Help and site information
Everything about how this site works: who writes it, where the numbers come from, how it makes money, and what it will and will not claim.
<!-- gift-guides-xlink -->The three things worth knowing before you use anything here
First, this is researched guidance and not an electrical certification. The ampacity, voltage drop and fuse sizing figures follow ABYC E-11, which is the standard most low voltage vehicle and marine installations are held to, and every one of them is arithmetic you can check. None of it replaces the standard itself, the installation manual supplied with your components, or a qualified installer looking at your vehicle. A 12V lithium system is low voltage and very high energy, and a fault in one is a fire in a space people sleep in. The safety disclaimer sets out the limits in full.
Second, we do not test gear in person and we never say we do. Every specification quoted is the manufacturer published figure, cross-checked against retailer listings and verified owner reviews where those disagree. Where a figure could not be confirmed, the field is left empty rather than filled with the more flattering version, which is why several rows in the power station index are visibly blank. The about page explains the method.
Third, the site is funded by affiliate links and they are disclosed on every page that carries one. The commission is the same regardless of which product you buy, nobody pays for a position in a roundup, and products with no reliable Amazon listing get a scoped search link rather than a fabricated product code. The affiliate disclosure has the full terms.
All help and policy pages
- About OverlandSetupWho writes this, where the ABYC E-11 figures come from, and how gear is chosen without pretending to test it. Open →
- ContactSend a correction, a question or a brand enquiry. Corrections to the electrical figures are handled first. Open →
- Affiliate disclosureHow the site makes money, what a commission does and does not change, and why some links open a search. Open →
- Safety disclaimerThe 12V fire risk, what researched guidance means, and the limits of every figure published here. Open →
- Privacy policyWhat is collected, what is not, and what happens to an email address entered on a build page. Open →
- Terms of serviceThe terms you accept by using the site, including the limits on liability for electrical guidance. Open →
Where most questions actually get answered
Four pages cover the great majority of what people write in about. If you are sizing a system, start with the battery bank calculator and the battery sizing guide. If you are wiring one, the wiring and fusing guide is the most important page on the site and the one to read twice. If you are still deciding whether to cut into the vehicle at all, that argument is set out on power station versus DIY battery bank. And if you want to see what a finished system costs, the three complete builds price every component with a running total.
One question comes up often enough to answer here: this site is about living off-grid from a vehicle, not about home backup power. The products overlap, the buyer does not. A home outage is a short interruption to a system that will come back on its own; an overland build is a permanent system that has to survive vibration, heat, cold and an alternator, and every pound of it comes out of a payload figure printed on a sticker in the door jamb. If you are planning for a home outage, this is not the right site for you.
Corrections come first
The most useful message anyone sends is a correction. This site publishes electrical arithmetic for an audience that can check the working, and an error in an ampacity figure, a voltage drop calculation or a fuse rating is a fire risk rather than an embarrassment. Corrections to those figures go to the front of the queue ahead of everything else, and when we publish a fix we say what changed rather than quietly editing the page. Send them through the contact page with the page address, the figure you believe is wrong, and the standard or working you are quoting.
Electrical safety: a 12V system is low voltage but not low energy. Every circuit must be fused at the source of power, within a few inches of the battery terminal, at or below the ampacity of the smallest conductor it protects. Size cable for voltage drop as well as ampacity, and have any lithium installation inspected by a qualified installer before it carries load. Everything on this site is researched guidance, not an electrical certification.