Xantrex 802-1500 XPower 1,500 Watt Portable Powerpack

I needed a powerful but sealed power-pack (sealed battery + converter) for poolside use, to power a large 110-volt karaoke machine for five hours a day. The Xatrex 1500 is the only power-pack I've found that meets this requirement.

It was a pleasant surprise to find that the wheels have rubber rather than (noisy) plastic treads.

The first 1500 stopped working with a bang after two hours. When I phoned the Xantrex company, the technician I soon was talking to quickly concluded that my 1500 had malfunctioned and recommended that I return it. I was pleased with this candor. The second 1500 has worked for about a month now.

Not obvious is that the 1500 has a small storage cabinet, in which I store an extension cord.

Both 1500s arrived undamaged. A disclaimer is that I bought my 1500s from costo-dot-comm, which is relevant because perhaps Costco uses different packaging for shipping.

The "large karaoke machine" is a MegaStar CM-K1100, and its average draw has been 30-something watts.

9/18/06 Update: Around July the charge time dropped to under four hours. When I called Xantrex, the technician told me that battery life is about 200 charges.

I previously ordered two of these units and wrote a review. Both were badly damaged, but one was salvagable. The other I had to return, after it overheated and emitted a noxious odor. I decided to take a chance and order another unit this month (goal was to have total of two working units), hoping that whatever warehouse or shipping issues that resulted in previous damage had been resolved. They weren't. This unit also came with crushed top and wheels. Until the manufacturer comes up with a better way to ship these heavy beasts, not worth it.

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The unit failed after I owned it only five weeks. I was only actually used it a few times for short durations. I tried to use it one day and the fault light was illuminated and no ac power was coming out of the outlets. I returned it for repair or replacement 3 weeks ago after receiving a RMA number. I contacted Xantrex and they say they don't know anything about it, and the RMA number is not in there system. The customer support is impossible to get on the phone, and email support takes days to get back to you. They do offer to sell you another unit for 40% off though instead of sending me a replacement.

UPDATE: Xantrex did finally replace the first unit. Two months later the replacement also failed. They refuse to refund my money.

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We purchased the 1500 Watt power pack. The only appliance connected to it was an answering machine. It was charged daily for about 8 hours. 3 weeks later the battery would no longer charge. Sent it back and have not heard anything. They are very hard to get in touch with

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This is a great idea, badly executed. We bought one three years ago as a true emergency generator. We have a medical device that requires power, and our area is known for outages during the summer. But since we bought it, we have not needed to use it. We followed all manufacturer instructions for when leaving it sit idle, yet the batteries died anyway and the inverter fried itself. Replacing these cost more than buying a new unit. One of the batteries must also have developed a small leak (due to the summer heat, perhaps), and when I went to try to replace the batteries, there was corrosion all over the terminals and cables. I have to think that keeping the unit inside might not be a good idea if this happens to you, because of the potential for gas and acid release.

Xantex customer service is nearly non-existent and is geared only to selling replacement parts (but NOT batteries, which you have to look for elsewhere).

I really wish this thing worked, as a silent indoor generator is a wonderful notion. Too bad. We're still stuck with gasoline units and long extension cords.

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