Using the LiPower Portable Power Station
Portable power has become very important in our RV travel. While we may not boondock or dry camp, over the past year finding a place to have lunch while towing our 42 foot 5th wheel has become very difficult. Adding the truck and 5th wheel we are now 60 feet in length. A Walmart parking lot was a safe bet a few years ago, but the newer Walmart parking lots are often designed to make parking semi-trucks and long RV almost impossible. We would often stop mid day at a truck stop, refuel, and visit the fast food restaurant, but over the last year truck traffic has increased and it’s very difficult to find an available parking space. All that is left is a highway rest stop and having the LiPower Portable Power Station now gives us the ability to power the 5th wheel, have a hot meal, and power other small appliances.
The Need For RV Portable Power
Throughout this year most of our RV trips have required us to be on the road for over six hours. We’re ready for a leg stretch, bathroom break, and lunch midway of the trip. There is a limit to where we can safely park with our large 5th wheel and dually truck. We’ve parked in unused retail space at a Walmart or other big box stores, but the parking lots are being designed to limit large rigs. We also would stop at truck stops, but we find most be be very crowded.
This leaves us with one alternative using highway rest stops. Most of our mid day stops are an hour or less and consist of a quick lunch, a few minutes of down time, and on occasion checking business emails with follow up calls. We have a 4500 Watt gas powered generator, but for short stops it takes to much time to set up. This has lead us to search for a portable power solution that can be set up quickly, does not require rewiring the 5th wheel to support, and is battery powered. The challenge with a battery portable power station was having enough wattage to power the 120V AC devices in the 5th wheel – residential refrigerator, a small fan, microwave oven, cellular router, and the possibility of the RV battery charger/converter turning on. Over the past four months we have traveled over 3,000 miles, crossed four states and used the LiPower MARS-2000 Portable Power Station for our temporary travel power needs and the results were very positive.
LiPower MARS-2000 Portable Power Station
The LiPower MARS-2000 Portable Power Station is LiFePO4 battery powered with a large 1,460Wh capacity. To meet our needs, the unit is capable of providing 2,000 Watts of 120V AC power with a 4,000 Watt surge capacity. Adding to 120V AC capability, the power station contains the following:
Output Connections
- USB-A 12W, 5V/2,4A
- USB-Fast 18W, 5V/3A, 9V/2A, 12V/1.5A
- USB-C PD60W, 9V/3A, 12V/3A, 15V/3A. 20V/3A
- DC Accessory Jack/Cigar Style 96W, 12V/8A MAX
Input Connections
- DC Input 200W, 25.5V/8A
- PV-Anderson Input 12V~30V/8A
The MAR-2000 came with a 120V AC to 25.5V DC 8A power brick to charge the unit. We rarely discharged the power station below 20% in our travels and could recharge in 5 to 6 hours. LiPower also provided adapter cables to charge the power station using a vehicle 12V DC Cigar style accessory jack and an adapter cable to connect to standard solar panel IP67 Male/Female connectors.
Using the LiPower MARS-2000
The MARS-2000 Portable Power Station has an easy to read display that shows remaining power as percentage, input watts and output watts. We connected the power station to our 5th wheel using a 50A to 15A dog bone adapter and a 10 gauge extension cord. We stored the MARS-2000 in the side storage bay and set up was less than 5 minutes to power on.
Immediately we saw a wattage draw from the residential fridge. At a recent stop at the I-75 Florida Welcome Center Rest Stop, the fridge cycled off and on, as did the 5th wheel battery charge/converter. We also ran the microwave for 8 minutes, a 12V AC fan and our MoFi4500 cellular router. The power station operated for the 1 hour stop and we use 21% of the unit’s capacity.
We’ve very happy with the overall performance of the LiPower MARS-2000 Portable Power Station. The unit is easy to transport, has plenty of capacity for the long road trips and is quickly recharged for the next use. We appreciate LiPower providing the power station for our review.
Check out our RV Accessories page where we have listed a wide range of products from essential items to those “nice to have” RV products to make RV life more enjoyable. Every item listed is being used or has been used by Joan and I as we’ve traveled across the country in our RV.Purchased use of Digital Juice BackTraxx 1 End User License Agreement for Travelin. The Music may be used, altered, or incorporated according to the guidelines described herein into any production (including but not limited to, broadcast, commercial, industrial, educational, and personal).
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