SUPER EASY!! DIY Power Station Battery Capacity Expansion / Charger

[@anthonypalermo967]

Thanks for tips, I bought a stepup 12->24v 250W unit. (< $20) I plugged into my ecoflow 1280w station and with a 100ah battery it does 100 watts without stepup, 195watts with stepup. Thanks again.

[@hugofig31]

I get 180-190 watts to my eco flow delta 2 using an xt60i cable hooked directly to a 100ah lifepo4 battery. No convertor needed.

[@ThomasNowicki-m5s]

you can do that on any powerstation. i dont understand why he use a DC to DC converter between? power losses from DC to Dc is all what it brings you....

[@vashon100]

Is that using a 12.8v batt to get 180-190w? I'm thinking of doing similar but with 25.6v 100ah to get around 380w, since EF D2 limited to 15A input.

[@atnfn]

@@ThomasNowicki-m5s There would be a point to it if it was still 15A, but this seems to do nothing. Nah buy a 24V battery instead this is useless.

[@jeffmcclain]

Just curious, but why wouldn't you just connect the 12v LiFePO4 directly to the XT-60i (for example) solar input on the Ecoflow (12.8v typical on these are well within the 11-60V)? Other than getting better charging watts from the higher voltage at 24V (or even 36-60V would be better), it should still charge quite well at around the 180W you are getting out of that boost converter (make SURE you use the ORANGE colored solar input XT-60i so it doesn't clamp you at the "car charger" 7A max). It would be much better to simply put 2 or 3 of these batteries in series to charge and get the full 500W (for the Ecoflow Delta 2) at any voltage >33v (other chargers may have a higher MPPT max current that could benefit more from 48v). Honestly, these DC boost converters tend to waste a lot of switching power in heat and even putting just two batteries in series (to operate at 24V) would be dramatically more efficient and faster on charging current and avoid one more complication. ?

[@ursodermatt8809]

because it only put half the energy into the power station. they are limited by amps, so you get twice the energy if you double the voltage.

[@jeffmcclain]

@@ursodermatt8809Understood, but 12v @ the 15A of XT-60i is 180W, which is much more than the 125-150W from the boost converter (plus you lose soo much in heat doing the boost). And just putting two 12v batteries in series (or better 3 or a 48v server rack battery) would easily be far more current than those DC-DC boost and much much more efficient. That was all I simply don't understand why folks are spending money on very limited and inefficient converters when they could do it simpler.

[@p.b.7861]

You are exactly correct. Much easier and cheaper do away with Just a cable with XT-60i to 12v-100Ah lithium lifepo4 battery is all you need ! No 12-24 booster needed at all. I have tested it last night. The Ecoflow Delta 2 would automatically takes a constant 15 amp incoming my was 173 out of 205watts( with 84% efficiency) with no heat loss but use 10 AWG will eliminate the heat loss and voltage drop from 12 awg Ecoflow cable.

[@ewitte12]

Or just use a 24v or 48v battery depending on what your powerstation can take mine does 11-60v. Put a fuse in there too.

[@Hikebike365]

​@@p.b.7861is the extra pin on the X60i connecting to the plus or the minus ?? I want to make my own cable

[@Ken2ndAmendment]

You could also run thr batteries in series with a 2nd LiPho4 battery to reach 24V.

[@dus10dnd]

Yep, or buy one at of the 24V batteries! The 24V unit that has half the Ah would be equivalent to what is demonstrated and it is $280.

[@jimbo5635]

The amps would be very high. Which mat or may it damage the power station

[@JamesBond-zd5jx]

@@jimbo5635as volts go up then amps go down. So a 24 volt system delivers fewer amps. Volts x amps = watts.

[@rogerschmid8612]

bad idea, never should two batteries with a BMS connect in series

[@kuhrd]

One thing that may be beneficial if the specific power station can use a much higher input voltage is finding a boost converter with an output voltage just a bit under (5-10% or so) the max recommended solar input voltage or get one with adjustable output voltage range and just make sure you are not going over the max wattage rating of the boost converter or battery you are connecting to. This will allow higher input wattages for the power stations that support faster solar charging. Many of the portable power stations are limited in charging wattage due to the size of the solar charge controller they use so if they support a higher voltage that can sometimes yield a higher input rate till you hit the max rate of the internal solar charge controller. One other thing to mention about those boost converters is that they tend to want forced air cooling if you drive them much over their rating for any length of time.

[@si12volt1]

XT60i connectors not the a xt60 but the xt60i like the one that comes with the Delta max for solar hook up and others units have an additional pin that would give more wattage into your eco flow unit from what I'm told I'm about to do a similar setup as this with possibly a 12v 48v 10a step up to hopefully get 480w input I hear these step up units can run hot

[@thefpvlife7785]

I simply have my Power Queen 12v 200ah battery with a NOCO connector on it and charge my EcoFlow Delta 2 plugged into the 12v cigarette to xt60 at slightly over 100w. A trickle charging under load is said to extend your LifePo4 life.

