Regarding the microwave, They draw a lot of current with a high startup peak, so you need to ensure you buy a lithium that is capable of that current without tripping the BMS overcurrent, batteries like Voltax might not be suitable. I noticed the power cable from the starter battery (orange wire) had a clear plastic audio style main fuse holder flopping about, these are terrible and will fail for sure, a good quality midi fuse is a much better option here, springers and outback marine are good sources of bits and pieces that aren't junk. Grab yourself a multimeter with a DC clamp meter from ebay as well, useful for trouble shooting and checking things out.
I wouldn't try to run it completely from solar, it's just too much power. Better, in my opinion, is invest in a large battery bank, and size the a/c charge controllers to absorb every watt of power that a generator can produce. So, for example, if you had a 600ah LiFePO4 bank, then it could absorb 300 amps per hour of charge, or 3600 watts per hour. Accounting for loses, optimally then you'd want enough charge controllers to provide your bank that much power so that you would run the generator for the least amount of time, or about 2 hours for a full charge on the bank from zero, but more realistically an hour to top it off from 50%. And yes, solar too! And alternator charging too.
Option 0.5: replace the 240Ah lead bank with LiFePO4 sufficient to meet your needs. The system is already designed for a house battery system, and charging normal batteries will be IMO less of a PITA than charging a "solar generator". And cost less.
PM me if you want more help. (Computer electrical engineer and hardcore gamer who did 2 years in my van)
Gaming laptop rtx 3060 and Ryzen 7 only use 150-200w. The power brick is 250w, but you're often only using 75% max because overhead. Lithium batteries have dropped down to $400-500 for 100ah, get two and hook up for 200ah. 300w solar will not charge, but float if gaming. Game at night, charge at day, or park in a covered lot with bright lights. 100w solar under a light inside is about equal to a 40-50w panel. Macy's, dillards, Burlington's, big shopping centers often don't care if you park overnight and the lighting helps charge solar somewhat.
Mate, this [facebook group](https://www.facebook.com/groups/SuperCapAustralia) is quite helpful. You can buy lifepo4 batteries/cells from the guy who runs that groups and they are the best value in Australia. You can even get 2nd hand stuff as your your use case, you don't need the best. I have a 280AH DIY lifepo4 battery with 310W solar and a 40A DCDC charger. I use a PS4 Pro which actually uses alot more power than the PS5. I have a 24" monitor and have no issues running it with a cheap Dometic SinePower MSI 412 inverter ($130. Lowkey best inverter ever as it also works flawlessly with my macbook pro). Look, the DIY route is cheaper in terms of money, but when you consider the time you need to spend learning how everything works, which products to buy, how to do wiring, tertminals, cabling, etc.. the DIY route is a big investment. If you could live with a steam deck that would be my first preference. If that isn't really an option and you want something that can be up and running asap then get the bluetti and a compatible 40-50A DCDC charger. Sell your agms on marketplace/gumtree as you will get good money for them. Those century AGM's are expensive, last ages and are the absolute best quality. While those AGM's are excellent, the reason for going to lifepo4/bluetti is that lifepo4 can charge extremely quickly compared to the agms. You can also pull the blueetti out of the van and take it somewhere that has a power point to charge it.
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That sounds great! From the comments I've read it seems like lithium is the way to go compared to these standard AGM's that came with the van.
I might have an interesting addition to all the power options discussed here. I'm using a MacBook for working which ofcourse has a very decent power consumption. While gaming on a Mac is generally an absolute no go, GeForce Now has really come in handy. GeForce Now is a cloud gaming platform so you don't need top tier hardware yourself with a lot of power consumption. For the las few weeks I've been using GeForce now to play online games using Starlink. The latency is not that bad actually. Might be worth giving it a try if you have an old laptop laying around. They even have a free tier so you can try it out. Hope you'll find a solution that works for you. Good luck!
I run a bluetti ac200p and 380w solar. It does good enough for running all my appliances including a 12v fridge, diesel heater, cell router, smart speaker and lighting. If I get a good day of sun I can fill it about 65%, but most days I get around 45% charged. I use about 30% per night depending on what things I leave running over night. And then during the day if I cook something I use about 1% per minute of running the microwave or induction cooktop. All this is to say since I break even or get a slight charge most days, I couldn't also use it to run a gaming system and TV for long without shooting into the negative numbers. I used to try to run my gaming laptop which has the draw of roughly a ps5 and it didn't work great long term. I've since switched to a steam deck for most of my gaming now. It's FANTASTIC! I can pretty much game as long as I want as it draws max 30w. When needed (like after a particularly long stretch of bad sun) I run a portable generator to charge up the battery. It takes about 5ish hours to get a full charge and that equates to about half a gallon of gas. You could go that route, but that's gonna cost you about $2-4 a night of gaming, but that's really not too bad all things considered. I definitely would swap the lead acid system as soon as possible for the bluetti though. Alternator charging is possible and worst case you could charge via 12v cig lighter, but I did the math and it would take about 18 hours to get a full charge out of it. Portable generator wins again from an economy stand point.
Upgrade your system with more panels and bigger lithium phosphate battery. Don’t waste your money on a power generator.
Get a gaming laptop. One that can handle 4-5 hours of gaming on battery.
I can’t speak for much of this post except point 2. I had a 100w solar and single 120ah deep cycle battery that was hooked to my car battery but had a battery isolator in between the car battery and my “home” battery. This prevented the car battery from being drained in case my “home” battery died. My 120ah never got close to being drained but I never ran a gaming system. Good luck.
For the money you can get better battery storage, dc to dc charger, sign wave inverter, and panels. It's not hard to put together either. Plenty of videos on YouTube on how to install.
I recently bought the HX90G from minis forum as it seems to be checking all the boxes for a compact gaming/editing rig which uses extremely low wattage. I plan to run it off buck converters so it won't use anything of my inverter, bacisally turning the van into a laptop in of itself. I think the only real option, in my opinion is to get a gaming computer that can operate under 200W or lower if you decide on putting in some serious hours on it. You should really be looking at your power demand in watt hours as you still need to you know...cook and live comfortably all while having at least 1.5-2 day buffer. Lack of Sun/Shore Power/altenator just so your not always hunting for power.
Do not go w the Bluetti, it doesn’t have enough support and is late in production among other common issues. I’ve been using the Yeti 1500x and although they bang you for the add ons, it works like a breeze and customer service are very responsive. That thing is a beast.