If the Xantrex Xpower Powerpack Solar lived up to its specifications, I would rate it 5 stars and consider it well worth the money. That's why I bought it in the first place. Unfortunately, its performance falls short of the manufacturer's claims.The overall design of the product is very nice. I had considered building something similar based on a how-to article in Popular Science, but the Powerpack is so nicely packaged for only a couple dollars more, I chose to buy it.
The Powerpack disappoints in the amount of energy stored in its battery that is available to power other electronic devices. The battery is specified as 12 volts and 10 amp-hours. As such, I was expecting to get as much as 120 watt-hours from it, but I barely get half that.
As a test, I fully charged the battery using the included AC adapter. By "fully", I mean the unit claimed to be charged. I then ran the built-in LED lights. The manual claims they should run for 48 hours. They ran 27.5 hours for me.
I assumed this performance reflected a bad unit and exchanged it. The new unit performs similarly. Either the battery in the unit performs poorly, or the electronics to monitor and control the battery state-of-charge are weak.
As another example of the poor performance, I charged the unit completely (again based on its built-in indicator that charging is done). It indicated 100 percent charge when I turned on the AC or DC output, but as soon as I plugged in any load, it almost immediately dropped to 70 or even 60 percent. Soon after the unit's indicator dropped to 40 percent, the unit shut itself down.
So, on the one hand, this is a nice unit to carry around, and it does slowly-but-surely charge the internal battery using the included 5 watt solar panel. It does a fine job charging cell phones and iPods, and a barely acceptable job charging a notebook computer. Compared to its specifications, and for that matter my previous experience with the Xantrex Powerpack Mobile Mini, however, the product is a disappointment.
Battery not "user replaceable" (User manual recommends throwing the whole powerpack out when the battery can no longer take a charge)
If you do take the unit apart to replace the battery, it is an uncommon type not available at battery specialists.
Solar panel is too small to adequately charge the unit. Useful only as a top-up charger.
My unit has locked up twice, where the buttons and display do not work and you need to take it apart to disconnect then reconnect the battery to reboot the internal microcontroller.
Very difficult to take apart (to reboot the unit or change the battery).
AC power adapter puts out too much voltage, causing the unit to complain about an overvoltage situation when it is left plugged in when fully charged.
Loses its charge quickly when not plugged in.
LED lights on both sides of the unit are wired to come on at the same time. No switch to disconnect one bank to double the runtime as a light source.
As a warning, if you do have one, do not leave it off its charger for longer than about 1 month or you can damage the battery.Length:: --:-Mins
This is a great little unit, I have used it a few times to test just how long it lasts and it never failed to impress. The only problem with this unit is that the digital display is highly inaccurate in displaying the batteries charge level when anything is plugged in and the ac output of devices under 50 watts. I have not experienced any error code problems. I've used this unit to power a small table fan, a laptop computer and some other small draw items. Here are my run times:
Small ac table fan = 3-4 hours on low setting, 3 max on low setting
12 volt dc fan = 5-7 hours on only high setting (0.8 amps 10 watts from walmart)
13.3" macbook = 2.5 hours with lots of processing and display on full brightness
4 hours max with low brightness and light web browsing only (full battery)
acer aspire one = 5-6 hours on low brightness and light browsing (battery charged prior)
netbook
Items that will not run long on this powerpack:
1. powerful entertainment or gaming laptops
2. desktop computers
3. big ac fans
4. high draw dc appliances such as a dc coffee maker, hair dryer and spotlight
5. items with heating elements in general EX: coffee maker, heating blanket, electric heater of any sort (expect 3 min or less run time, just don't even try to plug any of the mentioned items in AT ALL!)
6. big lcd tv's or any crt tv (yes even the 13" rated for this product)
Items that will be damaged by this device due to modified sine wave ac output:
1. rechargeable batteries (your laptop will not be damaged because it has a special transformer (I.E. the power brick)
2. nightlights of any sort
3. rechargeable electric shavers
4. any devices that specify they will only work with pure sine wave power (grid power = pure sine wave. keep in mind that 99.9% of all powerpacks use modified sine wave for ac power)
Bottom line: Don't treat it as if it is a generator or as if you still have power coming in off the grid in an emergency, be conservative and it will last the night. If you have never owned a power pack like this, keep in mind it's just a battery and the solar panel won't make it function like a generator. If you don't know solar, keep in mind this unit has the largest possible solar panel that will fit on the unit, that doesn't mean it will charge in a day like your solar accent lights outside. A full day of sunlight will give you 10-20 percent of overall charge (use this to charge your cellphone or run the efficient built in lights at night). You need to charge this unit every 1-3 months. Failure to do so will cause the internal sla agm battery to sulfate and refuse to charge(your warranty is voided with xantrex for neglect). Realistically don't plug devices in that use more than 70-80 watts if you want reasonable run time (this is true with most powerpacks, even the huge ones). Large items should not be used at all in an emergency power situation. If you want more power and longer run times, buy a 400 watt inverter for your car (please don't kill your car's battery, start it up) or buy a $100-$150 2 cycle generator, especially if you need power for medical devices. This unit should last you at least 5 years before the battery needs to be replaced (10 ah agm battery, nut and bolt terminals, tall style battery = $29 online) A lot of powerpacks use this battery. My campbell hausfeld power pack with this battery is 3 years old and counting with the same battery (runs great too, no loss of power) and my past devices using sla batteries lasted an average 7 years before needing replacement. Treat your battery right and it can last just as long. Feel free to ask any questions, I'll try to respond asap or whenever I can check my inbox.You can use it to charge your laptop, PDA and your cell phone. But it's not strong enough to even just power a 12" fan.
