Xantrex Powerpack Solar review

Review of the xantrex xpower powerpack solar. The power pack solar is a mobile power pack that houses both ac and dc power outlets and features a 5 watt solar panel for green recharging. The unit is very well made and is slim enough to fit away in a corner or closet when not in use. The powerpack solar packs many high end features like, a 400 watt power inverter, 12 volt dc out, usb out and very bright led lights. At the heart of the powerpack solar is the 10 amp hour 12 volt sealed lead acid battery, which is good enough to provide a few hours of power to laptops, tv's and other ac appliances. The battery can go longer when paired with low powered ac devices, like alarm systems and wireless routers. The 10 amp hour battery really shines when it comes to dc appliances. I was able to run a small 10 watt (0.8 amp) dc fan for well over 11 hours and still had usable power left in the powerpack. This means in an emergency, you would most likely want to use the dc ports and the built in led lights for many hours of use. I have used and played around with my powerpack solar for well over a month before I posted the review and have had noting less than an wonderful experience. The powerpack solar has served me well and was almost used in a power outage (too bad the outage lasted only 30 seconds). From my experience with other xantrex products and other mobile powerpacks in the past, I expect this unit to give me years of service before needing a replacement battery (5 years on average). One thing I am happy about is that xantrex offers a flat rate unit repair if your product is out of warranty and in some cases offers a reduced equipment cost if your out of warranty equipment needs replacement. I hope not to have to experience an emergency situation, but if the time and need comes, I know I have something that I can really depend on. To get your own powerpack solar, please visit www.amazon.com or www.xantrex.com for pricing and availability.

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Science & Technology

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• sirmasterpimp

[Offthegridprepper]

how long do you think it would run a 12 v 35 w cooler for? im looking for a light portable solar device for a four day camping trip. i dont think i would have the cooler plugged in at night because then its usually cooler. your thoughts?

[sirmasterpimp]

@Offthegridprepper At most 1- 1/12 hours.......it has a tiny 10 ah battery, which performs less than its rated capacity. I don't have that unit anymore, but do have an almost exact unit without the panel. The only thing that will run long off of its tiny battery is a 12 volt fan or led lights. I would have added a bigger battery, but the clearance inside won't allow for anything bigger.

[setite]

Hey bro. Found you on Amazon. I just bought a Trent IMP1000 11,000mAh external battery Do you have any suggestions or a guide so I can buy/build a solar system that could power a usb device on the fly. 5v 500mA to 1000mA. I am trying to find out what I would need, and it seems most solar panels make no mention of amperage.. or its really low. I might charge the external with solar, but not ideally. Foldable would be good. Phone

[sirmasterpimp]

@setite Wow, 11 amp hours is a lot for a usb chargr (I thought my 3 amp hour usb charger was a lot, lol). You can get a 10 watt panel for $40-$50 off of ebay that will charge your battery.....it would deliver around 700-800 mah of current in good sunlight. The foldable panels are more expensive, well over $100 for 10 watts. All you need is a 12 volt to usb kit (ipod charger car kit), wiring and the panel. I'll make a quick vid tomorrow explaining it all.

[setite]

@sirmasterpimp Thanks. I also have one more question about amperage.  If the voltage is right, can I use any amperage lower than rated and just charge slower? The DC IN on the 11,000mAh battery is 5v 2A. I'm not sure how to feed it that amperage with any realistic portable solar setup so I wondered if a 10w solar with half the amperage would work.

[sirmasterpimp]

@setite I was able to charge a 1 amp usb device with a 500 mah charger once, not too sure about your device though. There is a good possibility it would work, like you said it will probably just charge slower. I know most car kit usb chargers out there are around 700 mah, I would give it a try.

[Jefffhaines]

I bought this power pack. I thought the display was innacurate, but you cleared that up for me. Thank you. Good review.

[pixar5]

i have the same powerpack i bought from canadain tire which they dont sell anymore ive had this for over a year now and it works great for charging phones and mp3 players and provide a litle lite at nite , i use a 15 watt solar panel i just place in my window during the day , and it workks fabulous the 5 watt solar panel would take days to charge the 15 watt panel is recomended then you can charge mp3 players and other electronics everday

[VWRabbitdiesel]

Nice review, I am looking for a new toy.

[sirmasterpimp]

@boyrune4 caught a deal for around $50....Its in the $100-$200 price range right now. I traded it out for a xantrex power source 400, when I built my own solar power pack.