[@selmopt]

how do you charge the battery?

[@thefpvlife7785]

@@selmoptYou can charge the battery via solar or quicker yet with a LifPo4 charger. It's simple with no worries.

[@SOLDOZER]

@@selmopt With solar or AC wall charger.

[@bdmenne]

You think this configuration would work for EF River 2 Pro. I was thinking 200ah would make it a beast in my small camper van. I didn’t to to lug around my heavier delta 2 max

[@mrwonderfullgj]

Thanks for your input. ( Pun Intended) Helpful video for apartment dwellers like myself that might lose grid power and have no yard to utilize my Solar Panels.

[@desertdan100]

The advantage of the more expensive add on units the much higher watt throughput. If you don't need the max wattage for extended periods of time I could see this method working out okay. If you need to run high drain loads , it won't help much. If you run any kind of heating load very long it will show up quickly. If all you are running is led lighting and small electronic rechargers, this will work well.

[@bru_haha]

Good idea for a low price expansion. Another downside is the low efficiency and the extra cycles put onto the main battery. These small power stations take 15-20% more than rated capacity to charge, even over DC (512Wh capacity takes over 620Wh of input to charge), plus the 12 to 24V boost converter loss of 5-10%. Then you lose another 15-20% from the typical inefficiency of the power station when using the inverter/regulated DC. So if you do the math for something like the Ecoflow River 2 Max with 512Wh and a 1280Wh external battery, you are getting ~415Wh (original output capacity) plus just ~785Wh AC output capacity from dumping the 1280Wh into the unit and taking it out. The loss is much greater than compared to if you just hooked up an inverter to the external battery and used it that way, plus you effectively put 2 extra cycles of wear on the internal battery of the power station by dumping in the 1280Wh.

[@206deeznutz]

This is exactly what I was thinking.

[@LiquidTurbo]

Thank you for the thought provoking comment.

[@ItsEverythingElse]

Well any expansion battery is going to have that issue. Always buy the largest battery you can get away with.

[@ItsEverythingElse]

Inverters aren't 100% efficient either. And you're now going from 12VDC to 120VAC and back to 12VDC. I don't see how that is better than 12 to 24 to 12.

[@ItsEverythingElse]

How could you be putting two extra charge cycles in?? lol. Where is all that wasted energy going? When you recharge from solar are you also wasting two extra cycles?

[@rosalieroku3818]

You mention this as an expansion battery. Will your power station charge it? Or do you need another device to charge it?

[@dquam3885]

I don't think most power stations would charge the expansion battery. It would require connecting either a 120 volt charger or a 12 volt charge controller. 12 volt charge controller assumes the power station has 12 volt output.

[@altered.perspectives]

You could using an AC to DC battery charger in a pinch, but it's inefficient. You cannot do it DC to DC since the power station has a max of 10A on it's DC output.

[@michael.w.salter]

I have an EB3A that i connect via cig lighter cable to 2 100ah AGM in parallel. They are charged via 300w of solar. Dont have a heavy load on the EB3A yet, but I'm optimistic. My pellet stove draws about 150w, and the AGMs will run it all night.

[@krzjim]

I like the idea of this type of addition because I can keep the power station topped up at night then charge the secondary battery with solar any time the power usage is light

[@sonsoflibertyoverland]

Love this concept. Been doing it in our rigs. Should be able to get more into the EB55. I have a duel charging setup for that in my rig. a 12-24v booster and getting 180 watts and AC charging from my inverter and get 200 for a combined 380watts!

[@fookingsog]

I don't have time to diagram this out, but here's the gist of what I would call an "ideal" turnkey system: ~DPDT relay for charge/discharge cycle, coil powered by 120vac so when line power goes out, the battery is switched from charge mode to supply mode. ~This circuit would use two 12v batteries in series to maintain 24vdc at input charge voltage. ~Both batteries can be simultaneously charged from the front panel 12vdc output using blocking diodes. Using blocking diodes prevents against backfeed/crossfeed. ~Batteries may charge slower from the front panel, but you can always parallel in a supplemental 12vdc power supply. ~Large Lithium batteries already contain charge balance circuitry inside, so this setup shouldn't be an issue. Using the relay simply "automates" the process of having do any unplug/replug exercise. Note that to get the larger voltage/amperage/wattage to work on the EcoFlow, an XT60i properly configured may have to be used.

