novaleaf
New Member
Firstly, here is the end result. yay. total cost of frame materials are aprox $200 and can be partial disassembled to 7' lengths. enough to fit in my little A frame trailer.
Here are the steps!
I have four of these "160W" panels from my failed attempt at using EcoFlow branded stuff.
The system I'm building can take all four of these in series, so since the "stand" they come with is pretty terrible I thought I better roll my own.
Being a total noob I spent time trying to figure out how I could build a reasonably portable yet sturdy frame for these. My first attempt was to build a frame using PVC Electrical conduit, which failed miserably because it lacked sheer strength.
I was about to buy some metal strut channel and try cutting it DIY but then I lucked into stumbling upon this on amazon:
Reasonable price (when I saw it they offered a $25 coupon) and after some hemming and hawing I figured I could use this and the pvc conduit (from my prior, failed attempt) to make a reasonable mount for my four panels.
Well an order, a wait, and about 4 hours building lead to success!
Here are the parts from the "eco worthy" mount, fresh out of the box. They are galvanized, so hope rust isn't a big issue.
I went to work assembling it. easy enough with the cheap tools provided, I'll probably keep them as the dedicated setup/tear down tools.
Those EcoFlow panels have 8 grommit holes equally spaced along two sides. They are pretty worthless to hang the panel with (floppy and I worry of it tearing) but I measured out the proper spacing and drilled holes in my pvc conduit. 5x of them. I put them in a grid on top of that "EcoWorthy" frame so that I can lay four panels side-by side:
The EcoWorthy frame came with some rigid panel fasteners so that helps to bolt my pvc to the frame.
Well I put my panels on and presto works great! I still need to experiment with the best setup/tear down, and a bit unsure about how it would perform in wind. Also I need to figure how to attach a security chain to this stuff so it doesn't wander off in the middle of the night.
That's all folks, let me know any comments/questions :D
PS: I'd like to figure out how to mount this on my A frame trailer... any thoughts?
Here are the steps!
I have four of these "160W" panels from my failed attempt at using EcoFlow branded stuff.
The system I'm building can take all four of these in series, so since the "stand" they come with is pretty terrible I thought I better roll my own.
Being a total noob I spent time trying to figure out how I could build a reasonably portable yet sturdy frame for these. My first attempt was to build a frame using PVC Electrical conduit, which failed miserably because it lacked sheer strength.
I was about to buy some metal strut channel and try cutting it DIY but then I lucked into stumbling upon this on amazon:
Reasonable price (when I saw it they offered a $25 coupon) and after some hemming and hawing I figured I could use this and the pvc conduit (from my prior, failed attempt) to make a reasonable mount for my four panels.
Well an order, a wait, and about 4 hours building lead to success!
Here are the parts from the "eco worthy" mount, fresh out of the box. They are galvanized, so hope rust isn't a big issue.
I went to work assembling it. easy enough with the cheap tools provided, I'll probably keep them as the dedicated setup/tear down tools.
Those EcoFlow panels have 8 grommit holes equally spaced along two sides. They are pretty worthless to hang the panel with (floppy and I worry of it tearing) but I measured out the proper spacing and drilled holes in my pvc conduit. 5x of them. I put them in a grid on top of that "EcoWorthy" frame so that I can lay four panels side-by side:
The EcoWorthy frame came with some rigid panel fasteners so that helps to bolt my pvc to the frame.
Well I put my panels on and presto works great! I still need to experiment with the best setup/tear down, and a bit unsure about how it would perform in wind. Also I need to figure how to attach a security chain to this stuff so it doesn't wander off in the middle of the night.
That's all folks, let me know any comments/questions :D
PS: I'd like to figure out how to mount this on my A frame trailer... any thoughts?
