Xantrex Technologies 852-2071 Xpower AC/DC Powerpack Solar With 400 Watt Inverter, Two AC Outlets, USB Port, And Digital Display
by Xantrex Technologies
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List Price: Our Price: $210.28 You Save: $10.71 (5%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $109.99 (click here) Category: Lawn & Patio See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Xantrex Technologies 852-2071 Xpower AC/DC Powerpack Solar With 400 Watt Inverter, Two AC Outlets, USB Port, And Digital Display
Customer Review: It FAILED
Summary: 1 Stars
This thing- weighed a lot- I mean, it's a battery, so OK- so I drag this thing, charged, out to the jungle with me. Spontaneously, the alarm goes off without any way to shut it off, until the battery drained. Thanks for giving away my position! Then would not charge, would not respond, and there was no way to repair it.
I will NEVER buy anything from xantrex again !@#$%^&*(!!!!
Customer Review: Design nightmare
Summary: 1 Stars
Many Cons
- 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.
Customer Review: Batteries dont fully charge.
Summary: 2 Stars
I got this unit and only 1 out of two fully charges. they hold their charge for a long time so its not really a problem. I actually ran a 110 volt light all night and not until the am did the battery finally quit. So, I keeping them for Power outages. For that they are fine.Customer Review: About average or a 5W solor unit with a small battery
Summary: 2 Stars
This has garnered a lot of very negative reviews partly due to unrealistic expectations and mostly because of bad product description.
It seems that a lot of the reviewers really expected to get the equivalent off a Sunforce 50044 60-Watt Solar Charging Kit along with a Xantrex Technologies 802-1500 XPower Powerpack 1,500-Watt Portable Backup Power System. This is unrealistic to the point of silliness.
Unfortunately the product description is misleading to the point of bordering on fraud. There is no mention that the 10 AMP hour battery takes 45 to 50 hours to recharge at 5 watts and that the AC charger is only about 10W and disables all the outputs but takes 20+ hours to charge the battery. Because the system shuts of at 40% the 10AH battery is really about 6AH and that should be mentioned in the product description as should the rather unreasonable requirement to charge for 48 hours before initial use.
As a 5W solar unit with a battery and nice status readouts its OK but the low amperage AC charger is a big drawback particularly as it can't be used with the outputs active. The AC power out is very dirty square wave and even the $40 inverter from Sam's produces much better quality (at 1000 watts) although still dirty. Can only be used for Laptops or other devices that have a hearty AC/DC power supply or are very tolerant of dirty power. Not a bad buy but given the overall capacities should either allow simultaneous use of the AC charger, produce better quality AC power out or be considerably cheaper. It works OK for what I bought it for which is recharging a laptop which is rather a power hog and cell phones. But I don't particularly recommend it.
BTW the packaging is nice you use a tab to release the top and once hats open the package splits into halves so you don't have to lift it out.
Customer Review: better alternative $19.90 for most applications
Summary: 1 Stars
For $19.90 (link attached)Kensington 33060 75 Watt Portable Power Inverter you can buy a small 75 watt inverter, and plug it into your car cig lighter outlet to power or charge laptops etc. I know you lose some portability, although they make cig lighter extention cords up to 20 feet long. I can see that it would be nice to have it in your tent and haul it around or whatever, but given that the best recharge rate in the sun is less than 1/2 a watt per hour and the unreplaceable battery will surely die in 4 years under the best of conditions, before you know it this will make a great boat anchor. The solar aspect seems cool, but if its basically useless and you throw it away in a few years ( more batteries and silicon in a landfill) that is not so cool.