[@af1023]

Thank you for your video, I have followed this path. While I was experimenting with my Ecoflow power stations and a Power Queen 100Ah battery, I built 2 10AWG cables from the battery to the Ecoflow unit. One cable had the regular yellow XT60 female connector, the second cable uses a XT60i orange female connector. The XT60 cable consistently delivered 102-105 watts to both the Delta Mini and River 2 Pro The XT60i cable delivered 168 watts to both units. I hope this helps, thank you very much.

[@reese9276]

Your connection was directly from that battery to the River 2 Pro without the transformer? So this acts like "Pass Through" charging. As long as the output from the main battery doesn't exceed the incoming power, the main battery "remains" charged except for inverter loss? (YES...l'm a "Newbie")

[@af1023]

@@reese9276 Hi, the connection is directly from the battery to the Ecoflow units without a transformer, it is pass-through. I have tried a 12v-24v step up transformer and that yields better results but I'm always concerned about the heat buildup in the transformer, even of the transformer is rated for 20Amps. To avoid the power loss issues, my 12v batteries are configured for 24v output and also bought a 24v-50Ah QWW battery that offers excellent performance, I always use the XT60i connector. I hope this helps!

[@reese9276]

@@af1023 Absolutely it helps. Thank YOU!

[@erichollis2568]

Nice idea. I’ve been planning to get a 24v-12v stepdown converter on a 100w solar panel output to run my fridge by the pool this summer. Maybe you could do a video running things off a solar panel with a converter instead of a battery. I know I’d be interested.

[@googletitsfost]

An mppt solar charge controller is basically a smart DC to DC converter which will do exactly what you are asking. Or go for a pwm controller if you want cheaper (£10 or so) but at a risk of less efficiency. The cheap pwm ones typically don't even need a battery.

[@slavaartyukh4075]

So with 12v Battery you need that converter . What happens if you use 24V 100Ah battery, do you need any devises in between battery and power station to regulate Amps or V, or you just plug it straight to battery?(I got vtoman jump 1800)

[@NeoVdV]

As for the Delta2, can't you do a DIY using the special port connection foreseen for extra battery ??

[@elielavignedescoteaux7568]

I like this idea, would this work with 2 100ah battery, and let's say I want to charge the other way around , let say my power station is full , and want to top up my auxiliary battery, what would be the best way ...smart battery charger plug into the AC of the power station? Thinking to get the ac200p and add 2 of these 100 ah lithium.. any ideas would be great ...

[@ciprianoprimicias4622]

I've seen another channel where they combined 2 step up converters (12-36v, 5a) in parallel to achieve 36v at 10 amps to get 360 watts! Perfect for larger power stations like my Ecoflow Delta Max 😀

[@si12volt1]

yea i was watching that vid also he also added a fan and fuse holder ...I found a 12v 48v 10a hoping to get 480 as advertised on the units info amazon has them

[@kablammy7]

@@si12volt1 I was looking for something like that on amazon and the only thing I found close was 12v to 24v @ 20 amps - that is good but my solar input only allows 12 amp and 60v max .

[@petcuyvers]

@@kablammy7 So 240 W then @ 24 V x 12 A, not bad.

[@enigmascape]

The main advantage of the expansion battery on units that support them is that they are also charged off the same internal charger and solar panels. This idea is fine if you only need power to flow in 1 direction, otherwise you will need some method of charging the external battery either with seperate solar panels and an MPPT charge controller or some other external battery charger. I suppose you could connect a wall powered lifepo4 battery charger into the power station to keep the external battery charged up using the a/c output of the power station, or some sort of dc-dc charger that is under 10a running out of the cigarette lighter adapter on the power station. I might have to play with that and see what happens.

[@justinvardas8654]

This has been what I’ve been considering doing but haven’t found much information about it. Charging the expansion battery with a battery charger plugged into my power station that is plugged into the car cig charger. It seems like it would work but it’s hard to say. I do drive a lot too so even if it were slow charging I would be ok with it. I’m going to try it pretty soon. If you’ve tried it let me know what you’ve found please.

[@albes83]

I want to connect a solar panel with an mppt controller to the expansion battery connected to the PS. Did you experiment it? Does it work?

[@enigmascape]

@@albes83 Yes, the mppt+solar panel(s) works just fine. My other idea of using an AC battery charger plugged into the power station works too but that method is very inefficient. having a separate mppt and solar panel works great though. It's just keeping the separate battery charged up, and the charging is all DC to DC so it's quite efficient. Its basically the exact same thing as any DIY power system to charge the external battery.

[@xjidanx]

i would of liked to see how much the power stations input wattage was without the step up converter. im guessing the river 2 is going to be about the same.

[@TheMarroush]

Great video, is it possible to use 2 12v lithium batteries in series to get 24v and no longer need the step up converter and at the same time increase the capacity even more?

