Because the charging does take a while, so start at least a day before you intend to use it. To charge the battery, just use the AGM battery charger linked in the shopping list (make sure it is set on 12V AGM mode). It also comes with a thermocouple to display temperature, so make sure to tape it to the battery somewhere, we recommend using aluminum tape. The state of charge meter works pretty well, it has some menu options that let you program it to the type of battery that you have so that the readings are a bit more accurate. The Cigarette lighter plugs don’t have LED’s so those don’t need to go through a switch. We used one that is rated for 20A at 120V, which is more than enough to just run the 4x 2 Amp USB plugs though. Note that the toggle switch is now installed as well. It works really well, just be mindful of sliding the toolbox around too much as it may wear through the strap eventually. As simple as it sounds, to secure the battery we just Dremelled a slot in the bottom and side of the tool box to run the strap though. When you look inside, you’ll see that wiring isn’t anything fancy, just bundle it with some zip ties when you are done. NOTE: We initially didn’t realize that the LED sockets would have an “always on” blue LED, we thought it would just turn on when something was plugged in… but since they were always on, we had to add a separate toggle switch to those so that the LED would not drain the battery. In this case, the inverter mounting is nothing fancy, we just took some 2×4’s laying around and bolted the inverter to it, and then screwed the 2×4 to the toolbox through the bottom. Next, we picked an inverter that has a conveniently removable face plate, so we were able to unscrew it, and get about 2 extra inches of internal wiring to reach the wall, while having the body of the unit mounted to the floor. Measure out your plug locations as you wish we decided to go with this arrangement as it made sense for the plugs and inverter we used. The layout is pretty simple… and the battery will be on one side, so all of the plugs naturally end up on the other. (Full disclosure, the cheaper battery is HEAVY) We felt this Craftsman one was big enough, and also structurally sound enough to handle the weight. SEE SHOPPING LIST AT THE END DIY Battery Pack Buildįirst things first, we started off with the proper sized toolbox. So, what we have done is put together a complete guide for a DIY power station battery pack system that has the similar power performance as the expensive units, but at a fraction of the cost. The important thing is knowing the right type of battery for this application. When we started looking for some portable power, there seemed to be plenty of products on the market, but they were all quite costly… The Yeti Goal Zero 1400 power station is $1900! Our thought was that there can’t be much to it (though the Goal Zero does pack in some fancy features like mobile app connectivity and monitoring etc.) In the grand scheme of things, the design very simple, just a battery with a way to connect to it.
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