VANILLA UNPLUGGED: TURNING MY JACKERY 2000 v2 INTO MY OWN ELECTRIC HOOK-UP

VANILLA UNPLUGGED: TURNING MY JACKERY 2000 v2 INTO MY OWN ELECTRIC HOOK-UP

There is something wonderfully backwards about this.

I’m going off-grid... by plugging Vanilla into herself.

Well, almost.

My latest little upgrade means I’ll be able to use my Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 as a completely portable electric hook-up for Vanilla. No campsite bollard. No mains supply. No hunting for an EHU pitch.

Just a big orange-and-black box full of electrons sitting inside the van.

And the clever bit is that, from Vanilla’s point of view, she won’t really know the difference.

The Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 will stay safely inside Vanilla.

Into one of the Jackery’s 230V AC sockets goes a short adaptor lead.

That lead has a normal UK 13A plug at one end and a blue 16A CEE female hook-up connector at the other. The particular 2-metre lead I’ve ordered uses 3 x 1.5mm² H07RN-F cable and is rated IP44.

The cable then goes outside Vanilla and plugs directly into the normal blue EHU socket on the side of the van.

Exactly where a campsite hook-up lead normally goes.

Except there is no campsite.

The electricity is coming from Forge, my Jackery Explorer 2000 v2.

Suddenly Vanilla has mains electricity.

This is the bit I really like.

Instead of running extension leads around the inside of the van and plugging individual appliances directly into the Jackery, I’m using Vanilla’s existing 230V installation.

Jackery → adaptor cable → Vanilla EHU inlet → Vanilla’s mains system.

Elegant.

Once connected, Vanilla’s normal 13A sockets should become live, just as they do when I connect to campsite electricity.

That means things plugged into those sockets can use energy from the Jackery.

More importantly, it means my microwave can too.

I recently identified Vanilla’s microwave properly.

It is a Panasonic NN-K18JMM / NN-K18JMMBPQ compact microwave and grill.

It has:

20-litre capacity

800W microwave cooking output

1000W grill

Approximately 1250W maximum electrical consumption in microwave mode.

That last figure is the important one.

Forge is a Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 with a rated capacity of 2042Wh and a continuous AC output of 2200W.

So a microwave pulling around 1250W sits comfortably underneath the Jackery's 2200W output ceiling.

That means I can stop thinking of Vanilla’s microwave as something that only works when I’m on a campsite.

For short bursts, I can have hot food properly off-grid.

Soup.

Ready meals.

Porridge.

Beans.

Reheating chilli or curry.

Baked-potato finishing duties.

And, inevitably, some completely inappropriate late-night microwave experiment that seemed like a good idea after several beers.

This is important because microwave use tends to be short.

Ten minutes at roughly 1250W represents only about 208Wh of theoretical AC energy before allowing for inverter losses.

Even allowing a sensible margin for conversion losses, that is not remotely frightening when starting with a roughly 2kWh power station.

I wouldn't run a microwave continuously for hours.

But that isn't how microwaves are used.

Three minutes here.

Five minutes there.

Ten minutes for something bigger.

That is exactly the sort of high-power, short-duration job that Forge is brilliant at.

There is one extremely important part of my particular setup.

Vanilla's Sargent mains battery charger has now been isolated.

That is deliberate.

Normally, when Vanilla receives an EHU supply, the Sargent system would use some of that mains electricity to charge the leisure battery.

But I don't want that happening here.

Imagine the electrical comedy otherwise.

The Jackery produces 230V.

Vanilla accepts the 230V.

The Sargent charger converts some of it back into 12V.

That then charges the Fogstar leisure battery.

Meanwhile I would eventually have to recharge the Jackery again.

Electricity doing a lap of honour around the van while losing energy at every conversion.

No thanks.

With the Sargent charger isolated, the two systems have much clearer jobs.

JACKERY 2000 v2 = VANILLA'S PORTABLE 230V POWER STATION

That division makes an enormous amount of sense.

This isn't replacing my new Fogstar lithium setup.

Quite the opposite.

My 105Ah Fogstar LiFePO4 remains the heart of Vanilla.

It runs the stuff that actually makes the van a campervan:

Webasto diesel heating electronics

50-litre compressor fridge

Lighting

USB equipment

12V systems

Pumps and controls

And it is supported by the Victron ecosystem I've built around it.

There is my 200W PV Logic roof solar panel feeding the Victron SmartSolar MPPT.

