$1500 budget, which Portable Power Station?

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rakitic

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Jan 12, 2022
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richmond,Canada
I recently started my RV travel. But I found it too noisy to bring a fuel generator to camp, annoying to put it in an RV, and some camps don't allow it.
So I want to buy a Portable Power Station, it's quieter, more environmentally friendly and doesn't have to buy fuel.
My budget is about 1500 dollars. My friend recommended I buy Jackery Explorer 2000, an old brand and more reliable, but it cost 2000 dollars, which is beyond my budget.
I noticed the Zendure SuperBase 2000; it performs and looks better than the Jackery, has wheels and fast recharging, and is on sale for just $1,399. But it's a new product. I don't know much about it. Have anyone bought Zendure? Can you give me some advice?thx:D:D

Here's the link
 
Welcome to the forum.

and doesn't have to buy fuel.
But it does need to be recharged. I don't know anything about the two products you linked, but whether they're suitable depends on how long you'll be camping without an electric hookup, where/when you'll recharge it, what you intend to run with it (not an air conditioner, I expect) and such.

Perhaps someone her might have used one or more of that type of product, though.
 
This thing is basically a battery with a charger built in and in reading the specs it's only a 57ah battery although it is Li-Ion.

For $1500 you should be able to source separate batteries and the solar panels to charge them.

jackery.JPG
 
I am not impressed with those devices, as has been mentioned, they are just a small battery and inverter packaged in a box. You will still need to build a mechanism to recharge it.

What do you have currently for batteries, charger, inverter, etc? What are your goals? Why do you need 120v AC power? How long do you intend to camp without power? Will you drive for a full day in-between during which the vehicle could be recharging your batteries?
 
Every influencer on social media hawks them. The OP should consider the guidance being offered above and search this forum for posts on batteries and solar.
 
What are you going to do with this limited amount of battery power?
You already have batteries on the RV?
For $300 or so you can get a couple golf cart batteries to give around 50 amp hrs of useable 12v DC power (or at least 37). For $600 or so you can double that. Yes, they are bigger and heavier, but fit in your budget if you can fit them in your camper.

I have not heard of bad units, just ones that are little better or little lesser and little bit price differences. I think the basic battery part is very similar on many of these. Costco might have good prices too.
What they are is a battery, an inverter and a charger all stuffed into one attractive plastic box and priced very high. You can put together these three parts yourself cheaper probably.

There is no such thing as battery generators. The batteries only store the power. The actual generator is the coal-fired power plant outside of town that provides the power to charge the batteries. A gas generator can generate power for an unlimited amount of time as long as you feed it gas. It is a generator. The battery power will start to deplete as soon as you turn it on and will be dead a day or so later.
A gas generator will run an AC unit and other big items, a battery will not unless it is very big.

Look into using more traditional lead acid batteries before jumping into the expensive and still developing lithium batts.

Im not a full-timer nor even a half-timer currently, but if/when I return I would consider lithium as it is worth the expense for one who lives by batteries day in and day out, but just for trips it is not necessary. I would choose them for the light weight, their ability to cycle deep discharges without harm, ability to provide the same voltage throughout the discharge curve, long life and portability. I would pair them with solar for sure.
For just fun trips here and there the golf cart batteries make the most sense.
 
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This thing is basically a battery with a charger built in and in reading the specs it's only a 57ah battery although it is Li-Ion.

For $1500 you should be able to source separate batteries and the solar panels to charge them.

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The battery isn't so small. 57 amp-hours at 36 volts is the same as 172 amp-hours at 12 volts (2060 watt-hours). Almost as much as two 100 amp-hour 12 volt Lithium batteries ($400-$900 each). Plus a 2000 watt sine wave inverter ($300-$500), a Charge Controller ($200-$300), wiring, connectors and fuses ($100-$150) and any installation labor costs.

