What Preps are you doing this week? Part 11

[Frnc]

Not much, been stocking up the food store, still got space for more. I was waiting til I'd used up some pasta bake sauce and pasta. Pasta bake sauce wouldn't really work in a shtf come to think of it. Replaced the mini sunscreen in my emergency grab bag.

Went out on the bike, second ride of the year. Am very unfit at the mo, though I did do a few sessions on the exercise bike over the winter. I fitted a mirror in the side of my Ergon bar end grips, there's a little plug you can take out. It works very well, and it just folds out of the way when you park. I feel a lot safer. It's hard trying to look behind you while moving out and signalling. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B092QKJNPM

Fitted a second solar motion light as my mains one decided it was now a stroboscope. This one has a separate solar panel and several metres cable, so I can have the light on one wall and the panel on a south facing wall at 90° to it. It's quite small but is bright. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CN19PG3X

[Yorkshire Andy]

Hedges cut front and back

Lawn has had its first cut of the year just nipped the top off

All batteries now charging off the inverter solar system in the shed no more petrol to buy

[Medusa]

We had a couple of powercuts on Wednesday. When I went to report first of all it said it was planned but we had no warning and then it was unplanned. The major works going on in the vicinity with traffic lights on the main road and a dozen vehicles for the last two weeks told it's own story. I had a joiner in at the time replacing internal doors, thank goodness for battery power tools and had just made him a bacon butty and a brew so he was ok to continue working . Unfortunately I was just completing a course for work online when the power went off and lost a whole complicated section of theoretical study which I had to complete again. I was about to get the camping stove out for the joiner when the power came back on but then got a message from United Utilities to say that there was an issue with our water supply and then there was an issue with Sky so couldnt make any calls and had no mobile internet either!! We have sources for lighting, heat and ways of cooking and emergency water, I also have ways to charge phones etc. We also have a big power bank which we use when camping to power lights and charge the laptop but although this has a 3 pin plug fitting I dont know how I can work out if this would be enough to run an electric kettle or other things. I could just have lit the wood stove and boiled the stove kettle, but please could someone explain how I work out what it will actually run without blowing the thing up.

[Yorkshire Andy]

We also have a big power bank which we use when camping to power lights and charge the laptop but although this has a 3 pin plug fitting I dont know how I can work out if this would be enough to run an electric kettle or other things. I could just have lit the wood stove and boiled the stove kettle, but please could someone explain how I work out what it will actually run without blowing the thing up.

Do you have a make and model of the unit?

Very few will run a domestic kettle

[Medusa]

We also have a big power bank which we use when camping to power lights and charge the laptop but although this has a 3 pin plug fitting I dont know how I can work out if this would be enough to run an electric kettle or other things. I could just have lit the wood stove and boiled the stove kettle, but please could someone explain how I work out what it will actually run without blowing the thing up.

Do you have a make and model of the unit?

Very few will run a domestic kettle

It's this one ALLPOWERS Portable Generator 288Wh Power Station Emergency Power Supply with DC/AC. It has been really good on holiday, but I would like to buy another similar one which is bigger, but have no idea how to work out what they will run and need someone to explain it to me in simple terms please so I dont make an expensive mistake.

[Yorkshire Andy]

It's this one ALLPOWERS Portable Generator 288Wh Power Station Emergency Power Supply with DC/AC. It has been really good on holiday, but I would like to buy another similar one which is bigger, but have no idea how to work out what they will run and need someone to explain it to me in simple terms please so I dont make an expensive mistake.

I assume this is it:?

https://uk.iallpowers.com/products/allp ... ation-s300


Looking at the specification

It's

288Wh Capacity;
300W AC output (500W Surged);

Which is roughly on par with my ecoflow river 2



To work out what it'll run you need to look at the appliances ratings plate on the back / base usually you'll find a id plate

Shamelessly stolen of Google

As you can see a kettle is one power hungry monster pulling between 2500-3000w depending on the voltage as there's fluctuations between parts of Europe so let's say that kettle on average pulls 2750w that's one big power bank required even the average / standard honda eu20i caravaners favourite generator wouldnt power it


My river is 256wh so a tad smaller than yours but at maximum load of 300w (travel hair drier on setting 1 is 300w) it'll run for just over 30 minutes

As good as power banks are anything with a heating element is one power hungry beast I'll take my ecoflow delta max downstairs in a bit and see what it makes of the generic kitchen kettle it will run it but it'll soon flatten the battery I have no doubts on that

Still think for hot water for a brew you can't go wrong with a jetboil type stove and hot water for washing / bathing one of the compact lpg water ' boilers ". You can buy a lot of gas with close to £1000

Well the delta max 1600wh was showing 45 minutes run time with a 2500w-3000w kettle then it got upset with the load and tripped out I suspected so much

The 2000w displayed is due to the xboost over drive mode trying to run it (it's cuts voltage to reduce draw)

Now if I wanted to use a kettle id use the low wattage job from the camper but that's parked at my parents

[pseudonym]

Funnily enough just bought an Jackery expansion Battery Pack (2000 Plus) as I got a 20% off coupon.

That'll bring my storage up to 8KW from that system.


Still need to get the required solar mounted on my roof. Too old to do it myself.

[itsybitsy]

Funnily enough just bought an Jackery expansion Battery Pack (2000 Plus) as I got a 20% off coupon.

That'll bring my storage up to 8KW from that system.


Still need to get the required solar mounted on my roof. Too old to do it myself.

My kit arrived today! Super quick as I only ordered it on Thursday. It's somewhat annoying though that the prices are still 30/40% higher than in the US, AND we don't get nearly as strong deals and offers as they get over there.

I also just ordered an Anker 737 Power Bank, reduced from £135.00 to £89.00 today. Thanks to Andy I've also had a good tip for charging it faster through the Jackery by using using a 12 volt car charger.

[diamond lil]

What are you using these things for? Itsy and pseud.

[Peter]

We have two 120w solar panels charging two 80A/h leisure batteries, these are used to recharge AA/AAA batteries and LED rechargeable lamps and power banks (B&M), these are sufficient for our needs, (tried and tested).

In a SHTF situation with no mains power in the foreseeable future, we could not keep the freezer running and would cook food as it defrosted, or salt it.

For cooking we would use propane, though I’m considering a frontier or pioneer stove on the patio, has anyone experience of one ?.