Ark Pak - Questions and Queries

mep1811

mep1811

Gentleman Adventurer
My ArkPak still does not charge. This the second one and I've never had it work correctly. Consequently I have never been able to use it.

Can I send it back from a refund?

Thanks
 
Brett From Ark

Brett From Ark

Supporting Sponsor - ARK
mep1811 said:
My ArkPak still does not charge. This the second one and I've never had it work correctly. Consequently I have never been able to use it.

Can I send it back from a refund?

Thanks
Click to expand...


Hi Mike

Thank you for the update, happy to follow this up for you and get to the bottom of why the unit is not working to your expectation, iam the first to admit it would be frustrating experience, please email me direct at brett@arkcorporation.com in the email please advise/confirm the best phone number to call you on als the bet time to call when you will be ready to speak a well.

at ark we stand by our product and we take extreme pride in our after sales service and experience, look forward to hearing from you soon.

Regards

Brett from Ark
 
R

RawC

New member
moabian said:
I received my 730 a few days ago. I will not use it in a dual battery setup for the vehicle, but this is a quote from the manual: "The ArkPak can be used in a dual battery setup. The best method to do this is to connect the ArkPak to a dual battery wiring loom (not supplied) using either the positive/negative external terminals or the Anderson plug. Using these methods, the smart charge system is bypassed so the ArkPak cannot control the charging voltage. A voltage sensitive relay/solenoid must be used to ensure priority is given to charging the vehicle's main starting battery." So the answer to your question seems to be yes, you would need an isolator on the vehicle.

On another note, I was not sure if a Starkpower LiFePo4 battery would fit since the battery is 330mm long and the internal length of the ArkPak 730 was listed as 330mm. That seemed like a tight fit. The internal length of the 730 is actually substantially longer than that except for near the top of the lid. It appears the Starkpower battery will fit. However, I was still concerned about the height. I have tried contacting Starkpower by email to confirm whether their battery height measurement included the terminals or if it is just the case. I have received NO answer to my emails. I tried calling them several times and have gotten no answer at any of the extensions (sales, tech support, personal assistant, etc). I have left several messages and gotten no return call. With that obvious lack of concern for their customers, I will be going with a different (and substantially cheaper) battery.
Click to expand...

Mobian,

I want to CONFIRM that the LiFePO4 battery I purchased from StarkPower does indeed fit into the ArkPak. If you need "confirmation" I can send you a few of the pics I took and sent to "Brett" at ArkPak. Simply ask and I'll post 'em if you'd find that helpful. I've been running experiments with the battery and ArkPak the past several days running a CDF-11 Dometic fridge/freezer and I have to admit, I've been stunned at the performance. I ran the CDF-11 on the lowest temp setting (0f) and it ran for 49 hours straight and still showed 12% remaining charge. To me...that's impressive! It froze SOLID 3 small (10oz or so) plastic containers of water making what I call "ice plugs". It took a room temp bottle of soda 2 hours to almost freeze from when I started the experiment with the temp show 73f on the fridge.

As you've mentioned, the one thing I have NOT been impressed with, is indeed the customer service, or lack thereof with StarkPower. Absolutely awful. I happened to get ahold of "Martin" when I called late one Friday night last week (Sept 25th). Wasn't tremendously helpful however I suspect that's due to the "one-man-show" he must be running over there. After doing some research on my own, I believe I and my mechanic can figure out the rest. The one IMPORTANT thing I learned is to take full advantage of the lithium technology, you really need to either purchase AC to DC converters designed for these batteries and/or wire the battery through the Anderson 50a port for recharging through the vehicles electrical system. What little I got out of "Martin" was I can basically recharge the 125ah model I got in about 2.5+/- hours. That kicks @$$. I've purchased two AC to DC chargers -- 20a and 40a -- from them as well for the purpose of being able to recharge this pak from an AC outlet at campsites, home, the outlet on the side of my ex-wife's house :) or wherever I can grab juice on the fly. The 40a will be permanently mounted into my Jeep Wrangler with the 20a serving as the "portable" charger. Although the AC charger that comes with the ArkPak works, it isn't designed to push the kind of amps these batteries can take. Recharging quickly is one of the benefits of this technology. The batteries are supposed to have a BMS (battery management system) that protects from over/under charging and balances the charge between cells. I'll soon find out once the chargers arrive. These would either connect through the Anderson port or via direct connection to the external terminals on the ArkPak.

On another note, let me say again...and again...and again...the level of "support" and information I've gotten from Brett at ArkPak has just been outstanding. I've let go of the hostility I have for StarkPower 'cause I suspect the dude is overloaded. At the end of the day, he's getting the same battery as other vendors it's just he's private labeling his in green versus whatever other color other vendors are using. These are all made in China anyway. Hope this helps and I'll be posting more on my wiring experiences as the project comes together.
 
Brett From Ark

Brett From Ark

Supporting Sponsor - ARK
HI RawC

thank you for sharing your experience with others, i am a big fan of sharing and telling others of my experiences as well, because the more we do that the more other people learn as well.

cant wait till you are finish with your build look forward to seeing some photos of the finished set up.

and as always if you have any questions please ask, only to happy to help out where i can.

take care and safe travels.

Regards

Brett from Ark
 
1Louder

1Louder

Explorer
Does anyone have an example on using the Arkpak with a winch? Would the simplest thing to do be to join the main battery and the Arkpak together with jumper cables and the use the winch? I see the reference as a true dual battery (full time). I am just wondering about temporary use. I read this article but was looking for more info specific to winch use.

http://www.arkportablepower.com/blo...attery-systems-explained-benefits-and-options

I had a traditional dual battery setup with a National Luna battery management system but it has been removed because of a mounting issues in my FJ. I am debating about doing another install or giving up on that and using an Arkpak.

Thanks,
Chris
 
Brett From Ark

Brett From Ark

Supporting Sponsor - ARK
WATCH THIS THREAD FOR AN IMPORTANT UPDATE TO COME THRU IN THE NEXT 24 TO 48 HOURS

Hi all

i will post up an important update in the next 24 to 48 hours, as soon as i have the information i will post it up.

Regards

Brett from Ark
 
Brett From Ark

Brett From Ark

Supporting Sponsor - ARK
Bigunit said:
Went to the website but saw no Black Friday details.
Click to expand...

Hi big unit

the sale does not start till tomorrow but as a heads up the people that follow the forum threads have been given a heads up before hand, i assure you we are having a black Friday sale as per the above image.

Regards

Brett from Ark
 
P

peripatew

New member
Brett From Ark said:
Hi big unit

the sale does not start till tomorrow but as a heads up the people that follow the forum threads have been given a heads up before hand, i assure you we are having a black Friday sale as per the above image.

Regards

Brett from Ark
Click to expand...

Any sale on the Australian version by chance?
 
Brett From Ark

Brett From Ark

Supporting Sponsor - ARK
peripatew said:
Any sale on the Australian version by chance?
Click to expand...

Hi peripatew

you would have to see what Australian retailers are doing for Christmas specials, you are able to purchase the Ark Pak thru Retailers in Australia such as, BCF, Rays Outdoors, Autobarn, Autopro, Burson and Repco to name just a few.

Regards

Brett from Ark
 
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