Duracell Powerpack 300 and 600

[Dennis Urso]

I just received a new Camping World brochure and it has a short article (advertisment?) for the Duracell Powerpack 300 and 600. They claim that this device should be considered when thinking about purchasing a small generator. It's essentially a 12 volt battery that can be changed either with household current or a DC plugin. It seems like a good idea to keep your furnace running or the lights on when camping without electricity.

Does anyone have experience with one of these things? Is it a good alternative and way less expensive than a Honda 1000?

Dennis

[Kyle]

I have a similar device that I got at Harbor Freight for I think $59. While I haven't tried hooking it into the trailer to run the trailer I don't see why you couldn't. I would not use th 110V outlets, but instead hook the DC outlet to a DC outlet on the trailer - probably require a custom cable. Mine plan was more to have the compressor - and jump start capability - and run whatever DC/AC item came up that needed running - both camping and not.

For the purpose of extending runtime on the trailer battery - this isn't really any different than having a 2nd battery - but I would imagine less capacity than a 2nd battery. But you do get some additional capabilities that aren't available with a 2nd battery.....

-Kyle

[Steve L.]

The specs on the 600 unit says the battery is a 28 Ah battery. Subject, I suppose, to the same 50% discharge rule of thumb for deep cycle batteries that gives you 14 amp hours of capacity.

My Atwood heater motor uses 3 amp, but assuming it runs only 20 minutes an hour, the 600 would run the heater for 14 hours.

But, if I went that route I wouldn't want to just plug the trailer into the unit and suffer the electrical losses of converting the battery to 120v and again back to 12v where it started. Like Kyle suggests you'd have to finagle some sort of direct connect.

[Curtis F.]

Another alternative availabe at Home Depot is Husky Jumpstarter. With a 19 AH battery it is just a little stronger than the 14 AH battery in the duracell powerpack 300.

Curt

[Chester Taje]

I bought 3 of these a week or so ago. They were on sale for about $55.00 each.They are 22 or 24 AHs.
http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/product_...D=1195527517958

[Dennis Urso]

Thanks for the responses. I'll take a look at Harbor Freight and Home Depot for the suggested items.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dennis

[Bigfoot Mike]

Hi Dennis,

I had one of those JumpStarts and it wouldn't charge so I took it apart. Inside I found a 12 volt, 18 Amp Hour battery. I took the battery out and charged it with my car battery charger and it came back totally.

I now use it for my CPAP emergency battery. (12 volt resporator)

Inside was a simple 12 AGM (gelcell) battery similar to the one below; No gasing, can't spill, deep discharge, not heavy. I think it might be a good option for you as well.




Here is one similar to the one I have. (I can't find the one I have exactly right now.)
This one cost $45. 12v 18 Ah Battery

[Bigfoot Mike]

BTW - I have a Honda 2000 for times when I need FULL power. With the 12v, 18Ah battery I don't need to run the generator at night so my camp is very quiet.

I also (from time to time) use a small Solar panel to charge the little battery and it’s not appropiate to run the generator.

[brendadave]

Does anyone have experience with one of these things? Dennis

When we got our trailer, it had no onboard battery, nor did it have any wiring out front on the tougne for one. So what I did was pick up a cheap $28 jump start battery last fall, and wired a male end 12 volt plug to the electrical system under the front bunk. It worked great to give us light inside the trailer when we camped on weekends and stuff. I also have a small 12 volt air compressor, so it was handy to carry the battery and pump around to make sure all me tires were at correct pressure before heading out on the highway. It also was nice to carry around in the winter to do boosts when I gets very cold here.

We then took a nice long 3 week drive down to California this summer, that is where I killed the battery, I could never find out exactly, but the battery was either 7ah or 14ah, anyway, between charging while driving all day, 4-8hrs, and plugging into electricity when the couple campgrounds had it, and running it dead once or twice, the battery on our last trip only gave us enough power for about 10 minutes of light.

So, what I did was purchase this battery from Canadian Tire,

http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/product_...D=1195665413811

got a good deal, $89.00. It has a lot more capacity at 28ah, but what will save me is it has an intelligent charger so I can leave it plugged in to electricity (and solar when I finish wiring it) without worrying about over charging, it also has rundown protection so that when the battery hits 50% capacity it shuts off. It also has a power gauge so I can tell what the charge is. It can charge from the truck too if I need to, so it is very versitile for charging, the only downside is it didn't come with the proper cable to connect it to a solar panel. It also has an 600watt inverter, for those time when I may need it.

I'm sure next year we will be very happy with its performance and we won't have to worry about babying the battery anymore, mostly the overcharging aspect.

From what I can see from the Duracell units is they are virtually the same as the Canadian Tire units.

[Brian B-P]

So, what I did was purchase this battery from Canadian Tire,

http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/product_...D=1195665413811

got a good deal, $89.00.

....It has a lot more capacity at 28ah, but what will save me is it has an intelligent charger so I can leave it plugged in to electricity (and solar when I finish wiring it) without worrying about over charging...

That appears to be the XPower Powerpack 600HD from Xantrex (branded as Eliminator for Canadian Tire), for anyone wanting more detailed specs or alternate sources. Yes, it also appears to be sold as the Duracell Powerpack 600. Since Xantrex is a real manufacturer (not a retailer or distributor), they would be the actual source of the product.

I have a smaller and simpler PowerBox, which has been a handy all-in-one power appliance. Before getting the Boler we were planning on a tent trailer, and I was considering a larger unit of this style as the entire electrical system.

One caution: this model of Xantrex, like others I have seen, do not have any form of regulation for charging from a DC source. The only automatic charging method is via the AC adapter, which does shutoff automatically so it is safe to leave plugged in, but isn't likely particularly "smart". That's okay, and no different from an ordinary battery mounted in a trailer, but it does mean that a separate controller will be needed with any significant size of solar panel. See the owner's manual for details.

[kentj]

You might want to check this out http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/product_...408474396672502 because its going on sale tomorrow for $89.99, looks like a great deal. I'm thinking of picking one up.


Kent

[Brian B-P]

You might want to check this out http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/product_...408474396672502 because its going on sale tomorrow for $89.99, looks like a great deal...

That one looks appealing with its big battery (33 A-h, more than most similar products) and the built-in air compressor and booster cable connections. I've used both the compressor and the booster cables with my PowerBox.

On the other hand, it doesn't appear to have a built-in inverter, so it is not a source of portable 120V AC power.

The red and green navigation lights would not be useful to me, but I suppose they don't hurt...