Midland Portable Power Stations are on sale for $600.

I posted this in the Black Friday COVID Edition thread this evening but not sure how many of us are still looking at that. Anyway I’m not affiliated in any way with Midland other than being subscribed to their email list which is how I came across this sale. I did pull the trigger on one.
Here is a link:https://midlandusa.com/product/ppg1000-portable-power-station/

 

Shame you can’t charge it with the lid open.

Also, not many real world reviews online, at least not that I could find.

 

Wondering how this compares to the Jackery...

 

You mean can’t charge it with the lid closed. That would be an improvement but not a deal breaker for me.

 

Yeah, I don’t have a Jackery but for the money, capacity and output jack options it looked worth a gamble to me.
I’ll let you know if it measures up to my hopes.

 

I purchased one, and I like it, but it has some limitations
The style, in a case, is the first one, but I don’t mind it. I prefer it for a limited use device. I also prefer that it’s very easy to change or add things. For Allen screws and the top comes out, circuit board under, battery pack to the side and inverter on the other side under a shield. Battery leads are accessible if you want custom dc outputs.

The inverter is labeled as 1200 watt, but they run it at 110v, and as far as I can tell, exactly 10amps (ac output). I can get to about 1050 watts pretty consistent, another 70 watts shuts it down. Zero surge capacity, which is unusual.
ETA: I guess it has a small surge capability, maybe up to 1500watts for 1-2 seconds. No way it will start a 7 1/4 saw like they say on the website, I tried.

12v dc is supposed to be regulated at 12.5v, it’s not, under load it’s about 11.7v

usb charging fine, usb c pd works up to 15v, the highest draw device I have

charging sucks
The 5.5mm dc jack takes 50 watts and that’s it. When I increase voltage it temporarily takes more then the board recalculated to 50 watts regardless of voltage

the other jack, no idea what it is, does take more power, I have been able to give it 11 amps at 17volts, emulating their fast charger. I am unsure of the limitation on this port.

I have not had the fans run except when starting it up, for a second, even under fairly heavy sustained loads, so it is a quiet unit. I think it’s under rated for the capacity, nothing gets even warm (68° environment)
ETA: just did some testing with a blowdrier, and I got the fans to come on. First for the inverter and then the whole case fans, using ~25% in under 15 minutes

Again, I like it, but it has some limitations. Price is what made me pull the trigger.

 

Thanks 545. Have you charged it via solar panel? Thoughts on powering a small fridge such as the ICECO 20?

 

Don’t have any solar panels, so nope

I would expect the iceco go20 to run in excess of 24hrs; by the numbers I think you might get up to up to 40.

Been thinking about buying one, so will update with runtime if I do. Might go larger.

 

I picked up the ICECO 20. Ive run it today on house current in preparation for a road trip tomorrow. It cooled down from ambient unplugged to 32 degrees F in a few minutes after plugged in. It does not hold a lot but you know, essentials for the Mrs like popsicles, ice cream half and half. And a few pounds of bacon for me. I let you know how it performs on the road.Power station hasn’t arrived yet. Thank for your insight!

 

Definitely interested in your runtime of the fridge on the powerstation. The gauge does seem to report based on voltage of the pack instead of actual used amps/watts and isn’t that accurate for high drain devices, but it may be better with a low drain device like the fridge.

 

Any update on runtime of the fridge on the powerstation?

thanks

 

Sorry been in mod mode but power station is fully charged and I will conduct experiment beginning this evening. So far fridge on house current is cold, consistent and quiet. Power station is rugged.

 

So I allowed the fridge/freezer to return to ambient temp and plugged it into a the power station via the ac outlet. Ran out of juice just under 20 hours.
Actually I did the math wrong; 22 hours.

 

That's pretty good.. How to you intend on running the fridge while you are driving since it has the lid? Also, how do you intend on charging the unit while driving? Would seem to be a big PIA.

 

Well, I only intend to run the fridge off the power station while not driving as the Tuck has both AC and DC outlets and the fridge can run off either as well. I’m still looking into a solar set up for the truck to charge the power station while parked. As far as charging the power station while driving, if it becomes necessary in a situation, I don’t think it will be a big deal. I’ll have the case secured a either way. Right now I’m seeing how long it takes to charge the power station on house current as I’m home and I don’t have solar yet. I’d like to have a couple hundred watts of solar. Still researching panels. Open to suggestions from real world experience.

 

Can the lid be removed? Pins pulled out? For the price, definitely is a great bang for buck. I am new to the whole fridge / solar / power bank as well so my experience is limited.

 

While the lid is not designed to be removable as in hey it’s got a removable lid as a feature, the hinges are pinned so yes, a pair of needle nose pliers and a minor effort and the lid could be removed.

 

Thanks for the info
I would have expected more runtime, honestly
I wonder if the fridge takes more power than I think or the battery doesn’t have as much capacity as they claim

 

It's best to pre-chill the fridge to 0F on your home's power then the compressor won't run for the first 3 hours. Chilling a hot fridge takes a ton of current.
Example: my fridge was at 72F internally and I turned it on MAX mode and measured the watt-hour to get to 0F. It took about 4 hours. 55w x 4hours = 220wh. Thats about 25% the battery's capacity.

I got my PPG1000 yesterday and i've been testing it. I chilled the fridge (Iceco JP40) to 0F on my house receptacle and then plugged in to the PPG1000's DC outlet. Set the fridge to 39F. Right now it's battery is at 81% after 16 hours.

I was hoping to use my kill-a-watt meter on AC to test how much the actual capacity is, but there is some weird circuitry protection that doesn't like the fridge. The fridge's compressor turns on, the power station makes a few clicks, and it reads "ERROR". I wasn't planning to run the fridge on AC anyways so its not an issue for me. It also couldn't run my 1000w Ninja Nutripro. I'm assuming that starting a 1/2 horsepower motor is not an easy task so I will find a smaller blender. I also will try plugging in more things to see if anything else trips the circuitry protection.

Charging is slow at 5 amps, but midland sells a bigger charger that is 10A that is 2x faster.

It could be a problem to some people because the case needs to be open while using it. It's not a problem for me because I will keep this inside a storage tote in my truck bed and put electrical connections on the outside so it will remain waterproof and secure from theft.

So far i'm happier than the $350 rockpals 500w that I had just returned. That thing was junk.

I am leaving the country for a few weeks so i'll report back next month about battery capacity on the PPG1000.

 

I_Squared, thank you. I will run another test after prechilling. I’m looking for recommendations for compatible and efficient solar panels to pair with the power station. I hope your trip is an enjoyable adventure.