Xantrex Powerpack 600HD - Product Review

Part 1 - Description with Photos

The Xantrex Powerpack 600 HD is a combination 600W inverter and 28 amp-hour battery.   It has a host of uses for an overland trip, most notably, being able to supply power to small devices away from the truck. 

Some key features include:

• Retail Price - $180
• 600 watt inverter with max surge to 960 watts
• 3 AC outlets run at 120v/60Hz
• 5W light
• AM/FM radio
• Clock with alarm
• Battery meter
• Watt meter
• Jumper cables
• Easy carry handle
• $129 at Amazon

The front of the unit hosts the outlets, meters and emergency light.

The right side is used for venting of heat while the inverter is in heavy use.

The rear includes the clock/radio/alarm as well as a handy reference chart for use and charging.

On the left side there are three conenctors.  Topmost is the standard 12V DC connection for either charging or drawing power.   Below that is the AC socket.  With the supplied AC adapter you don't have to worry about overcharging the unit.  In fact, the manual suggests leaving the unit plugged in continuously to keep the battery at optimal levels

Lastly you have the plug for the jumper cables.  Rated at 50amps for 3 seconds, and with the portability to be carried anywhere needed, this unit will help get most nearly dead car batteries the boost they need to get started.  The jumper cables can also be attached to any standard car battery and supplement the 28amp hour internal battery.

A close up of the front panel reveals the AC plugs, AC on/off switch and Emergency light.

On the left side of the front is the status display.  While the unit is on AC mode, the display will show the current draw in watts (seen above as zero).  After the unit has been turned off and sat idle for 15 minutes, holding down the Display Function button will show the current charge percentage remaining on the internal battery.  The Charge Status light blinks while the unit is receiving charge from an AC source and solid when the battery is fully charged.

The clock radio is straight forward and a handy feature to have available.  AM radio doesn't work well, as expected, when the AC mode is being used because of electrical inerference.

The instructions printed on the back help someone not familiar with the unit to operate it in a safe manner.

The supplied jumper cables have a somewhat short cord forcing the unit to be set inside the engine bay to achive connection to a dead battery.  This is less than optimal as the unit should not be close to moving parts (fans, belts, etc...) and should be on something stable.  I will see if I can find the type of adapter plug that is used and post information here on splicing in a longer cable so the unit may be set on the ground, which I feel is safer.

Operation of the unit is as simple as it seems.  Turn on the AC switch and it is ready to start supplying power.  As more devices are plugged in the meter will indicate the power draw from the battery.  If too much current is being drawn across the inverter, an alarm will sound.  If the situation is not improved, the unit will shut itself off to prevent damage to the inverter.  This is a nice feature to help increase the longevity of the unit.  The alarm will also sound when the unit is low on juice.  It gives a two minute warning or so the first time, then a longer "really, I'm about to shut off" warning before it will power down to prevent damage to the internal battery.   You may use a power strip with the unit.

The DC port on the side can be used to either charge the unit (with the supplied double male ended 12V cord that plugs right into a power port in a vehicle) or to draw power directly from the internal battery.  One warning on 12V use; the battery protection warning will NOT automatically shut down the unit if the battery gets too low.  Damage to the internal battery may occur, it is therefor suggest to leave the AC switch on and heed the lower power warning to prevent damage.  This warning is printed on the rear of the unit.   The unit should not be left plugged into a always hot power port on a vehicle.

Powerpack getting a free solar charge from a PowerFilm 20W foldable panel.

Part 2 - Usability Test #1 Parameters

The usability test is currently being conducted as follows:
- Start with 100% charge on Powerpack
- Plug in Engel 45 Fridge. Set thermostat to 4. Insert a 40oz stainless steel water bottle with room temperature water.
- Plug in a Dell Latitude 620 laptop with a 50% charge on its battery. Turn on wifi and do normal work stuff.
- Use KillaWatt meter on laptop connection to monitor laptop charge and use
- Monitor fridge temps and check on water throughout day.  room temp around 69F

These conditions are meant to somewhat simulate an average conceivable use of the Powerpack while on an overland trip. I personally envision using the unit to charge camera batteries, use the laptop to journal/map the days events and keep the fridge going if the car battery is questionable or if we will be stopped for a long period. I will also use the unit during power outages at home for the same use, possibly running our main refrigerator as well.