[@SteffenBoserup]

Yes, it is possible - some of the power stations will even let you charge faster (ecoflow - like 220 watt)

[@raymccormick545]

Great information for those of us that dabble in DIY efforts. Thank you

[@mcdtommy23]

Why not just run right off the battery as a 12.v car charger? Even with voltage sag, the mppt should compensate and continue to charge. Why introduce an additional loss with the buck/boost?

[@krisperkreme6021]

Great video. Would a 48v battery work better for a 48v power station expansion?

[@davidbrady9686]

I added a 12 to 24 converter but at 10 amps to my Anker 757. I wired it into my larger solar bank system. Works great and chargers about 220 watts. Great video.

[@EasyyokeFilms]

Do you have a link for the converter please

[@roadless_wanderers]

Im interested too in the converter. Did u find it?

[@tigersharkzh]

How high is the input while there's a decent load on the power station? This would be the best way to test these setups on different units. You'll also need a charger for the "extension" battery. This setup and savings assumes the user has a Li-compatible charger available.

[@ruudfalun]

Relatively cheap and easy expansion, thanks for the tip! One question though: How do you prevent the LFP battery from being fully emptied? The (solar) input port on the power station will allow current coming in until the voltage drops to below minimum, but with the step-up converter that results in

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

This setup relies on the battery's BMS to cutoff discharge at the appropriate voltage. Some of these batteries even have Bluetooth and a mobile app that gives you some control over that cutoff threshold. But even without that, the standard BMS protection is usually just fine.

[@ruudfalun]

@@ReeWrayOutdoors Even though BMS will protect the battery, you'll need to 'kickstart' it to come back online. Is there no relay that can switch of just before BMS does?

[@surfx4804]

I get 160w into my EB3A using this method, and the I used source is a cheap power station. I did have to put the EB3A in standard charge mode and the noise is the fan that comes on.

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

Nice! It actuality never occurred to me to check the charge mode on the EB3A! Good catch!

[@jerrytalley802]

Thanks for the honest information and review. I actually asked some of the power station manufacturers if this could be done and the representative said no. It did not make sense so thanks for dispelling that myth. QUESTION; Do they make a 12 volt to 48 volts? If so, it would charge faster I assume? I plan on an Anker 2000, will it work?

[@M9A1MAN]

Just curious why couldn’t you just go straight from 12v battery to the generator if it’s meant to take in 12v? Why the need for step up? Thanks

[@tensiondriven]

The ecoflow river’s battery expansion pack will both charge and discharge via the ecoflow. Everything I’ve seen with these addon is that they’re not automatically recharging, as with an internal addon battery. Is it possible to set it up so the river will charge the external when it’s attached to A/C, and discharge it when A/C is not connected?

[@whochecksthis]

I recommend you install a fuse on the input side of your converter.

[@ceasalitoescobar5431]

When you used the EB3A the wierd sound you mentioned. Was it like the slow winding up sound from the fans?

[@davecue2]

But you didn’t talk about if we can charge the extra battery through our power station. Or will it act completely the same as a legit expensive expansion battery. I have delta 2 and would love to expand it but only if it’s plays nice and normal in all ways.

[@dstaedeli]

I would like a system where ecoflow delta can charge the external lithium battery when it's receiving solar and is already full and then draw from that external battery, when it needs more power. Everything fixed setup, so I don't have to plug stuff in and out every day. Assuming I only have one solar cable coming into the house.

[@RickTheHammerMorris]

You did not show how to make connections as per the wiring on the 12 to 24? Good information thx

[@GregsYouTube]

A few comments say hook up 2 batteries in series and on the ecoflow should get 360 watts, right? What about 3 batteries in series for 36v and get full 500w into delta 2?

[@davelynn4993]

Would any of the power units take a charge directly from the 12V battery at a full 100A charge rate? What if you substituted a (higher priced) 24V PowerQueen battery and forego the step-up convertor? I would like to have longer run-time (at rated output) (something that the external vendor units provide. However, what you have set up is amazing and very useful. Thanks!

[@ItsEverythingElse]

Only pretty large power stations can accept 1200W of DC input. And yes, a 24V Power Queen with 2560Wh would work very well with no converter!

[@jeffmcclain]

Most of the MPPT solar chargers are limited on power. The Ecoflow Delta 2, for example, is limited to a max of 500W (even though it is also rated at 60V @ 15A max, you are ALSO limited to 500W, not the 900W that 60v/15A would suggest).

[@pierrebonin5384]

😅that's a great idea. The fact is that I know nothing about batteries....so my question is; how can I recharge the expansive batterie? Thank you for your answers.

