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Portable power
- Thread starter Jhop567
- Start date
Influencer I
I have a friend that can run his CPAP w/out the humidifier for like two nights on the 240 Jackery. I just purchased the 500 and am pretty impressed, though I don’t use a CPAP. I like the fact the Jackery is not attached to the vehicle and has many other uses.
Enthusiast III
I also have the Jackery 500 and I've been quite pleased with it. I got the solar panel to go with it. I did a moderate amount of research when I chose it, and the Jackery package had among the best price:performance ratios I could find.
I use mine primarily to power a portable fridge while on trips. We just got back from a 3 week trip and it performed great. Here are some non-scientific observations:
- Depending on conditions, the solar panel produces between 20-70W in "real world" situations.
- The fridge draws between 5-45W.
- At no point during my trip did I get even close to draining the battery, despite running the fridge continuously the whole time. Between campsite charging via solar, and vehicle charging while in transit, I'm pretty sure I could keep the fridge running more or less indefinitely.
I use mine primarily to power a portable fridge while on trips. We just got back from a 3 week trip and it performed great. Here are some non-scientific observations:
- Depending on conditions, the solar panel produces between 20-70W in "real world" situations.
- The fridge draws between 5-45W.
- At no point during my trip did I get even close to draining the battery, despite running the fridge continuously the whole time. Between campsite charging via solar, and vehicle charging while in transit, I'm pretty sure I could keep the fridge running more or less indefinitely.
Wellspring
Rank II
Enthusiast III
Bluetti AC50S works for us.
Mustang03
Rank V
Enthusiast III
We got ours at REI. When (after warranty expired) the battery started going south (swelling), we went to Interstate Batteries and got a replacement which we installed ourselves without any trouble. Went that route because read some negative comments about ordering a replacement battery through the mail. At any rate, it still works just fine... good as new.
Traveler III
Curious where you got the charge controller/inverter. Looking for something cheap to use with a 50 ah battle born battery
Steward I
No CPAP usage, but my wife and I have been using our Jackery 500 for a year now. A few observations:
1. 500 wh is quite a bit of juice. With the vehicle shut down and a fridge drawing current, it drops from 100% to 84% overnight.
2. It lacks a USB-C output and therefore can't recharge an iPad DC-DC. (The Jackery 1000 has a USB-C output).
3. It lacks an Anderson plug, so the fridge uses the cigarette lighter accessory jack. This connection is a little wobbly and is therefore augmented with duct tape as well as regular spot-checks.
4. It only has one 12v accessory jack, and therefore can run the fridge, but not the 12v LED light strip or the 12V jerry can water pump. Adding either of those requires unplugging the fridge or using the vehicle battery.
5. It is portable enough to bring into the tent to run or recharge electronics, at the cost of unplugging it from the fridge. This also makes it a handy backup system for home use during a power outage.
6. The handle makes it easy to tie down with a single Rollercam strap across the top.
7. It can power a corded drill, making it quite handy around the house.
Influencer I
Thought of adding adapters? I often use a USB-C to regular USB adapter to charge my iPad using a regular USB wall plug.
Also, you can get 12V plug splitters. As long as you don’t exceed 120 watts, you should be able to power whatever you want.
Member III
I have the jackery 500, I love it, but there's an issue that bugs me.
When my fridge go idle for too long, the jackery will shut off. So I have to keep my fridge at lower Temps so that the fridge turns on more frequently.
I also got the solar panels with it, I can go about a week without charge with the panels, powering my fridge and some other things, mostly my phone and Bluetooth speaker.
Might get the 1000 later, and a larger fridge.
When my fridge go idle for too long, the jackery will shut off. So I have to keep my fridge at lower Temps so that the fridge turns on more frequently.
I also got the solar panels with it, I can go about a week without charge with the panels, powering my fridge and some other things, mostly my phone and Bluetooth speaker.
Might get the 1000 later, and a larger fridge.
DMS1
Rank III
Advocate I
I set up my Battery boxes with powerpole connectors so that I can use a victron charge controller and an 100 watt and\or 600 watt inverter, I move them to one of the 3 battery boxes as needed. Saying that, most of the devices I use are 12v or run from USB, I use the 100 watt inverter to charge my laptop and the 600 watt inverter to run a soldering iron and to charge my dewalt and porter cable tool batteries if needed. I only use the victron charge controller and solar panels when camping, the rest of the time I recharge the batteries with a battery charger.
Influencer I
Seems like there is a market for a 1W device that will draw like 15W for just a few minutes every few hours to keep these units running.
Member III
It would have to be shared with the DC plug. I can have other things plugged in, but if my fridge goes idle too long, it'll shut off DC while still giving power to usb or AC.
Steward I
Run a 12V splitter and put a small load on the other side? Maybe a single LED?
Influencer I
Splitters are like $12 on Amazon. I like the LED idea (might be really bright though - a 10W LED is a lot). Would be even better if it would just cut on randomly ever so often. The parasitic load in idle would probably be 1 or 2 watts and then the temporary load like 13 watts, just enough to keep Jackery awake.
