Ctechi has
Ctechi GT500 LiFePO4 500W / 518Wh Portable Power Station on sale for
$149.50 when you apply discount code
HTJY1MQDBJ2K during checkout.
Shipping is free.
Thanks to Community Member
t0mmyr for sharing this deal.
About this Item:
- Rated Power: up to 500W
- Battery Type: LiFePO4
- Capacity: 518Wh
- Waveform: Pure Sine Wave
- Built-in LED Emergency Light
- Ports:
- 2x AC
- 1x USB Type-C PD
- 3x USB Type-A
- 1x DC
- 2x Wireless Phone Charging Pads
- Input:
- AC or Solar: Max 120W
- Car: Max 85W
- Output:
- AC: 110-120V, Rated: 500W / Peak: 1000W
- Car Cigarette Lighter: Max 96W
- USB-A: Max 25W / 2.4A
- USB Type-C: Max 60W / 3A
- Wireless Charging: Max 10W
- Includes:
- AC Adapter Cable
- Cigarette Light Cable
- MC4 Solar Charging Cable
- Storage Bag
- Weight: 18.08 lbs
- Dimensions: 11.3" x 6.3" x 9.1"
Top Comments
Based on his review: it has no AC pass through charging, meaning it disables AC inverter if you are charging the station. 81% efficiency AC; 87% for DC. Supports dual charging.
He tested a portable fridge on it, which is what I'm interested in. It doesn't auto shut off after 35 hours of testing, so that's good.
Not bad, but just be aware they don't seem to be a well known brand. I learned from utube comments that this design is basically a white label, meaning other sellers have the same design with a different brand.
Thanks for sharing this deal OP
I would say that for what you pay, it's probably worth it, but there were some downsides.
Pros first:
let me say that I have no problem with pass through charging from solar or AC on my unit. Not sure why pass through wouldn't work on this newer/updated model, but it did work for me.
I do like the design and the handle config. That's just me.
readout and electronics all make sense and straight forward as far as I'm concerned. size and weight are reasonable.
Cons:
This unit is pretty slow to charge up from AC. Not quick at all. compared to other units out there I would not buy this again for this reason alone. And the AC charging brick is fairly substantial. I've seen other brands with newer models and higher capacity (and more $$) that eliminate the brick for AC charging (just a cord). that would be nice, and I would recommend those so you are carrying around less cord weight/bulk if you can afford it.
solar input on mine is maxed at 120 as well. For the size of unit I had (346wh) that's not terrible, but for larger units like 500+wh, you might want at least 200w solar input option or more.
some times, this unit would seem to power on or off on it's own. I think it's just me pushing the off button too many times and there is a long delay in the machine re-acting. It's not a deal breaker, but it was a bit weird (so just a heads up).
Ultimately I do think the unit I purchased was insufficient for the electric cooler/fridge I was hoping to run while camping. My 346kwh unit would get me through most of the night but not all night, and by morning I could start running it off solar again, but I had no room for any electricity buffer if the sun was not avail then next day. I would not get anything less than 700wh on my next one.
but for the $130-ish I paid for it at the time, it's was not a bad deal. It's more that I realize now I did lowball myself too much for what I really should have got capacity wise.
on a side note, I did have problems getting a new portable folding solar panel (160w max) working well with this battery, but I do believe it was the fault of the panel, not the battery. I really couldn't get it to charge above about 80w in full sun (again, Panel issue most likely).
I did reach out to ctechi support with a few questions after I bought it, and they did communicate back within a reasonable amount of time. I eventually got the info I needed.
I would only recommend this unit if your primary goal is trying to keep it cheap, and you are sure that 518wh is enough for your needs. I've had mine for about 4 mo now, used just for camping a bit. still seems to be charging and powering up as expected.
hope that is helpful to others.
is this a valid concern for anyone else, or am i just being crazy?
51 Comments
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank slickerydoda
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank element72
Based on his review: it has no AC pass through charging, meaning it disables AC inverter if you are charging the station. 81% efficiency AC; 87% for DC. Supports dual charging.
He tested a portable fridge on it, which is what I'm interested in. It doesn't auto shut off after 35 hours of testing, so that's good.
Not bad, but just be aware they don't seem to be a well known brand. I learned from utube comments that this design is basically a white label, meaning other sellers have the same design with a different brand.
Thanks for sharing this deal OP
it's 2 Amazon reviews aren't great https://www.amazon.com/CTECHi-Por...eature_di
Based on his review: it has no AC pass through charging, meaning it disables AC inverter if you are charging the station. 81% efficiency AC; 87% for DC. Supports dual charging.
He tested a portable fridge on it, which is what I'm interested in. It doesn't auto shut off after 35 hours of testing, so that's good.
Not bad, but just be aware they don't seem to be a well known brand. I learned from utube comments that this design is basically a white label, meaning other sellers have the same design with a different brand.
Thanks for sharing this deal OP
That's a strange restriction.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
That's a strange restriction.
is this a valid concern for anyone else, or am i just being crazy?
is this a valid concern for anyone else, or am i just being crazy?
I purchased the 630w/430WH unit from these guys a couple months ago (a different item from this same brand) and have used it daily charging with my solar system and it has not missed a beat. Works good, only note i do have is that it would not run my Induction cooktop which runs at 600w but thats pulling pretty much the max continuously from the unit.
What fraction of these products can't do this? I'm surprised. Do all Ctechis have this limitation? I don't think other brands do?
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
is this a valid concern for anyone else, or am i just being crazy?
They tend to all use the same batteries, and white label these things.