Group Buy (Closed): Jackery Explorer Portable Power Stations and SolarSaga Solar Panels

Ok, so apparently this is a common issue with the plug that comes with the ICECO fridge and not an issue with the Jackery Explorer DC outlet.

Here is a post on IH8Mud in the ICECO Group Buy thread where someone says that they were having the same issue and replaced the plug with the ARB replacement and it supposedly works much better.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/ic...-sale-on-amazon.1216342/page-40#post-13400322

So now I'm looking into purchasing the ARB replacement plug. I guess that's a risk that you take with buying a budget 12v fridge. At least it is an easy and relatively inexpensive fix.

 

All three of my budget fridges suffered from
This. The plug is slightly smaller than what arb,dometic, and snomaster uses. My solution was two strips of electrical tape on the none electrical connector sides and it held firm in the back of the Tacoma. Since I’ve upgraded to the dometic (buy once cry once for me) much much better. Very firm insert and no chance it’s wiggling it’s way out.

 

I hadn't considered the electrical tape idea. You might have just saved me $20. Though, it might be nice to have the spare cable and not have to worry about residue if the electrical tape comes off.

Choices. I'm just glad it isn't a Jackery problem, as I don't know what could be done to fix that.

 

Yes thanks for the electrical tape idea. Will give that a try too. And good luck CowboyTaco.

 

I've been running a couple of tests with the Jackery Explorer 1000 and SolarSaga 100W panels. Just to give you guys some raw data. I'll put some stuff in bold in case you don't want to read the entire post.

1st charge was done via an AC outlet in my house.
The unit charged from 39% to 100% in 4 hours and 40 minutes.

What I found most interesting in that 4 hours and 4 minutes is that the input showed around 160W up until about 98% (or maybe 99%) and took almost 4 hours exactly. That last 1% dropped down to 1-20W and took another 40 minutes. So you could get to 98% much faster than the remaining 1 or 2%. Good to know if you are in a rush.

1st discharge was running an Iceco JP40 12v fridge on MAX mode and connected via AC power. I've read that there is a 10% loss of efficiency when using AC power because of the pure sine wave inverter. I started at an ambient temp of 77* in the fridge. It took 58 minutes to cool the empty fridge to 32*. At this point, I heard a fan on the Jackery kick on. Not super loud, but louder than I expected. Jackery was at 95% (so 5% consumed to reach freezing). I also opened the lid and added a single Powerade and increased the temp setting to 38* as I didn't want the drink frozen. It was opened again to retrieve the Powerade after my daughters soccer game. In total, it took 21 hours to go from 100% back down to 39%.

2nd charge was done via 2 SolarSaga 100W panels.
The unit charged from 38% to 97% in 6 hours and 30 minutes. I was not home to get a time on the final 100%

I chose to do this on a cloudy day, as I don't think it is reasonable to expect clear blue skies everywhere. When I started, it was 100% cloud coverage with no blue visible anywhere and I was only getting 30W between the 2 panels. After about 30 minutes, I started to see patches of blue, but it was still near 100% cloud coverage. I could tell that the clouds were getting thinner because I was up to 42W input according to the display. At this point, I was up to 41%. Another hour later and I was up to 47% charge and 130W on the input. The sky was turning mostly blue and clear with some big clouds in the area. After 4 hours, I was up to 76%. The last time I checked before it was full was at 6 hours and 30 minutes and it was at 97%. I was hoping to catch the last 2 % so that I could see if it self regulated the input again, but I had to leave the house and missed the final 3%. I think 6.5 hours is pretty good considering the amount of clouds.

I'm in the middle of my second test with the ICECO JP40. The only difference is that the ambient temp was 72* when started (as opposed to 77) and I'm running it on DC power. It is still on MAX mode instead of ECO. Time got away from me and I didn't check it again until 57m. The power cord for the DC plug had come loose and the fridge was not powered on. When I plugged it back in, the display read 32*. So it did reach freezing temps in less time on DC compared to AC. I just don't know exactly when freezing temp was reached. Temp setting increased and the sustained 38* test commenced. Jackery was at 97% capacity, so roughly 3% or less used to reach freezing temp on DC. It took 6 hours and 14 minutes for the Jackery to reach 90%. I checked it at 18 hours and 20 minutes and the Jackery had 72%. Currently at 23 hours and 67% remaining.

 

Excellent feedback CowboyTaco. That gosh damn bold and underline almost peezes me off. Did you try the electrical tape trick? Garner SP next weekend and Big Bend end of Oct and do not want to have to worry about that BS.

EDIT: And to this group - this loose plug is the iceco issue. Not Jackery. Believe that is mentioned above but want to mention again.

 

I added 1 piece of electrical tape to each side of the plug that does not interfere with the connection. It held it in for a few moments, so it was better but clearly wasn't enough. To avoid potential for further disruptions in my test, I just wedged it up against a cabinet in my garage to hold it in place. I will add 2 more pieces of electrical tape to see how that works, but I just didn't want the possibility of coming out and it not being powered on again.

