Thanks Ray. I like your "no-nonsense" reviews where you're not afraid to tell us the negatives. Plus, your thorough, practical tests (i.e. running the 480 watt heater for 50 some minutes). Just great.

This is an excellent review. I wish more KZfaq reviews were as straight forward, thorough, and impartial! I am going to Amazon right now to buy the 500. Thanks!

Ray, as always you give such a thorough review of products sent to you with pros and cons no matter what they are. Please keep these up as they really help us that are looking for products like you get form a clearer understanding of whether or not the product is right for us as an individual.

This review is the best I have seen on these devices.It is disappointing how much time it takes to get the device back in action after it runs flat without the use of A/C power.

I’ve been looking for a battery pack to power movie night in the back yard, But I don’t understand watts and amps so this review really puts everything in perspective. Thanks for making it simple. Even your weight comparison to a pack of beer was helpful. I think this will me more than enough for a few movies :)

I own multiple solar generator style power banks. I have to say the Jackery is my favorite. There are numerous cheaper Chinese brands, but I would recommend getting a Jackery or Goal Zero. I have had a few of the cheap ones and they stopped working. Getting any warranty repairs was impossible.

I just bought one of these. They updated the way they operate the fan (8:20 in your video). When AC is powered up, the fan runs for 2 or so seconds then shuts off. It then runs intermittently or continuously depending on AC wattage load, and ambient temp after that. I ran my 26 cu ft fridge on it for 8 hrs and the fan cycled on and off (150w load when the fridge was cooling). They also updated the auto-off time when the load is under 10w to 12 hrs from the original 6 hrs.

First timer here. Great review... And a side bonus, it's quite a kick to hear a tech review from Rand Paul.

I own a Jackery 240, Plus my homemade portable power station, I didnt know they made a 500! Wow!

Many thanks for such comprehensive test and useful comments. I now have better ideas on its limitations and can buy with confidence.

Such a good review. Lots of detail. I think I want to buy a Jackery 500.

Thank you for the in-depth review, bud!

Just got my Jackery 500 and I guess they do listen to what you have to say. I'm not a technical person but the only I thing I can tell they fixed from your review, was the fan coming on all the time. Nice! Thank you for your review. Read more Show less

Solid review, top to bottom. I bought one based on your video.

I really like my Aeiusny Portable Generator, 288Wh 500W. it is only $279.00 on Amazon. I mainly use it for my CPAP when boondocking. Runs much longer ( 4 nights) if the CPAP runs on 12v vrs 120v

Good, honest technical review, lots of detail, answered all of my questions about the unit. I do feel that this could have been "tightened up" a bit and been about ten minutes shorter. Overall, thanks very much for a superb effort.

Well thought out review, thank you. I am leaning towards this box for a backup/charging power source.

Mine arrived this week. When I turn on the AC outlet the fan spins up and then immediately shuts down. Does not come on again until I run a fairly "large" load for a while (say, 100w). Doesn't run at all with light loads such as charging a laptop.

The best review ever. Thank you.

Looking at a few of these, and for RVing, the 12V charge port (truck) is mandatory.

Once again, a very useful video. Thanks, Ray.

Nice comparison for weight “like carrying around a case of beer.” 27:08. Was looking for the type of solar controller. Most likely MPPT but haven’t heard someone say it next. Thanks.

Thanks for sharing such a through review to consider,,, Safe, happy & blessed travel on your all journey,,,,

The test after you ran the heater was not fair to the unit. The heater has a max draw on the unit. Lith Batteries do not charge well after coming off a hard draw off the unit. They delay the charge slightly to prevent the break down of the batteries over time. They allow for a short cool-off period to give max life to the batteries. If you are in a really hot environment then a gas generator might be your best option. I find in my view the company who made the unit made the right choice not to let it charge again coming off a heavy load like a heater use.

