Overlanding/Boondocking build

I spend a lot of time driving the US Southwest and California mountains. I recently purchased a refrigerated cooler so I am free of ice. Since I spend the day mostly driving I am looking for a system that allows me to charge the battery while driving during the day and powers small draw devices (LED light, car refrigerator) at night. My thoughts are a small solar generator, 240wh or so, that can charge while using.

My vision:
- Plug in the car fridge to the battery pack
- When the vehicle is running I am charging the battery
- When I stop the battery continues to run the fridge
- I don't have to worry about switching power for the fridge

Basic requirements:
- Supplies around 36 watts when fridge is running
- Can charge while using (This is my main obstacle to finding a quality device)
- Portable to use outside of vehicle (why a second battery setup is not ideal)

I think I want to buy an off the shelf unit now to learn what I don't know about the systems and build my own later on.

This is my first foray into the power system and I am certain I will make changes to this as we go so advice or experience is welcome.

Sounds like something like a goal zero yeti would work well for your needs. 240Wh is pretty small though, I would want at least 500Wh reserves for one day, possibly even larger like 1000Wh for multiple days if you can't get a full recharge during daily driving if you can swing the cost and space.

If you're not able to drive enough to charge up the system, you may want to consider supplementing with a solar panel. I believe the GZ has the ability to charge from the alternator or from solar.

I am in a similar situation, travel the southwest (CA/AZ/NV/UT), typical 4WD overlanding. Gear is fridge/freezer, camp lighting, USB chargers, radio gear. I ended up building a 210Ah DIY system (fixed installation) but a smaller system would have worked fine for my needs.

I spend a great deal of time doing the same thing in the same area. Maybe I'll run into you out there some day.

I agree that 240wH sounds a little low. I have a Dometic CFF45 for a fridge. I have a 1200wH battery and a 50 amp charger from the alternator and that is plenty for me. I could go 2-3 days with no charge depending on power consumption and 20-30 minutes of running the vehicle a day will keep me boondocking indefinitely. I will be adding some solar shortly, I have been waiting for a back ordered awning so I can complete my roof rack and mount the panels.

Sduser, you say radio gear. Are you a ham? I am and have an IC-7100 with a little tarheel antenna. Works great for me.

Yep I'm a ham. I mainly only use it for off-road communication and emergency situations. I have a Yaesu FT-8800R for primary comms and a Yaesu FT-1500 for ARPS and backup VHF duty, as well as several handhelds.

Cool. I like having the HF to be able to send and receive emails and texts from wherever I am. I am working on a dedicated APRS rig.

While the idea of a 1000 or 1400 WH pack sounds wonderful it violates the portable criteria I had above. I think if I am going to do that I'd just install a secondary battery. I want to be able to use this outside of the vehicle should I desire it or not need it running in the vehicle.

The concern about not charging it enough isn't much of an issue. It's like vehicular backpacking; I drive until I find a spot I want to see when I wake up in the morning while I drink my coffee. It's super rare to setup a campsite and stay more than a night. I just need to run the fridge overnight without drawing power from the car battery.

I guess it depends on what you consider portable. The 1500X for instance is 45 pounds. Not light but manageable from the vehicle to a nearby campsite.

For the uses you describe, I wouldn't want anything smaller than a 500Wh. My ARB fridge consumes about 200Wh per night depending on how long I am parked and how much the compressor cycles. Add in some phone / device charging and lighting and you will be at the capacity of the smaller units pretty quickly.

The smaller 500X unit is very portable at 13 pounds.

I am not a GZ fanboy and have never owned one, they just seem like a nice well packaged power system if you can get over the initial cost and lower cycle life.

While it sounds like you don't need that much power, my 1200wH is in a milk crate, very portable. However, if you don't need the capacity it isn't worth paying for it.

I have several portable power stations, including a jackery 300. ~285 wh. I use it with an iceco DC fridge. Something the size of the jackery is all you need. If you charge it from the truck, or from solar, it will run forever.

Thanks for all the advice folks.

I would like to build a larger unit for myself that will fit my storage space but I that will be down the road. I am looking for something that will work right now and won't require a lot of special work.

@ sduser: Do you have a parts list and plans for your 1200WH unit? I'm interested to see what you used.

@boondox has the 1200Wh unit.

I am just using 8x EVE 105Ah cells and a Overkill Solar BMS.