[@marshalljay73]

Just wanted to start off saying I am a huge fan of your videos, you have educated me a ton, and helped me with some purchases. I have a question I am hoping you can assist with. I have the Anker f2000 and hoping to recharge it with a stand alone lithium 25.6V 100Ah battery I just bought. I plugged the battery into the solar XT60 input of the Anker and I was only getting around 280 watts. I was hoping to get more. Would a step up converter increase this and if so do you happen to know which kind? Thank you!!

[@dougnygren762]

I bought a 12v to 24v 10amp converter. It worked perfectly with my Licitti 1000 power station. It charged at 165w. When I plugged it in to my Oupes Mega 2, it created 360w for about 20 minutes, got extremely hot, and went back to 100w @ 12 v. It never returned to the higher 24 volt output. I think the Oupes' 15 amp charge controller sucked more power than the 10amp converter was designed to pull. The Littici had a 10amp max charge controller. So, if you do this make sure your converter can at least match the max amp for your charge controller. If not it will likely overheat and fail.

[@AdamNicholasSievers]

I have a power wheels adapter for my Bosch drill batteries, and use them to expand the capacity of my smaller solar gen in a pinch.

[@nicolaihel9165]

I recently acquired a Pecron E2000 (LiFePo) and was looking at the larger Power Queen as an option for expansion instead of Pecrons new purpose made expansion batteries. It seems they still need to work out some glitches when using more than one of their batteries in series. Pecron has a dedicated, but somewhat proprietary connector for its expansion cable. Would really be interested in getting another set of eyes on a potential solution.

[@garretthoefer3989]

I have the same question

[@Bob_Adkins]

The plug is not proprietary, it's 5 pin aviation IIRC.

[@MarloJolbitado]

yes, there's definitely a weird noise when charging the EB3A. Also the smell of something burning inside so I had to stop after about 3 minutes. I'm not using a 12v-24v converter. This doesn't happen when I charge other power station.

[@justinvardas8654]

I have an eb3a too and haven’t tried this but I’m glad you can confirm that. I wonder if it would have any problem just charging straight off the expansion battery or if it’s the step up converter that’s the issue?

[@MarloJolbitado]

@justinvardas8654 that weird sound was from the EB3A's fan. I've gotten used to it and has since charged my EB3A with a 12V battery when solar is not available. My EB3A still works and has no issues up to this point.

[@justinvardas8654]

Awesome thank you for the follow up. Much appreciated

[@themachine8427]

Can you not connect the battery to the expansion slot on the power station?

[@puffyd58]

Excellent, informative video. Unfortunately the ONE power station you said might not be a good option for this is the Eb3a . . . the one I have. LOL Looks like I'll need to find another way to increase capacity. Again, great video. Thanks.

[@justinvardas8654]

Same here. Did you end up finding a way?

[@puffyd58]

@@justinvardas8654 not really. But I do have a separate battery and solar panel. So I can get more power . . . just not in combination with the Bluetti.

[@justinvardas8654]

@puffyd58 I think I’ll end up trying the combination of an 8mm barrel plug pigtail connected to ring terminals to the expansion battery. No step up/boost converter for me though. I’m ok with the slower charge. My biggest concern was charging the expansion battery without “shore power”. I’m going to try the method recommended by reeway outdoors and plug a battery charger into the AC on my eb3a going to the expansion battery. I’m in the city so solar isn’t really an option for me. The way i described seems pretty simple with minimal DIY setup. We shall see

[@chrisandrews7518]

Have you consider using an ebike battery to charge these stations? I have a 52v 20ah battery with the xt60 connections.

[@CMDRTeklow82]

could you use two back up 12v Batteries connected to that step up converter? trying to maximize keeping a portable fridge going and some small fans while camping. but also this seems like alot less wires needed to be made then other DIY power stations

[@fastmotoring3102]

Just came across your video thank you so much I’m going to do this with my Jackery do any type of battery would work correct

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

You could actually use a 24V battery as well, provided your particular Jackery does support at least 26V input. And using a 24V battery, you could probably get away without using the step-up converter. Either way, you'd want to put an appropriately sized fuse on the positive cable to protect the wire .

[@ilrichiamodellazolla]

Correct me if I am wrong. Your LifePO4 battery should have a floating voltage of 14.4V and powerstations usually require an input voltage of between 12V and 30V, so the DC-DC regulator should be something like this '8-40V to 13.8V 25A', as it slightly reduces the LifePO4 battery voltage to match the input voltage range of your powerstation. The DC-DC regulator you are using does not seem suitable.

[@SonnyDarvish]

Good idea for medium to larger power station. My Litheli B300 is already capped at 100 watts DC input. Though, you got me curious just to try it in case it jumped beyond its rated power. I really need that extra juice to equalize the AC output usage of my e-bike that peaks at 190 watts and I've to supply the extra to the power station with usb-c charger somehow.

[@millenium2003]

How do you charge the battery?.

