Jacked your to house batteries

[countrykids]

When boondocking, can I plug the RV into a Jackery unit to transfer amps into the house batteries? I know I loose some power going from 12 v to 110 and back but I am looking for an easy way way to make those available to the whole RV.

Thanks.

[CavemanCharlie]

countrykids wrote:
When boondocking, can I plug the RV into a Jackery unit to transfer amps into the house batteries? I know I loose some power going from 12 v to 110 and back but I am looking for an easy way way to make those available to the whole RV.

Thanks.

If you already own it then why not give it a try ?

I once had a small TT with only one battery and no easy way to install a second one. I had one of those portable "Jumper Packs" that you use to jump your car in a emergency. When my TT battery would start to run down I would hook up the Jumper Pack to give it a little more juice. Everyone told me it wouldn't work, and maybe it didn't work well, but it would allow me to go dry camping for one more day.

You'll never know unless you try.

(On the other hand if you don't already own it then that is a entirely different matter.)

[CA_Traveler]

ReneeG wrote:
What about compatibility of the Jackery with the inverter? We were looking into getting lithium batteries for our FW, but we had to check on our model of inverter and if lithiums would be compatible.

BTW, we have a Jackery as backup for hubby's CPAP to use while camping. We did a test run with the CPAP which was a no brainer, but we also did a test run of it to power our Dometic portable fridge/freezer and it ran for an entire week. We've got solar panels to recharge the Jackery while out dry camping.

FYI The Jackery with it's inverter output is 120V AC so compatibility is not a issue. If it has a DC output then it's inverter is not involved.

Lithium batteries are very different from flooded batteries and a compatibility charger is needed. If you have a charger/inverter it's the charger part that charges batteries.

[ReneeG]

What about compatibility of the Jackery with the inverter? We were looking into getting lithium batteries for our FW, but we had to check on our model of inverter and if lithiums would be compatible.

BTW, we have a Jackery as backup for hubby's CPAP to use while camping. We did a test run with the CPAP which was a no brainer, but we also did a test run of it to power our Dometic portable fridge/freezer and it ran for an entire week. We've got solar panels to recharge the Jackery while out dry camping.

[pianotuna]

rlw999

The power factor on my PD converter is 0.7. The OP doesn't state the type of batteries he has--but if they are lead acid, that may cost another 10% loss.

Taking your figure of 15% loss on the Jackery and then the PD after that, makes it possible but extremely wasteful. My PD is only 30 amps and draws 750 watts. You might get 2 hours of charging out of the Jackery (but I doubt that.

I'm not a fan of LI batteries--but there are more than a few that are considerably cheaper than the Battleborn brand.

So sure, the OP can use it--but he would be far better off using it as a power supply for low draw devices.

If you are in a tent, a Jackery might be useful when tentdocking (boondocking in a tent).

[CA_Traveler]

The Jackery 1500 battery is 60.9Ah at 25.2V, so equivalent to about 120Ah for a 12V battery, better than many car batteries.

[wa8yxm]

Just be aware that when you go from battery to Inverter you will lose at least 10% of the power. Going back to battery another 10%. OR MORE IN BOTH CASES.

[rlw999]

Gdetrailer wrote:

rlw999 wrote:


They have a 2000W/2000Wh device for $2000 -- that's 160Ah@12V, so that's not insanely expensive when 200Ah of BattleBorn Lithium batteries cost $1800 (and that's just for the batteries, no charger, no inverter, etc that you get with the Jackery).

Losing 15% to power conversion losses is not terrible a $500 AIMS 2000W inverter has 10% loss at full power.


It's definitely not a generator, but it's not useless waste of money either if you want a decent amount of portable power that you can carry around with you.

Losing 15% (inverter loss)to get to 120V and then an additional 15% (Converter loss) to run 12V devices is 30% loss.

In your example of 160 Ahr at 12V that is a 48Ahr capacity loss giving you only 120 Ahr to use.

Makes using a BattleBorn battery direct a much better choice.

Man, times sure have changed when you can say "only 120Ah" when referring to RV batteries!

My RV still uses flooded lead acid batteries since I don't boondock enough to make it worth replacing them. And those 2 batteries combined only give me around 100Ah of usable capacity. Like I said in an earlier post, I have a unit similar to his Jackery and I use it to power a few things to help preserve battery life on the house batteries -- and I use that power pack for much more than RV'ing, and putting Lithium batteries in the RV won't help with those use cases.

He already owns the Jackery, so that's sunk cost, so he may as well use it even if he loses 30% due to conversion losses. 30% of $0 is still $0.

[Gdetrailer]

rlw999 wrote:


They have a 2000W/2000Wh device for $2000 -- that's 160Ah@12V, so that's not insanely expensive when 200Ah of BattleBorn Lithium batteries cost $1800 (and that's just for the batteries, no charger, no inverter, etc that you get with the Jackery).

Losing 15% to power conversion losses is not terrible a $500 AIMS 2000W inverter has 10% loss at full power.


