Review

June 2, 2000

Thanks to a week of bad luck, I had a lot of opportunities to put the Statpower Portawattz PowerPAC to use. But before I get to my tale of woe, I'll tell you a bit about the PowerPAC.

Simply put, it's a 12V gel battery combined with an AC inverter. But like the saying goes, the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. This compact package has the following features:

• Safe, high quality AGM battery: UL listed, 18 amp-hour
• 300-watt inverter with dual 115-volt AC outlets, capable of a 500-watt surge
• 12-volt/12-amp DC power socket
• High power DC connector and cables for jump-starting vehicles or connecting external batteries
• AC charger for plug'n-and-forget charging
• DC charging cable for ultrafast 3-hour recharging from a running vehicle or connecting two PowerPAC units
• Compact size and lightweight design
• Durable housing with full-grasp handle for easy carrying
• Recharge indicator displays charge staus

When I received the unit from Statpower,the power gauge indicated that it was already fully charged so I ignored the manual and didn't charge it. Its first test took place the following weekend when I began the annual "see how long it takes to start the lawn tractor after you leave it sitting all winter without a trickle charger" ritual. This year, like the previous years, its battery was completely dead. Unlike past years, I didn't have to struggle to push it close enough to the house to get it within range of an extension cord and the battery charger. I simply carried the PowerPAC to the tractor. It only weighs 8 kg so it is very light.

I connected the included jumper cables to the tractor's battery and plugged the other end into the matching port on the PowerPAC. Turning the ignition key, I was rewarded with the sound of the tractor's motor getting turned over by the starter. As expected, it didn't start right away but the PowerPAC had plenty of power to let me keep trying until the motor finally caught. I'll spare you the positively riveting account of how I then proceeded to buzz-cut the lawn to within an inch of its life.

The next test of the PowerPAC came later that night when I had some friends over. Sitting in the hot tub, we decided it would be a fine idea to watch a video at the same time. I dragged out a VCR/TV combo, hooked it up to the PowerPAC and we were set. The PowerPAC ran the TV for 2 hrs before its low power warning beeper sounded. We were quite impressed, considering the fact that the unit hadn't been re-charged since I received it and it had started the lawn tractor earlier that day.

The next morning, I hooked the unit up to it's AC adapter and left it in the garage. The manual, which I finally got around to reading, recommends keeping the battery charged to maximize its life span. It wasn't long before I needed it again. On Monday as I was trying to leave work, I couldn't start my Jeep. I got a jump start from a co-worker's car & pondered the source of the problem during my commute home. Unfortunately, I had a busy week and was unable to work on the problem until the following weekend.

For the rest of the week, the PowerPAC was a permanent passenger in my Jeep. It dutifully started my Jeep twice a day until I was able to fix the problem on Friday night. It also played a part in establishing my reputation at work as someone who had EVERYTHING in his Jeep. One day, the marketing people were preparing the offices for a visit by potential investors. They wanted to vacuum the stairwell carpet but they didn't have an extension cord long enough to reach the nearest AC outlet. Expecting me to have an extension cord in my Jeep, they turned to me. I was about to disappoint them with the truth (no extension cord) when I remembered the PowerPAC. It had plenty of juice to power the small, 5amp vacuum cleaner. Oddly enough, they didn't question why I had something like that in my truck. In any case, I found yet another use for the PowerPAC and they were able to vacuum the stairwell.

After I solved my Jeep's battery problems, I didn't need the PowerPAC for the next couple of weeks. But then Rock Crawl 2000 came up. It was a 3-day event and I would be camping every day. The PowerPAC was once again pressed into use. This time I was using it to re-charge my video and digital still cameras' batteries. It had enough power to re-charge my batteries for the duration of the weekend. But even if it didn't, I could have plugged it in to my cigarette lighter to re-charge it.

After having the PowerPAC for 5 weeks, I have to admit that the most surprising thing about it is how often I ended up using it. On the other hand, the PowerPAC is much more versatile and can be easily moved from one vehicle to another. If you do a lot of camping, you would probably find it even more useful, especially if you like bringing your electronic toys along. I certainly ended up using it far more often than I thought I would. If you'd like more information on this product, go to www.store4power.com or click on the following graphic:

...lars