[@oops8985]

Why are you going to 24v instead of staying at 12v and have more capacity than 24v? There's a difference in parallel and series connections.

[@Akel4UK1]

VTOMAN - Can you use the battery expander and have the solar panel plugged in, in other words could you attach that battery to the battery expander connection while the solar panel connection is in the input socket you've shown?

[@Evirthewarrior]

A DIY to make a similar expansion battery to a Ecoflow, Bluette or Pecron, would be nice, all in one box that has similar capabilities to theirs and you can use it for multiple solar generators to recharge them, and recharge the battery somehow using the solar generator in some way.

[@nosqueezie]

Any reason you can think of to not buy an inverter and pass through charge via AC? Still has a benefit over still expensive expansion batteries, or for power stations without expansion options, and it is modular.

[@ElectrabuzzXD]

Will that little converter work in both directions? Can it turn 24v into 12v, depending on how you wire it? Thank you!

[@leeinwis]

killer queeen, dynamite with a laser beam ..

[@Feloisla]

I recently purchased a Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 and I also have 2 Redodo 12v 100ah lithium batteries, could I use this method to expand the capacity of the Jackery? I live in Havana, Cuba and we are more often without power than with electricity. Any recommendations will be welcome, thanks

[@Lobo-Lobo]

Thanks friend for going thru all those power stations. Any possibility using a bigger converter like 40-60amps 👍

[@sgtusmcarch]

can I charge the battery with an MPPT controller using solar, while the power station is hooked up to it?

[@THEJOKER2224]

Hi, great video 😊 i have a river 2 Max, 1500w inverter and an 80ah battery. Thinking of hooking this and charge the Ecoflow (AC charging) would work? Or is it better to do it like you on this video? I haven’t hooked up yet but I have the stuff and doing research 😊 thank you

[@mohawkrockstar]

How do you charge the battery? I’ve seen a bunch of these videos but how to charge the battery isn’t mentioned in any of them.

[@oskosh50]

My Baldr power station has an MPPT controller built in to it. It limits input wattage to 65 watts. This is a great alternative to buying expensive add on battery’s. Thanks for the info.

[@muyaad]

Nice video I think the idea of a battery charging another battery (power station) isn’t genius enough because you’re depleting the cycle counts of the two batteries in a redundant move. The best approach should be connecting an inverter into the extended battery and into ac input of Eb3a this will allow UPS of Eb3a to draw directly from the extended battery and later on from Bluetti itself this will maximize the usage of both batteries instead of depleting one to charge to other. I hope you would make a video showing and proving this idea

[@timl2k11]

Wouldn’t an inverter be a better solution? Not sure how the efficiency of DC➡️AC➡️DC compares to this but would let you do much higher wattage. There are decent quality 500 watt PSW inverters for $60.

[@emmanuelfarrath6154]

As always you create very informative and educational reviews on your channel and I bought the Vtoman Flashpeed 1500 thanks to your reviews as wells as the BougeRv 37 qt fridge , so my questions are the following. Can you use this step up with the Vtoman Fashspeed 1500 ? And what voltage on solar panels besides the 48v can be used to charge the unit?

[@Carlos-jh5tb]

Shouldn’t you add a relay and switch and a fuse? Does the dc/dc consume even while not plugged into the Blueetti?

[@anderspettersson4171]

I came across this while thinking of a UPS for my home server and finding out how expensive things from APC are while comparing capacity while a portable power station can double as a camping powerbank, a APC does not suit for that. Any idea of how to also combine the charging part of the expansion battery?

[@bared60]

great video ❤thanks, wish it worked for my eb3a, wonder if i use a 12v 50ah without a booster ,if that would do it

[@board083]

You certainly can. I have this setup. You can bypass the booster, no problem. Plus you can always combine two 12V 50ah & get 24 (actually bit more, like 25.6 Volts) should you need the extra boost. I rather have two batteries, cheaper too for some reason, at 50ah than 100ah with a booster. Food for thought.

[@stevenrldenault7451]

Hello I’m doing a car camping road trip this December from Manitoba down to Louisiana for two weeks. I’d like to run a 12v heated blanket and my CPAP machine. Run the CPAP machine off my River 2 using AC port and run the heated blanket for my 12v 100ah lifepo4 battery. Since I’ll be traveling most days I hope to keep everything topped up while driving. How would you recommend I set things up? Can I plug the river 2 into the cig lighter car socket and the AC charger into the river 2 and charge both at the same time? Thank you Steve (68yrs)

[@takenusername]

Can you wire two of those batteries in series instead of using that other contraption? You’ll get 25v and won’t be limited to 120 watts.

