Is this a scam? How can it be so cheap? According to site can even charge at 100+W from solar or AC.
These guys have been selling their stuff for 50% off for a while now.
I think they are selling off their stocks because some of their other products have been OOS for a while now.
I would do a pass on these. They do not look like they will be in business for much longer.
Thanks OP. I ordered one of their smaller battery packs in the past and it was surprisingly good quality. These are very cheap per watt, so I rolled the dice since I could use a no frills, large battery pack. The manual is confusing as it isn't consistent with the sales page, or even with itself in areas, but I'm willing to gamble at this price.
I am gonna try the 460 whr and see the price ier watt is too good. But the design isn't very streamlined.
I'm going to use it for my electric cooler in my car and my mini rick cooker that uses 100 watts. to see how well it will work. So this thing better perform for more than 3500 cycles else claiming warranty because I'm gonna use the fuk out of it
And charge it up and discharge probably 2x per day. I wanted a 1800w/1000whr+ for a cheap price but this will have to do until prices drop even more or new features come out
any code for their solar panels? would love to bundle these up. the manufacturer seems ok, prolly the retail wing of their business just didn't take off. no tax, free shipping and free returns - rolle the dice, too.
when ordering "cheap chinese stuff" --- most people know what they're getting into. If you're complaining, you generally either won't buy or are attempting to warn others about the quality.
That said -- GENERAL ADVICE FOR POWER STATIONS:
1) Do NOT fully discharge.
2) Do NOT charge your devices while charging/solar charging (could lead to #1 happening)
3) Use USB chargers without data blockers at your own risk!*
*One of the no name brands I attempted to charge my android phone directly into power station and SOMEHOW this fries the chip for the entire USB panel. Power station still mostly works, but just NONE of the USB ports. It did not happen when I tried charging using a "data blocker" (usb device that blocks data and only allows power)
Less than 50cents a wh is good but.... just be careful. This is also ASSUMING that the battery really is LiFePO4. I suspect one of the power stations I purchased was NOT LiFePO4 but I'm not taking it apart to find out...........
Good luck! The warnings above are from trial and error on SEVERAL 'no name' brands that were marketed/advertised through shill deals. Hey, I get it. You're a website making money. So I get it. BUT - it still sucks when the item you get is subpar........ Warranties do not matter if there's no company backing it. "5 years warranty" LOL
when ordering "cheap chinese stuff" --- most people know what they're getting into. If you're complaining, you generally either won't buy or are attempting to warn others about the quality.
That said -- GENERAL ADVICE FOR POWER STATIONS:
1) Do NOT fully discharge.
2) Do NOT charge your devices while charging/solar charging (could lead to #1 happening)
3) Use USB chargers without data blockers at your own risk!*
*One of the no name brands I attempted to charge my android phone directly into power station and SOMEHOW this fries the chip for the entire USB panel. Power station still mostly works, but just NONE of the USB ports. It did not happen when I tried charging using a "data blocker" (usb device that blocks data and only allows power)
Less than 50cents a wh is good but.... just be careful. This is also ASSUMING that the battery really is LiFePO4. I suspect one of the power stations I purchased was NOT LiFePO4 but I'm not taking it apart to find out...........
Good luck! The warnings above are from trial and error on SEVERAL 'no name' brands that were marketed/advertised through shill deals. Hey, I get it. You're a website making money. So I get it. BUT - it still sucks when the item you get is subpar........ Warranties do not matter if there's no company backing it. "5 years warranty" LOL
Best of luck to all gamblers!
A power station that's any good should be able to "fully" discharge. If that would cause problems there would be discharge protection circuitry built in.
when ordering "cheap chinese stuff" --- most people know what they're getting into. If you're complaining, you generally either won't buy or are attempting to warn others about the quality.
That said -- GENERAL ADVICE FOR POWER STATIONS:
1) Do NOT fully discharge.
2) Do NOT charge your devices while charging/solar charging (could lead to #1 happening)
3) Use USB chargers without data blockers at your own risk!*
*One of the no name brands I attempted to charge my android phone directly into power station and SOMEHOW this fries the chip for the entire USB panel. Power station still mostly works, but just NONE of the USB ports. It did not happen when I tried charging using a "data blocker" (usb device that blocks data and only allows power)
Less than 50cents a wh is good but.... just be careful. This is also ASSUMING that the battery really is LiFePO4. I suspect one of the power stations I purchased was NOT LiFePO4 but I'm not taking it apart to find out...........
Good luck! The warnings above are from trial and error on SEVERAL 'no name' brands that were marketed/advertised through shill deals. Hey, I get it. You're a website making money. So I get it. BUT - it still sucks when the item you get is subpar........ Warranties do not matter if there's no company backing it. "5 years warranty" LOL
Best of luck to all gamblers!
That's odd. My ecoflow pro manual says I should fully discharge the unit, followed by a 80% (recommended) charge afterwards for proper maintenance. Some power station apps even have a maintenance button that fully discharges and re-charges the batteries.
I purchased one of the Ctechi refurbished small stations (300W, around 360Wh) last time, and it just works. Appearance was really nice. It charges and powers my devices (mainly a portable fridge) just fine.
I needed a little assistance during the purchase process, and they were prompt to answer and did a great job. My refurbished unit was a bit scratched on the outside (consistent with some use), but works fine.
