Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I bought this battery backup unit to safeguard my work on my computer from power outages. I got it just in time. In the past week, there were two very short power interruptions, and I was able to continue working and downloading without any problems. The PowerSource 400 switched to battery power smoothly and kept my computer, monitor, and DSL modem performing normally while the power was out. When the power came back on, it quickly charged back up ready for the next outage. The PowerSource 400 performed as advertised. I am very satisfied and would highly recommend this battery backup unit to anyone who depends upon computers throughout his or her workday.

This is a really unusual product in that it can run for about an hour on full power (400 watts), or lots of hours with a light load.

If you need to stay powered up, and are concerned about intermittent AC power service, this unit is quite nice. It has 26lbs of lead acid batteries (2 12v 20ah batteries) inside, which cost a minimum $50 each to replace. So you are getting over $100 of value just in the battery of system.

It is not as "smart" as some computer oriented UPS units with USB and ethernet ports, which often drive higher output loads (often 1200 or more watts), but its battery is quite large for its price point, and its easy to use for most consumers.

I purchased the Xantrex Technologies 852-0400 XPower PowerSource 400-Watt Back-up Power Solution to provide generator free backup power for the sporadic power outages we have in the Northwest.

We are using the Duracell XPower PowerSource to backup for our bedroom lights and radio alarm clock. When the power goes out where we live it is often out for days. When this happens we replace the bulbs in the bedside lights with CFL which helps to keep the overall watt usage down while providing sufficient lighting.

Since we only use the bedside lamps for a short time in the evenings before sleeping and the radio alarm clock uses so little power I calculate the product will provide useful power for over four days.

I gave the product four stars because the first one I received was defective. The manufacturer replaced the product at no charge. Technical support was very helpful, the RMA process painless, and the replacement was at my door in short order.

I have only had this product for a few weeks but I have tested it and was quite happy with the result. The switch over from line power to internal power was seamless. The transition back to line power was the same. I had a Desktop PC, small lamp, cordless phone, router, Vonage modem, stereo and speaker switch for my whole house system operating for just shy of two hours before the fifty percent signal sounded. There was no deterioration of performance quality on my phone,sound system, or PC(Including my Magicjack).
I really like the display of wattage use, although it is not extremely precise. It was good enough for me to tweak my device choices.
I bought this to have a safeguard against my family being left without communication should I not be home to get the generator started in case of an outage. It also provides me a 'no panic' time frame even if I am home, to get the generator going.
I would recommend this product. For the price there is nothing out there to compare. It is a little on the heavy side due to the battery capacity, but I am not planning on moving it so that is not much of a problem. Even though it is heavy it is not bulky and fits under my desk without interferring with my movements.
It does not have any USB capability, but that also is not a deterrent for my uses.
A reviewer mentioned a bothersome beeping. The unit does signal when there is a status change, but it is not constant. it's a feature that is more covenient then bothersome in my opinion. I don't have to concern myself with keeping an eye on it's status. Having the power off is enough to think about. There is also a fan noise when the unit is recharging itself, but again, it wasn't anything that was intrusive, although it was constant for the entire recharge which lasted several hours.
This was a small price too pay for a whole bunch of convenience.
I am thinking about getting the 1800 watt unit so as to extend my time before having to generate power, since a generator seems mighty noisy at night. I would then be able to use this unit to power lights and other covenience devices. HAVE NOW HAD THE 400 WATT UNIT ALMOST TWO YEARS AND I AM COMPLETELY DELIGHTED WITH IT. IT HAS GOTTEM ME THROUGH SEVERAL POWER OUTAGES SEAMLESSLY.

I bought this product because I am in the Army and needed a power source available away from vehicles and buildings. This is great! Smaller size when compared to other products because it does what it is supposed to do. Provide emergency or portable power, and let me tell you it delivers. It does not have useless feature I didn't want such as: air compressor, radio, flash light, or jumper cables. Can not say enough good things about this product. Keep up the good work Xantrex.

The xantrex unit works as advertised. It is heavy, but offers enough capacity to run computers or other equipment for several hours instead of several minutes like other smaller backup power supplies. I have three of these and would recommend them to anyone looking for a portable AC power source or a backup power source for power outages.

Have run a 31" TV, Dishnetwork reciever, DVD player, portable computer, wireless telephone/answering machine and flourescent lamp for combined totals of 5 watts to 130 watts with no noticeable effects when switching between ac input and operating of internal batteries. Works great.