XtremeOwnage's Literal "UPS Truck" Puts a Battery, Inverter, and Charger on a Dolly Truck

Pseudonymous tinkerer "XtremeOwnage," or XO, has shown off a build that puts a hefty 200Ah battery, inverter, and charger onto a customized dolly truck to build a low-cost highly-portable uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for field use.

"I am planning a camping trip later this year, and I thought, it sure would be nice to have a fan blowing on me while I am sleeping," XO writes of the project's origins. "After I did some research, I realized it’s a bit more complex then putting a few cheap lead acid batteries together. I also didn’t want to run a generator all night long."

"Also, If I had to spend any serious money, I needed something which would be very useful to me in other ways as well. So, I decided to build a portable inverter/power supply, which can also serve as a UPS system for my servers, and eventually, be storage for the solar panels I will eventually acquire."

The resulting design is centred around a 12v 200Ah LiFePO4 battery, connected to an all-in-one sine wave inverter and charger package. Hefty 4/0 copper wire — "likely overkill for now," XO explains, "but in the future I want to add more batteries" — wires everything together, while a 300A-rated disconnect switch provides safety and a 500A Victron SmartShunt allows the system status to be monitored.

What makes the build unusual, though, is its housing: A low-cost steel dolly truck. "I wanted to mount everything to a platform," XO notes, "to make this entire setup extremely easy to move around. I welded the backing panel to the cheap dolly, and then used self-tapping, stainless-steel bolts to attach the inverter to the backing plate.

"Literally the day after I put this unit together, we had a transformer fuse blow near my house, causing around 2 hours of total power outage while the crews had to clear a lot of trees and brush. Well, guess what, this unit was able to power my server, AND my gaming PC and full network stack, without any issues, at all."

—While the build is proven, XO has some things that could be improved in a theoretical second run at the project including using a single 24V or two 12V batteries to reduce the size of the inverter and the thickness of the wire required, using a charger split from the inverter instead of a combined unit, and picking an inverter which doesn't have the 10ms switchover delay of his current unit.

"I also plan on adding solar panels," XO continues, "and a charge controller in the future, to allow my server to be completely powered by solar panels. I estimate the total cost of this project including the solar, will be around 2,000-2,500USD, and will actually be able to pay itself off in around 5 years. The end goal, will be a completely self-powered system, which will run my servers, networking gear, my computers, television, lights, and other electronics."

The full build log is available on XO's website, though anyone following along at home is advised to be careful of the exposed contacts found in the open-frame design.