[@blackimaje]

could you use the 12-24 volt 20 amp 480 watt version for the delta ? wouldn't that drastically increase your input wattage for improved charging time? not sure why you would only use a 3 amp charger

[@MrKinser01]

i bought a vtoman 1400 for my daughter because of your recommendations the additional battery is more than the unit why do i need to step up the voltage can't i just Y the extra battery into the solar input .

[@jdollar5852]

Why use the converter? I understand what the conversion does, but why not just connect the 12v battery directly to the power station? I do this with a Bluetti AC200 max. I use alligator clamps and an xt90 to plug directly into the solar input of the Max and it pulls about 120 watts continuous. The power station only recognizes that it is receiving DC power at a certain voltage. I don't think it cares what the DC source is. I have done it using my 36v trolling motor battery as well and the Bluetti works just like it would if it were direct from solar panels. Maybe I am missing something?

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

@jdollar5852 it's only to increase the charging speed.

[@jdollar5852]

@@ReeWrayOutdoors gotcha. That's why I used the 36v battery. With the 12v it can't keep up with any sort of load but the 36v allows me to run 3 freezers. I just do it for kicks and giggles, but I have it as a backup if needed. Lifepo4 battery prices are dirt cheap right now so I recommend everyone invest in a few before the price goes back up. The biggest drawbacks on the AC 200 max are the slow AC charging speed and the ridiculously loud charging brick, but it was a Cadillac 3 years ago.

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

@@jdollar5852 Great point! The only downside to buying the 36V battery is that, unless you've got a golf cart, you're probably not going to be able to use it for much else. But you're right, it'd be great as a quick charging backup for power stations.

[@marcelb.7224]

could you show in a video, how to wire it? Or is it no problem with plus and minus?

[@josephmurolo5656]

Great video! Looking forward to using this technique with my Pecron E600 that’s currently in the mail! As you know it has a 1200 watt inverter but only a 600 watt battery. Adding a second battery might be ideal! So I guess I pickup a charge controller to harvest from my Pecron 300 solar panel (also in the mail) and use a voltage step-up to dump into the E600. Thanks!

[@anthonyglaser929]

so if all of those power stations had a minimum of 12 volts do you really need the step up converter to 24 volts? And if you have 2 of those 12.8 volt batteries and you run them in series that would work as well right? or one 24 volt battery would work just as well?

[@franchellevanheerden]

One thing i can't find on youtube is , can we have the (Kettle Cord) which comes from the wall plugged in along with this connector which is attached to battery? I want to expand the battery while it being plugged into the wall socket. Will it charge the extended battery? and will it automatically switch over from Wall socket input to Extended battery input?

[@Steve-ph4ec]

Might it be even better to boost battery to 48 V at 10 A (480 W) since many power stations have a 10 A solar input limit? For example, Daygreen booster at Amazon or others for $100. Do still need to recharge the Li battery and need a power source to do that. Couldn’t that power source be used instead to charge the power station directly? This approach seems less expensive than a larger power station or it’s add on battery. But the Li battery is $100, the V boost is $100 and the Li recharge is also $100 so $500 total?

[@JarekMikes]

Well but it is not a expansion in both ways right? It just charge ecoflow from external battery, but not external battery from ecoflow. I have Delta 2 a ecoflow external battery + ecoflow alternator charger. Unfortunately u cant use external battery and alternator charger at the same time. So, I am looking for way how to expand my delta 2. So car will charge delta 2 and delta 2 charge external battery. When I use energy from delta 2, it will be charged back from external battery. What I understand via XT60 it's just one way energy flow?

[@mooninthewater3705]

Since the ecoflow delta will take up to 60 volts, why not use a 12 to 48 volt converter?

[@dystoniaify]

Wow! Thanks for the tip. I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to try this, but it doesn't look too hard....For others not as poor as me, the delta 2 with the extra battery is only $1049 until July 54th.

[@PartyUpLive]

Interesting idea. I'm currently trying to decide if I want to get the expansion battery for my Vtomam 1500Wh battery, or use my 500wh Blueitti to top, it off if/when I need to, since my 500wh battery can be charged easier while driving or via solar panels. My usage is either 3/4 day weekend road trips, and in the future, maybe 5/6 day trips/car camping.

[@scottmurphy4946]

Damn VTOMAN external battery almost costs the same as the unit...

[@jimm2442]

How much current does it draw from the 12 volt source? Do you suppose that connecting the 24 volt output of this device to the input of a MPPT solar charge controller would work to charge a battery connected to the MPPT controller? I am thinking that this may be a way to charge my home built solar generators while driving via the cars 12 volt power socket. What are your thoughts? Thank you.

