Product: Phase2 Energy PowerBlock 500W / 478Wh Portable Power Station
Model: BS-P2EPB500
Condition: New or Refurbished
Keep this power stations on standby for power outages caused by weather or other emergencies so you can have lighting, get important news, and keep cellphones charged
Designed to optimize power without overcharging the battery, giving you maximum power to keep critical devices operating until your household power is restored
Intelligent LCD screen display shows exactly how many hours of power you have remaining based on the devices connected
When charging, the display also shows how much time it will take to get fully recharged
When not in use it’s both safe and smart to keep it plugged into an AC outlet to keep it fully charged
Don’t always have access to an AC outlet? No problem, can keep a charge for up to 1 year when not in use
Unlike gas-powered generators, this battery-powered station is safe for both outdoor and indoor use with no worries about fuel storage or dangerous fumes
UL2743 safety certified and has built-in protection features to ensure safe and efficient operation
Includes a built-in 200-Watt MPPT solar controller that allows for a 4-hour recharge time with most 200W solar panels (solar panel not included)
Recharge by connecting to an AC outlet (7 hours to recharge). Recharge times are approximate and depend on conditions.
Powers up to 7 Devices at Once:
3/AC Ports, 2/USB-A Ports, 1/USB-C Port, 1/12V DC
Off-Grid Power Anytime, Anywhere:
Built in 200W MPPT solar controller for solar recharge
Intelligent LCD Display:
Takes the guesswork out of portable power
Superior Design:
Lightweight, compact and silent operation
Recharge Options:
*AC/DC via MPPT: attach a 200W Solar Panel (solar panel not included) *
Recharge Times:
AC: 7 Hrs, Solar: 4 Hrs
Capacity:
478 Watt-Hours
Weight:
13.00 lbs
Dimensions:
10.63" L x 8.98" W x 7.87" H
Color:
Black
What’s Included?
1x Phase2 Energy PowerBlock 500W / 478Wh Portable Power Station (New or Refurbished)
@narfcake@qazxto The P2E was sufficiently problematic that the manufacturer had dumped it from their warranty support system though that might have been because of the length of time between when they were manufactured and when they were seconded off to Meh. On the other hand, the percentage of them that appeared to be DOA seemed much lower than with the Puleidas. I have one of each, and have had zero problems with either of them. I have to suspect that the P2E just didn’t have quite the same level of quality control on some subsystem that the stuff which was bearing a licensed brand name had to carry. I could be wrong about that. I don’t have a lot of evidence to work with.
@gwrankin@narfcake@qazxto Teh Puleidas are junk. I’ve got mine all apart. It has massive self discharge, will go from 100% to 0% in about a week or two. I’m trying to figure out if it’s the electronics or the cells themselves. ![enter image description here][1]
The P2E unit is much better. It’s also bulkier because it’s got the AC to DC charger contained within.
[1]:
@caffeineguy@gwrankin@narfcake I appreciate your comments and insights on all these deals. Very interesting. I’ve been using my meh snügmax for years and it’s been great. Keep wanting to dip my toes into something bigger but really have no need. And your comments have kept my money safely in my pocket.
I use the snug for portable charging of light things and it runs my CPAP for days and I’ve got generators for the serious stuff.
I keep hoping one day to have time to learn the things you know. Got a chest full of 18650s I acquired new one black Friday but just don’t have the time yet!
@narfcake@qazxto@werehatrack Some quick and dirty math on my Puleida unit… Unit reported ~50% after about 2 weeks. Disassembled expecting to measure a bad cell bank or something, yet all cells measured a consistent 3.6V. I disconnected the battery from the main unit and charged it with ~30V@4A. (4.2V*7S). When it was all charged, just for giggles, I connected my bench supply to the electronics instead and it drew 16mA at idle. 30V 16mA is about a half watt! 0.5W * 24hr * 14 days is 168Whr, which is pretty significant! I won’t know for a little while if the batteries have a significant self-discharge too, but the electronics pulling a half watt certainly explains a lot! 1/2 watt is enough to spot with a thermal camera so I might go an neuter the offending subsystem if I can track it down.
