Again in August, EDN printed my protection of the SLA (sealed lead acid) battery-based Phase2 Power PowerSource 660Wh 1800-Watt Energy Station on sale for $149.99 plus tax at bargains website Meh:
I hypothesized on the time that each it and a Duracell-branded clone, which initially bought for $699.99, had been private-label manufacturers of a standard design initially sourced from an organization referred to as Battery-Biz. And towards the top of that very same writeup, I additionally talked about a few lithium battery-based successor energy sources, additionally Battery-Biz-sourced, amongst them a $599.99 (versus $1,899.99 unique MSRP, consider it or not) Energizer-branded bundle with a 200W photo voltaic cell that was additionally on the time being discount-sold by Meh:
That preliminary limited-time promotion has subsequently been resurrected a number of extra instances (that I’ve seen, possibly greater than that) by Meh up to now. Why? I’ll allow them to clarify in their very own phrases:
We’ve provided this a bunch now, however we haven’t seen any actual drop-off in gross sales.
The third time I noticed it, I determined to make the leap. The second time, it had been bought in two totally different configurations: $499 refurbished with a 90-day guarantee, or $599 new with full two-year manufacturing facility guarantee. However by the point I bought round to appearing on my buy aspiration, refurb stock was depleted. “No drawback,” I believed this time, “what’s obtainable on the market is simply $100 extra, is model new, and comes with a for much longer guarantee interval.” Maintain that thought.
Listed below are extra inventory photographs and infographic pictures from the Battery-Biz web site product web page (and right here’s the person guide, linked to from that very same web page):
Together with a number of extra inventory pictures from the promotion web page on Meh’s web site:
And now, some pictures of my unit, each in motion whereas being initially charged and accompanying its SLA battery-based sibling:
So why did resolve to tug the acquisition set off, other than out of engineering curiosity? Whereas the Phase2 Power PowerSource Energy Station stays a wonderfully acceptable resolution for residential backup energy in utility outage conditions (which we sadly appear to be more and more experiencing of late), as I discussed again in September, it’s fairly a (carrying handles-included, however nonetheless) boat anchor. The Energizer PowerSource Professional Battery Generator is relatively fairly svelte: almost half the entire quantity (15.35” x 9.5” x 8.8”, versus 19.9″ x 12.8″ x 8.9″) and fewer than half the burden (23 lbs., versus 58.8 lbs.). Nevertheless, though it’s lighter, its battery has 50% larger capability (991 Wh versus 660 Wh). It recharges sooner too: 2 hours to “full” on AC from an initially empty state, versus 10 hours. Its inverter-driven AC outputs are pure sine wave in type, versus simulated. It gives yet one more DC output, that being 100W USB-C with Energy Supply cognizance. And IMHO, it seems to be cool, too.
That every one mentioned, I really determined to not hold it (and by the best way, Meh was stellar in dealing with the return, going so far as issuing me a full refund whereas the bundle was nonetheless enroute again to them). Cons of the Energizer PowerSource Professional Battery Generator in comparison with the Phase2 Power PowerSource Energy Station precursor embody:
- Decrease cumulative inverter output energy—1200-W versus 1440-W steady/1800-W surge—with the dearth of surge help within the Energizer product case due each to the comparative battery applied sciences in use and the dearth of circuitry help (versus, say, the EcoFlow items I instructed you about within the current Vacation Procuring Information for Engineers)
- Lack of help for “chaining” the interior battery to an exterior supplemental one for runtime extension
- And a completely hooked up topside deal with, making it tough to stack different issues on high of the Energizer unit ought to I wish to take it on a visit in my camper, for instance.
Thus far, these are minor “nits”. This subsequent one’s extra notable, nevertheless. As I additionally talked about within the current Vacation Procuring Information for Engineers, Battery-Biz and Energizer had been obscure upfront concerning the actual battery formulation in use with the PowerSource Professional Battery Generator, referring to it solely as a “lithium-ion”. Seems, it’s NMC (Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt); no, I don’t know why there’s no upfront “L” within the acronym, both. NMC batteries are sometimes spec’d for only some hundred recharge cycles earlier than they have to be changed. Sarcastically, that is corresponding to the Phase2 Power PowerSource Energy Station’s AGM (absorbed glass mat) SLA battery cycle spec. However it’s a lot decrease than the a number of thousand cycles oft-touted for LiFePO₄ (lithium iron phosphate), also called LFP (lithium ferrophosphate), counterparts.
And even this may not have been sufficient to immediate a return-and-refund request, given the compelling bundle worth, besides for 2 different “gotchas”. For one factor, the Energizer PowerSource Professional Battery Generator arrived with apparent already-used beauty proof, opposite to the brand-new claimed situation within the promotion (to be clear, I blame Battery-Biz, not Meh, for this seeming bait-and-switch):
Who is aware of what number of recharge cycles that NMC battery already had on it once I bought it?
The accompanying photo voltaic panel was additionally pre-owned, it seems, with comparable beauty proof, plus it arrived harm. I’ll save extra particulars on this twist for my subsequent put up on this collection. Till then, and as all the time, please hold forth along with your ideas within the feedback!
—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Imaginative and prescient Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the corporate’s on-line e-newsletter.
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The put up Energizer’s PowerSource Professional Battery Generator: Not dangerous, however you are able to do higher appeared first on EDN.
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