In-car charging etc

[caterhamnut]

Any results from the guys who were going to try charging from leisure batteries and inverters?
I'm currently working on my van (old school!) and will have a 110ah leisure battery - I'll only be using LED's, usb etc - but I'd like to charge the Levo battery. (I will have a 240v hook up for on-site.)
Looking at a pure sine wave 600w inverter plumbed in - I'm an electrical numpty, but I think this will be ok for the 300w-drawing Levo charger?

 

[thebarber]

Ive test charged mine ok on a none sine wave inverter, havnt used it in the van yet as the campsite I use lets me charge it in the office

 

[eFat]

600W is more than enough.

 

[caterhamnut]

600W is more than enough.

I think 300w is also ok? Quite a difference in price.....?

 

[eFat]

Sure. The Levo charger outputs less than 200W and a Bosch "fast" charger something like 250W. The efficiency should be around 90% so 300W is fine.

But don't connect this to a cigarette lighter socket, 15A is too much for this.

 

[caterhamnut]

Excellent - yep, it will be going directly into the leisure battery...cheers!

 

[eFat]

Be careful that some cheap inverters are a bit optimistic!

 

[MarkH]

I bought a 300w pure sine wave inverter and it wouldn't charge my levo, kept cutting out every 10 seconds or so. Upgraded to 1000w and all good. I suspect 600w would be fine. I went for the 1000w as it came with a remote which let's me control it from the front of my transit.

 

[thebarber]

Why'd you get a pure sine wave inverter, they're a fortune and from my experience not needed.

 

[MarkH]

Why'd you get a pure sine wave inverter, they're a fortune and from my experience not needed.

I'm an electronics engineer and wouldn't charge a 700 quid fairly complicated piece of electronics from a non sine charger - its more than just a battery. There are a few reports of US riders blowing batteries using cheap chargers. Not worth the risk IMO.

 

[thebarber]

Ok, good to know.
Ta

 

[SteveVentoux]

@MarkH Hi Mark, would you mind listing out the make and model of the kit you are using to charge the Levo battery please ? I want to do the same thing for when I do trips away, with a leisure battery, inverter/charger in my car, to top up the battery when I stop for a break at trail centres (I'm assuming it would take a 50% charged battery up to at least 70% in an hour or so ?!)

Thanks!

 

[caterhamnut]

Well I'm hoping my 300w pure sine wave will be enough now!!

 

[MarkH]

@MarkH Hi Mark, would you mind listing out the make and model of the kit you are using to charge the Levo battery please ? I want to do the same thing for when I do trips away, with a leisure battery, inverter/charger in my car, to top up the battery when I stop for a break at trail centres (I'm assuming it would take a 50% charged battery up to at least 70% in an hour or so ?!)

Thanks!

I went for this
Power Inverter Pure Sine Wave-1000... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CTHZCC7?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf
Just connected to transit customer connection point rear of drivers seat and mounted the remote on the double cab bulkhead.

 

[SteveVentoux]

Thanks Mark, will take a look.

 

[SteveVentoux]

How about one of these as an all-in-one solution, would this work for charging a Levo battery ?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B076CHXPPN/ref=psdc_4370158031_t1_B00EVV24LM

 

[SteveVentoux]

Or one of these ?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DVGYDL5/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_KAdHBbV39H3J0

 

[eFat]

The first one no, only 100W (and 110V). The second it's not really clear how much power the AC output can supply...

 

[SteveVentoux]

Thanks @eFat , it's really a minefield trying to find an all-in-one solution, hopefully someone can come forth with the answer, otherwise it's the leisure battery, inverter route I guess.

 

[SteveVentoux]

My mate has looked at the ALLPOWER unit and I quote him below....anyone comments please ?

>>>
ALLPOWERS 288Wh/78000mAh Portable Solar Generator Power Inverter Power Station Camping Emergency Power Supply with Silent DC/AC Inverter, Charged by Solar Panel/ Wall Outlet/Car for Camping, Home, CPAP or Emergency Backup https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DVGYDL5/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_KAdHBbV39H3J0

The bike charger has an output of 4.0A @ 42V, so an 8 hour charging period would require around 32000mha and this unit gives 78000mha thus 2 complete charges, in theory.

Only issue is that we stop for a 2 hour lunch break, at most, so the battery will only take around 8000mha of charge assuming 100% efficiency which will give us an additional 25% battery on top of what we had when we stopped.

The calcs above assume the battery takes all of the 4.0A which is doubtful. I think in real life It will work slightly better but not much. Also I have assumed that the battery pack gives a linear 230V and doesn't have some strange sine wave or cheap inverter that gives a messy or pulse AC supply. Hence a UPS unit would probably be better as they are generally give a very 'clean' AC output.

>>>>

 

[MarkH]

My mate has looked at the ALLPOWER unit and I quote him below....anyone comments please ?

>>>
ALLPOWERS 288Wh/78000mAh Portable Solar Generator Power Inverter Power Station Camping Emergency Power Supply with Silent DC/AC Inverter, Charged by Solar Panel/ Wall Outlet/Car for Camping, Home, CPAP or Emergency Backup https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DVGYDL5/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_KAdHBbV39H3J0

The bike charger has an output of 4.0A @ 42V, so an 8 hour charging period would require around 32000mha and this unit gives 78000mha thus 2 complete charges, in theory.

Only issue is that we stop for a 2 hour lunch break, at most, so the battery will only take around 8000mha of charge assuming 100% efficiency which will give us an additional 25% battery on top of what we had when we stopped.

The calcs above assume the battery takes all of the 4.0A which is doubtful. I think in real life It will work slightly better but not much. Also I have assumed that the battery pack gives a linear 230V and doesn't have some strange sine wave or cheap inverter that gives a messy or pulse AC supply. Hence a UPS unit would probably be better as they are generally give a very 'clean' AC output.

>>>>

On paper the second unit should be just about capable as it says it gives 350W at 240v. I've seen posts where Goal Zero 400 units have been used to charge a levo, and the Allpowers is only slightly lower capacity.

 

[SteveVentoux]

Thanks for your thoughts @MarkH , appreciated.