Ecoflow power bank + alternator charger

[DDean]

I’ve been fascinated by the possibilities that this new Ecoflow alternator charger opens up for boating.

Essentially, the alternator charges up an Ecoflow at 800W in a standard car - so maybe 7 or 8 times faster than otherwise? Run the lithium Ecoflow into your shore power and don’t you have a much easier way to power your boat and charge your house batteries?

Charge up the Ecoflow super fast via the alternator charger then treat the Ecoflow as shore power. Seems too good to be true?

https://us.ecoflow.com/products/ecoflow-800w-alternator-charger-copy?variant=41465156796489

 

[croakz]

Alternatively, Victron has a new 50a 12v dc to dc charger, rated up to 700w. So you can charge your existing 12v lithium house setup pretty easily.

https://www.victronenergy.com/dc-dc-con ... ry-charger

 

[Nwdiver]

Is your house battery AGM or lithium?

 

[DDean]

I have a ‘24 R27 NW so 220AH AGM with about 100AH of that being usable.

I’m mostly marina hopping so power hasn’t been a constraint yet, but my understanding is that I’ll get about a 24hr period unhooked before power becomes an issue, without running the engine or other non-OEM solar solutions.

But I’m mostly highlighting this new alternator charger in combo with the power bank as it seems that the combo easily brings lithium storage (doubling my usable house bank) without having to mess with the AGMs and what could be a super fast recharge rate off the engine alternator (possibly even at idle?).

Connect the power bank to the boat as you would shore power. Turn on your battery charger and charge your house bank. Idle the engine for a bit and recharge the power bank. Seems a good solution for those of us with small usable house banks?

 

[Nwdiver]

It could work, might stress your alternator a bit, charging your AGM batteries plus the power bank

 

[Brian John]

It is my understanding (I have not tested this) that at idle the alternator is producing power it is nowhere near the power you will get at cruising RPM. When fully discharged Lithium batteries will take all the power you can produce during the recharge cycle (depending on the BMS*1 in the battery). At low RPMs the cooling may not be adequate for the alternator that is producing peak power at that engine speed.



*1 - BMS - Battery Management System

 

[croakz]

Connect the power bank to the boat as you would shore power. Turn on your battery charger and charge your house bank. Idle the engine for a bit and recharge the power bank. Seems a good solution for those of us with small usable house banks?

Hi,

I'm a fan of Ecoflow stuff, probably have too many of their products, but not sure if this is the easiest or best thing to do.

To hook up to shore power, you're probably talking about going from an Ecoflow to the 30A shore power plug. So that'd limit you to the Ecoflow Delta Pro (or new Pro 3), probably not the Ultra as it's giant. The Delta Pro is nice, but has stuff you probably don't need on your boat like an inverter, mppt, fast AC charger, etc. At 100 lbs, that's a lot to get 3600Wh of power, or about 300ah with 12V batteries. Also, they're still about $2k unless you get one refurbed (which I've done and Ecoflow support is great for).

Additionally, you're not going to charge off the alternator at 800W just to the Ecoflow, as you're also going to probably feed into your stock house, engine, and thruster batteries. Remember, your Yamaha 300HP only outputs 50 - 70 Amp at WOT. And then this only charges when you're actually motoring.

Even without a lithium upgrade, I'd suggest you look at upgrading your solar panels. Martin's done some great write ups and videos. https://www.letsgochannelsurfing.com/bo ... lar-panels. What's great is solar provides energy whether you are motoring or not.

I've even used portable solar panels to charge my Ecoflows on my boat, then use the Ecoflow power banks to power individual items on my boat like laptops and personal devices. While at my dock, I charge my Ecoflow through the AC on my boat while on shore power. The As The Prop Turns video on power management might help in determine what can be powered off a power bank too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj_am-ecSt4

 

[croakz]

To hook up to shore power, you're probably talking about going from an Ecoflow to the 30A shore power plug. So that'd limit you to the Ecoflow Delta Pro (or new Pro 3), probably not the Ultra as it's giant. The Delta Pro is nice, but has stuff you probably don't need on your boat like an inverter, mppt, fast AC charger, etc. At 100 lbs, that's a lot to get 3600Wh of power, or about 300ah with 12V batteries. Also, they're still about $2k unless you get one refurbed (which I've done and Ecoflow support is great for).

Someone on a FB group said you could use this adapter to go from the 15a port to your shore power.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TFDWS2B?re ... share&th=1

So you're not limited to the Delta Pro as long as you watch your output. Good to know!

 

[FlagShip]

The EcoFlow works well as an additional power source for our R29-CB. We have a Delta 2 1000Wh unit plus a second 1000Wh smart battery that plugs into the Delta 2. We use a 15A to 30A adapter to plug it into the shore power connection. If we're anchored for more than a day, I'll set up the EcoFlows on the bow and plug in 220W solar panel dedicated to them. Keeps them topped off.

I don't run off them all the time, as the 220W solar panel on the boat works well to keep the house batteries topped off. I will kick them on in the morning to bring the house batteries up faster, or if we want to run something that draws a chunk of power (Nespresso).

Must have, no. Nice to have, very much so.

 

[DDean]

Many thanks to all for this great insightful discussion!

My intention was indeed to use a 15A plug to hook the power bank up to the boat via shore power plug via my 15A to 30A adapter, which I already have because most of my shore hook ups are 15A. I dont see a reason why the power bank cant be used to energize the house bank overnight via the battery charger. Assuming that one gets 24hrs from the house bank before power becomes limiting, recharge fully with the power bank and theoretically one should get another 24hrs.

We are booked for 2 nights at a marina next week. We will stay unplugged for as long as we can to determine what our power demands are on the hook (even though we will be on the dock) and how long we can go before stock set up limits us. Our dinghy is inflated via a pump and stored in the center, not sure how much power inflating and deflating will take, but we are going to find out.

I will also play with Martin's spreadsheet again as its perfect to get an indication of what should work. These power banks seem like the easiest way to extend power limited stays, at least for an extra day. If theres a seamless way to recharge them (but I dont know how solar can do 100AH a day, maybe 50AH) theyre a gamechanger.