• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Pecron Power Station! Whodathunk?

What do you use for powering a show with no provided power?

  • A quiet, little gas genny.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • A quiet, large gas genny.

    Votes: 1 14.3%

  • An unmuffled monstrosity of spiky power generation unfit for illegal fishing.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • A small power station or battery/inverter rig.

    Votes: 1 14.3%

  • A large power station or battery/inverter rig.

    Votes: 2 28.6%

  • I don't need the option. My life is complete. Let me tell you why.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I've converted my diesel locomotive to carrot power. National infrastructure needs to catch up.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I built my own and the utilized component nomenclatures are proprietary information.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Carrots. Just carrots.

    Votes: 1 14.3%

  • Polls are fun.

    Votes: 2 28.6%

  • One anticipates that the venue would be responsible for such things...also: finger sandwiches.

    Votes: 5 71.4%
  • Total voters
    7
Discount Bassy

Discount Bassy

Supporting Member
Mar 9, 2020
2,086
15,259
At the end of a fruitless search.
#1
If this thread is incorrectly placed, my apologies go to the moderator who puts it where it belongs.

After a few years of absentmindedly pondering the notion of a battery powered amp, I've finally figured out my route. I listened to and researched a bunch of portable amps and nothing really seemed to sound like home to me. I've got a stack and a small combo that cover me well and sound great (GK1001rb/Mesa 215 and GK MB112). I've got a PA I dig and a bunch or music related gizmos that do all the things I like...as long as I have a room with power. The idea of adding a battery version of everything is not going to happen for various reasons including storage and cost, then it hit me. Why try to replace the individual items when I can just use a portable power supply. I still didn't get it. After researching inverters and car batteries, I finally found what I was looking for: a Pecron E2000LFP. Way more than I need for just something to plug an amp into, but able to run the stage sound support when I need it. Clean power and plenty of it. No gen-set noise, audible or signal (other than a cooling fan that kicks in on high load). Quick recharge. LiFePO4 batteries for a long service life. Additional packs can be daisy chained for additional reserve, but I can't imaging needing them.

Looking at it practically, it is my route to using my favored equipment in any situation with power to spare and just plug it into my portable room with power. I can run a full sized refrigerator with the thing for much of a day straight if I need it. The thing weighs around the same as my little GK combo and is less than half the size. It came down to the way I was searching for my solution and the terminology...look for "power station" and "power bank". Don't look for inverters, as it is only half of the equation. This is not a cutting edge product. They've been around and refined for years. There is a two year warranty and the company is responsive. There are other brands that I checked out. EcoFlow was a close second with the same features, but a sale on the Pecron allowed me twice the watt/hours. Jackery is popular and trusted, but still uses the last gen batteries. Dollars to donuts, Pecron made sense to me.

It is setting me back about $900. It hurt. Much less spent on a smaller model could have occurred and done the trick for a solo or duo with amps and provide juice for hours. I opted to make it both a home expense and also a music purchase. It can keep me running when the power dips, allows me to bring my favorite things camping and gig anywhere. This gives me the option of offing the home back-up generator (a recent, heavy/bulky, barely used gas model that needs the usual maintenance and more than usual neglect repairs thanks to previous owner) that sort of arrived in my life one day. I dig the notion.

I'll update on this when it arrives in about a week. I've already got a spot picked out at a local park to break it in. My partner, Discountess Bassy, likes to sing in the racket ball alcoves for the reverb and the partial rain coverage when the courts are clear. We've been meaning to do some recording there, but I was again flustered by the power situation. I've wanted to bring my bass for drones an ambience, but had no interest in acquiring an acoustic instrument. Hardcase, amp and battery can all fit on a single hand truck with a couple of rachet binders for piece of mind. Practice can be anywhere I can place my comfy drum throne/stool of choice. The idea of spending an afternoon playing through my favorite gear at a place I go for relaxation strikes me sweetly.
 
#10
Whelp. It done showed up. It arrived in some of the most impressive packaging I've seen in a while. It managed to survive FedEx. Double boxes made of doubled heavy cardboard with thick foam inside of that vault. Very tidy. It arrived with a 63% charge and is currently sucking juice out of my studio wall. The lava lamp's 25w bulb is apparently pulling 25w and if the only load, would be on for whatever is above 999 hours on the display. It feels about 40lbs, but I'll put it on the scale when I'm dealing with getting the cords trained and bundled for use.