For the record, mine still works great. I have yet to try charging it with a solar panel though. No wait, I did try it with a solar panel, I needed an adapter but it worked fine.
@G1 The voltage requirements for the motor are dependent upon the application specified in the contract for construction. It is not uncommon for them to require 440 Hz AC current. I am not aware of a consumer level motor specification for these, so your best bet is to see what kind of voltage and frequency delivery is typical for military applications, and plan to build your own inverter accordingly. And you had better take the amperage into account; the minigun requires an insanely fast spin-up, and you would likely need a powerpack with an order of magnitude more current delivery to satisfy that demand.
This seem like one of those products that sold out fast at 100 and that made it seem like there was room to mark up the price, when in reality its solid at 100$, but not worth rolling the dice over that. For 50$ more you can get a Bluette or Ecoflow , two packs with really solid reviews and more capacity, the Bluette even uses better battery chemistry.
I used mine (refurbished) to power a large inflatable and a bunch of lights on a parade float. It did great and had a ton of power left and the end of the parade. However, as others have said, I bought mine 5 months ago when it was $50 cheaper. I don’t think I’d do $150. Yes, it was a very good deal at $100, but that’s why people buy from meh…for good deals. Yes that $700 (out of stock) one is practically the same, but you can go to Amazon and buy a brand new Phase2 660Wh for $250. That’s a better price comparison.
@mattig88@narfcake We are probably two to three years away from seeing enough availability of those to make much of a dent in the pricing of premium lithium cells. On the other hand, when they do become available, the lithium cells are pretty much going to go away. Of course, that’s based on the assumption that the sodium cells will be safer than lithium. And that is something which will only be established by experience. I know that the early history of lithium cell development was rather interesting with regard to several facets of the hazards inherent in their production and use. One of the early applications was in cardiac pacemakers, all the way back in the early '70s. Those weren’t rechargeable, of course, and the fact that they produced ether as a byproduct of their operation made them amazingly problematic.
@mattig88@werehatrack I think sooner. On the larger scale of EV use, CATL already has them in production with BYD coming going into full production this year.
Lithium will still have its place for power density. In situations where cost or size is a lesser consideration, that will be sodium’s market.
Starting to wonder if meh marketing is super slick, what with the crazy winds in the Northeast today causing thousands of power outages, curious to see how the map looks at the end of the day
@mattig88 They would have to be positively clairvoyant to have arranged things that well. On the other hand, at this time of year, it’s not unusual to have windy conditions.
@werehatrack thanks, This is so much cheaper than the anker ones im looking at but the anker is also offering a hyper charge (charges in less than an hour). I don’t need anything too crazy, just enough to power coolers in the dessert. How have you faired with it?)
@christiandb1 I have used it to power a laptop and two phone chargers all day at conventions with no problems. I don’t know how long it would run with the drain from a thermoelectric cooler.
Anyone considering these-- The refurbished ones are probably a safer bet. They’ve likely been returned, and possible even charged more recently than the new ones. Regardless, whichever one you buy
Test every input and output port. Many times times, one input will work, another will be DOA; likewise with the outputs (AC and DC)
Do a full charge then do a full discharge once or twice with a constant ~50-100W load (deep discharge) and time it. If you don’t get ~90% of the rated capacity (which would be almost 5 hours for 100W for 490WHr) return it.
(note: It may sit at 99% for a while as it top balances the cells; you’ll need to do this at least once or twice a year. if you’re going to store it after that camping trip or other use, charge it to like 60-80% before storage)
The real test… is fully charging it, waiting a week or three, and then doing a deep discharge with that constant load. These types of things often have lesser grade cells than more premium lithium goods, and those crappy cells often have high self discharge, and will basically self destruct over time, then you’re left with 13.00lbs of hazardous waste to deal with.
Related, but different… here’s the craptastic cells in the shitty Puleida units sold last year… figure out what vendor makes those cells…
@qazxto ![spicy pillows][1]
Spicy pillows usually refers to the Lithium-Polymer batteries in little foil wrappers… Li-Ion batteries like these just get nuclear hot, vent, and sometimes explode. Then they catch the cell next to it on fire, rinse lather repeat… or rather… heat, short through separator, vent, catch fire, heat…
…Now if meh actually sold some spicy pillow pillows…
[1]:
Why is this 50% more expensive than the last time? Was the last batch of P2Es marked down so much because of the sentiment from the crappy, unrelated, Puleida ones?
