10 Responses to “Xantrex XPower Powerpack 400 Plus Portable Backup Power Source”

1. Sportynyc says:

   March 20, 2005 at 3:12 am

   Rating

   This powerpack pretty much works as advertised. The coolest thing is the builtin 400 Watt inverter which allows you plug in almost any AC powered device. Great for emergency power or just portable camping power! Unit charges quickly using the supplied DC adapter or in about a day using the supplied AC adapter.
   
   The only drawback is that the builtin air compressor isn’t fan cooled so it can only operate about 10-15 minutes at a time before it over heats and air flow could be higher. Another option would be to plug in a high flow, heavy duty air compressor into the builtin 12V outlet or inverter.
   
2. Ojibwas says:

   April 2, 2005 at 11:40 pm

   Rating

   Bought this through Amazon because they sale it at a lower price then what others sale it for and free shipping to.But the Powerpack works like a charm,best if you charge it for more than 35 hours before useing.But it has everything you need if you go camping or just useing it around the house.If it gets to hot(Esp. when useing the air pump) it will automatically shut down untill it has cooled down,it shocked me at first when it happend thinking I just fried the thing,so don’t let it run for to long.It has 2 AC outlets for small appliances.Has indicater to show how much percent of power is left and how much juice you are useing when useing the AC outlets.It has everything you need in case of an emeregency either away on the road or at home.A great size and easy to carry and handel.It has a cigerate liter port for charging the Pack or useing a device that has that type of plug. 5 stars ……..
3. Gary Cunningham says:

   August 21, 2005 at 4:01 pm

   Rating

   This is a solid product. I didn’t think I needed the built-in air compressor, but it suddenly saved the day for a few bike tires. And after you deflate your vehicle tires for beach travel, you can get back to street pressures without a lot of hassle. The Powerpack 400 is a bit pricier for a reason – it packs more ampere-hours into a small unit. I take it camping into remote locations where I’m guaranteed that I won’t have to walk out due to a dead battery. So then I’m comfortable running some low wattage lights in my tent. I can even watch a DVD movie on my iMac G5 computer without running out of power. It recharges using the car’s cigarettte lighter and, while you’re at home you can leave it on the AC-DC charger indefinitely. A super product, compact product.
4. Dewey says:

   July 1, 2006 at 11:33 pm

   Rating

   After reading some of the reviews on this item, I was a bit skeptical. I decided to take a chance, since the price was far better than anything similar out there. I bought this item primarily for power at outdoor events, to operate a sound system and run an electric fan. I am typically at these events for close to 8 hours at a time, and was expecting to totally exhaust the power supply. Surprise! I went through an entire day’s event with still 75% power remaining! I have also found lots of uses for it while traveling, like running my daughter’s portable DVD player and recharging her game-boy in the car. We will also have a reliable power source for our frequent storm related outages in the home. Overall, a fantastic bargain, with many, many uses!
5. A. Bye says:

   August 5, 2006 at 8:05 pm

   Rating

   I bought the X Power Powerpack 400 Plus last year for powering a fan for my dogs while attending trials. I can run a small, portable fan all day and still have power left at the end of the day. It recharges in a few hours when plugged into a vehicle, or overnight when plugged into an electrical outlet. It’s also handy for recharging cell phones, and I’ve used it to jump a dead car battery and inflate a flat tire. I searched the Internet before buying, and Amazon had the lowest price of anyone with free shipping to boot.
6. S. White says:

   August 15, 2006 at 9:28 pm

   Rating

   I bought the xpower powerpack for powering some electronics on my Boston Whaler. I have been using it for about a month. It has been exposed to some harsh conditions, left out in the rain, exposed to salt spray, among other things. It works as advertised, and the battery life seems to be a little longer than spec. I have not used the air compressor. Everything else works like a charm. No problems to report. I would buy it again.
7. Mike McGrath says:

