Battery/inverter: Charg'g to 80% in 1 hr!, 714Wh, 600W, $500

[RandyFF]

Hi to everyone! Haven't posted in ages, stopped visiting forums for a long time now. You guys are still the best forum I've had the pleasure to participate in.

 

I posted this in the Bose S1 Pro vs JBL Compact thread, thought it was worth sharing on its own merits

 

I was talking about using a 'power station', a battery/inverter run off of lithium-ion batteries so that you could run your favorite PA off of batteries. Watt Hours (Wh) is the common way to talk about battery capacity for this kind of battery/inverter, which is literally the number of hours it'll run so many watts.

 

I bought a 246Wh 'power station' and ran a QSC K8.2 off of it for 2-4 hours, depending on how loud and bass heavy I was. It'd shut down sometimes, was probably the 300W inverter, was surprised this 6 lb battery/inverter would run it at all, let alone for so long and so loud. I'd turn down the bass/volume and kept playing, but came to the conclusion I needed at least twice as much inverter/power, and with this unit I get about 3xs as much, but it also weighs almost 3xs as much.

 

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Turns out there's a relatively new Kickstarter kid on the block, the EcoFlow River series. The one I've settled on is the River Pro.

 

CONS OUT OF THE WAY FIRST: it's not the more desirable LifePo4 battery chemistry, which can have up to 3-4xs the battery life to 80% capability, but still, this has a rating of 800+ cycles before the 80% remaining capacity is reached. And, vitally important, it has one-of-a-kind features that are a must-have for some of us and helps to extend its longevity:

 

- CHARGE TO 80% IN 1 HOUR!!!!!!!!!!!! For my Van Life this is a game changer. Full charge in 1.6 hours from AC (660 watts!). Solar charge with 200 watts of panels in 4-8 hours. Most of the competition is at 7-8 hours charging time from AC.

 

- Price is right- many places offer it at $100 off, but buy it direct and it's a total of $150 off (presumably for Black Friday). So: $500 for a 714Wh 'power station'. A great price even without the innovations that make it a must-buy for me. Though this is lessened somewhat as more LifePo4 batteries become available at almost similar prices.

 

- Add on battery! I can double the capacity with an extender battery (about $400). For storage purposes, having a separate battery that doubles its capacity can be very useful, keeping the original unit of a manageable size as needed, though I'm disappointed they didn't make it something you can just add to the original, as in modular building blocks, like they did with the River Max (original unit is 288Wh, but the Max comes with a battery extender that doubles its battery to 566Wh, and slips seemlessly into the main unit). Oh well, there's still nothing else out there I've found that has this on offer, and the River Max is too small for my needs.

 

- 600 watt inverter, most of them at this price point are 400-500 watts, so a big win there. Includes an innovative X-boost mode that allows up to 1,800 watts to be run, but there's some trickery to this. It has a peak of 1,200 watts for momentary loads, but it's still just a 600 watt inverter that changes the voltage to accommodate higher wattage, so resistive loads that might not run on a 600 watt inverter will work, but at lessened force, being inherently limited to 600 watts. This can be switched off so sensitive equipment like computers would not be subject to a lower voltage, but still it gives you some capability for things like hair dryers and toasters that wouldn't run at all without this feature.

 

- An app that controls all of this remotely as needed, like the x-boost mode. You can also program it to turn off charging at 80% capacity, which I understand will extend the life of Lithium-Ion batteries to twice as much? Can also program it to slow charge.

 

- At $500 I expected about 500Wh of power, but with 714Wh, that's more to my liking, esp. given the inefficiency of having to use an inverter for AC power, which typically nets with this unit, by a handful of reports, around 550Wh. It sounds like this inverter is not the most efficient out there, so the more Wh's the better, up to the natural limit of desirable weight, cost and size. I'm already maxing out here with it being all of 17 lbs / 7.7 kgs and quite large compared to my other power station. I'm indulging in wishful thinking that I'd be able to fit it in my backpack (11.4L x 7.3W x 9.3H inches).

 

- A plethora of outputs, I esp love the QC3, cig lighter socket and PD ports:

> 3x AC

> USB-A with QC3/18W as well as 2x 12W

> USB-C with PD 100W (!)

> Cigarette lighter socket: 136W, 13.6V, 10A Max

> DC: DC5521 Output (x2), 13.6V, 3A Max per port

 

I'm bought one yesterday!

 

Randyman

 

EcoFlow River Pro 'Power Station'

 

PS Not sponsored by them, frankly just relieved/happy that this product is available at this price point. On Amazon the 617 reviews average out to 4.5

[MPN21]

Turns out there's a relatively new Kickstarter kid on the block, the EcoFlow River series. The one I've settled on is the River Pro.

The River Pro is $549 and $499 for the River Max Plus. They seem to have the same specs. It's good to learn that LifePo4 batteries have 3 to 4 times longer lifespan. I found on Amazon LifePo4 batteries with similar specs for about the same prices, but no one hour recharge, which is not that important for me. I almost bought one of these as I am expecting to play more outdoor events. Then I realized I already have instruments and amps that are battery operated. One of my battery amps BA330 has multiple inputs, too. I might wait a big longer and get a larger capacity for music and other purposes such as camping.

[RandyFF]

Turns out there's a relatively new Kickstarter kid on the block, the EcoFlow River series. The one I've settled on is the River Pro.

The River Pro is $549 and $499 for the River Max Plus. They seem to have the same specs. It's good to learn that LifePo4 batteries have 3 to 4 times longer lifespan. I found on Amazon LifePo4 batteries with similar specs for about the same prices, but no one hour recharge, which is not that important for me. I almost bought one of these as I am expecting to play more outdoor events. Then I realized I already have instruments and amps that are battery operated. One of my battery amps BA330 has multiple inputs, too. I might wait a big longer and get a larger capacity for music and other purposes such as camping.

 

I got an additional $50 off by buying the River Pro directly from them, so my total price was $500. I've been traveling in my van, so having a good 'power station' is vital. One to 1.5 hours recharge time is wonderful, it was such a drag trying to get my other power station charged up, 6-8 hours is way too long!

 

Yeah, I have the JBL Eon One Compact, having such a nice BT mixer AND battery built-in is the way to go! For my keyboards I have a smallish power station, has only 246Wh, but it's more than enough, even for my Casio CT-X5000, which has powerful 30W speakers built-in.

 

Yeah, without the 1-1.5 hour recharging time, I would have bought a LifePo4 power station. There was one attractive system that had a Black Friday coupon good for $170 off, putting the price under $400 for a 600Wh? battery/inverter, but for traveling, the 1-1.5hr recharging is a must. For me, even if I had the money, I wouldn't get an EV until there were cars and charging stations that had ultra fast charging, same difference.