Hi Colin, I bought a Delta 2 about 3 months ago (on the back of one of your other videos) and it’s my only power source having recently converted my T5. They are absolutely fabulous. It’s often used on day trips, just to make a cuppa after long walk with my dog! Couldn’t be without it. For longer trips I just pay for hookup every couple of nights and recharge. Also, just boiling the kettle for the water you require helps it last so much longer. Love your channel Col, keep up the fantastic work.

I just can't see why I would need one tbh. I never use 240v appliances when going away in the van. I simply don't need too. You had to go out and buy a crappy 1000w kettle - could of just bought a crappy gas stove (you probably have a decent one built into the van) and put a pan of water on it... Having said that, i'm a seasoned camper and my family are used to going 12v for the weekends. Each to their own of course. One thing i would consider a small one (but would most likey use an RC battery) is pumping up the SUP - couldnt agree more - pumping one of those up is a nightmare!! Great vid - thanks for sharing. Ringo

Great video as I've been looking for an extra power bank but there's so many I got confused and gave up, now I know what to look for thanks to you! 😂

Ecoflow have just launched an 800w DC alternator for this too so you can charge a delta easily while driving if it is part of a permanent van set up.

I have a 1 liter 12v kettle that I use to heat water for my pour over coffee. It does take longer than a 🔌 electric kettle, but I build enough time into what I’m doing. Example, when I’m traveling and pull into a highway rest area I put 2 mugs of water into kettle, plug it in and go use the restroom/ walk around to stretch. Usually the water is hot by then. While I am plugging it into the house or auxiliary battery (I think that is what you mean when you say leisure battery), in the past I plugged it into a power station the size of the one smaller than your eco flow. Also, I found an induction hob that is made to change the wattage between 600w (inverters off a 12v camper van system), 900w (dorm rooms or older wired apts), & 1300w (regular homes). It is called a NuWave Flex Precision Cooktop. Since I mostly cook with olive oil almost everything I make is set at 600w with the cooking temp set at medium or medium-low. When I tested it while visiting a relative it took 5 minutes to boil 2 cups of water set at both 1300w & 900w, and 8 minutes set at 600w. So that little bit of extra time is something I can live with to cook in my cargo minivan.

Been a game changer for days out since getting the Jackery explorer pro 1000. Certainly wouldn't spend a grand + but had an offer on & got ours for when they had £400 off. If you wait there's often good offers on various makes. Saves using the gas when out for the day & our 600w kettle only depletes the battery by 7% each boil & in theory it would power a 50 watt electric blanket right through the night if off grid.

Thanks for this vlog - really interesting and helpful .

Nice one. I have a 2018 VW T6 Transporter SWB cargo van converted for camping, the Maxxair Fan and 4 x LED lights in the ceiling are powered by the van's 12v socket while I use a Bluetti EB55 power station to run my 37 litre Dometic fridge/freezer (thou I can plug it into the van too) and charge all my devices, run a tv, use a Nutribullet, 12v electric blanket etc. Didn't wanna fuff around with adding electrics to my van after seeing so many van lifers with electrical and solar dramas.

Love powering my heated blanket with it

I have a bluetti AC180 1152. I love it. Great for my electric blanket and my fridge.

I've got the delta 2. The cheapest plastic kettle sold in Tesco works on it at 1.7 kw power rating. Much easier when out and about off grid than putting the gas ring and gas kettle on. Coffee made in a flash ! Also it can be used away from the van to provide power. We use it to blow up our caravan leveller bag with an electric pump as well as charging the E bike and drone as well off grid. They are so useful, even for things you haven't thought of yet ? In the campervan, we fit it in the dead space between the double front seats and the passenger footwell, when the seats are revolved, along with the portable solar panel, if we take that as well.

Hi Colin. It really is a minefield decideing on providing power to your van. Anyone new to it needs to think long and hard as there are pros and cons to whatever you chose. Influencers should bear this in mind and be careful what they say and really should not take a sponsor. Great to see you gave good advise an highlighted choices and downsides. Just for the record I decided to go for a 75 watt solar panel on the top of the van and it has sited my needs. Contrary to what people think, even in the UK if there is the slightest bit of UV rays it will put power into the leisure battery. Great vid as ever. Thank you Cx 😎🍻

We use a 2500wh power bank. We also have a leisure battery under the passenger seat and a solar panel on the van roof. Did you know you can buy an adapter that will allow you to charge from an EV charging station. So we can plug into the van and then charge everything back up and stay off grid as long as we can find a place to charge.

Don’t have the power bank, but do have a similar phone charging bank. A must have for your backpack, this saved our bacon when the Mrs had her fall recently on a walk in putting a charge into the phones. Like you I use my phone app ‘all trails’ to give me directions and it eats the battery. The charging bank then put a charge back into the phone to the alert the necessary people. A must folks.

