DIY Portable Power Box for Camping Using Cheap Components

Do you often go for a camping? If the answer is yes, or maybe, occasionally, this is the right instructables for you. Because here, we will make a portable power box that provide you 200 W of 220V AC and 5V 3A DC electricity from two USB ports for powering your equipment during camping.

So, Let's start...

Step 1: The Enclosure

Here I'm using plastic carrying case for action camera. The size is about 25*30 cm (9.5*11 Inches) with 8 cm thickness (3.2 Inches). The case made of flexible and soft plastic so it can be easily cut with soldering iron with a solder tip that designed for cutting.

Price = IDR 70,000 ($4.85)

Step 2: The Power Inverter

I'm using DIY 200W power inverter from This Instructables. This is standard Modified-Square Wave H-Bridge Inverter using the SG3525 IC as oscillator and MS Wave Generator.

Or you can simply buy a cheap chinese 500W power inverter.

Price :
- Cheap Chinese 500W Inverter = IDR 250,000 ($17.35)
- All components for DIY Inverter = IDR 133,000 ($9.25) (Some parts was salvaged from PC ATX Power Supply)

Step 3: The Battery

I have made a Portable Power Station before and tired of using the Lead Acid Battery as it degrades rapidly and relatively low power per volume. So i use Lithium.

This is LG High Drain 18650 Lithium Battery packed to 3S 9P with the BMS as a protection circuit. Theoretically, it provides 226.8 Watt-Hours of power when fully charged.

Price:
- Battery 18 * IDR 9.000 = IDR 162.000 ($11.25)
- BMS = IDR 35.000 ($2.4)
- Power Bar = IDR 8,000 ($0.55)

Step 4: The DC USB Charger Output

Here in my country (Indonesia), there is a lot of device like this sold in accessories store. This is called Motorcycle Charger, because it usually used in a motorcycle to charge a mounted phone for online transportation like Uber.

It has input from 8 to 24 Volt with 5V 3A USB Output. I try to charge Samsung Galaxy Smartphone and iPhone 6 with this device, and it can be done without a problem. Don't forget to check the polarity before connecting it to power source as this device requires DC power.

Price - USB Motorcycle Charger = IDR 61,000 ($4.25)

Step 5: Enclosure Preparation

First make two square holes on the enclosure for USB output and AC Output. And add another 2 holes for switches. I use two switches because i separate DC and AC switch.

I use soldering iron with cutting tip, the solder tip that designed for cutting plastic with heat.

Then add another holes near the inverter for ventilation.

On the back of the enclosure, make holes for the fan and DC power jack.

The DC power jack can also be a stand for protecting the fan from blocked if this power box is used in horizontal position.

Step 6: Mounting All the Components

All the components should looks like this when mounted on the enclosure.

Step 7: Wiring

First i connect all the wire for AC section. The inverter switch, AC output from the inverter, and the fan.

Then i connect DC Section, i connect the motorcycle charger directly from battery through a switch. For the DC jack i connect it with thick wire to the battery power bar.

The last image shows the complete wiring.

Step 8: Testing

Let's test the DC USB first. it can charge a phone without a problem.

On the AC output i connect a 17W lightbulb and it lights at the maximum brightness without a problem.

Last, i try to charge my Lenovo laptop and it charges without a problem. My laptop battery charged from 55% to fully charged. The power box battery depleted from fully charged (12.6V) to 11.7V.

Step 9: Charging

To charge this power box, i use my old laptop power supply through the Buck Step Down Converter that has a current limiter. I set the output of the charger to 12.6V and the maximum current at 3.5 A. The charger then connected to the DC power jack by a crocodile clip.