New gear from Dometic was on full display at this years Outdoor Retailer show in Denver. The biggest news on the block was the new Dometic PLB40 Portable power pack. Venturing off the beaten path of Lithium Ion batteries, Dometic is employing new tech – Lithium Iron Phosphate. LFP batteries are in the same family as the Lithium Ions, but offer a much greater charge life cycle and are capable of delivering their rated voltage all the way until complete exhaustion.
Also due to their natural voltage, they operate on their own at 12.8v, which means that there is a reduction of complexity in the circuitry and an increase in efficiency due to no need for voltage regulation. In addition to being a chemically stable compound, they are considerably safer than your run of the mill Li-ion.
What does all of this mean? You get a true 40Ah of power at 12.8 volts until the battery is totally exhausted. This constant 12.8v rating also means that it is pass-thru capable, so you can have it set up as part of the link from your alternator to your Dometic fridge and it charges itself while you peddle around town.If you happen to totally drain this battery it means two things:
You were having a killer time.
It only takes five hours to fully recharge on 12VDC or 120VAC power by standard Anderson plugs.
If you happen to be a flower child with solar panels in your hair, it is also agnostic to solar panels and is happy to accept juice from the sun without a charge controller via its USB, CFX two pin or 12v outlet connection points.Want to haul your Dometic fridge down to the beach (because why not)? No problem. Bring the Power pack with you. It weighs 14 lbs and is IP44 water and dust rated and has enough juice to run a Dometic CFX40 for 48 hours non-stop in real-world scenarios.
Since this bad boy is exclusively 12VDC, it does not offer any ability for transforming its power into AC on its own. So if you are considering this for your end-all-be-all power brick, you may have to consider what you are planning on running with it outside of a fridge.At an estimated price of $749.99, it is not a small investment by any means; however, its long life, convenient size and weight sells us on the price. It is hard to come up with a DIY setup that checks all the boxes Dometic managed to stuff into a 10x10x10 package that only weighs 14 lbs.
If you are interested in grabbing one of these, you will have to wait till Spring 2019 when they officially launch. Head over to dometic.com to check out their full lineup of overlanding/off-road solutions.
Still going back and forth between a cooler vs fridge on the road? Read our article here and join the discussion!Written by Will Marshal
Photos by Barry J Holmes
Wow, cool device but holy smokes is it expensive!
That aside, one thing you didn't mention in the article that I find is the #1 most useful thing about having a portable 12V pack with me is the ability to put the fridge in a bear box overnight. Even the best sealed fridge is a danger in bear country. With one of these (or any cheapie AGM jumpbox) you can keep the fridge powered on overnight away from the rig.
This one is already available…
https://humless.com/product/1500-series-64-kwh/
It’s 50ah and provides more types of oiutput and the internal battery is actually replaceable.
Tahoe
Of course it weighs twice as much, so probably not walking it down to the beach.
[QUOTE="Tahoe, post: 261772, member: 8375"]Of course it weighs twice as much, so probably not walking it down to the beach.[/QUOTE]
Hah that is what I was thinking! Probably slightly different intended uses. But, 40Ah in 14lb is really impressive!
Ugh, just make an outfitted, sturdy box to put my own battery into please. Shipping from AU is too pricey.
Looks like an awesome little battery pack that will be going on the list of gear for our overland build.
Can’t wait for this
Any idea of t price range.
Read somewhere around $800 us. Not cheap indeed, but if you can use the full 40ah, the $/ah is competitive
Can we use this to power lamps/lantern while camping, aside from charging phones ?
That price, ouch. This is exactly what I was looking for, sadly priced well out of my range. Gotta see if I can diy one in my range.
[QUOTE="Hachi, post: 273664, member: 20085"]Any idea of t price range.[/QUOTE]
I ordered this last December, I'm waiting for the tracking no. it will be shipped directly from Dometic USA.
[QUOTE="Hachi, post: 293055, member: 20085"]I ordered this last December, I'm waiting for the tracking no. it will be shipped directly from Dometic USA.[/QUOTE]
I'll make a unboxing, and run it. Ill give provide my own review