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Old 12-04-2021, 01:08 PM
AdamJL
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AdamJL is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,100
Yes, regulated is very important. LiFePo4 maintains is voltage well past 50% though. You're unlikely to drop below 12V with a good quality LiFePO4 battery (like Solarking) but there are lots of not-so-good lithium batteries out there...
Deep cycles have issues going below 50% (you really shouldn't be going below that, which halves the capacity of the battery), and they weigh a metric tonne. TBH, I would steer clear of any sort of SLA/Gel/LeadAcid battery in 2021. It's old tech and superseded by Lithium in almost every metric.

So recommendations? If you want to build your own, get a good battery then pair it with a good quality battery box.
If you need AC, adding a pure sine-wave converter will be costly, but doable.

For what it's worth, the following will get me through the night:

- Jackery 240. This is not LiFePO4, but Li-Ion (slightly different Li-Ion to phone batteries). This gives me about 200W useable power during the night (for AC, DC a bit more) and includes a pure sine-wave converter for AC power when I need it (I do at the start of the session for my USB hub)
- 15Ah Solar King battery. My Jackery basically outputs 40W when everything is running smoothly (dew heaters, mount, cooler for camera). When I plug this in, it charges the Jackery at 38W, so a net 2W difference. This battery will run at 38W for about 5-6 hours, meaning the entire system will run through the night easily.

I can also use the Jackery's AC to charge my laptop, as it's a bit of a beast and uses a 95W AC adapter. Most of the time, I use another battery (Cygnett 20,000mAh power bank) to top up the laptop battery, but maybe once in a blue moon I'll use the battery if it's exceptionally cold (which wears down the performance).

What I've just showed you is pricier than the above options, but if you don't need the sine-wave converter, you can just go with a good capacity LiFePO4 system and be done with it.
When you experience the weight difference, portability and ease of setup, you'll understand why lithium is the future
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