Warning re Jackery product quality/design

[jhmoore]

I'm in the middle of my third trip with my Jackery 500 and solar panel. First two trips: great. Third trip, this trip, not so great. Part of it is my fault, part of it is just plain poor product quality or design.

My fault: I had the Jackery at the back of my 4Runner and it bounced around some and must have been leaning up against the back lift gate. I opened the gate and it fell out. So that's a fall from whatever the height of an un-lifted 5th gen 4Runner is... not all that far. Bonus, I saw it falling and managed to get my foot under it and break most of the fall. Not all, but I took a bunch of the force out of it. The Jackery 500 landed upright, no damage on the outside, much but not all of the force broken by my foot.

But the damn thing still broke. Dead as a doornail. The electronics or something inside is all haywire. I took a video of what the display does and sent it to Jackery and they said that there is "no way to fix the unit as we do not conduct repairs at the component level."

A short fall, landed upright, much of the force broken by my foot, and I have a $500 doorstop. Utterly worthless. And likely difficult to figure out how to recycle it (which was their suggestion).

They did offer me a discount on a refurbished unit with minor cosmetic damage, which I very grudgingly took in order to keep my adventure going, but...

1. How do they sell refurbished units if they can't fix them?? (because I get that ultimately this is my fault and would have paid to fix mine if they would have offered to fix it)

2. This really doesn't say a whole lot about Jackery product quality or design if this is all it takes to turn them into doorstops.

Buyer beware... maybe look at a different manufacturer. I'd love to see any kind of teardown or product stress tests for this category if anyone knows of any videos out there.

Video of what it does now:


(after that, it goes from 98% immediately to 1% battery and stays there)

 

[OverlandNA]

That certainly sucks. Their "refurbished" unit is probably a customer return.
How much do you want want for it?

 

[67cj5]

Thats a shame, Sorry to hear of your woe's, If that is how their customer care works then I would be buying a Bluetti EB70 or EB100,

Or from a better price point the Bluetti AC50s.

 

[john61ct]

Really you are buying cells, that is 99.99% of the value.

The enclosure, some wiring and $25 worth of electronics

would be **added** value only if they were easily accessible, replaceable and fixable.

Which they are if people just bought the cells and DIY'd the rest.

Plus then you could buy really top quality cells,

and take much better care of them so they lasted 3x or 5x longer, as in decades of daily use.

AND they would be cheaper. And very unlikely cells would be damaged from that sort of incident - of course not saying allowing that is proper care though

Drop-ins just make no sense.

 

[jhmoore]

How much do you want want for it?

you mean the dead one? Though it may be that the battery is just fine, but the controlling electronics are not? Selling it hadn’t occurred to me. You just want the parts, or battery? What’s a reasonable value?

 

[Ryanmb21]

You dropped a sheet of glass from 2-3 ft. It obviously wasn’t tied down, so it may have broke being banged around in the rear if you were expeditioning. So to review you broke it.
That’s on you.
They offered you a discount and you’re still not happy.
I’d consider using your broken solar as a mirror to reflect on this post

 

[Verkstad]

You say it appears undamaged and nearly new.
Can it be returned for warranty ?

But if not, At least open it up, it could be something easy & obvious to fix.
Otherwise as far as scrap value.
If its nearly brand new, Its at least worth number of and type of cells it contains.
Bonus as they are already welded into an array and within a plastic enclosure. What maybe helpful to a guy rebuilding/upcycling.
But said that, I think Jackerys use a 6 series configuration, 21.6V what lets it run inverter a bit cooler and its 12V output has to be thru regulator.

 

[Alloy]

Here a guy on You Tube that does electronic repairs. He might be interesting doing a video of it.

 

[67cj5]

At least open it up, it could be something easy & obvious to fix.
Otherwise as far as scrap value.
If its nearly brand new, Its at least worth number of and type of cells it contains.
Bonus as they are already welded into an array and within a plastic enclosure. What maybe helpful to a guy rebuilding/upcycling.
But said that, I think Jackerys use a 6 series configuration, 21.6V what lets it run inverter a bit cooler and its 12V output has to be thru regulator.

Yeah I agree, I had one of those Store bought Battery boxes that keeps droping a wire, It's a simple fix and thats all that could be wrong with this Jackery, It makes no sense to Bin It without even looking at it first.