 

try two and let us know. I got my jackery last night charged it up to 100% then put it in the runner this morning. My dometic plug is just right. No wiggle no nothing.

I plugged the jackery into the truck for constant charge and the fridge into the jackery if that helps anyone. The only thing I’m bummed out about is it fits perfectly in the cubby of the 4Runner. But it blocks the plug. I’m gonna see if I can find a 90• adapter for the 12v somewhere.

 

Some of the pics of the Jackery past weekend.

 

Having to return the jackery either I got a dud or the dometic is drawing too much. It’s barely lasting 12hours from a full charge on a fully pre chilled fridge that is loaded with waters in the back of the 4Runner out side temps between 60-70

 

That's odd. You got the 500, right?

No way the Dometic is pulling more than it can handle. Are you running the fridge on AC or DC?

For comparison sake, I ran my ICECO fridge empty and on MAX mode on AC and DC from my Explorer 1000.
On AC, it consumed 61% (39% remaining) of the Explorer 1000 in 21 hours.
On DC, it consumed 45% (55% remaining) of the Explorer 1000 in 32 hours and 43 minutes and 68% (32% remaining) at 48 hours and 32 minutes.

Both of my tests were done in similar ambient temperatures as yours.

 

Correct I have the 12v in the truck charging it while the dometic is running off the 12v of the jackery. Pre chilled at 32degrees on the fridge side and 28 degrees on the freezer side maintaining within 2 degree swings. The fridge side is packed full of water, beer, and Smirnoff. The freezer side the basket is out and filled full of water. And since Saturday the most run time I’ve got was 11:45 and the display showed 6% remaining. This I had to recharge the jackery off house power Saturday night and put it in the truck Sunday evening and let it go over night (extension cord ran to the dometic to keep it cool) changed the temp setting on the dometic to 36/32 and it lasted 11hours almost exact before it hit 10% power.


So either my dometic is messed up or the jackery but I’m leaning more towards jackery. If they offer an exchange I’ll do that and re test and if it’s still doing it I will reach out to dometic. But the dometic was not having any excessive draws when it was in the Tacoma hooked up to my dual battery setup.

 

Interesting. What does the Jackery show for output wattage when the Dometic compressor is running. It sounds like you have a dual zone Dometic. I wonder if that could be causing it to pull more?

On a related tangent, how are dual zone fridges configured when it comes to the compressor. Are there two compressors or just one and a fan that blows to one side or the other as appropriate? I'd be interested to know the power consumption when both zones are cooling.

 

I wonder if the compressor works harder or kicks on more frequently when using freezing temperatures. I haven't tested the freezing temperatures on my ARB yet, but I set it to 29F got 48 hours off the Jackery 500 with ambient temperatures around 70-80F.

I also purchased a cheap Massimo unit from Costco and had it set to 0F to keep some items frozen. At 20 hours, the Jackery 500 displayed 16% battery left. Not sure if it's due to the compressor kicking on more frequently due to freezing temperatures or if the cheaper unit has less insulation, or it could be a combination of both.

 

The compressor definitely kicks on more when set to freezing temps. I guess that'll be my next test is sustained 0 degree setting. Though, when I first tested, my fridge would not get below 14 degrees Fahrenheit. That said, it was a hot day and the metal bench that it was resting on was reading 96 degrees on my infrared thermometer.

 

From my understanding I have two compressors but I could be wrong as far as display the jackery is showing 2.1-2.5w the dometic app also shows the same except when the compressor kicks on during the variance which then it rises to 2.7-3.0

 

I really wish the jackery had a blue tooth mode to monitor its output/ input and battery life. The purpose for buying it for me was for extended weekend trips where my truck wouldn’t be running at night to keep the fridge cooled but at this rate I may be lucky to see 1 night of use without having to hook it up to solar. Again I’m not discounting it yet. I just am wondering if I got a dud.

 

That does sound odd. So if I read it right it's pulling let's say 2.5 watts at idle and when compressor is on watts increase to around 5.5 watts? My iceco JP50 pulls up to 40+watts with compressor on. Can't for the life of me remember wattage pull when idle. But it was down in single digits.

Edit: I use mine as a fridge and temp set at 32. Eco mode at all times.

 

I agree with @texas angler My ARB is about 2w at idle and 40+ with compressor on. With the Massimo, similar wattage at idle and about 30-45w with compressor on. If you're really pulling 5.5w, the Jackery should be providing you with at least a couple days

 

If you are able, unplug the fridge and let it rise to ambient temp (or at least above 40 degrees on both zones). Then plug it into the jackery (preferably charged) and see what the wattage output reads. If you have 2 compressors, and each one is rated to pull 55-60W (which is pretty standard), you could be pulling anywhere from 100-120W when both are running at the same time. If that's the case, it would make sense that the power pack is only lasting around 12 hours.