Battery University has a section on Lithium chemistries. This NMC chemistry should have 1000-2000 cycles but is affected by temperature and DOD. I suspect they have reduced the battery mass to bring down the price so are either running hotter or to greater DOD to make competitive power as Lensun for instance which advertises 1,200 cycles. For me this is a good choice as a UPS substitute. Since shelf life is only 3 to 6 months, I would leave this plugged into the truck to keep it topped up. Since I would only use it for keeping my MacBook Pro and iPhone plus misc topped up it seems like a good fit. Certainly lighter and more power than a conventional UPS and recharges from truck. This is best choice so far compared to Lensun and Goal Zero.

Very thorough review. Thanks, Ray!

Sometimes the comments look so good I could skip the video and just read the comments.

Great review! Your thoroughness is impressive!

Fantastic information! Much appreciated.

This was really helpful. Thank you

Hi Ray, those small dc ports are for laptops, it’s a fairly standard port for that use. Great reviews, keep up the good work.

The charge power is limited by the small size. The lack of ventilation during charging is probably the biggest factor limiting the recharge power and thus the time for recharging as you discovered when you turned on the inverter with no load and the fan cooled things down enough to allow charging to begin. Having the fan powered when there is power at the charging port would probably be a good thing and should allow faster charging. Just remember that the heat generated in reversing the chemical reaction that provides power from the batteries must go somewhere and it must be removed fast enough to prevent overheating of the battery pack and it's potential for self-ignition - remember seeing the videos of Sony laptops going up in smoke while sitting idle on a conference table? That's what happens when you're not careful with the heat generated during charging. A temperature-controlled fan would need two temperature sensors - one for the inverter temp and the other for the battery temp. If you're comfortable with disassembling and rewiring commercial products, you can get 35C (95F) NO (normally open) thermostats on Ebay for a dollar or so. Put one on the warmest part of the battery pack and the other on the warmest part of the inverter after 30 minutes at a 500 watt load. Break one line to the fan and put the thermostats in parallel so either will close the circuit when it heats up. Probably less than an hour to have a temperature controlled fan. You could even make a video about how it's done ;-) I have a no-name (there's a name in the ads but nothing on the case) 500 watt "box" with a 288WH battery on order and at $80 I won't be too concerned about opening the case and making changes. (The box is a clone of the Kyng and several other units. Factory overruns?) We'll see how the fan and the charging are handled when the unit arrives. I mostly work with larger solar power: my "Wait until daylight" backup system can run fridge, lights, internet and gas furnace for 8 to 20 hours depending on the season so I'm not out in a thunderstorm or in the dark at 30F and shoveling 7" of snow to get a gasoline generator out of the shed. Longest outage we've used it in so far is 12 hours and it worked fine (420AH AGM battery bank, 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter, 4 circuit transfer switch). I need to have a tree taken down (budgeted for this year) to put up adequate solar power to have limited long-term power, but a single 250 watt panel on an MPPT controller keeps things topped off and ready for use.

In the context of a typical RV, what advantage would something like that have over the house batteries? ISTM you could spend the money on upgrading those, instead of buying separate units, but maybe I'm missing something. I agree that those 12V ports seem useless, as they have neither cables nor a technical description. Anyway, thanks for the review.

Very good, very accurate, very scientific test, based on tests not passions... I wished to have your advice on what would be the suitable portable power station vs a second battery installation, to fulfill all the needs for heavy work, without being afraid of running out of power... I am planning ahead, very carefully, to camperizar my family car for two with the minimum but the maximum essentials... Water and power. Thanks very much

Nice review as usual Ray. Maybe it was the update speed of your meter, but I noticed that when you were testing the DC output to your compressor that the voltage seemed to ramp down and your compressor seemed to slow down as well at the same time. If they are going to protect the DC output, I would prefer a hard cutoff so as to not potentially damage my equipment connected to it. I also looked on their website to see what kind of connectors that they sell for the DC barrel connectors and they offered nothing. Under the spec's they list the following for included in the box: AC Adaptor, DC to Car Adaptor and AC to DC cable, User Guide. I can guess what two of the cables are, but the AC to DC cable has me baffled.

The trick is to keep it charging either by leaving it hooked to a solar panel or car battery as your using it for laptops, fans, etc. This will provide continuous use.

I was interrested with this product ty Ray

Thank you.