 

[jhmoore]

You dropped a sheet of glass from 2-3 ft. It obviously wasn’t tied down, so it may have broke being banged around in the rear if you were expeditioning. So to review you broke it.
That’s on you.
They offered you a discount and you’re still not happy.
I’d consider using your broken solar as a mirror to reflect on this post

thanks for making my point clear: if you are looking for a product that can take the rigors of an expedition, this isn’t it. Some people might want to know that, even if you apparently don’t.

I clearly stated that it was on me and that I expected to pay to fix it, not them, but no fix was offered

 

[DaveInDenver]

thanks for making my point clear: if you are looking for a product that can take the rigors of an expedition, this isn’t it. Some people might want to know that, even if you apparently don’t.

I clearly stated that it was on me and that I expected to pay to fix it, not them, but no fix was offered

It's a fuzzy line for sure. I've found the few things Jackery I have to be reasonably well built but I'm only talking about USB charging packs and that sort of thing. They use Panasonic cells and the control boards seem decently built.

Mind you the bar is low and they are certainly not high reliability or mil-spec. I suspect this dealio you have it just an upsized USB charge pack in design and construction. Which is fine as long as the buyer realizes it's not a ruggedized device. I doubt Goal Zero or other market participants are significantly better, though.

The customer service and lack of path to having it worked on is a disappointment but not surprising either. The business model is make stuff cheap and throw it away. It probably could be fixed but unfortunately there's no money in it when you could just buy a replacement cheaper. The cells are probably still good. I'd go the DIY route if you can't fix it yourself (it could easily just be a jostled connection) or are willing to pay someone the bench time to troubleshoot it.

 

[jhmoore]

…Which is fine as long as the buyer realizes it's not a ruggedized device. I doubt Goal Zero or other market participants are significantly better, though.

Exactly. This is what I would like to know: if some other manufacturer is making this kind of product but more rugged, I’d rather put my money there.

 

[jhmoore]

…I'd go the DIY route if you can't fix it yourself (it could easily just be a jostled connection) or are willing to pay someone the bench time to troubleshoot it.

I’d be happy to pay someone the bench time. I am many things, but electrician is not one of them… and these things are a lot of lithium battery, which can burn your car or house down.

And before Mr Sarcastic above joins in to tell me not to worry about the batteries, I’m a longtime member of the So. Cal. SCUBA diving community and we lost 30-some people not long ago to a boat fire likely caused by lithium batteries…

 

[DaveInDenver]

Exactly. This is what I would like to know: if some other manufacturer is making this kind of product but more rugged, I’d rather put my money there.

There'll be an inverse proportional relationship in price. You could look for MIL-STD-810, which gets you something like this with extra zeros on the end of the price. But you can safely assume it'll take a drop from the back of a SUV at least.



Problem is without a set of standards you can only go by trust of the manufacturer and word of mouth like this. Plus having reasonable expectations and willingness to spend for the asking price (not being willing to pay for quality and repair-ability is how we got to a throw-away society in the first place) are important, too.

I’d be happy to pay someone the bench time. I am many things, but electrician is not one of them… and these things are a lot of lithium battery, which can burn your car or house down.

And before Mr Sarcastic above joins in to tell me not to worry about the batteries, I’m a longtime member of the So. Cal. SCUBA diving community and we lost 30-some people not long ago to a boat fire likely caused by lithium batteries…

Trust me, I'm not going to fault you for caution. I have experience designing spacecraft electronics and for live load tests on battery management you always put them in cages and bunkers.

 

[67cj5]

I agree with Dave, we also have to remember that these things are aimed at the Camping/Holiday Fraturnity and were never made as a Mil-Spec Item or they would cost around $25,000 plus Tax, lol.

It's a shame that yours took a Spill but seeing as your foot broke the fall I would of expected it to live to fight another day, With all electronics we need to make sure they are secure and protected from flying objects, I always place mine behind the Drivers Seat out of harms ways,

I have a couple of these Lithium Packs and based on the cost of mine alone I'd rather put the Mr's in the Back or make her run along side than risk having to buy 2 new packs, lolol.

"Only Joking" ( I'm single )