Test #1 Results

The following chart shows the progress of the test along with comments.

Time	Meter (W)	Killawatt Reading for laptop	Laptop battery charge %	Room temp (F)	Fridge temp (F)	Comments
9:40	25-27	none yet	none yet	N/A	N/A	Only fridge plugged in at this time
9:42	110	86-89	50%	N/A	N/A	Both running
9:49	80-90	60	62%	N/A	N/A
10:14	60-80	43	88%	N/A	N/A
10:35						Installed fridge thermometer
10:41	50-60	31	98%	64.4	21.1	temp slowly adjusting to actual
10:50	50-60	27	99%	67.1	17.9
11:04	50-60	24-25	100%	68.0	15.0	Laptop done charging
11:12	50-60	25 jumps to 40 at times	100%	68.2	13.4
11:35	60	26	100%	68.4	10.0
12:01	30	25	100%	68.9	7.5	turned fridge to level 1, it stopped
12:48						Unit beeped shortly
12:50						Louder beep, shut unit off
1:06						Unit shows 0% battery charge

As can be seen, I made some changes to the test along the way.  First, I didn't get out the thermometer until late in the experiment so it took a while to show the real temps.  Second, I realized I never run the fridge at 4 (freeze) and usually around 1 or, more accurately, pointing right at the letter F in Ref on the dial.  So I turned it back at 12:01 after it had been running 2 hours and 20 minutes non-stop.  I also took off the transit bag which tends to keep the unit cooler.  The room temp of 70 was probably pretty close to most ambient temps found on trips in these parts.

I also made the mistake of leaving the internal network card on the laptop on, which gets turned off automaticly when the laptop is on battery. 

While the unit seemed to only last 3 hours in this test I realized this wasn't close to what I want, but I also realized this wasn't true real world.  While the laptop is just resting it pulls the listed 25-27W.  When there is wifi activity the meter hangs out around 45W, an increase of 80% or so.  With wifi off, the laptop battery charged and with the fridge adjusted and insulated, I feel the Xantrex would have lasted at least 3-4 more hours, consistent with what the manual states for such a load.  This will have to wait for another test.

Test #2 Parameters

This test was on a home Fridge.  Our unit is a Maytag French door unit less than 1 year old.  It is listed at 7.5amps.  The fridge was simply plugged into the Xantrex to see if it would work.

Test #2 Results

The unit didn't like this test at first.  Even though the unit lists 960W as the peak surge, and the 7.5amp is around 900W within that range, the unit kept turning off as the fridge attempted to start.  The meter would scroll up towards 900 and then the alarm would sound and the unit shut down.  I turned off the fridge, by raising its freezer temp above the current listed.

This allowed the fridge to turn on while only pulling about 750W for a moment.  I could then turn on the freezer section and all was well.  The temps got up to 47 for the fridge and 11 for the freezer.  I set them for 36 and 0 and let the unit run.  Under normal use the meter showed 160W and the cooling fan would turn on low.  When the doors to the fridge were opened this would draw another 80W and the fan would speed up a little.

The unit lasted about 2 hours in this situation.  The fridge was running most of the time and cooled down to 41 and 3 respectively.  The unit then screamed its displeasure and shut off after the second warning.  Connecting the unit to another 100+ amp hour battery would greatly increase the time the fridge would run.  this test was mainly carried out to see if we could use the unit during our seemingly frequent power outages.  With use of a second battery and charges by of a car inbetween, the unit should fill our need ot keeping food from spoiling for most of the power outages we have.  While not ideal, it is a LOT cheaper and quieter than running a generator for just the simplest things.

Tests #3 & #4 Parameters

Test #3 was performed as a matter of neccesity.  With a power outage the other night we moved all dairy type products into the Engel 45 fridge.  We then plugged the fridge into the Powerpack using the DC connecter to reduce inverter power loss.  We did, however, turn on the AC switch as instructed by Xantrex.  This is to ensure the low battery alarm goes off and you don't damage the battery.  The unit was plugged in around 1am and ran over night in this configuration.  Later on Saturday the AM radio was turned on to allow us to listen to the Seahawks' game.  The test ended around 10pm.

Test #3 Results

Test #4 Results

Conclusions