[@antikurjers]

If I have a fossibot f800 powerstation. How can I connect my Lifepo4 100A battery to it to increase the total capacity of the Powerstation? To have solar panels connected to charge both my Powerstation and Lifepo4 battery at the same time. As far as I understand, your method is based on the fact that the external battery feeds it through the 12vto24v adapter inside the solar panel port. Then it's better to make a connection. Solar panels to MPPT to Lifepo4 to 12vto24v adapter to Powerstation. I think there will be big power losses, but all the batteries in the circuit will be charged.

[@slytoes8023]

Hey man, I have an Iforway T-Rex HS2000 power station. It came without the internal swappable battery.. could I use this method to gain full functionality of the unit? It is rated 2000w with a peak of 4000w output. Is it feasible to utilize all those watts from externally set up batteries in the fashion you've shown in the video? Or would it only be able to consider the charge which is going into it? Could you make a video or explain how I could get my Iforway T-Rex HS2000 power station to utilize the power from external batteries without needing to purchase the branded ones? (Manufacturer is very difficult to communicate)

[@adamburge5988]

Can you hook several of these up in parallel or series to charge a Delta 2 quicker? But then you're defeating the purpose of doing this cheaper.

[@CLVlogs05]

do you need to use a step uo converter if is for the basic ecoflow river 2 ?

[@bdmenne]

QUESTION: How would I get 200 watts or more through same system, but for a medium Station like River 2 Pro (NO expansion battery for it)? Would a 200ah Battery deliver this? On the solar max wattage for it is 220 so. It can also handle 800 AC charging. Thanks

[@JustaCuriousity]

Hi thanks for the information, i really need the cheaper expansion option. I wonder if i can use 100ah 48v lifepo4 for delta pro expansion?

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

Just looking at the Delta Pro Solar (DC) input specs, it shows 11-150V @ 15A. So I'd think as long as you put a 15A or 20A fuse on the POS lead between the 48V battery and the Delta Pro connection, it should work.

[@MisterPikol]

What settings did you use for the vitoman ? Oh here's my concept idea, i dont wanma overvolt my vitoman, which can go upto 30v, not sure about amperage, no less than 7.5. Can i use this device directly with solar panels that will have a voltage in 50volts and about 9amps ?

[@MrTypepatrick]

Wondering if there's a hack to connect a battery directly into the Bluetti battery port? That way we could charge the supplemental battery through solar and still boost our capacity without having to juggle wires.

[@mrhalfstep]

Do you think the EB3A was making that noise because it was already 99% charged? Would it be possible to run it down some and them try the booster and report back. I have two of those Bluetti power banks and two 100ah LiFePO4 batteries and I would buy a booster if I thought it would work. It broke my heart a little when you excluded the EB3A from the mix, since that's the ones I have. Great content.

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

yeah, it's possible. I'm going to do a little more testing and report back.

[@beachykeen95]

@@ReeWrayOutdoors definitely interested ty ReeWray

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

Ok...so the buzz I heard on the EB3A was not due to the SOC being 99%. I got the same buzz when I tried it at only 75% SOC. Still not sure why that is. I DID also try the (easier) option of using a 12V socket wired to the battery and then using the car charger cable to charge it at about 80Watts, and that seems to work and produces no concerning buzz noise from the EB3A. Here's basically what I used (came with the BougeRV Self-Heating Battery): amzn.to/3Cw6hN0

[@mrhalfstep]

@@ReeWrayOutdoors Thanks so much for following up on that. I may go ahead and buy the boost converter for my two power packs. If I do, I will report back on whether I get the buzz or not. The boost converter is cheap enough and I expect that at some time I'll get a larger power pack and can use it with that.

[@mrhalfstep]

@@ReeWrayOutdoors I ended up doing the same thing, except I bought a 2 pack of 8 mm male plugs and added ring connectors to the wires to attach the battery.

[@patricklacson]

what would happen if you wired 3-4 of the DC step-up converter so instead of getting 115watts into your power station, could you wire the converters in parallel to get 12v from your lifepo4 battery to get an output of 460 watts. Would that work? Going further, could this be used on your car alternator battery so that this would effectively be DIY replacement for say the bluetti charger 1 dc to dc converter? Just some thoughts.

[@mehameha4453]

You’re always thinking, and we are blessed. Thanks again. It may come in very handy one day.

[@xavierlafolie2856]

Is it possible to charge both the generator and the extra battery with the solar panel at the same time, while the extra battery is connected to the generator? I am trying to have a better picture of how this system can work fluently.

[@nunyabusinessfriend]

Is there a reason not to use a larger capacity version of the converter in this video to help with a faster charge? Thanks for this content!

[@ReeWrayOutdoors]

Not as long as the step up voltage does not exceed the input max on your power station's DC input spec.

[@jeffmcclain]

...you mean like just directly connecting the LiFePO4 battery to the solar inputs? Better, put 4 of the batteries in 48V config and direct connect.