There is the Victron Orion giving me serious charging while driving.

And the SmartShunt lets me see exactly what the battery is doing.

That system can concentrate entirely on keeping Vanilla alive.

Forge gets the glamorous jobs.

230V sockets.

Kitchen appliances.

Microwave.

Technology.

The occasional ridiculous luxury.

It is almost a two-engine electrical system.

One optimised for endurance.

One optimised for brute force.

2042Wh OF PORTABLE MAINS

The Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 has 2042Wh of battery capacity and a 2200W continuous AC output.

That doesn't mean Vanilla suddenly has a 13A campsite supply.

This distinction matters.

At 230V, 2200W works out at roughly 9.6A maximum.

And that is the TOTAL available from the Jackery.

So if I have the microwave consuming roughly 1250W, I shouldn't simultaneously start throwing another 1500W appliance onto another socket just because the socket itself says 13A.

The Jackery is the boss.

Its 2200W ceiling applies to everything being powered at the same time.

Fortunately, that suits the way I'll use it perfectly.

Microwave on?

Don't run another monster appliance.

Microwave finished?

Carry on.

Very simple.

There's another reason I like this arrangement.

Neatness.

I could simply plug an extension lead into Forge and trail it through Vanilla.

It would work.

But I'd have cables snaking across the floor and I'd have to plug appliances into specific extension sockets.

This way I'm using the electrical installation already built into the campervan.

The Jackery supplies Vanilla.

Vanilla distributes the electricity.

Much nicer.

The little two-metre adaptor is really the missing link.

The Amazon cable I've chosen is specifically described as a 13A UK plug to 16A three-pin coupling lead for caravan and campervan use, operating at 220-240V.

And because it is only two metres long, I'm not carrying another gigantic orange EHU snake around just for this job.

This is where the upgrade becomes genuinely useful.

Imagine an autumn pub stop.

Vanilla parked up.

No electric hook-up.

Outside temperature falling.

Webasto humming quietly.

Fogstar sitting happily behind the scenes running the fridge, heating electronics and 12V systems.

Then I decide I want something hot.

Forge on.

AC output enabled.

Short lead out to Vanilla's EHU inlet.

Microwave alive.

Dinner heated.

Perhaps the projector comes out later for Vanilla's Cinema.

Phones charging.

Laptop charging.

Mains sockets available.

All without a single watt coming from the National Grid.

There is something deeply satisfying about that.

For a long time, electrical energy was one of the things I subconsciously managed in Vanilla.

Battery percentage.

Heater usage.

Fridge consumption.

Solar forecast.

What happens overnight?

Will there be enough tomorrow?

Lithium has already transformed that.

Now this takes another chunk of the anxiety away.

The 105Ah Fogstar gives me dependable 12V energy.

The 200W roof solar contributes whenever the sky allows it.

The Orion pours energy back into the system whenever I'm driving.

And now the 2kWh Jackery can effectively become my portable mains supply.

They're not competing systems.

They're complementary ones.

That is the revelation.

Fogstar handles endurance.

Forge handles horsepower.

There are still sensible rules.

I won't exceed the Jackery's 2200W total output.

I won't treat every 13A socket in Vanilla as though it has an unlimited campsite supply behind it.

Connections will be kept dry and protected.

The cable won't be trapped or crushed in doors or windows.

I won't use the arrangement while driving.

And because this is an alternative portable mains source rather than an actual campsite electrical supply, the earthing and RCD behaviour needs to be treated seriously rather than simply assuming it behaves identically to a conventional EHU bollard. I'll test the completed installation appropriately before relying on it.

Electricity deserves respect.

Especially when you've essentially built your own tiny mobile power station.

Vanilla is becoming a genuinely formidable off-grid campervan.

Not because I've installed one enormous electrical system.

But because I've divided the job intelligently.

105Ah Fogstar lithium for the van.

200W solar on the roof.

30A Victron charging when the engine is running.

Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 for serious portable 230V.

And now one ridiculously simple two-metre cable ties the Jackery into Vanilla's existing mains system.

Plug Forge into Vanilla.

Turn on the AC.

And the microwave wakes up.

No campsite.

No EHU bollard.

No generator chuntering away outside.

Just stored electricity.

For autumn pub stops, winter weekends, festivals and proper off-grid wandering, Vanilla has just acquired another superpower.

And possibly the world's most elaborate way of heating a bowl of beans.

October 2026