Have these been sitting around getting ‘better’ for the last 5 months or a brand new batch? …or just hedging your bets you’re going to have to accept 50% more returns?
Ok… the badass write-up explains how long it can make margaritas in a blender, but can it drive my air fryer at 400°? For how long? Can it drive my refrigerator? My microwave? I can pretty safely say I don’t have any more information to provide about those appliances…
@seeden Sadly, you need about 1000W to do anything really useful with these (I can run my super-automatic espresso maker, popcorn machine, or a shop vac with my Jackery 1000). Most of the sub-1000W ones are only really useful for running a laptop, charging things, running a PC (but that’s what they make UPS’ for), maybe some lights/TV while camping (when you should be detaching), an occasional power tool (but again, most tools have cordless variants now), etc. Running a fridge or freezer one of those edge cases where it’d be useful, but not as useful as an actual generator (where you could run it for an hour and cool down all your fridges/freezers then shut it off the next 4 hours)
Got it -
Recipee for Succsess:
soitook the powerblock some tequiola, ice, some mixr, an a blendrr hiking with me an iive stopped everyy mile to mkae one margrhita
My “New” unit (which does seem to be new) has the P2E logo on the front and back but also a copper-colored metal stripe on the handle. I wonder if Meh got this batch because it was mistakenly assembled with mixed Duracell/P2E branding.
@zerocircle Dunno. Mine has the black insert on the handle. I doubt that the supplier would admit anything if partial but ambiguous misbranding was involved. OTOH, the actual manufacturer may have just figured that the copper insert was “close enough” (a rampant attitude in China, according to many reports) and used what they had.
In my case, it does make it easy to tell the difference between this new unit and the refurb I got in the previous Meh sale (which has the black insert).
Y’know, looking at the two side by side, I notice that the copper stripe is flush with the surface of the handle, but the black stripe is an extra layer on top. I’m not inclined at the moment to peel it back, but I wonder if all of these units have a copper stripe, and the black is a cosmetic cover-up to avoid violating trade dress protection.
Sadly, mine seems to have arrived DOA. Support ticket opened already, but does anyone have any magic tricks or incantations that might be used to revive this thing?
@blabounty@caffeineguy Some refurbs are just prettied up. That’s the definition of refurbished, after all If they say that the units have been retested and certified back to new standards, that’s a little more reassuring. But I’ve had “factory refurb” Fuji cameras arrive with serious flaws, and I bought a CD player refurb from Sony’s own site that was DOA. YMMV
@blabounty@werehatrack I’ve had surprisingly good luck with wootmeh refurbs over the years, and more recently, I’m all-in on Amazon Warehouse, mainly because it’s easy to return or get money back from CS if there’s an issue
Specs
Product: Phase2 Energy PowerBlock 500W / 478Wh Portable Power Station
Model: BS-P2EPB500
Condition: New or Refurbished
What’s Included?
Price Comparison
Was $694 (for similar) at Walmart
Warranty
90 days
Estimated Delivery
Friday, Mar 15 - Monday, Mar 18
It is almost like daylight savings time is a new thing.
Looks like Meh forgot to Spring forward?
/showme a software developer that gets time zones right
@awk @mediocrebot The empty chair seems like a correct response.
/showme daylight savings time
Discussion from the last time it was offered:
https://meh.com/forum/topics/phase2-energy-powerblock-500w478wh-portable-power-station-refurbished
These are the pretty much the same as the Duracell Powerblock 500w.
/image Duracell Powerblock 500w
@narfcake it was problematic last time for many with units not working. And. It was $50 cheaper!
@qazxto I recall the Puleida being problematic, but not the P2E.