It came with a waterproof cover with zipper panel access, solar charging cord adapters and an AC charging brick that has indicators and a fan that triggers on temperature. The fan came on after about 10 minutes of charging and makes fan sounds akin to those expected of a single 40-50mm fan on full (2-3k rpm) The power station is equipped with four fans, two on each end for cross-flow cooling and trigger for a second on powering up. These guys make sounds one would expect of 60-80mm fans on blast (2-3k rpm). I don't know if there is a modulating fan controller or just an on/off profile. If the fans are on/off, I could see building a small fan controller module with a temp sensor. If I am making music with enough wattage draw to kick the fans, I won't be able to hear them one way or another.

I am looking at a couple of days of heavy rain that is deferring the test practice in the park until decent weather is to be had. Once it is fully charged, I'll start plugging things in and see the what's what of a small travel kit using my preferred home gear. Charge time from about half to 85% took about half an hour thus far. I'll give an update after dinner and a small home jam. If I feel spunky, I'll take it out to the garage and plug in the upright deep freeze to see proof of concept. This appears, for all intensive purposes, to be pretty cool.

20240109_142737.jpg


I have attempted to include all of the required elements for a non-marketing photo to include toes/feet (non-bare/dirty substitution), poor cable management and non-aesthetic composition. Due to the lack of a banana, I opted to use a standard sized lava lamp for scale.

EDIT: I will hold off testing tonight with music equipment due to a few blips in house power that might end up making me run some more serious loads if/when the power cuts. We are seeing high winds with a couple inches of rain on pre-soaked soil. Things will be falling over and breaking.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Wasnex
#11
Discount Bassy said:
Whelp. It done showed up. It arrived in some of the most impressive packaging I've seen in a while. It managed to survive FedEx. Double boxes made of doubled heavy cardboard with thick foam inside of that vault. Very tidy. It arrived with a 63% charge and is currently sucking juice out of my studio wall. The lava lamp's 25w bulb is apparently pulling 25w and if the only load, would be on for whatever is above 999 hours on the display. It feels about 40lbs, but I'll put it on the scale when I'm dealing with getting the cords trained and bundled for use.

It came with a waterproof cover with zipper panel access, solar charging cord adapters and an AC charging brick that has indicators and a fan that triggers on temperature. The fan came on after about 10 minutes of charging and makes fan sounds akin to those expected of a single 40-50mm fan on full (2-3k rpm) The power station is equipped with four fans, two on each end for cross-flow cooling and trigger for a second on powering up. These guys make sounds one would expect of 60-80mm fans on blast (2-3k rpm). I don't know if there is a modulating fan controller or just an on/off profile. If the fans are on/off, I could see building a small fan controller module with a temp sensor. If I am making music with enough wattage draw to kick the fans, I won't be able to hear them one way or another.

I am looking at a couple of days of heavy raid that is deferring the test practice in the park until decent weather is to be had. Once it is fully charged, I'll start plugging things in and see the what's what of a small travel kit using my preferred home gear. Charge time from about half to 85% took about half an hour thus far. I'll give an update after dinner and a small home jam. If I feel spunky, I'll take it out to the garage and plug in the upright deep freeze to see proof of concept. This appears, for all intensive purposes, to be pretty cool.

View attachment 5311509

I have attempted to include all of the required elements for a non-marketing photo to include toes/feet (non-bare/dirty substitution), poor cable management and non-aesthetic composition. Due to the lack of a banana, I opted to use a standard sized lava lamp for scale.
Click to expand...

Yours is way bigger than mine.

upload_2022-6-26_20-15-49-png.4732466
 
  • Like
Reactions: Discount Bassy
#13
Discount Bassy said:
Very cool. How long do you get from yours running that monster? Which model is your Jackery?
Click to expand...


It's the previous generation of 300. I only did short term tests with my GK 700RB and Ashdown LB30. These amps produced a fairly low level hum on the 300, but otherwise I couldn't tell the difference in how they performed.

I also tried my Aguilar DB359 on the 300. The power transformer was emitting a weird buzzing sound so I aborted the test.

I don't think the Jackery power meter is accurate with an amp. With the GK pushed near clipping, the Jackery indicated it was pulling 50W. At 50W the estimated run time is 293Wh/50W x 75% = 4.4hrs. The ammeter on my variac says power draw from the GK is more like 88W. So 293/88 x 0.75 = 2.5hrs.