It's definitely not a generator, but it's not useless waste of money either if you want a decent amount of portable power that you can carry around with you.

Losing 15% (inverter loss)to get to 120V and then an additional 15% (Converter loss) to run 12V devices is 30% loss.

In your example of 160 Ahr at 12V that is a 48Ahr capacity loss giving you only 120 Ahr to use.

Makes using a BattleBorn battery direct a much better choice.

[valhalla360]

sayoung wrote:
As many rv forums as I visit, never ever seen " jackery " used in a conversation. Sounds like what my Aussie friend might call a bumper jack.
All of us unknowing beg forgiveness

Never heard of it either.

I was thinking Jack "Donkey-ery" but use a different word for donkey.

Back to the OP: If you have a jump starter with built in inverter, yes, you could plug it in and it would charge your batteries...just not very much before it's dead.

If you don't have one already, far better to add an extra battery to the trailer and/or a solar panel.

[dedmiston]

Moved from General RVing

[rlw999]

Gdetrailer wrote:


From what I gather, the OP is wanting to "substitute" the Jackery jump box for a generator and/or house batteries.

At $1600 it is an insanely expensive jump box and the largest one they sell is a 1800W model.

First and foremost, it is not a generator, it is a battery and inverter and has battery limitations.

Second, it has a very limited battery capacity of 60.9Ahr which isn't going to be anywhere close enough to "replace" your house battery unless you are talking about a group 24 RV/Marine battery.

They claim 1534Whrs of use, that is not really useful and one of the questions asked this..

" Q2: How to know the working times for my device?

A: Working time = 1534Wh* 0.85 / operating power of your device. "

...

And keep in mind, you will have to recharge this device, when the battery is discharged all the fun is over.. At least with a gen you just add some more gas and your golden for hrs at a time on a tank of fuel..

They have a 2000W/2000Wh device for $2000 -- that's 160Ah@12V, so that's not insanely expensive when 200Ah of BattleBorn Lithium batteries cost $1800 (and that's just for the batteries, no charger, no inverter, etc that you get with the Jackery).

Losing 15% to power conversion losses is not terrible a $500 AIMS 2000W inverter has 10% loss at full power.


It's definitely not a generator, but it's not useless waste of money either if you want a decent amount of portable power that you can carry around with you.

[Gdetrailer]

ajriding wrote:
The Jackery is a lithium battery/inverter. Yes, you can just plug your rig in. Be sure to turn off the AC switches to the fridge and water heater if so equipped.
Your Jackery DC out will not do much more than charge little things, but the AC out will.
A DC to DC charger would be more efficient method to take power from Jackery and put it in your camper batts though. I have not tried this so can't advise how to set it up.

When my GC batts finally die I will not replace them with lead. I will get a portable like your Jackery and that will be the on-board DC power for the camper. Lighter and in the winter or hot summer I can just take the batts inside to more mile temps.

I had to do a search myself to see what the OP is talking about since the OPs title and post is very confusing to say the least.

So, the "Jackery" is nothing more than a "jump box" with a built in battery plus an 120V inverter. Nothing special here.



Found HERE

From what I gather, the OP is wanting to "substitute" the Jackery jump box for a generator and/or house batteries.

At $1600 it is an insanely expensive jump box and the largest one they sell is a 1800W model.

First and foremost, it is not a generator, it is a battery and inverter and has battery limitations.

Second, it has a very limited battery capacity of 60.9Ahr which isn't going to be anywhere close enough to "replace" your house battery unless you are talking about a group 24 RV/Marine battery.

They claim 1534Whrs of use, that is not really useful and one of the questions asked this..

" Q2: How to know the working times for my device?

A: Working time = 1534Wh* 0.85 / operating power of your device. "

so, essentially 1303.9/ wattage of device(s) in use.

A 1000W 120V draw will get you 1.3hrs of run time.

A 100W 120V draw will get you 13 hrs of run time.

And keep in mind, you will have to recharge this device, when the battery is discharged all the fun is over.. At least with a gen you just add some more gas and your golden for hrs at a time on a tank of fuel..

[sayoung]

As many rv forums as I visit, never ever seen " jackery " used in a conversation. Sounds like what my Aussie friend might call a bumper jack.
All of us unknowing beg forgiveness

[rlw999]

countrykids wrote:
When boondocking, can I plug the RV into a Jackery unit to transfer amps into the house batteries? I know I loose some power going from 12 v to 110 and back but I am looking for an easy way way to make those available to the whole RV.

In theory this would work, you just need to be careful about exceeding the max power draw of the Jackery -- especially if your house batteries are so depleted that the power converter kicks into fast charge mode. Should probably plug it in early rather than waiting for the batteries get too low.

I have a similar unit, but I use it to power the TV, hotspot, and laptop, saving the house batteries for lights, furnace (if needed) and to start the generator (if needed). So if you can plug some things directly into the Jackery to remove load from the house batteries to keep them from getting depleted, you can avoid the 120V-> 12VDC-> Battery-> Inverter -> 120VAC conversion losses and get more battery lifetime overall.