@narfcake @qazxto The P2E was sufficiently problematic that the manufacturer had dumped it from their warranty support system though that might have been because of the length of time between when they were manufactured and when they were seconded off to Meh. On the other hand, the percentage of them that appeared to be DOA seemed much lower than with the Puleidas. I have one of each, and have had zero problems with either of them. I have to suspect that the P2E just didn’t have quite the same level of quality control on some subsystem that the stuff which was bearing a licensed brand name had to carry. I could be wrong about that. I don’t have a lot of evidence to work with.
@narfcake let’s hope @davidaddor and @warpedrotors don’t renew their Karenesque slapfest on this one.
@narfcake @qazxto I didn’t hear that about the Puleidas. Thankfully both of the ones I got work well.
@mattig88 @narfcake @warpedrotors let’s fucking go bub
@gwrankin @narfcake @qazxto Teh Puleidas are junk. I’ve got mine all apart. It has massive self discharge, will go from 100% to 0% in about a week or two. I’m trying to figure out if it’s the electronics or the cells themselves. ![enter image description here][1]
The P2E unit is much better. It’s also bulkier because it’s got the AC to DC charger contained within.
[1]:
@caffeineguy @gwrankin @narfcake I appreciate your comments and insights on all these deals. Very interesting. I’ve been using my meh snügmax for years and it’s been great. Keep wanting to dip my toes into something bigger but really have no need. And your comments have kept my money safely in my pocket.
I use the snug for portable charging of light things and it runs my CPAP for days and I’ve got generators for the serious stuff.
I keep hoping one day to have time to learn the things you know. Got a chest full of 18650s I acquired new one black Friday but just don’t have the time yet!
@narfcake @qazxto @werehatrack Some quick and dirty math on my Puleida unit… Unit reported ~50% after about 2 weeks. Disassembled expecting to measure a bad cell bank or something, yet all cells measured a consistent 3.6V. I disconnected the battery from the main unit and charged it with ~30V@4A. (4.2V*7S). When it was all charged, just for giggles, I connected my bench supply to the electronics instead and it drew 16mA at idle. 30V 16mA is about a half watt! 0.5W * 24hr * 14 days is 168Whr, which is pretty significant! I won’t know for a little while if the batteries have a significant self-discharge too, but the electronics pulling a half watt certainly explains a lot! 1/2 watt is enough to spot with a thermal camera so I might go an neuter the offending subsystem if I can track it down.
Anybody home??
@tinamarie1974 They will probably be home in an hour.
For the record, mine still works great.
I have yet to try charging it with a solar panel though.No wait, I did try it with a solar panel, I needed an adapter but it worked fine.Still laughing from today’s writeup!!!
Can you link the solar panels? I assume they are $$$$
@Num1Zero Any 200W solar panel with an Anderson connector will work.
I see some on sale on Amazon right now, for instance:
https://www.amazon.com/EBL-Portable-Waterproof-Foldable-Connector/dp/B0BTNTDZLT/
(I don’t have experience with that one I just thought it looked decent … I have the 200W Bluetti panels)
@Num1Zero If you have a place to mount a fixed panel, consider this for about $103 after coupon.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/126060607676
You will need an adapter; $8 with Prime:
https://www.amazon.com/SinLoon-Connector-Extension-Generator-Powerstation/dp/B09YR7X19J/
Buy MC4 extensions if necessary.
For portable folding panels, perhaps this at $143?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/235281253671
4sicience!!!
At 478 Whr, approx. how long could you fire an M134 minigun, assuming adequate cooling on the barrels?
What voltage does the M134 require for the external motor?
Thanks. Asking for me, in case I ever found one.
@G1 The voltage requirements for the motor are dependent upon the application specified in the contract for construction. It is not uncommon for them to require 440 Hz AC current. I am not aware of a consumer level motor specification for these, so your best bet is to see what kind of voltage and frequency delivery is typical for military applications, and plan to build your own inverter accordingly. And you had better take the amperage into account; the minigun requires an insanely fast spin-up, and you would likely need a powerpack with an order of magnitude more current delivery to satisfy that demand.
Good luck.