   August 21, 2006 at 11:54 am

   Rating

   This model is designed for car emergencies (it has a trouble light, jump starts a dead battery with its own suppplied very high quality cables and will inflate a tire), but we bought it for camping trips so we could power a regular fan on hot days and recharge our cell phones. It did both very well–running a good size fan for about an hour a day for five days and recharging four cell phones daily. Its a big lead acid battery in the shape of an old eighties boom box. Because it is essentially a car battery, it is fairly heavy (@ 23 lbs), but it has two sockets rigged to an inverter for AC devices and a standard car DC input. It charges up much faster than it says to expect from a wall socket–just a few hours, and is said to do so faster direct from the car; you get adapters to do both. We will keep it out in the open in case the power goes out. A great investment.
8. Maziar Sefidan says:

   May 19, 2007 at 4:58 am

   Rating

   This all-in one power system is really great. It’s saved me a couple of times with respect to low air pressure on my car tires.
   
   It’s super handy when you go camping, and all your friends with ooh and ahh because you can make blended margaritas with it’s power output capacity =)
   
   I’ve had no problems with this unit (owned it for 6 months now).
   
   Buy it and leave it in your trunk for emergencies. You just need to make sure it recharges every 3 to 4 months, as is the case with any rechargable battery (they lose charge over time). But plugging it in overnight will give you another 4 months of standby power.
9. Kelvin Espinosa says:

   May 30, 2007 at 5:21 pm

   Rating

   I must say, you will not get this kind of device for this price!.
   
   i buy one of this and i are amazed how versatile is, a little heavy. but no matter.
   
   1- the running time for the build in power inverter is very good.
   
   2- build in flash light, work when you need!.
   
   3- air compressor. not very powerfull, but do your work.
   
   4- the jump start feature. you can jump start a truck with no problem

   many features for a single pack, he will work well. of course if you do
   
   not abuse. every system have limit! like you know.

   for me is an excellent product! i love it!!!!!!
10. EQReader says:

    August 18, 2007 at 6:41 pm

    Rating

    Like many other reviewers here, I agree, “THIS WORKS AS ADVERTISED.” Thanks, Xantrex. I’ve bought three, two I use regularly, one I gave to a contractor after we used it to refill his slow-leak tire.

    26 pounds is a luggable weight. For me, this is about the right weight considering the tradeoff between portability and battery life.

    A few notes. I’m using my two powerpacks in an off-grid RV. I also have a generator. They stay plugged in, so when I run the generator, they are being charged. And when the generator is off, the first powerpack lets me stay connected to a wireless internet service (the dish needs a little power from its connected USB/power cable). And the second powerpack lets me power a nice bright little halogen reading lamp at night for a few hours (the 12V lights are fine for navigation, but not so great to read by). And they are both handy to recharge the cell phone during long calls. I have also used it twice to start a vehicle with a drained battery and it worked fine (except for a badly fitting connection, see below).

    If you have to run from a generator for any extended time, they will really save your generator. I figure they cut my generator time by two-thirds. Which saves me fuel, and the life of my generator, but more importantly lets me enjoy the peace and quiet of the wilderness.

    I wouldn’t try to run a heater or a fan off of them. But either one, fully charged, will more than double the time I can use my laptop from about 5 hours (with the big battery) to about 10 hours. So if weight is not an issue (if, for instance, you are a road warrior roaming around in a vehicle instead of an airplane), this is a helluva deal compared to buying more laptop batteries, or having to run your car just to recharge your laptop.

    Here are my only complaints:

    * while charging from an AC connection, it would be nice to see the level of charge; currently, I have to unplug it, then press the button, then plug it back in again

    * the cigarette-lighter 12v connection to recharge from the car is sticky–not a good fit; also the charging light does not come on to let me know it’s working

    * the jumper cable connection to 12v is REALLY sticky, I had to break off a piece of the plastic on one of them to get it seated–the people in the factory who were making each part clearly weren’t talking to each other that day–and why this particular kluge is ugly is that when you need to jumpstart your car, chances are your nerves are already a little frazzled, and having to jam the connection to get it working had me swearing

    * 20 amp hour battery just does not last that long–like all of these devices, optimistic estimates of usage time should be cut by one-third to one-half

    Otherwise, really, I think every household should have at least one of these. At this price and weight, it just can’t be beat. You’ll be happy you have it when you need it. So will anyone you buy it for.

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