Great videos am spending way too much money watching them and getting ideas thankyou I think

I’m still not sold on power banks. They seem very expensive for little benefit. We have a Wallas hob/heater so no need for gas. Solar to look after the the leisure battery. All good. The only 240v I need occasionally is camera battery and laptop charging but there are lots of cheaper options for that than a power bank.

The small ecoflow is a godsend. Easy carry and pop for a coffee with a 1 hour full recharge. Price is excellent at under £200, as we all know anything with a battery in it loses value very quickly, so personally I give the stupidly priced bigger powerbanks a miss. They are way over valued and not really practical. Plus you can connect to your solar panel and have it charged for free on a good day out.

Brought my wife an Anker 535 for her birthday last year to run her CPAP machine off-grid it's literally been a lifesaver and has enabled us to go off-grid for 2-3 days in the van as she has a sleep apnea. kids love it too for charging devices :)

Battery anxiety is real, a back up to power the backup incase the backup is getting low. My two penneth is.... By the time you buy 3 lifepo4 batteries,an inverter, a DC Charger, an mppt controller and all the chunky cables, you might as well get the all in one ecoflow Delta2 max ! I use ecoflow in the house to get a £5 a week leccy bill. I did get sucked in to the DC to DC charger and all the stuff above. I'd swap it for the ecoflow and still use the DC to DC charger. Like you Colin, the induction hob is the nuts instead of gas and boiling a travel kettle far less faff. Solar panel top up will never cease to be cool, squeezing leccy out of the sun.

Smashin Colin!!! Alia

I bought a delta 2 based on your original review been pleased with it. Also got a little one same as yours #notcopying

Thanks ..Our biggest issue is not power banks, it’s the blooming leads .. they break .. not just often but annoyingly often.. we spend a fortune on leads ! Ps we have an all powers and associated solar panels .. wouldn’t be without it !

No out takes col?... Jeez you must have been editing for eons... Enjoy the spring & summer looking forward to seeing you all out n about.. Tc

I swear by my Ecoflow River 2 Pro (800wh). I can run my low voltage kettle (4 times) or my 800w fan heater just to heat up the van in the morning. It is incredibly quick to charge up. I also have a Beaudens 250wh (as recommended by you a few years ago) for charging my phone, ipad, usb fan and usb lights. I dont have 12v battery installed in my T6 nor do I need it.

I love my power banks, own two Allpowers S300 & S1500. They can be lifesavers, Even poweriing van with 48v EBike battery. However just got Fire-Maple X2 game changer heat a mug of hot water in under one minute! All from a coleman C500 iso butane canister

My kettle is 300 w. Lol.

Thanks

The Allpowers offers Bluetooth control via app showing both power ou and power in, so can be controlled whilst stowed away. I have also set up charging power banks whilst driving, using streetwize bluetooth battery monitor to monitor charge whilst driving: Videos to follow

I went with the Ecoflow river 2 the main reason is the 1hr charge from 0-100%

Positive Comment!!.,

Hi Colin, thanks for video, where did you get the plug from to co ne t the solar? Many thanks

Still don’t know which is best, I got a bit distracted watching the time on your watch Col, 😂Ps you started at 12.46 and ended at 13.24 in case you was wondering 😂😂😂

Re. Allpowers power banks. The S300 can be directly switched into MHome 12v leisure circuit. The S1500 can be directly switched into the 220 A/C circuit. Obviously not both at the same time.

My crappy bluetti (which got returned cos it was shite) would use about 4% charge with a 1000w kettle. Not sure why you only get 5 boils 🤔

I always look out for a bit of "B roll" , Sausage roll, Swiss roll , Arctic roll 😂

I’ve looked at power banks for a while, but didn’t think the battery technology was quite there yet. I then saw quite a few favourable reviews for the Anker solix C1000 on YT. It’s fairly compact for the power, (1800w with surge up to 2400w) The LFP batteries are safer than Lithium ion batteries and last more charges. it recharges on mains power in 58 minutes. Then Costco had them on offer at £630 in April 2024, so I bought one, and it’s been pretty good so far. It runs the Kettle and Airfryer pretty well for a long weekend. It through-charges as well, so i can still use it whilst it is on site EHU recharging if needed. Hashtag not sponsored 😂

Noone needs on cause 10 years ago they didn't exist and we managed just fine. I have one though (not a silly expensive one like ecoflow though) and it's very handy soentimes. I use it as an extension cord to he fair.

Great video Colin, I have a Ecoflow Delta 2 but would like to charge it from the leisure battey How did you connect it to the van ? Thanks

I live in Turkey and would love to have one. If only so that I can charge with the mobile panels. That means I don't have to put the van in the sun anymore. That's a big deal here.