Do I need another smaller power station? Probably no, but I'm definitely a fan of this brand.
As a manufacturing engineer in the electronics industry, I'm going to make a guess that they had some issues with build quality, and decided to rework the issue and sell as refurbished. Otherwise, they must get a LOT of returns. They have been selling refurbished units off and on for a while now. I'm going with the "a manufacturer refurbished unit means it got extra attention, and will be the best example of the product" idea.
My other thought is that the larger unit here with a 30W PD USB-C connector seems a little outdated. I suspect they are trying to get rid of all the old inventory before releasing a newer model, like one with 100W PD. In my previous purchase, they did just that--replaced the model I had with one that had more features. It had a battery gauge in % instead of 5 bars. I didn't care, but the newer model seemed to have features more consistent with current power stations.
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I think they are selling off their stocks because some of their other products have been OOS for a while now.
I would do a pass on these. They do not look like they will be in business for much longer.
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I'm going to use it for my electric cooler in my car and my mini rick cooker that uses 100 watts. to see how well it will work. So this thing better perform for more than 3500 cycles else claiming warranty because I'm gonna use the fuk out of it
And charge it up and discharge probably 2x per day. I wanted a 1800w/1000whr+ for a cheap price but this will have to do until prices drop even more or new features come out
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That said -- GENERAL ADVICE FOR POWER STATIONS:
1) Do NOT fully discharge.
2) Do NOT charge your devices while charging/solar charging (could lead to #1 happening)
3) Use USB chargers without data blockers at your own risk!*
*One of the no name brands I attempted to charge my android phone directly into power station and SOMEHOW this fries the chip for the entire USB panel. Power station still mostly works, but just NONE of the USB ports. It did not happen when I tried charging using a "data blocker" (usb device that blocks data and only allows power)
Less than 50cents a wh is good but.... just be careful. This is also ASSUMING that the battery really is LiFePO4. I suspect one of the power stations I purchased was NOT LiFePO4 but I'm not taking it apart to find out...........
Good luck! The warnings above are from trial and error on SEVERAL 'no name' brands that were marketed/advertised through shill deals. Hey, I get it. You're a website making money. So I get it. BUT - it still sucks when the item you get is subpar........ Warranties do not matter if there's no company backing it. "5 years warranty" LOL
Best of luck to all gamblers!
That said -- GENERAL ADVICE FOR POWER STATIONS:
1) Do NOT fully discharge.
2) Do NOT charge your devices while charging/solar charging (could lead to #1 happening)
3) Use USB chargers without data blockers at your own risk!*
*One of the no name brands I attempted to charge my android phone directly into power station and SOMEHOW this fries the chip for the entire USB panel. Power station still mostly works, but just NONE of the USB ports. It did not happen when I tried charging using a "data blocker" (usb device that blocks data and only allows power)
Less than 50cents a wh is good but.... just be careful. This is also ASSUMING that the battery really is LiFePO4. I suspect one of the power stations I purchased was NOT LiFePO4 but I'm not taking it apart to find out...........
Good luck! The warnings above are from trial and error on SEVERAL 'no name' brands that were marketed/advertised through shill deals. Hey, I get it. You're a website making money. So I get it. BUT - it still sucks when the item you get is subpar........ Warranties do not matter if there's no company backing it. "5 years warranty" LOL
Best of luck to all gamblers!
That said -- GENERAL ADVICE FOR POWER STATIONS:
1) Do NOT fully discharge.
2) Do NOT charge your devices while charging/solar charging (could lead to #1 happening)
3) Use USB chargers without data blockers at your own risk!*
*One of the no name brands I attempted to charge my android phone directly into power station and SOMEHOW this fries the chip for the entire USB panel. Power station still mostly works, but just NONE of the USB ports. It did not happen when I tried charging using a "data blocker" (usb device that blocks data and only allows power)
Less than 50cents a wh is good but.... just be careful. This is also ASSUMING that the battery really is LiFePO4. I suspect one of the power stations I purchased was NOT LiFePO4 but I'm not taking it apart to find out...........
Good luck! The warnings above are from trial and error on SEVERAL 'no name' brands that were marketed/advertised through shill deals. Hey, I get it. You're a website making money. So I get it. BUT - it still sucks when the item you get is subpar........ Warranties do not matter if there's no company backing it. "5 years warranty" LOL
Best of luck to all gamblers!
I needed a little assistance during the purchase process, and they were prompt to answer and did a great job. My refurbished unit was a bit scratched on the outside (consistent with some use), but works fine.
Do I need another smaller power station? Probably no, but I'm definitely a fan of this brand.
As a manufacturing engineer in the electronics industry, I'm going to make a guess that they had some issues with build quality, and decided to rework the issue and sell as refurbished. Otherwise, they must get a LOT of returns. They have been selling refurbished units off and on for a while now. I'm going with the "a manufacturer refurbished unit means it got extra attention, and will be the best example of the product" idea.
My other thought is that the larger unit here with a 30W PD USB-C connector seems a little outdated. I suspect they are trying to get rid of all the old inventory before releasing a newer model, like one with 100W PD. In my previous purchase, they did just that--replaced the model I had with one that had more features. It had a battery gauge in % instead of 5 bars. I didn't care, but the newer model seemed to have features more consistent with current power stations.