The Jackery said the LB30 idled at 70W and pulled 74W with the amp pushed into light grind territory. 293/74 x 0.75 = 3hrs I did not check the LB30 current draw on the variac. Assuming a similar amount of error, run time would probably be around 1.7hrs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Discount Bassy
#14
I was wrong. I stated the weight of the E2000 as an estimated 40lbs. It ended up being about 60lbs. My original speculation was based on oomph factor, feeling about 45lbs. I guess exercising has been paying off. In any case, this is a bit of a brick, but it is also intended for home backup and is solidly exuberant overkill for playing out on a whim. Knowing that I could pack out my full PA setup and run a band somewhere usually devoid of AC power does not break my heart.

If I was to recommend a power station/battery bank to someone wanting to bring a small combo out and abouts to practice or busk, it would be a significantly smaller and less expensive thing. I'd still go with Pecron, barring any troubles and about a quarter to half of the capacity of the E2000. This is not the small one. I like the performance headroom above my personal needs, allowing future, yet known endeavors. There are substantially smaller and lighter things that do the same job. I could see equipping Discountess Bassy with a smaller Pecron station, but could also see her opting for a bit of overkill as well. Wall power in a brick is a handy thing when traveling and doesn't occupy much space.

I figure my bass case and rack are heavy. I recently upgraded my cab and shed 20lbs there, so the extra 20lbs of gear weigh can be allotted to the overkill power station in the accounting of the pounds. Granted, I rarely need to gig the stack...the overall musical equipment weight remains the same. Purchase justified. This is how GAS works.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wasnex
#15
Discount Bassy said:
I was wrong. I stated the weight of the E2000 as an estimated 40lbs. It ended up being about 60lbs. My original speculation was based on oomph factor, feeling about 45lbs. I guess exercising has been paying off. In any case, this is a bit of a brick, but it is also intended for home backup and is solidly exuberant overkill for playing out on a whim. Knowing that I could pack out my full PA setup and run a band somewhere usually devoid of AC power does not break my heart.

If I was to recommend a power station/battery bank to someone wanting to bring a small combo out and abouts to practice or busk, it would be a significantly smaller and less expensive thing. I'd still go with Pecron, barring any troubles and about a quarter to half of the capacity of the E2000. This is not the small one. I like the performance headroom above my personal needs, allowing future, yet known endeavors. There are substantially smaller and lighter things that do the same job. I could see equipping Discountess Bassy with a smaller Pecron station, but could also see her opting for a bit of overkill as well. Wall power in a brick is a handy thing when traveling and doesn't occupy much space.

I figure my bass case and rack are heavy. I recently upgraded my cab and shed 20lbs there, so the extra 20lbs of gear weigh can be allotted to the overkill power station in the accounting of the pounds. Granted, I rarely need to gig the stack...the overall musical equipment weight remains the same. Purchase justified. This is how GAS works.
Click to expand...


Yes, choosing the right power station involves weighing various factors. I chose Jackery because it seem to be a respected brand with a good value/cost ratio. The concept I was going for was more of an individual busking requirement rather than full PA. Jackery makes a smaller pure sine power station, the 240, but it's pretty much the same size and weight as the 300, so the only benefit is lower cost. I wanted the extra capacity of the 300 to make sure my 700RB would turn on without forcing the power station into protect mode.

The next step up in the Jackery line is the 500. Having more capacity is attractive, but the trade off is higher cost, and a package that is approximately twice as big and twice as heavy. The 300 seems about optimum if the idea is to have something that is reasonably easy to carry around.

I could carry a 500, but I would be tempted to rig up some sort of an cart to roll everything around, which is not ideal if curbs or steps are involved. The Pecron 2000 is almost 4x the size and weight of the Jackery 500...so a cart would not be optional IMHO.

I look forward to reading about your test with the full PA.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Discount Bassy
#17
The testing with music equipment out in the wild has been delayed by the weather thus far. I did vacuum the basement and run a few high load items without troubles thus for the sake of argument. The vac spiked at 1500w on startup and pulled a steady 1250w during operation. Throw in about a dozen charged items on top and the battery was down to 89%. More to follow...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wasnex and JKos

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back