Table of Contents

12V DC and 240V AC output power stations

see also:

  • I don't sell any of these nor do I receive any remuneration if you buy them, and I have not personally reviewed all of them, they are listed here to give you perspective
  • this page gives details and examples of deep cycle batteries which allow greater capacity to be used BUT they cannot be used to jump start your vehicle - see lithium jump start batteries and other jump starters for this use
  • you cannot charge these up at electric vehicle charging stations and you generally cannot use a DC-DC charger to charge them from your car alternator!
    • you might be able to charge these from your EV with an adapter

Introduction

Pros

Cons

  • these are best for occasional campers on short trips or as an extra for serious campers
  • those living in their camper set up will want a more versatile, more powerful and more repairable system such as on camping off-grid - power, batteries, solar, fridges
    • a good DC-DC charger can do 40-50A charging from your car alternator which can make a big difference if you are not traveling long distances - but these power stations generally do not allow these to be used and you may be limited to only 10A via the cig lighter (and many cars limit total power to all the cig lighters of 10A so you couldn't use other cig lighters at same time)
    • serious travelers may want at least 300W solar panels - higher than many of these allow
    • those with caravans and air conditioners need a 300Ah battery and probably will want a 24V high power system with a 3000W AC inverter
  • a LiFePO4 battery should provide at least 2000 cycles down to 80% discharge (SoC) - other types of lithium may only do 500-800 cycles!

Features to look for

Power stations with Anderson Plugs

low capacity / power

medium capacity / power

high capacity / power

Other power stations

low capacity / power

medium capacity / power

higher capacity / power

  • you need to avoid them overheating - there should be 30cm space around the vents during use and they generally will cease operating if temperatures exceed 40degC
  • if you overload the AC outputs, these units may respond by DROPPING the voltage to as low as 150-160V AC to maintain the rated power output - this may DAMAGE your electronic devices such as induction stoves, etc!1)
    • the drop in voltage is generally not such a problem for resistive loads such as toasters, kettles and heaters - they will just get less power to use
    • if there is too much load, the power station will cut off the AC output power totally.