So 50% more expensive for the refurb and 1/3 more expensive for the new? Meh
This seem like one of those products that sold out fast at 100 and that made it seem like there was room to mark up the price, when in reality its solid at 100$, but not worth rolling the dice over that. For 50$ more you can get a Bluette or Ecoflow , two packs with really solid reviews and more capacity, the Bluette even uses better battery chemistry.
In for one @100 though.
That is an unfortunate font choice on that logo when viewed from afar.
Also, $700 for a “similar” unit is a tad far fetched. No one is paying $700 for off brand 500 Whr.
@ohhwell especially when $500 will probably get someone a pretty decent Jackery that does 1000W
@caffeineguy @ohhwell costco has one for $300, 550 Wh, 500W, 1000W peak, Meh.
include a solar panel and you get it for $450.
I used mine (refurbished) to power a large inflatable and a bunch of lights on a parade float. It did great and had a ton of power left and the end of the parade. However, as others have said, I bought mine 5 months ago when it was $50 cheaper. I don’t think I’d do $150. Yes, it was a very good deal at $100, but that’s why people buy from meh…for good deals. Yes that $700 (out of stock) one is practically the same, but you can go to Amazon and buy a brand new Phase2 660Wh for $250. That’s a better price comparison.
Too much, these will be $50-$100 elsewhere before the end of the year.
@mattig88 Sodium ion batteries ought to put a lot of pressure on the pricing in the future.
@mattig88 @narfcake We are probably two to three years away from seeing enough availability of those to make much of a dent in the pricing of premium lithium cells. On the other hand, when they do become available, the lithium cells are pretty much going to go away. Of course, that’s based on the assumption that the sodium cells will be safer than lithium. And that is something which will only be established by experience. I know that the early history of lithium cell development was rather interesting with regard to several facets of the hazards inherent in their production and use. One of the early applications was in cardiac pacemakers, all the way back in the early '70s. Those weren’t rechargeable, of course, and the fact that they produced ether as a byproduct of their operation made them amazingly problematic.
@mattig88 @werehatrack I think sooner. On the larger scale of EV use, CATL already has them in production with BYD coming going into full production this year.
Lithium will still have its place for power density. In situations where cost or size is a lesser consideration, that will be sodium’s market.
Power to the People!
/giphy noble-rural-cow
I have the power station already. What I need is the solar panel.
@meestergud I posted links to a couple options in an earlier reply.
https://meh.com/forum/topics/phase2-energy-powerblock-500w-478wh-portable-power-station#65ee94747cb6722031f5df4f
@meestergud Any 100-200W panel will do, just slap an Anderson plug on it
the writeup got a solid belly laugh out of me. Well done.
@visioneer_one I wanna buy it just to support the writing.
Starting to wonder if meh marketing is super slick, what with the crazy winds in the Northeast today causing thousands of power outages, curious to see how the map looks at the end of the day
@mattig88 They would have to be positively clairvoyant to have arranged things that well. On the other hand, at this time of year, it’s not unusual to have windy conditions.
Can you plug in a solar panel in this? Looking to take this desert camping
@christiandb1 Yes. The port is on the back. (I have one of these packs sitting next to me on the floor.)
@werehatrack thanks, This is so much cheaper than the anker ones im looking at but the anker is also offering a hyper charge (charges in less than an hour). I don’t need anything too crazy, just enough to power coolers in the dessert. How have you faired with it?)
@christiandb1 I have used it to power a laptop and two phone chargers all day at conventions with no problems. I don’t know how long it would run with the drain from a thermoelectric cooler.
@christiandb1 @werehatrack how durable are those solar panels? (And how affordable are they to reuse/maintain/rebuy?)
Anyone considering these-- The refurbished ones are probably a safer bet. They’ve likely been returned, and possible even charged more recently than the new ones. Regardless, whichever one you buy
(note: It may sit at 99% for a while as it top balances the cells; you’ll need to do this at least once or twice a year. if you’re going to store it after that camping trip or other use, charge it to like 60-80% before storage)
Related, but different… here’s the craptastic cells in the shitty Puleida units sold last year… figure out what vendor makes those cells…
@caffeineguy spicy pillows
I’m sure you could find a sufficiently fun way to dispose?
