Does anyone know about ARK Portable battery boxes and where to buy them

[Brett From Ark]

Met up with about 17 Eurovan owners and their families for a weekend in Silver Falls State Park. Brett, you guys might need to put me on the payroll due to all the dog & pony shows I gave, along with my explanation involving who, what, when, where, why, & how!

:coffeedrink:

Here's some more real world test results to share:

Fri:

Max Outside Temp: 77 degrees
ARB Fridge Temp: Set to 25 degrees (pre-cooled overnight using 110v0
Fridge was about 3/4 full of stuff. Included a 64 ounce plastic container of frozen water, a frozen cream pie, various frozen vegetables, eggs, milk, etc.
ArkPak - 100% charged. (Did not use or charge on drive to campground.)

Sat: (24 hours later)

Max Outside Temp: 75 degrees
ARB Fridge Temp: Set to 17 degrees
ArkPak - 12.5v, 99% charge remaining

Sun: (48 hours since connecting ArkPak)

Max Outside Temp: 77 degrees
ARB Fridge Temp: Set to 25 degrees
Fridge was about 1/2 full of stuff (Guess I over packed the food)
ArkPak - 12.3v, 87% charge remaining

After returning home on Sun, I placed the fridge in the garage. Easily in the 90's inside the garage. I left all the remaining food in the fridge. I did NOT boost the remaining charge at all. No solar & no DC-to-DC.

Mon after: (76 hours since connecting ArkPak)

Max Garage Temp 91 degrees
ARB Fridge Temp: Set to 25 degrees
ArkPak - 12.0v, 65% charge remaining.

The ArkPak/ARB dynamic dual works for me!! Hopefully I generated some serious interest in the ArkPak which will lead to a few more sales for you guys. By the way, more than a few wives asked their husbands why they didn't have one of these!!

Hey CoastieLFS

This information that you have put up is priceless THANKS for sharing your real world facts and figures about the Ark Pak, iam sure it will help out someone in the near future

Best Regards

Brett from Ark

 

[Tacoted]

Those of you who ordered from Ark, how long before they acknowledge your order?

I ordered and paid on 6/3. PayPal knows all about it but nothing from Ark.

 

[Azbackcountry]

You will get confirmation when it ships and it won't be long ... I'm sure.

Great product. Mine has been fantastic.

Az

 

[Yuccahead]

I ordered mine on 5/30/13 and am according to a tracking number I accessed from a link on their confirmation email, I am supposed to receive it tomorrow. (Yours might be in your spam folder?)

 

[Tacoted]

Good Call

I ordered mine on 5/30/13 and am according to a tracking number I accessed from a link on their confirmation email, I am supposed to receive it tomorrow. (Yours might be in your spam folder?)

Yucca,

Thanks for the suggestion to check the spam folder. There it was. Order acknowledged. Now I'm waiting for a shipping notification.

Heading out on a 5-6 wk road trip starting early July so I guess I'm a little antsy as this should be the final addition to my gear.

Ted

 

[Yuccahead]

Yucca,

Thanks for the suggestion to check the spam folder. There it was. Order acknowledged. Now I'm waiting for a shipping notification.

Heading out on a 5-6 wk road trip starting early July so I guess I'm a little antsy as this should be the final addition to my gear.

Ted

I suggested because I think I found my shipping notice in hiding out in my spam folder.

I received my 100 Ah Exide battery from Amazon and dropped it into the Ark pak last night. Everything seems to be working well. The Ark pak is made from a nice rubbery plastic that looks like it can handle a decent amount of abuse.

I have looked on various sources -- including on this thread where I thought I saw it earlier -- and can't quite pin down which model Anderson connector plugs into the Ark pak. Does anyone have that info handy?

I have realized that my Jeep's rear 12v outlet is not switched to the ignition. I think I am going to add an 12v outlet and/or Anderson plug (below the driver's seat) that runs through a solenoid so it will only charge when the engine is running. I'll use the 12v with the DC-DC charger most of the time but have the Anderson connector if I somehow need a faster charge.

 

[Azbackcountry]

I suggested because I think I found my shipping notice in hiding out in my spam folder.

I received my 100 Ah Exide battery from Amazon and dropped it into the Ark pak last night. Everything seems to be working well. The Ark pak is made from a nice rubbery plastic that looks like it can handle a decent amount of abuse.

I have looked on various sources -- including on this thread where I thought I saw it earlier -- and can't quite pin down which model Anderson connector plugs into the Ark pak. Does anyone have that info handy?

I have realized that my Jeep's rear 12v outlet is not switched to the ignition. I think I am going to add an 12v outlet and/or Anderson plug (below the driver's seat) that runs through a solenoid so it will only charge when the engine is running. I'll use the 12v with the DC-DC charger most of the time but have the Anderson connector if I somehow need a faster charge.

SB 50 amp - color Grey
http://www.powerwerx.com/anderson-powerpoles/powerpole-sets/sb50-sb-series-50-amp.html

Az

 

[Brett From Ark]

Hi Yuccahead

just wanted to let you know that Azbackcountry is 100% spot on with his information.

i have mentioned this before but it is so great to see that everyone is helping one another out great work Azbackcountry.

take care guys and hope you all have time to get out and about its winter hear in Australia so it gets colder quicker not much chance to get out and about.

Regards

Brett from Ark

 

[Yuccahead]

AZbackcountry, Brett,

Thank you both for the info on the Anderson connector.

YH

 

[Montana Cruiser]

I suggested because I think I found my shipping notice in hiding out in my spam folder.

I received my 100 Ah Exide battery from Amazon and dropped it into the Ark pak last night. Everything seems to be working well. The Ark pak is made from a nice rubbery plastic that looks like it can handle a decent amount of abuse.

I have looked on various sources -- including on this thread where I thought I saw it earlier -- and can't quite pin down which model Anderson connector plugs into the Ark pak. Does anyone have that info handy?

I have realized that my Jeep's rear 12v outlet is not switched to the ignition. I think I am going to add an 12v outlet and/or Anderson plug (below the driver's seat) that runs through a solenoid so it will only charge when the engine is running. I'll use the 12v with the DC-DC charger most of the time but have the Anderson connector if I somehow need a faster charge.

I've just read this whole thread and am wondering about wiring a dedicated SWITCHED outlet to the back of my GX 470. I know very little about wiring, but it seems that tapping the 12v cig outlet up front is less then ideal. In addition, I think having the ability to charge faster via the Anderson plug would be nice. You mention running your wiring through a solenoid, does this accomplish the same thing as tapping into the 12v cig outlet? Whats your wiring plan if you add both a 12v and Anderson plug?

Thanks in advance for any insight!

 

[austintaco]

Trip report for first extended usage: We were setting out for our annual Summer Colorado trip. I have been pretty busy around the house so I didn't get to do all those things you want to do or feel like you need to do before your next adventure. However, my plan to put the edgestar and Arkpak on the platform I had built in the back seat area worked out nicely:


The edgestar's plug faces the ArkPak, and after installing some tie down points on the platform framework, I had the fridge and Arkpak secured. I used the method of crossing two straps across the battery and out the hand holds to secure the Arkpak. I used bungees for this trip, but I'll make some shorter ratchets to get a tighter hold for the next trip.

I used the DC connection to charge the ARkpak while driving. However, I had an issue with the cig plug from the arkpak getting pretty hot and eventually, it quit working. I checked the fuse in the plug, and it had blown, so I replaced it with the one provided and all was fine. The Arkpak ran the fridge and charged our phones for about 3 days and as described earlier, the charge will read 100% or close to it for the first day, but when the percentage drops, it starts dropping fast. I was concerned that when the voltage read less than 12.5 that the fridge would turn itself off because of it's built in low voltage detector. It didn't. It kept going even when the Arkpak was at 11.8 volts.
After moving campsites and having the Arkpak charge on short 1-2 hour trips, my radio and clock on my truck went out. As suspected, the cig plug that the Arkpak was hooked up to was out as well. I replaced the fuse on the vehicle, and all was good for a bit, but the vehicle fuse blew again.
I was perplexed because it had not blown for the first week of our trip, but now it was blowing almost instantly. I did notice that the plug and socket would constantly become loose and I would have to push the plug in to make sure it was still charging. My suspicion is that the bad connection may have shorted out the plug the first time, and now the constant on/off of becoming unplugged was shorting out the vehicle fuse.
I wanted to run a dedicated line to the back of the truck for the Arkpak, and I will be doing that when I get caught up on projects. As others have mentioned, I also want to look into doing an Anderson style plug connection for quick charges.

I don't see the plug as an ARkPak issue, but has anyone else had a similar experience?

 

[Montana Cruiser]

The edgestar's plug faces the ArkPak, and after installing some tie down points on the platform framework, I had the fridge and Arkpak secured. I used the method of crossing two straps across the battery and out the hand holds to secure the Arkpak. I used bungees for this trip, but I'll make some shorter ratchets to get a tighter hold for the next trip.

I used the DC connection to charge the ARkpak while driving. However, I had an issue with the cig plug from the arkpak getting pretty hot and eventually, it quit working. I checked the fuse in the plug, and it had blown, so I replaced it with the one provided and all was fine. The Arkpak ran the fridge and charged our phones for about 3 days and as described earlier, the charge will read 100% or close to it for the first day, but when the percentage drops, it starts dropping fast. I was concerned that when the voltage read less than 12.5 that the fridge would turn itself off because of it's built in low voltage detector. It didn't. It kept going even when the Arkpak was at 11.8 volts.
After moving campsites and having the Arkpak charge on short 1-2 hour trips, my radio and clock on my truck went out. As suspected, the cig plug that the Arkpak was hooked up to was out as well. I replaced the fuse on the vehicle, and all was good for a bit, but the vehicle fuse blew again.
I was perplexed because it had not blown for the first week of our trip, but now it was blowing almost instantly. I did notice that the plug and socket would constantly become loose and I would have to push the plug in to make sure it was still charging. My suspicion is that the bad connection may have shorted out the plug the first time, and now the constant on/off of becoming unplugged was shorting out the vehicle fuse.
I wanted to run a dedicated line to the back of the truck for the Arkpak, and I will be doing that when I get caught up on projects. As others have mentioned, I also want to look into doing an Anderson style plug connection for quick charges.

I don't see the plug as an ARkPak issue, but has anyone else had a similar experience?

I have had the exact same experience re: the plug, it's loose in both the Aux 12v outlet and regular 12v cigarette lighter outlet and blew the fuse in the vehicle, so I too am looking at running a dedicated line (switched, as not to drain battery when the rig is off), and am leaning toward the Anderson plug.

With the above said, I am very pleased with the Arkpak thus far.

 

[Overland_Brandon]

I have not blown any vehicle fuses. But I had issues with the original ArkPak DC plug fitting in my vehicles cigarette outlets.

I cut off the ArkPak DC male adapter and took out my vehicle's rear cigarette out and replaced them with a locking marine style adapter set from my local marine shop, west marine. Seems to work as desired, and on week 4 or 5 now.

 

[PIC4GOD]

Trip report for first extended usage: We were setting out for our annual Summer Colorado trip. I have been pretty busy around the house so I didn't get to do all those things you want to do or feel like you need to do before your next adventure. However, my plan to put the edgestar and Arkpak on the platform I had built in the back seat area worked out nicely:


The edgestar's plug faces the ArkPak, and after installing some tie down points on the platform framework, I had the fridge and Arkpak secured. I used the method of crossing two straps across the battery and out the hand holds to secure the Arkpak. I used bungees for this trip, but I'll make some shorter ratchets to get a tighter hold for the next trip.

I used the DC connection to charge the ARkpak while driving. However, I had an issue with the cig plug from the arkpak getting pretty hot and eventually, it quit working. I checked the fuse in the plug, and it had blown, so I replaced it with the one provided and all was fine. The Arkpak ran the fridge and charged our phones for about 3 days and as described earlier, the charge will read 100% or close to it for the first day, but when the percentage drops, it starts dropping fast. I was concerned that when the voltage read less than 12.5 that the fridge would turn itself off because of it's built in low voltage detector. It didn't. It kept going even when the Arkpak was at 11.8 volts.
After moving campsites and having the Arkpak charge on short 1-2 hour trips, my radio and clock on my truck went out. As suspected, the cig plug that the Arkpak was hooked up to was out as well. I replaced the fuse on the vehicle, and all was good for a bit, but the vehicle fuse blew again.
I was perplexed because it had not blown for the first week of our trip, but now it was blowing almost instantly. I did notice that the plug and socket would constantly become loose and I would have to push the plug in to make sure it was still charging. My suspicion is that the bad connection may have shorted out the plug the first time, and now the constant on/off of becoming unplugged was shorting out the vehicle fuse.
I wanted to run a dedicated line to the back of the truck for the Arkpak, and I will be doing that when I get caught up on projects. As others have mentioned, I also want to look into doing an Anderson style plug connection for quick charges.

I don't see the plug as an ARkPak issue, but has anyone else had a similar experience?

Same problems here with my Arkpak. My converter also was cooked in the process but Arkpak sent me a new one at no additional charge. This time around I hardwired the converter to a switch in the center console and put the brick in the console out of sight as well. The big problem seems to come from a voltage/draw spike when you first turn the ignition on. I found that if I turn the switch off to the Arkpak and wait for the truck to normalize after starting that the problem has gone away. No more blown fuses or loose plugs. I agree that Anderson power poles are the only way to go unless you do a hardwire like I did.

 

[austintaco]

I am glad I checked in, and now I know I won't be wasting my time doing some rewiring. I bought a blue sea fuse block and cig lighter to clean up all of my additional items, but I ran out of time to do a proper install, so I left it alone.

I'm also looking at how to wire in the Arkpak to run the power in the flippac when it's hooked up. Right now, I have two lights with plug ins coming off the starting battery, but I would rather use the power from the Ark to run these items when it's hooked up.
I'm thinking a switched line that I can hook into.