Charging through the vehicle I bought a 300 watt inverter and plugged the power brick into the inverter…Decreased the charging time substantially ….

Hi Ray, you remind me of the kid in the candy store, more toys to play with.... lol

I have the 500 and love it and it will run anything I have. When I run the refrigerator I wish it would run longer but the question I have is could I piggyback a battery so it will last longer

Looks like it uses 8mm Goal Zero input, for charging, and the 2 DC outputs, are a 6mm Goal Zero connector size, also. Just checked, those are the same as Goal Zero connectors. There are accessories on Amazon, that will work with 6mm DC outputs. Try looking for 6mm Goal Zero on Amazon. I have the Goal Zero, Yeti 400, with the same connectors on the front, and 8mm connectors on the solar panels.

Great review. The one thing you missed is the going price

Great review you did. Would be nice for temp back when power goes down in Rv or boat. Thks for the great review on this and all your great toys you have. ..john Wino...

charging the battery while hot degrades the battery prematurely, it was protecting the battery by not charging

Good review. thanks. When you run the unit at high discharge rate the battery gets hot. It will not charge (to protect the battery from further heating) until the battery has cooled down. perfectly normal. Also, unless you're going to be using it right away, keep the battery at 40-50% charge level. Lithium Ion batteries do not last as long when stored fully charged. For MAXIMUM battery life, always operate the unit between 20% and 80% charge. No lower and no higher except for 40-50% battery charge when not in use. Finally, in your compressor test, you used an adapter that says 2.1A right on it...yet you are using it to draw over 8 Amps. Is there a flaw in your test?

Well done. Thanks.

Use your car port in your car to charge also. Very versatile.

If I had a dollar for every jackery 500 review lately, I would probably have $500 to buy one.

I have bought this and found a problem with solar charging. When using solar, if the voltage of the panel drops due to a cloud or shadow, the Jackery 500 will stop charging, The light will come back on, but will not charge or draw current. I am considering returning it.

Just charge with solar while using it.. the battery would last a little longer right?

very good review sir

12:33 That symbol under the % looks like a temperature gauge of the unit

I have an alpicool cooler that the specs say uses 0.2kw/h 24. How long can the Jackery 500 (or Jackery 240) run the cooler for before needing recharging? Electricity is not my thing. lol

what did you add to the solar panel to get it charging quicker?

Great video. If I had two Solar Saga 100W panels, is there any way to take advantage of that to charge the Jackery 500 quicker? Thanks

Hi. How many charges you think this has before it fails?

Not sure how long it would last but my Bi-Pap machine with a heated water reservoir draws about 27 watts.

It may be this is using lithium ion, the charge difference could be the newer more expensive stations use lipo batteries. The lion bats have a fire hazard when charged too quickly but as I understand the lipo batteries can accept a high chare rate.

Thanks for the review Ray. Jackery Portable Power Station Explorer 500 now is available at amazon.com, check the link to explorer more >>www.amazon.com/dp/B07SM5HBK1.

Will the100W solar saga to charge both the240 and the 500 or is there a better solar panel to use?

Hi Ray 👋 This was one of the best and honest tech review on a portable solar battery I have seen. 👍👍 By chance will you get your hands on an Kodak Inergy with the RV 30 amp plug? Just bought a Roadtrek class B RV and would like to know if it has any technical benefits for boondocking as my new to me rig right now only has 2 lead acid batteries and engine alternator to charge them. Hesitant to spend $$$$ as I am in Ontario and as you know everything in Canada is more expensive! 😩

Oh, nice dual voltage power block

Very pricey, but they all say its worth the cost to have it all in one. The time it will save you you can never get back, and no money can ever buy. it for you.

Running mine the other day ... charging a laptop....and after a bit..suddenly hear what sounded like an 'internal Fan'...come on? this thing has it's own Cooling, built in or something? assumed it was because it had reached some sort of 'threshold' temp, pre-designated'....and when so....the Fan Kicks on! is this correct?