Hi Colin. just bought river pro. Seems to not charge thru solar . 0 watts. Does it really have to be direct sunlight? no watt inputs at all for indirect sunlight? Im using the 100w solar panel that came with the product

I like these but I put 2 * 200AH lithium phosphate batteries in mine with a 2000w invertor and a 60AMP B2B charger. It cost about a grand for my set up but it would cost more for a powerbank with the same capacity. I do want a powerbank but I cant justify it. Took my lad away a couple of weeks ago with a 240v tv his xbox etc, used an airfyer to cook dinner and had more than enough.. Plan is too mount a tv to the ceiling and somewiring above the poptop base so he can play his xbox when we are driving.

Hi Colin, can I ask where you got your battery monitor from please, cheers.

I have a Bluetti EB70 which, on paper, is a nice sweet spot size for my scenario to keep my fridge running in power outages. On paper. The problem is that the unit uses a significant amount of power itself just to switch the inverter on, without even plugging anything in. So my fridge doesn't run for nearly as long as a back of the envelope calculation would suggest.

Probably worth explaining how long each one takes to recharge via 240v. I know some of these power stations take hours, but I think the Delta 2 is supposed to be quick.

Hey Colin, I have a big worry on the battery running out and my fridge not working, poor beer!! Going to Dubbed out this year for 3 nights.. any tips on how to make the battery last?

Aye up Colin what was the name of that last little powerbank with leads attached to it? Cheers!

Only for running your fridge and making a brew on a day trip otherwise we go tae hook up on sites but but but if ye dinny want them .....gonny gies yours 😂😂😂

I’ve fitted a Dabbsson 2300 in my recent conversion. Runs all the 12v from its 25amp port and have a couple of 3 pin sockets cabled from its inverter sockets. 180w solar panel on the roof keeps it topped up while we’re away. So far I’m pleased I went down this route instead of a traditional battery installation.

👍🏻

Can you get a cable to run from the power bank to go back into the power bank to charge itself up? Unlimited power! 😂😂😂

Nearly a grand to boil a £15 kettle isn't a bargain deal unless it's part of a well thought out system. Strapping one in permanently be charged from your solar and give you a modicum of 240 voltiness when there's no EHU isn't a bad move. But generally the cynical part of me says they're part of the "look at me" scene. (expecting incoming). Ours has spent more time blowing up air beam tents and powering the telly and wifi at home during power cuts than anything else. Now smaller packs that you can charge during the day when the solar is up and running and use at night to charge all the gear you've flattened during the day are a completely different matter. They're incredibly useful. But hey, I'm the kind of guy that spends £50 on a top quality, usb chargeable, head torch and doesn't rely on a £1000 i phone for illumination on my way to the bog at night.

Hello What is good about a power bank. How many times per year do you need to carry around a power bank? What will it be used for? Bad effect, heavy to carry with you, expensive, where do you charge at home or in the motorhome. Charging in the motorhome requires solar cells plus a charger (12v socket gives too little effect, it takes a long time to charge a power bank Better to put an extra battery in the motor home and inverter, solar cell, charger if it is not already there. Cheaper investment. The right extra battery provides more power. If you are at home, you can run a cable from the mobile home to your house if there is a power cut SINCERELY Larry

Nice review / non review. But I disagree with you about it takes up a lot of space. It will take around the same amount of space as having 2 AGM batteries or a Bliuetti. A lot of new van builds are only having one of these power stations as their main van power. People are coming away from the old way of having an inverter and 2 leisure batteries. It's a lot easier for them. The only part that will take up more space is when you plug in another extra battery to the unit. Both Bluetti and Ecoflow are different designs. But how you connect / plug appliances and extra batteries into them are also different and that can mean you have to move your power station away from the wall to connect / plug them in. Most will keep them in their garage area so they are never seen. Not sure if people also know that you can charge power stations up via EV car stations! The Bliuetti can. Great when you have solar, but no sun for a few days. Haven't seen an Ecoflow doing this. But I can't see why not. But Ecoflow have just come out with a `Real´ DC charger. Just now we only have the 12v cigarette charger while we are driving. And that is useless. But this new Ecofolw charger is a game changer as it connects to your van's battery / alternator and charges with driving.

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not power banks they are solar generators!!! BIG DIFFERENCE!!!!

It all depends on individual needs also if you live in a country like mine ( Honduras) the electrical grid is terrible there i have a gas generator its very expensive to run, I am planning to buy a solar generator with extra battery and all the extras it comes with specially to run our AC my country is hot and humid this time of year so yeah a solar generator would be mine and my family confort comes true 😊

The answer to the question you raised, do you really need it, wasn't actually answered...

you do not need one, been going camping camper vaning for akmost 50 years never needed one especially at nearly £1,000 could two weeks in the Alps for that