Sunday, June 21, 2009

Xantrex Technologies 852-0400 XPower PowerSource 400-Watt Back-up Power Solution

Product Details
  • Amazon Sales Rank: #5242 in Home Improvement
  • Brand: Xantrex
  • Model: 852-0400
  • Dimensions: 11.00" h x 4.00" w x 19.00" l, 38.00 pounds

Features

  • Provides up to 400 watts of AC power
  • Provides up to eight hours of backup power for a combination of devices
  • Five AC outlets with surge protection
  • Automatic transfer switch means attached devices stay powered automatically during a power outage
  • Operates both office devices and home appliances when the power goes out
From the Manufacturer
Power outages are a reality that can threaten your productivity and sense of comfort. The XPower PowerSource 400 is the perfect backup power solution for the small-office and home-office market. During a power outage, it will supply up to eight hours of uninterrupted backup power to devices such as a small TV, a radio, a laptop computer, a desktop and LCD monitor, an inkjet printer, a copier/printer/fax/scanner, an Internet modem, a VoIP phone, a cell phone, or a cordless phone. Until now, backup power products on the market have only been able to provide limited backup power during outages and not extended runtime like the XPower PowerSource 400. With the XPower PowerSource 400, you will be able to keep working and stay productive--and meet those important deadlines. The XPower PowerSource 400 switches to backup power automatically when a power outage occurs. This happens seamlessly so that the electronic devices that are connected to it won’t sense the power outage. They’ll operate off the XPower PowerSource 400’s charged battery for hours. When grid power returns, the XPower PowerSource 400 switches the devices back to utility power, recharges its internal battery, and enters a standby mode until the next outage occurs.

Customer Reviews

Works as it says.5
This is an early review in that I have not had to witness a lengthy power outage to determine its run-time, but from initial experience it seems to run as expected. Some things I do want to pass on to other people, is that this UPS is like most others, even though its from an inverter specialist, and will not operate on an existing modified sine-wave inverter. This won't bother most people however. Others should just note that it is very large as is needed for the run-time it is able to offer, and weighs a good amount too. It does not have a continous audible alarm when operating in backup mode. The documentation states it is a modified sine wave inverter, however I have not checked to see what the exact output looks like. I don't have any delicate equipment connected, so I cannot know if it would cause buzzing from audio equipment or picture distortion in video equipment.
If you require a long run-time from a quiet back-up system this is an ideal solution. I use it to back-up power to my weather monitoring computer because I am gone too much during the day to activate my manual backup system.

UPS on Steroids for everything except the computer..5
This is basically a standard UPS with three exceptions.

First, it is not intended for use on computers and thus does not have a USB connector to tell your computer to shut down when the power goes out.

Second, and most importantly, its battery capacity is about 6 times that of a standard UPS. For instance, the Tripplite 700 UPS has a 7aH battery, which will provide 400 watts of power for about 7 minutes. This unit has 2 20aH batteries, for a total of 40aH, and should provide 400 watts for about 35 minutes. My big screen, Onkyo surround system, and satellite dish draw about 200 watts, so in an outage, I can probably watch TV for an hour. If my PVR alone is left on, it can run for 5 hours or longer.

Third, this unit has a power meter on it, so you can tell exactly how many watts you are drawing.

Ideal for RV, greatly reduces generator usage5
I live off-grid, in an RV. I run the generator to recharge a 300aH bank of batteries for the 12v systems in the RV. But even the smallest, most efficient generator still supplies more power than I need. With the excess power I charge several of these Xantrex PowerSources. They then give me back the AC power I need when the generator is off. I use them to power my internet connection, laptop, cell phone recharges, watching TV/DVD, etc. As for usage... I have a 26" standard TV w/DVD, and I can watch a DVD for 3 hours or so. My wireless internet dish only draws about 5 watts, and I can keep it powered for days. If you are looking to power just a laptop and cell phone, for 8 hours a day, you could probably last two days with one unit. These batteries should not be discharged down to more than 50%, and the unit will beep loudly and eventually shut off power, so you don't get the full use of 400 watts overall, it's more like 240. You also don't really get 400 watts at once, count on only plugging in 300 watts worth of stuff at a time. Even so, given the price per amp-hour of AGM batteries, this UPS is still an incredible deal, just in battery value alone--and a much better deal considering portability (luggable, but not too bad), and the included inverter and drawdown info. Very easy to use, the readouts on both my units have always worked fine and any beeping that does happen is appropriate and helpful. Family friendly, and relatively idiot-proof. Once I explained how they worked, others who have stayed in my trailer have found them easy to operate and difficult to damage. Anyway, buy a couple of these and you'll run your generator WAY less often and for a much shorter time.

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