Great information! I have a question, I have a 500 watt electric bike and am looking to be able to power it. Would this be a good choice for recharging my bike?

thanks for very informative and honest review. can you do the review on Lion Safari LT - 500w Power Generator so that i can compare Jackery and lion Safari LT. I want to buy one for my CPAP machine. Thanks Aslam Molani

Can you plug in a tv to it for when your power is out

Wondering if would be ok when we dry camp, just using it at night to watch TV and charge phones, saving my main batteries for the rv heater and lights. Then recharge all in the morning with the generator

Will it be possible to plug in a power surge to have access to more outlets? Running 2 rokit speakers and a laptop to dj at the beach?

Thanks for the review. I've just ordered one of these to power a few LED lights, a Fantastic Fan, and CPAP without humidifier at night. I don't plan to run anything like heaters, hairdryers, coffee makers, ice makers, fridges, etc. I plan to top it off every day with solar once I get the 100w panel. I would think draining it 100% would be bad for it. I thought you weren't supposed to drain a batter more than about 50%?

Expert review

Good video, it seems like he's being a bit critical on the charge speed of his charging devices and NOT the battery.... it's a large battery in there, so it's going to take a while.

Random Question: Would I be able to plug in a power bar into the outlet so I could get maybe 2-4 more outlets??? For instance, if there are two laptops that need to be plugged in out on a picnic table or something, etc.

Have you used your Jackery solar generator to run a heated blanket for winter camping? If so, I’m curious about how much battery draw one could expect with using a heated blanket for about 3-6 hours a night. Thanks!

would this run just a mini fridge for a weekend? Thanks

Ray, good review. I agree with your dislikes. The charge time is a bit long, but the recharge cycles being such a low number raises some concerns on the quality of Li batteries. For reference, what does the Lensun list for recharge cycles?

Hi, thanks for the video. I’m not a technical guy. Do you think this will power a projector for about 4 hrs?

So if you try to charge this on a hot Arizona day using solar panels it will shut off? I guess you'll have to use the solar panels at night when it's cooler.

What would happen if you had two solar panels connected in parallel would the Jackery charge twice as fast?

I noticed when you turned on the ac outlet that the fan kicked in. Mine had the fan start and stop. Nothing was connected. Do you think I have a bad unit?

What type of a charge controller does it have? I have a rockpal with a mppt controller.. charges faster than the zachary

Very nice however I am staying with Goal Zero. I have a goal zero 1400 and I can completely recharge it in 3 hours using their 25 amp fast charger and my Honda EU2200I. Jack biggest disadvantage is it’s recharge time and because of that it’s only good for weekends camping trips, the ones you check in around 3pm Friday and out by 1pm Sunday. I strongly encourage anyone who is considering buying lithium battery packs or AGM battery packs to consider the recharge time. Again the recharge time is very important.

I would use this for internet modem and security cam backup supply... I guess they only expect you to use this not on a daily use but as backup....or only use the same amount of power, you can charge up unit, daily... A '24' v 60 cell pannel might work...

are these avaible in australia

Is that a hole under the plug for ground plugs?

Are you able to charge the Jackery Power Station while powering other devices simultaneously?

How long would i expectat this to last if i use it daily

Will it run a cpap

Is the 110 plug/receptacle a 2 prong or 3 prong ? I can't tell from the video.

hell'o just found your site thank you.... new to rving can i do this ,,,, if i buy a jackery Explorer 500 Portable Power Station or something like it and just plug it into my rv shore line cord would that recharge my house batteries , ..... i would charge the house batteries at night and recharge the power station with a solar panel suitcase in the day. we don't wish to put panels on the rv... i'm 67 thank you david

The charge problem is that it is Lithium Ion - for $500 it should have LiFePo4 which are much safer and stable, and can charge much much faster.

What does it power. Refrigerator

Do you think I can use for my Bose F1 812? I need one so I can bring my speaker out

If you were to only keep one, would it be the Jackery or the Lensun?

could this be charging through the 12v while being used?

Car port two smaller ports are for lights like ones harborfright has

What portable battery station do you have that charges faster? Thanks

Come on.lets go.

can this charge with AC 110 plug?