Recently purchased one of these for a specific reason, I run the truck on optimum idle often. When the truck auto starts electronics like TV, Xbox, or anything else running will be interrupted from the installed inverter causing the electronics to restart. So with a power station you can plug in these devices to it then have power station plugged into inverter charging at same time. The other benefits are that it is portable power, at first was thinking I need more watts than 350, but nope it’s more than enough. This particular 350 Watt unit is small, a little larger than a lunch box weighing less than 20 pounds.
My Freightliner Opti Idle no longer interrupts my devices when it turns on!
The choice of power station and brand is up to you, I bought this particular Predator 350 Watt one from Harbor Freight due to store being right next to a truck stop. The screen has stats while it’s on showing In and out watts, time till fully charged, and duration of power for plugged in devices. They are pretty basic and am sure you can get fancier or even less expensive ones.
Use Cases:
- Power 32 inch TV alone, 35-50 watts, 9-10 hours.
- Power Xbox Series S alone, 40-55 Watts playing a game, 9-10 hours.
- TV Plus Xbox running around 4 hours, unit showed around 80-110 watts together.
- Plugged in to AC from inverter on truck to charge took about 4 hours first time.
- IPad charging while watching YouTube alone, 38- 42 watts.
- Have the Predator 100 Watt Solar Panel, will update when actually use it.
You can charge the power station while powering devices, this will greatly extend the power becoming a generator, plugged into AC to recharge does around 80-95 watts from my 2500 watt inverter. Believe I read the maximum watts while plugged in to charge it can receive is 100 watts. The best option is the portable solar panel made by same manufacturer 100 and 200 watt models, not sure if the 350 watt power station can use all the 200 watts incoming. So in my use case of TV and Xbox I could be parked, truck totally off on a sunny day using the solar panel and it will pretty much last as much as I need (not tested yet).
One thing I do know for recharging you can speed it up by using multiple inputs, AC, Solar, USB all together. I got the smaller Predator 100 watt solar panel too but have yet to use it. If you are wanting to use it more for portable power then a larger one might be more helpful, you’ll get more power duration from them. Can you believe charging a M1 processor Mac Air iPad used as much as Xbox Series S while gaming. The 100 watt solar panel when unfolded is just a bit smaller than my Freightliner Cascadia front window. If this brand does well for me for awhile will most likely get the 1200 watt version for all day power if needed.
https://www.harborfreight.com/350-watt-power-station-294-wh-capacity-70082.html