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DIY Power Station - with a LiFePO4 battery in it

BroomJM

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Apr 7, 2021
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About 6 months ago, I bought a portable power station on an indiegogo campaign and after waiting a long time, it still didn't have a ship date, so I canceled it and decided to try and build one, myself. I had built other batteries in the past, for smaller applications, but this would be a much bigger undertaking. I did a lot of research and then started purchasing the components. This will be fairly pic heavy, so I hope that's OK.

The first thing I bought was a rolling mechanic's tool kit. I looked at several brands and decided on this Husky model because it was relatively inexpensive but still seemed solid and built fairly well.

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The top box is basically an organizer for various parts and connectors that go along with the power station, like MC4 to Anderson adapters. Releasing a clamp on each side allows you to remove the top box.

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Inside of the middle box is where the AC and DC power output options are installed. This includes bus bars, 12v fuse panel, 100 amp breaker, 1,000w inverter, DC panel (USB and 12v socket with voltage readout) and the AC line out from the inverter.

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The middle box is removed the same way the top box is removed, revealing the open bottom box where the battery, fuse, Renogy Rover, 20 amp solar charge controller, cooling fans (with temperature sensitive relay) and 20a fuse for the charge controller are all located. There is a 175 amp Anderson connector (total over-kill) that connects the 4AWG cable from the middle box to the bottom box.

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I have even more pictures, but I imagine that's quite enough! :) Also, I'm sure I did some things wrong, so please be considerate as you critique this and thank you for any thoughts or comments you might have.
 
Almost looks like you could have used bus bars in the lower box as well.

Nice setup, I’m looking at a similar style box for my 2p4s 230ah 12v battery & BMS. For a power station at our seasonal camp.

Did you solder or crimp those Anderson connectors?
 
Almost looks like you could have used bus bars in the lower box as well.

Nice setup, I’m looking at a similar style box for my 2p4s 230ah 12v battery & BMS. For a power station at our seasonal camp.

Did you solder or crimp those Anderson connectors?

As I was trying to get all of those leads connected to the battery, I realized that a second set of bus bars is probably in order. I will more than likely order another set and reconfigure things a bit. My original thought was to build a 4S 230AH battery, based on the cells Will recommends, but realized that for our camping needs, the lighter weight was a good compromise. I have still been second-guessing myself, wondering if I should be have gone with the much larger capacity battery and a 2,000 watt inverter, but I am happy with how this turned out and will use it, as is, for a while.

I crimped the Anderson connectors and do not have the correct tool for it, so they fought me. It would be a smart idea to redo them at some point, but both pairs are working properly, allowing solar input from one pair and my benchtop power supply from the other. I haven't decided which LiFePO4 charger I want to use just yet.
 
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