@qazxto ![spicy pillows][1]
Spicy pillows usually refers to the Lithium-Polymer batteries in little foil wrappers… Li-Ion batteries like these just get nuclear hot, vent, and sometimes explode. Then they catch the cell next to it on fire, rinse lather repeat… or rather… heat, short through separator, vent, catch fire, heat…
…Now if meh actually sold some spicy pillow pillows…
[1]:
@caffeineguy @qazxto I swear if I looked at the care tag, it would say those were filled with desiccants.
@caffeineguy @qazxto No. No. And no. Verrry big NO.
Why is this 50% more expensive than the last time? Was the last batch of P2Es marked down so much because of the sentiment from the crappy, unrelated, Puleida ones?
Have these been sitting around getting ‘better’ for the last 5 months or a brand new batch? …or just hedging your bets you’re going to have to accept 50% more returns?
/giphy fascinating-dead-kiwi
@meauxfaux Rik Mayall was a Brit, not a Kiwi
Ok… the badass write-up explains how long it can make margaritas in a blender, but can it drive my air fryer at 400°? For how long? Can it drive my refrigerator? My microwave? I can pretty safely say I don’t have any more information to provide about those appliances…
@seeden Air fryer or microwave, no. You’d most likely need at least a 1500w unit for that.
Fridge, maybe. New energy efficient ones maybe 100w or so; older can be several hundred watts to start the compressor and this won’t be enough.
@seeden Sadly, you need about 1000W to do anything really useful with these (I can run my super-automatic espresso maker, popcorn machine, or a shop vac with my Jackery 1000). Most of the sub-1000W ones are only really useful for running a laptop, charging things, running a PC (but that’s what they make UPS’ for), maybe some lights/TV while camping (when you should be detaching), an occasional power tool (but again, most tools have cordless variants now), etc. Running a fridge or freezer one of those edge cases where it’d be useful, but not as useful as an actual generator (where you could run it for an hour and cool down all your fridges/freezers then shut it off the next 4 hours)
@narfcake @caffeineguy
Y’all rock. thanks!
Got it -
Recipee for Succsess:
soitook the powerblock some tequiola, ice, some mixr, an a blendrr hiking with me an iive stopped everyy mile to mkae one margrhita
My “New” unit (which does seem to be new) has the P2E logo on the front and back but also a copper-colored metal stripe on the handle. I wonder if Meh got this batch because it was mistakenly assembled with mixed Duracell/P2E branding.
@zerocircle Dunno. Mine has the black insert on the handle. I doubt that the supplier would admit anything if partial but ambiguous misbranding was involved. OTOH, the actual manufacturer may have just figured that the copper insert was “close enough” (a rampant attitude in China, according to many reports) and used what they had.
In my case, it does make it easy to tell the difference between this new unit and the refurb I got in the previous Meh sale (which has the black insert).
Y’know, looking at the two side by side, I notice that the copper stripe is flush with the surface of the handle, but the black stripe is an extra layer on top. I’m not inclined at the moment to peel it back, but I wonder if all of these units have a copper stripe, and the black is a cosmetic cover-up to avoid violating trade dress protection.
Sadly, mine seems to have arrived DOA. Support ticket opened already, but does anyone have any magic tricks or incantations that might be used to revive this thing?
Womp womp. Bought a new one and it arrived DOA.
@blabounty That’s why refurbished is usually better, they’ve already fixed the common failures!
@blabounty @caffeineguy Some refurbs are just prettied up. That’s the definition of refurbished, after all If they say that the units have been retested and certified back to new standards, that’s a little more reassuring. But I’ve had “factory refurb” Fuji cameras arrive with serious flaws, and I bought a CD player refurb from Sony’s own site that was DOA. YMMV
@blabounty @werehatrack I’ve had surprisingly good luck with wootmeh refurbs over the years, and more recently, I’m all-in on Amazon Warehouse, mainly because it’s easy to return or get money back from CS if there’s an issue
Just got mine and its DOA. Does any one know if Duracell does warranty or is it just a big paper weight?
@pichipen As noted in the specs, the warranty a meh 90 day.
If you haven’t done so already, contact Support. They’ll help you out.
https://meh.com/support