You can save some money by going to lead acid storage, then you'd need at least 300 amp-hours capacity to equal the Lithium performance. Lithium batteries can deliver 100% of their rated capacity without fading out or reducing their life, lead acid can't. So you're looking at least 3 100 amp-hour 12 volt AGMs if you want zero maintenance at $250 each or at least 3 flooded 100 amp-hour batteries at $100 each..

So $1500-$2000 for a prepackaged solution isn't a bad deal at all.
 
I missed that it is 36 volts. So using watt hours, which is comparable over voltage, if you had a 170 amp hour 12 volt battery (two to four 12 volt RV batts or four GC batts) it would be the same as this 57 amp hour battery. ~2050 watt hours for both.

This is a pretty good value.
 
Well that is quite a bit of power! And I would expect so for the price.

Still the OP needs to have a plan for recharging all that power.
True, and the cost can vary widely. Maybe just plug the package into AC when you get home if it's enough to carry you through a weekend. Or check into a full hookup RV park overnight and dump and fill your tanks while the electricity recharges it. Or run a small generator for a couple of hours every few days. 2000 watt-hours is just that. Jackery claims it can AC charge from zero to 80% in two hours, so it draws about 800 watts. Easily handled by a 2000 watt quiet inverter generator with power left over to top up the regular trailer batteries. Even solar costs can vary. If you have the roof space you can get 1 or 2 large, 250 watt used commercial solar panels from places like SanTan Solar for $50 each (20 cents a watt) up to a buck a watt or more for 100 watt panels.
 
The techy sort of folks who mostly comment here often underestimate the value of a neatly packaged, ready-to-use solution for the "plug & play" crowd. The convenience of an extra 2000 watt-hours on wheels, in a package that can go on picnics, tail gate parties, and the kid's soccer games as well as the RV is going to be attractive to many.
 
The techy sort of folks who mostly comment here often underestimate the value of a neatly packaged, ready-to-use solution for the "plug & play" crowd. The convenience of an extra 2000 watt-hours on wheels, in a package that can go on picnics, tail gate parties, and the kid's soccer games as well as the RV is going to be attractive to many.
Not on wheels, the Jackery weighs 45 lbs, the same as a Honda EU2000i generator. Grab the handle and go.
 
Why not just install a couple more batteries? You'll have to plug in to recharge either or use solar panels.
 
Lithium batteries can deliver 100% of their rated capacity without fading out or reducing their life, lead acid can't.
Lithium can't either. No question it's "better" than lead acid but lithium cycle life is impacted by depth of discharge just as lead acid is. Data sheets reflect this. Odds are one won't use a lithium long enough to observe the effect but it's there nonetheless.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
Not on wheels, the Jackery weighs 45 lbs, the same as a Honda EU2000i generator. Grab the handle and go.
The Superbase Pro 1500 and 2000 that the OP is promoting has two wheels and a suitcase-type extendable handle for even greater mobility. Probably not worth a crap on grass or gravel, but ok for some uses.
 

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I visited the website for the Superbase product and it's not apparent that they are actually available yet but the specs seem really useful.

What caught my eye was the auto switching technology. Apparently you can plug it into a home 110V outlet and if you get an outage it immediately switches to battery mode and continues to supply the 110V items that are plugged into it. When power comes back on it reverts to A/C and recharges.

That could be useful for fridges/freezers in areas where winter or hurricane outages happen.

Personally I still would add more batteries to my existing setup for a lot fewer $$$.
 
I would be more inclined to installing LiFePo4 batteries and an inverter in your trailer, I just bought a pair of ReBel brand 200AH 12V (2560 watt hour each , 5120 watt hour total ) batteries with smart bluetooth BMS at the end of October for just under $1,500 delivered. Combine these with a 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter at around $250-$500 depending on brand, you can get a Renogy model for $320 on amazon and possibly your existing converter if it is lithium compatible and you have more than double the watts for not much more money.

Ike

p.s. note the price of LiFePo4 batteries has went up a bit in the last couple of months

As to the generator noise issue, some generators are quieter than others, take a Honda EU1000 running on "eco throttle" mode, it is about as loud as a window air conditioner
 
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