Adding DC charger to Milk Crate

[CliffSpier]

I am very new to this and have been following Will for a while.,
I just built Will's DIY 640Wh Milk Crate System as he specified. It works great. I plan on using it for camping. I am adding a 200W solar panel briefcase to charge.
My question is when I am driving from campsite to campsite, I'd like to charge from my cars 12V cigarette lighter. What modifications do I need in order to do this? That way I can charge from AC, Solar and car 12V.

My second question is related. How could I figure this out on my own? What books and tutorials do I need to read to educate myself further.
Thank you in advance for all your help.
Cliff

 

[Diysolar123]

the tricky part about pulling current from your vehicle is that how much you can safely tap can be a bit of a mystery.
"real" cigarette ports cannot support much current at all.
Some vehicles have auxillary power ports and actually tell you what you can safely pull.

So step one would probably be to figure out have much current you can safely demand from your vehicles electrical system via what ever ports are accessible. You do not want to let your milk crate system take whatever it wants from your vehicle as there is a chance you could burn out your alternator. Once you figure out what the magic safe draw number is, get a reliable dc converter that will let you set the voltage and current limits (something like a isdt q8 charger).

 

[CliffSpier]

Thank you.
I have a 2003 Honda Element with a rear Aux power port that is rated for 10A.
So I do not have to do anything special to charge my Solar Generator Milk Crate from my car other than to protect my car system with a DC converter. Thank you.
Also, is their an effect way to understand my Solar Crate battery charge level? I have seen Will's video on an expensive shunt. Are their other options? Is there a recommendation that matches WIll's solar crate configuration?
Thank you again for your advice and help
Cliff

 

[Bubba1]

With 200w panel and small battery it will charge fast. You are probably good to go. Do you run a compressor cooler?

 

[CliffSpier]

I just bought a Domentic CFX3 55IM. It might be a little big for what I need but it was what they had.

 

[boondox]

10 amps at 12 volts is 120 watts. The problem is finding a DC to DC converter that will draw less than 120 watts on the input side. Which would net about 100 watts on the output side. The only one I have found so far is 24 watts.

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Which might work for my application but would take a really long time to charge yours. Could you run a wire directly to your vehicle battery? The you open up many more options with much faster charging rates.

 

[pouncepounce]

I have a 2003 Honda Element with a rear Aux power port that is rated for 10A.
So I do not have to do anything special to charge my Solar Generator Milk Crate from my car other than to protect my car system with a DC converter. Thank you.

I have a 2008 Element. That Orion TR looks good. You could wire it up like so: