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

[Azbackcountry]

Hey Brett,
Enjoying the Arkpak so far. My ARB fridge came yesterday. Testing is going great.

Question I just want to clarify, I will be solar charging my pak with the guardian 12v charge controller using say 40w panel.
In the book it indicates to put the isolator to the on position? I understand according to the book im am bypassing the PCB.

I just wanted to make sure prior to hooking it up . I will be using lots of Solar in Arizona.

Thank you
Doug

 

[Brett From Ark]

Hey Brett,
Enjoying the Arkpak so far. My ARB fridge came yesterday. Testing is going great.

Question I just want to clarify, I will be solar charging my pak with the guardian 12v charge controller using say 40w panel.
In the book it indicates to put the isolator to the on position? I understand according to the book im am bypassing the PCB.


I just wanted to make sure prior to hooking it up . I will be using lots of Solar in Arizona.

Thank you
Doug

Hi Azbackcountry / Doug

Thanks for asking and also to double check, it never hurts to check.

your question and answer is correct, this is why you need the charge controller to protect your battery from being over charged.

please let us all know how things go when you have given it a good test run nothing like getting out to nature and enjoy the wide open space.

Regards

Brett from Ark

 

[CoastieLFS]

Overland Journal's Best of Breed: Portable Power Packs

This link will take you to a brief portion of Overland Journal's Portable Power Pack review in their Spring 2014 issue.

http://overlandjournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/news_power.jpg

I don't subscribe yet, but would love the see the full review.

 

[ponchosportal]

Hi all,

Purchased the "Ark Pak" new years special ($399) and received the Ark Pak, 12V car power adapter, and mounting bracket.

Shipping from Chicago was very quick.

Received the "Ark Pak" yesterday and purchased a Sears Die Hard Platinum 31M ($299 w/core charge + tax) this morning. Read the book and I am preparing to hook it up for the first time.



I'll provide updates of what happens next and my initial impressions soon.

 

[ponchosportal]

Hi all,

Purchased the "Ark Pak" new years special ($399) and received the Ark Pak, 12V car power adapter, and mounting bracket.

Shipping from Chicago was very quick.

Received the "Ark Pak" yesterday and purchased a Sears Die Hard Platinum 31M ($299 w/core charge + tax) this morning. Read the book and I am preparing to hook it up for the first time.

I'll provide updates of what happens next and my initial impressions soon.

Update: Hooked it up, turned it on, plugged in the battery specific information ........... the Ark Pak initiated testing of the battery, indicated it was 91% charged ...... plugged in the AC/DC adapter and the Ark Pak initiated charging ......... currently in Boost Cycle indicating 93% charge w/3 hrs remaining till full-charge.

The Ark Pak appears to be working flawlessly; I have no real initial issues with construction quality, the Ark Pak is a little smaller than I expected.

When and If the battery reaches full charge I will initiate testing tonight with my Bipap sleep-apnia machine and my wifes heating pad which require approximately 135 watts total.

Back later with the results.
Poncho

 

[ponchosportal]

Update: Hooked it up, turned it on, plugged in the battery specific information ........... the Ark Pak initiated testing of the battery, indicated it was 91% charged ...... plugged in the AC/DC adapter and the Ark Pak initiated charging ......... currently in Boost Cycle indicating 93% charge w/3 hrs remaining till full-charge.

The Ark Pak appears to be working flawlessly; I have no real initial issues with construction quality, the Ark Pak is a little smaller than I expected.

When and If the battery reaches full charge I will initiate testing tonight with my Bipap sleep-apnia machine and my wifes heating pad which require approximately 135 watts total.

Back later with the results.
Poncho

Ark reached 100% charge as scheduled then went into "Float", removed the AC/DC Charger, hooked my BiPap and the wife's heating pad on high to the Ark and found no issues powering both at the same time with the inverter on. I am stoked at the use of this thing for camping. I will power my BiPap and wife's heating pad until the battery is drained to 10.5 volts to see how long it will power us at night; how many nights.

Let you know what happens ....L8R.
Poncho

 

[ponchosportal]

Ark reached 100% charge as scheduled then went into "Float", removed the AC/DC Charger, hooked my BiPap and the wife's heating pad on high to the Ark and found no issues powering both at the same time with the inverter on. I am stoked at the use of this thing for camping. I will power my BiPap and wife's heating pad until the battery is drained to 10.5 volts to see how long it will power us at night; how many nights.

Let you know what happens ....L8R.
Poncho

Ran my wife's heating pad and my sleep apneia machine 8.5 hours and I think I used 28% of the capacity of my battery but I am not sure so I will continue to see how many nights I can run these two devices before reaching 20% capacity.

L8R,
Poncho

 

[Brett From Ark]

Ran my wife's heating pad and my sleep apneia machine 8.5 hours and I think I used 28% of the capacity of my battery but I am not sure so I will continue to see how many nights I can run these two devices before reaching 20% capacity.

L8R,
Poncho

Hi ponchosportal

Thank you for your feedback and sharing the info this is great stuff.

Regards

Brett from Ark

 

[Brett From Ark]

Hello Everyone just wanted to advise that our US Facebook page is giving away a Ark Pak kit.

all you have to do is like our US Facebook page and post any comment on the page to confirm your entry.

so if your feeling lucky give it a go, as they say you got to be in it to win it.

good luck






Regards

Brett from Ark

 

[CoastieLFS]

Real World (non-Scientific) Usage Report

Over the weekend I picked up my 50 quart ARB freezer near Federal Way, WA. On Sat I pre-cooled the empty freezer in a garage using AC. The freezer temp was set to 10F. Early Sunday am I connected the freezer to my fully charged ArkPak in my 4Runner. Note it's using a new 130AH battery. Around mid-day I went to the military commissary & shopped for an hour or so & then put all the purchased frozen/cold stuff in the freezer. Just around 98% charge remained. I took my time driving back to Portland as my dog gets lots of breaks. Once home, the charge remaining was still well over 90%. I emptied the freezer, but deliberately left it connected to the ArkPak in my garage which gets pretty hot and set the freezer temp to 15F. Yesterday after work, roughly 30 hours after I first connected the freezer to the ArkPak, I checked both the freezer & Arkpak. The empty freezer was still around 15F even though in my hot garage. The ArkPak showed about 12.3v and roughly 60% charge remaining. For testing purposes, I lowered the temp to zero which quickly dropped the ArkPak to about 12.1v & about 50% charge remaining. Makes sense because now the compressor was really running. Since it was sunny, I connected my 80w Zamp solar panel to the ArkPak for a couple of hours which brought the ArkPak almost back up to 12.7v. The charge remaining kept changing on me though. It would go from 50% up to 100% and then back down & everything in between (but the 12.7 stayed pretty consistent). This morning, roughly 48 hours after I first connected my freezer, the ArkPak showed 12.1v and 75% charge remaining. The freezer was hovering around 13 degrees. I suspect that I could have gone another day before dropping the ArkPak charge back to 50%. I also suspect that if the freezer were full of stuff during the entire time, the drain on the ArkPak would have been much less. I have little doubt that the Zamp, ArkPak, & ARB Freezer trio will make for a most excellent outing!

FWIW - I did try using the ArkPak's DC to DC charger. I hoped that I could charge the ArkPak while driving & in-turn power the freezer at the same time. Couldn't get the freezer to turn on this way. Either I'm missing something in the operation or the fact that you have to turn the battery isolator on when powering devices means you can't charge the ArkPak with the DC charger & also run a device all at the same time. But again, maybe I missed something?

 

[Brett From Ark]

Over the weekend I picked up my 50 quart ARB freezer near Federal Way, WA. On Sat I pre-cooled the empty freezer in a garage using AC. The freezer temp was set to 10F. Early Sunday am I connected the freezer to my fully charged ArkPak in my 4Runner. Note it's using a new 130AH battery. Around mid-day I went to the military commissary & shopped for an hour or so & then put all the purchased frozen/cold stuff in the freezer. Just around 98% charge remained. I took my time driving back to Portland as my dog gets lots of breaks. Once home, the charge remaining was still well over 90%. I emptied the freezer, but deliberately left it connected to the ArkPak in my garage which gets pretty hot and set the freezer temp to 15F. Yesterday after work, roughly 30 hours after I first connected the freezer to the ArkPak, I checked both the freezer & Arkpak. The empty freezer was still around 15F even though in my hot garage. The ArkPak showed about 12.3v and roughly 60% charge remaining. For testing purposes, I lowered the temp to zero which quickly dropped the ArkPak to about 12.1v & about 50% charge remaining. Makes sense because now the compressor was really running. Since it was sunny, I connected my 80w Zamp solar panel to the ArkPak for a couple of hours which brought the ArkPak almost back up to 12.7v. The charge remaining kept changing on me though. It would go from 50% up to 100% and then back down & everything in between (but the 12.7 stayed pretty consistent). This morning, roughly 48 hours after I first connected my freezer, the ArkPak showed 12.1v and 75% charge remaining. The freezer was hovering around 13 degrees. I suspect that I could have gone another day before dropping the ArkPak charge back to 50%. I also suspect that if the freezer were full of stuff during the entire time, the drain on the ArkPak would have been much less. I have little doubt that the Zamp, ArkPak, & ARB Freezer trio will make for a most excellent outing!

FWIW - I did try using the ArkPak's DC to DC charger. I hoped that I could charge the ArkPak while driving & in-turn power the freezer at the same time. Couldn't get the freezer to turn on this way. Either I'm missing something in the operation or the fact that you have to turn the battery isolator on when powering devices means you can't charge the ArkPak with the DC charger & also run a device all at the same time. But again, maybe I missed something?

Hi CoastieLFS

this is great real world feedback its so good that you have shared your experience with others. In relation to the FWIW you can charge and discharge at the same time this is no problem, all you need to do is plug your fridge/freezer into one of the 12v cig sockets you must have the red isolator switch in the on position, if you were using the 110v power you must ensure that you flick the the button to on that is next to the 110volt plug.

please keep me updated on how you go doing this next time.

Regards

Brett from Ark

 

[Brett From Ark]

LAST CHANCE TO ENTER

Just a reminder that you only have 3 days left until our Ark Pak giveaway on our US Face book Page

as i said you got to be in it to win it, you never know your luck.



GOOD LUCK TO ALL THAT ENTER.

Regards

Brett from Ark

 

[Brett From Ark]

Hello to all

Just wanted to let you know that i found an online blog that is also giving away an Ark Pak, we donated the unit to them and they have now finished there testing and review, they have decided to give the unit away as a prize.

all you need to do is click on the below link and make a comment on there page at the bottom

http://solarburrito.com/blog/arkpak-power-station-video-review-and-solar-test/

best of luck if you enter

Regards

Brett from Ark

 

[CoastieLFS]

Second Unofficial Test Results of ArkPak

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!!

 

[Brett From Ark]

Hi to All

Just wanted to advise this weekend coming up in Australia is the Queens Birthday Long Weekend and i have asked the boss for an extra 2 days off so i can have an extra long weekend and lucky for me he has said YES.

So this means that if someone post up a question i wont be able to reply until i get back from leave which is Thursday 12/06/2014.

take care and enjoy

Regards

Brett from Ark