Xantrex 802-1500 XPower 1,500 Watt Portable Powerpack

I needed a powerful but sealed power-pack (sealed battery + converter) for poolside use, to power a large 110-volt karaoke machine for five hours a day. The Xatrex 1500 is the only power-pack I've found that meets this requirement.

It was a pleasant surprise to find that the wheels have rubber rather than (noisy) plastic treads.

The first 1500 stopped working with a bang after two hours. When I phoned the Xantrex company, the technician I soon was talking to quickly concluded that my 1500 had malfunctioned and recommended that I return it. I was pleased with this candor. The second 1500 has worked for about a month now.

Not obvious is that the 1500 has a small storage cabinet, in which I store an extension cord.

Both 1500s arrived undamaged. A disclaimer is that I bought my 1500s from costo-dot-comm, which is relevant because perhaps Costco uses different packaging for shipping.

The "large karaoke machine" is a MegaStar CM-K1100, and its average draw has been 30-something watts.

9/18/06 Update: Around July the charge time dropped to under four hours. When I called Xantrex, the technician told me that battery life is about 200 charges.

I previously ordered two of these units and wrote a review. Both were badly damaged, but one was salvagable. The other I had to return, after it overheated and emitted a noxious odor. I decided to take a chance and order another unit this month (goal was to have total of two working units), hoping that whatever warehouse or shipping issues that resulted in previous damage had been resolved. They weren't. This unit also came with crushed top and wheels. Until the manufacturer comes up with a better way to ship these heavy beasts, not worth it.

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Here's what I learned. I'm not an expert, but was looking for a practical solution to power outages.

1. Not practical if you are buying it to stay warm in power outages.

2. Extremely practical to run electrical items in the yard where no power is available. It's even on a rolling cart! Doesn't take up a lot of space in the garage when stored, but you'll want to keep it charged.

3. Somewhat helpful to make some coffee or run tiny appliances when the power is out.

4. Useful for lights during a power outage. Runs a big 3-way floor lamp, for instance.

5. Extremely useful for recharging your LAPTOP (or keeping your computer router running) during power outages or possibly even on camping trips.

6. Somewhat useful for running a radio/moderate-sized TV for a few hours.

7. Small appliances like a battery-operated radio or TV could run a long time on this unit after you have exhausted your batteries, probably would run them for a LONG time, maybe for days.

I originally bought 1 of these because I thought they would come in handy in power outages, to stay warm. That's not practical. You need one of the systems installed by an electrician/plumber that cost several thousand dollars for a workable heating and air conditioning system for power outages. That's not what this is for.

However, I bought 2 more and I'm so glad I did. I gave away 1 of the units to friends who are always doing things for others, so they could at least make coffee or oatmeal, etc., when the power goes out. I now have the whole-house generator I mentioned above, and even that is limited. My son uses the 1500 units I bought. He keeps his computer router hooked up to one in the cable room and he can recharge his laptop with it.

Think of it as a giant battery. You keep it plugged in and charged during the year and use it in bad weather for lights or making coffee, heating water, running tiny appliances, OR for projects in the yard that require electricity. The painters used one of them when they worked on my house earlier this year. This would come in handy if, for instance, your house was out of power for several days but you could go to a friend's house that has power and charge it. A larger unit might be a little more useful, but I don't think they are on carts, and those carts are a necessity for me. I need the portability. I hope this was helpful for someone. Others will prefer the technical information in some of the other reviews.

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The unit failed after I owned it only five weeks. I was only actually used it a few times for short durations. I tried to use it one day and the fault light was illuminated and no ac power was coming out of the outlets. I returned it for repair or replacement 3 weeks ago after receiving a RMA number. I contacted Xantrex and they say they don't know anything about it, and the RMA number is not in there system. The customer support is impossible to get on the phone, and email support takes days to get back to you. They do offer to sell you another unit for 40% off though instead of sending me a replacement.

UPDATE: Xantrex did finally replace the first unit. Two months later the replacement also failed. They refuse to refund my money.

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This is a great idea, badly executed. We bought one three years ago as a true emergency generator. We have a medical device that requires power, and our area is known for outages during the summer. But since we bought it, we have not needed to use it. We followed all manufacturer instructions for when leaving it sit idle, yet the batteries died anyway and the inverter fried itself. Replacing these cost more than buying a new unit. One of the batteries must also have developed a small leak (due to the summer heat, perhaps), and when I went to try to replace the batteries, there was corrosion all over the terminals and cables. I have to think that keeping the unit inside might not be a good idea if this happens to you, because of the potential for gas and acid release.

Xantex customer service is nearly non-existent and is geared only to selling replacement parts (but NOT batteries, which you have to look for elsewhere).

I really wish this thing worked, as a silent indoor generator is a wonderful notion. Too bad. We're still stuck with gasoline units and long extension cords.