Dakota Power Bank and PV Panel – Part 2, by Mike in Alaska

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)

The Dakota Lithium Power Bank can supply up to 2,400 watts by itself and can supply you with 4,800 peak AC when needed. This is according to their user’s manual that comes with the unit. That 4,800 watts is a rating given when a second power bank unit is set up in parallel with the first unit. The bank came with the necessary connector to link it with a second bank, and I am planning to buy a second unit to add to the setup I have now.

Here are the statistics of its ability to provide electrical power when needed in an emergency, or if you live in the Alaska bush on a daily basis.

My laptop is a Dell E6430 using the supplied Dell charge adapter plugged into the power bank. The power bank had a charge level of 91% and had been used to charge my cell phone previously from 100 % in the bank.

Total time to recharge the laptop was 1 hour and six minutes. The laptop was at 2% and charged at a rate of 47 watts, at the end when the laptop was charged at 100 % capacity the amount of output was at 45 watts and 87% power left in the bank. At one point, I was simultaneously charging the cell phone using the wireless charge port on the top of the unit, and the laptop using one of the three 120 Vac 20 Amp sockets on the front of the bank.

There are four ways you can charge up this power bank:

1. AC charge input voltage: 100 to 130 Vac (60 Hz US and 50 Hz European or foreign source) it has a built-in ability to detect the input frequency of the voltage source and adjust its needs accordingly.
2. AC Charge Input Power: “1500 watts” as described in the manual but I’m not certain what they mean by this.
3. Solar Charge Input: 12V – 75V at 800 Watts Max. My unit has the 180-watt solar panel option. This panel folds up into a very nice carrying case and is a very rugged unit. I am planning to write an evaluation on this panel and several others I have in a separate article.
4. Automobile Charger Input: 12VDC to 24VDC 192 watts maximum. Some modern aircraft use a 24Vdc battery system and can provide charging for this unit as well.

The power bank arrived here in Alaska at about 30% charged, I used house (grid) power to charge it up full as per the operator’s manual. This took about one hour to reach full bank power. I then left it overnight since it was getting close to bedtime. I laid the AC power charging cable down on top of the bank and went to bed. Guess what lesson I learned from that? The top of the bank has a wireless charging spot and if you do not turn off the power bank and lay a coiled-up wire on top of it Faraday’s Law of Electromagnetic Induction will be proven and, in my case, the total remaining charge will be at 80% of full charge capacity. Also, the cord left on top will be warm. Lesson learned.

Because we have very low on the horizon sunlight at the time of this writing, I wasn’t able to test the solar panel ability to charge. However I do plan to set it up this week and show the results of its ability to charge up the bank.

Outlets on this power bank:

• 3 each 120 VAC @20 amps available in standard 3-prong type sockets with a ground lug as one of those prongs.
• 1 each three prong 120 VAC @ 30 amps type socket for plugging the power bank into a motorhome type use or any plug that is the same type so long as the draw doesn’t exceed 30 amps.
• 1 each: 12 VDC / 10-amp cigarette light type socket.
• 2 each: USB–A @18 watts max and
• 2 each: USB-C @100 watts each.
• A wireless charge platform: located on the top surface and rated at 10 watts.

All the cables needed to connect this unit for input or output are supplied with the bank new as well as a cable needed to parallel with a second bank. One nice feature I like is that Dakota Lithium has standard Anderson Power Pole connections for these cables and therefore reduce the possibility of making a reversed power connection. It also works out that all my ham radio gear uses 12-VDC power and have Anderson Power Pole connectors. Life is good in that area.

There is a total output power of 2,400 watts with 4,800 available when connected in parallel with another power bank. It has a built-in Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) and has a very important kick in time ≤10 microseconds (A microsecond is one – millionth of a second 1uS = 0.000001 second) which is essential for use when powering a computerized item such as a laptop or equipment using some form of microprocessor.

PROS:

This power bank serves a vital place in our prepping plans. We could afford it, and it takes up the slack for lack of additional power creating capacity for a short time, or long-term situation.

As stated, I plan to add a second bank and another 180-watt solar panel for setting up a power system that can simply use sunlight to charge up. I was given a professional quote from a local company for installing the Tesla Power Wall and solar panels on my roof with a total system cost installed for $60,000. I decided that I didn’t need another mortgage.

We scale back our power needs when the grid goes down, and we planned for a backup system that can live off even our limited low-on-the-horizon solar capability even in a long-term grid down situation. I also consider solar capability essential for quiet operation particularly in a TEOTWAWKI situation where OPSEC is a must.

The AC output is a pure sine wave type of power which is needed for use of sensitive electronic equipment you may be operating while using the power bank.

The AC output is a pure sine wave type essential for powering equipment that is sensitive to power noise induced onto the line. I used my oscilloscope which is a PicoScope 3020D 50 Mhz professional oscilloscope calibrated to NIST standards to measure line noise from all the AC outlets and found that there simply wasn’t any that could be of harm to any electronic equipment normally used in any day-to-day operation including any IEC60601-1 Medical Standards for power supply equipment and operations.

It is priced competitively with other units of this size but has more input / output capacity over most of the competitors.

It is light enough that my wife can move it if needed, compact enough that it is easily stored out of the way when not in use, and it is intuitive in all its functions. The supplied owner’s manual is well written and informative. I highly recommend one read it first before attempting any functions with a new unit.

CONS:

There is a built-in Bluetooth capability and an app available for remote operation. I can see the Bluetooth icon flashing on the face of the display, but for the life of me cannot get it to connect with my iPhone. Well, I don’t give a hoot and holler about that function, so it just isn’t a game-changer for me.

There is a cooling fan that will come on and if my wife had not asked me what that noise was, I would not have even considered it a problem. She has ears on a stick, and I wear hearing aids, so there it is. I don’t consider it a game changer either, because its function is to keep this system in good working order. Even when I deliberately listened for it while running it did not sound very loud or annoying to me.