Outdoor Adventure USA

This weeks Net will be on commercial and custom built Electrical Storage and Distribution Devices that can be used in the field or as emergency back up at home or at the office.

We will look at the many uses and reasons to carry one and lastly, we will give a brief discussion on the options to maintain and recharge these devices.

Power distribution boxes are a simple means of supplying portable power to a variety of devices regardless of your location.

These can be commercial units, purpose built or a combination of the two.
Commercial units

Why would you want to purchase or make one?

These units will provide the cleanest, reliable power with out the noise, fuels fumes or hassles of generators.

They can be recharged from a 120v home receptacle, solar panel or with special protection, directly from your cars charging circuit.

With allowance for size and weight, they can be used away from your home or vehicle or when commercial power is Interrupted.

What can they be used for?

Ham Radio
C-PAP machine
Fridge/Freezers
Coolers for medications
Pump Inflation of air mattresses, fishing float tubes, pool toys.
Computers
Video/audio recording devices, drones, camera used by Vloggers. Field Editing of recordings.
Power tools
TV/ entertainment
Power or recharge Children’s toys and games
Alarm systems

Industrial field work surveying, monitoring, test or other field instrumentation.

Power demands of various electronic devices.

With the variety and number of receptacles you can house in/on a single box, it is critical that you don’t draw more power than the battery and associated devices can handle.
A fuse panel is an important addition to protect the wiring and to prevent a fire.

Size and weight considerations

Container size:
The most common home built models feature a 30 or 50 caliber ammo can in either plastic or metal. Really, any container of suitable strength and volume to safely house the battery and components may be used.

Other options

Commercial units

Jackery.com

Bluetti.com

Powerwerx.com

If you are not interest in building one yourself, many commercial units offer most every power input/output available(most, not all do not include PowerPoles).

Input options include inputs and electronics to handle 120v, 12/24v, solar including built in solar controllers and others.

Output options include standard 12/24v socket, standard and high output 5v(USB), USB-type C and 120v pure sine wave.

The better ones have full battery and devices monitoring capabilities to ensure you don’t exceed the battery capabilities and they also protect the devices they are powering with low/high voltage shutoff.

Home built versions

Minimum requirements:

Input
PowerPole
Solar to match you panel
12volt
120 volt charger to match battery

Output
12 volt socket
PowerPoles
5 volt USB
Banana plug

Additional:
Led lights facing forward
Addison also input/output to match special electronic devices.

Safety considerations

The Jackery unit highlights some safety considerations that can be used as guidelines when building your own unit.

Regardless of which type you use, you must ensure that you can safely charge/discharge your devise without exceed its’ power capacities. Heat buildup is also a serious consideration if your build includes an inverter. Proper ventilation is a must!

Recharging options

There are three main ways to recharge your device.

1. 120volt input from your house, vehicle, gas generator.

2. 12 volt input from your vehicle

3. 12-23 volt input from a solar panel or wind turbine using
a special controller to prevent overcharging.