Power Bank with Solar - Camping

• 

  deme on 02/10/2023 - 10:51

  +6

  You need to teach your kids to be okay without technology.

  • 

    iforgotmysocks on 02/10/2023 - 11:41

    +1

    Dad can I get a Nintendo

  • 

    mskeggs on 02/10/2023 - 13:14

    +1

    Our rule was no tech (Kindles became contentious) and the kids learned to entertain themselves in the evening.
    It's a good rule, but the adults have to abide by it too.

• 

  Boioioioi on 02/10/2023 - 10:57

  +3

  Play some board games with your kids…. Better to not get dependent on technology

  Regardless, no name ebay powerbanks will never have the capacity you claim. Get something from Romoss or Anker etc.

  Kmart sells a USB solar panel you could use to charge a regular power bank

  • 

    GordonD on 02/10/2023 - 11:21

    +1

    Play some board games with your kids

    I've never heard of that board game the OP refers to … "bit board".

• 

  bargaino on 02/10/2023 - 10:57

  +1

  Those tiny solar panels are a gimmick. You are talking around 200Wh battery? Then you'd want a 100W panel to match. The one linked is 6W peak.
  It sounds like you are car "camping", so why need solar at all? Proper panels make sense if you need to power a fridge, or a freezer for the fish you are catching.
  For lights and gadgets, I take powertool batteries. The 18V can directly power "car chargers" in a lighter-style socket. Most of them specify 12-24V input, but check.

  I'll let other people lecture you on the merits of giving kids computers for the evening when camping :-)

  • 

    Rilo 117 on 02/10/2023 - 11:23

    Thanks for the feedback, I didn't consider power tools.

    Correct we are car camping but prefer not using the car battery as the primary source.

    Maybe something like this is what I should be looking at with an additional power bank;
    https://www.snowys.com.au/15w-personal-solar-panel

    Appreciate the comment about the kids, some other commenters aren't as kind :) they aren't on tech like 90% of the time during camping and love doing board games, like Coup, One night werewolf.. those sort of quick card games, if they want to lay down and watch a movie in bed when its dark, I personally don't have a problem with that.

    • 

      bargaino on 02/10/2023 - 11:33

      +2

      That Snowy's charger looks like complete rubbish. They give no spec's for the panel power, or the charge capacity. They prey on people who don't know the tech. 15W is just the USB output, but for how long?? Could be 20 minutes of output, and a full day to recharge.

      Don't bother with solar unless you are going to do it properly. A large panel, connected to a decent size battery which charges from the available solar.

• 

  apple2016 on 02/10/2023 - 11:34

  +1

  Camping with iphones and ipads, mate its Glamping!!!

• 

  geekcohen on 02/10/2023 - 11:36

  +3

  they get a bit board

  bored.

• 

  geekcohen on 02/10/2023 - 11:41

  +1

  Battery Box with a Battery will do the job.

  The battery box has USBs built in and 12V outlets. and should last a weekend if you are just drawing low current.

  And if you need to charge it via solar, a Kings Blanket with PWM Charger and lead.

  Might be more than your budget, but a pretty good solution that can be used in the future for other things like power outages, 240V power (if you get an inverter), or running a fridge.

  ---

  I've got a similar setup in the back of my ute with the above, I just got a DC to DC charger for charging whilst driving. Got a 240V inverter which works great and great for a fridge too.

  • 

    Malik Nasser on 02/10/2023 - 15:35

    Standard car batteries are designed to stay at full capacity, and not drawn down too much. As such go with an AGM battery.
    Also you don't need the cranking capacity for this application, so go with those camping or RV batteries (AGM deep cycle or lithium).

    • 

      geekcohen on 02/10/2023 - 15:41

      Yes, I agree. But who wants to spend $1,000 on a Lithium? I know there are cheaper ones out there, but also comes down to quality.

      I've actually got one of these in my battery box for my powering and it has been great. Got it down to about 70% when using the Inverter over the weekend actually, haven't put it through its paces, but is still pretty good and if I know I was going to be doing something for a while without driving, I would hook up a solar blanket for top up during the day or just pull out the 2kva generator and use that over the battery/inverter setup.

• 

  aneil915 on 02/10/2023 - 15:46

  +1

  I use an Ozito PXC 18V USB Power Station along with a few Ozito 4ah batteries to charge a few phones, lights etc when camping.

  May not been enough capacity for your needs though unless to take a number of batteries.

  https://www.bunnings.com.au/ozito-pxc-18v-usb-power-station_…

• 

  USER DC on 02/10/2023 - 17:04

  you want to wait 1 month for charging that battery? sure go ahead otherwise forget the solar thingie with powerbanks.

• 

  Emphasise on 03/10/2023 - 09:10

  It would be easier to just find a powered camping site and bring an extension lead and power board. Options would be a bit more limited but I recommend Lake Lyell or Patonga if you're from Sydney.

• 

  Showmethebargains on 03/10/2023 - 09:50

  This may be overkill for your needs but we have one of these and it works really well. We got a 120W Solar panel of the same brand to go with it which plugs straight in. (Or you can charge from your car while driving or 240v power.)
  https://www.snowys.com.au/rover-lithium-40ah-power-station

• 

  WT on 05/10/2023 - 07:34

  the $25 arlec light was price matched to aldi and a lot of people use it for camping

  a full charge will last 5-6 hours on full bright

  It has on(full), sensor mode with dim light and full bright when triggered, off and when the battery is low on sensor mode the dim light will go off so it saves battery for full bright

  The bracket can has extra legs so you can sit it on a table etc