Forum Discussion

Nomad

Dec 31, 2020

Building a power pack. Need a battery recommendation. T

Hi folks. I’m building a portable power pack. I’m looking for recommendations on a 40 to 60 amp hour battery. Something around the size of a group 24 ish sized battery or smaller. Part of the project is a 500 watt sine wave inverter. It will be moved from time to time so I would consider a Lithium (probably lifepo4) although an AGM would probably be fine. (Good exercise). Indoor use. Probably using a group 27 or 31 box as the project box. I would appreciate any suggestions on the battery. I did this years ago with a blue top battery and it’s still working well. But things have changed a lot in the battery world, especially with lithium and AGM and I know there are people here who are more current than I am.

I should probably get suggestions on a small charger as well in the case of lithium. In the last one I built I used a small 3.5 amp NOCO charger and mounted it right in the box. Any suggestions are welcome on any newer chargers. I’m open to anything.

Thanks all. Happy New Year.

14 Replies

pianotuna
Nomad III
Jan 01, 2021
Reisender wrote:
in the case of lithium.

The best bank for the buck for a 100 amp-hour (which are about the size of a group 27 jar) is $400 Cdn for Li. That include a BMS, of course.

https://ablithium.com/

As I'm certain you know I can't use Li.
Reisender
Nomad
Jan 01, 2021
BFL13 wrote:
How long do you need to run how big of a load before you recharge the battery?

How much time do you have to recharge the battery before you need to use it again?

So the answer is, it varies. As low as 45 watts and as high as 225 watts. So does the duration it has to stay on. I think my blue top is around 38 amp hours. I would like to add a little extra capacity so 50 - 55 amp hours would work. I’m comfortable with AGM’s but I know Lithium have kind of become mainstream and they are soooo much lighter. And once we get into lithium all my past knowledge of chargers go’s out the window.

Heads up. I have the inverter picked out. 700 sine wave Gopower.

Thanks.
BFL13
Explorer II
Jan 01, 2021
How long do you need to run how big of a load before you recharge the battery?

How much time do you have to recharge the battery before you need to use it again?
Lwiddis
Explorer II
Dec 31, 2020
No experience with 40 to 60 amp hour batteries. Not sure many RVers do.