I've really enjoyed this forum over the last year. In an attempt to contribute some meaningful content, I thought I'd do a complete writeup of my initial impressions of the Tekkeon 3450 r2 battery pack, coupled with a powerfilm  solar panel

I am intrigued by small photovoltaic solar and collect PV equipment like many here collect guns. I've always felt that in a disaster/SHTF situation the ability to generate electricity would be highly desirable.  Obviously, there are higher priorities, but even small amounts of DC- powered devices would make life much easier.  At the home or retreat  a small solar generation system would allow you to run some high efficiency lighting, use radios for communication, use cordless tools, use laptops and other devices that function as electronic libraries,  keep a small energy efficient refrigerator running, keep a security system running, and perhaps allow the kids to occasionally spend some time playing a video game or watch a movie on a DVD player. I think most people could benefit from a system that would allow some of the modern conveniences to continue, but a system for the retreat would be pretty large and heavy. It would ideally consist of  100-400 watts of solar generating panels, a couple of large deep cycle or golf cart batteries, and would be too cumbersome for portable use.

When we go mobile, whether just camping out or actually bugging out, we can still derive great benefit from the ability to generate, store, and dispense smaller amounts of electricity to other devices as needed. Obviously in portable setups there would not be enough energy generated for luxuries, but the ability to run communication equipment, information devices, and lighting would be desirable. I have a portable setup that allows me to charge a lead-acid battery, and the necessary adapters to charge most of my gadgets and goodies. It consists of a 30 watt folding panel, a charge controller,  and adapters. I couple these components with a battery of varying size (7 ah to 35 ah) depending on my perceived need.  This would keep the lights on, so to speak. To power a laptop often requires also requires a  voltage higher than the 12V that is stored in the battery.  In order to do that, you need to purchase either a small inverter, or a DC to DC adapter that will step the voltage up to what is  necessary to run the laptop, which can be as high as 20 volts DC. Even pared down these systems are relatively  heavy. With the smallest battery I have, the 7ah AGM, this total package of the gear needed to weighs almost twelve  pounds.



In an effort to move to an even more lightweight and portable platform I've been playing with a battery pack that someone recommended in one of the threads I ran across. It's a tekkeon 3450 R2 battery pack. The Tekkeon 3450 R2 is one of three units in the Tekkeon “my powerall” line.  This is a line of  Lithium Polymer Battery Packs that have the capability of operating or charging  low draw electronic equipment (maximum 4 amps) at a variety of voltage settings. LiPO batteries have a higher energy density than lead acid batteries. In other words, for the amount of energy stored, they weigh much less.  There are three products in the mypowerall line. The 3450, 3450i, and the 3750 There are some differences in the three, but I'll try to summarize. The 3450 has manual pushbutton voltage selection and includes a AC charging adapter. The 3450i  has a more cumbersome manual dip switch setting to change voltage and a slightly higher capacity battery. This model would be ideal for those that will be using this on  mainly one piece of equipment and won't need to change voltages often. The 3750 has automatic voltage detection, certainly a nice feature, but does not include a wall charge adapter.  I believe It's designed to use your current laptop charger as a charging adapter. The newest versions with an R2 designation also have an auxiliary USB outlet.  The USB outlet can be used while the other outlet is at a different voltage.

I felt this tekkeon unit would possibly be a nice compliment to a solar panel if you need to store and dispense energy in a voltage other than 12V.  If your only need is to charge AA or AAA batteries or USB powered devices there are lighter, less expensive options Check out the Goal 0 thread for a good discussion on several devices.

I purchase the 3450 from an ebay vendor for 109.00, shipping included.  It came with the tip my laptop needed. To make it more versatile I needed to order some additional accessories from the Tekkeon website. These included the 12V cigarette  lighter “female”, the 12V “male” charging adapter, a micro usb adapter, and a product designed to allow the tekkeon to be charged by small solar panels, called the sunbooster.  Total cost for the battery and all desired accessories was around $175. That does initially sound expensive, but when you consider that the tekkeon  is a battery, charge controller, and DC to DC adapter wrapped into a small lightweight unit, it doesn't seem as bad.  Here's a pic of all the goodies plus the folded panel.



The 3450 is lightweight and pretty small, about twice the size of my smartphone.

It will take a charging voltage input from 12 to 20 volts DC at a rate of 1.5 amps. This gives me  several charging options.

I can charge off AC with the included  adapter.

I can use the laptop charger with an appropriate adapter pin

I can charge off a standard 12V cigarette lighter adapter

And, most importantly for field use, I can use the sunbooster adapter and charge directly off a small  solar panel.   Charging time for the battery pack can be as little as four hours through traditional power sources, but charging through the sunbooster with solar will be depndent on your panel capacity and weather conditions.

I ran some preliminary tests with a watt meter and a Computerized Battery Analyzer.  I tried a couple of tests to check battery capacity, including 5V @ 1 amp, 12V @ 2 amps, and 19V at 1.5 amps.  All tests showed the voltage to be very smooth and consistent, usually within .2 volts of  selected voltage throughout the discharge until the pack shut down from a dead battery.  There is  effectively no curve like what you would observe drawing down a standard lead- acid battery. In other words It supplies the correct voltage until it runs out of energy. I did attach a switch operated fan in the circuitry to see how the unit would behave, and voltage did swing a bit when the fan was turned on, but still stayed within .5 V of where it was supposed to be. I felt this was acceptable for my application.  The battery pack I tested seems to have a capacity matching closely to advertised capacity of 50 watt-hours.  



As you can see the voltage stayed really smooth through the life of the pack. Here is an example of what the voltage does on a drawdown a lead acid battery:




To give an idea of real world capacity, the 3450 was able to charge my wife's laptop once from a from basically dead  to fully charged. It will recharge my smart phone more than five times. I'm not sure how many just yet.

One thing I did not care for is the built in battery meter. IMO, it's of little use.  The pack shows a capacity of nearly 50%  when tests indicate the remaining battery capacity is much lower  than that. When we recharged the pack with a 10 watt panel, it showed nearly full , even though I knew it was less than 50% charged.



I did shoot an email to tekkeon support and they are aware of that problem, and described it as the nature of the battery voltage curve on that battery chemistry. As a result, the user will just have to get a feel for remaining battery life, rather than rely on the indicator lights to show true battery capacity.  

I've charged a few devices with this  battery pack, and so far everything has worked well. The R2 versions of these battery packs have a USB port in addition to their standard port. This allows the user to operate charge two devices at once. I recently purchased a lenmar AA/AAA charger and can charge batteries via USB, and charge another device, such as my 2m handheld  via the main port.



I have not tried any Apple products, though. I've read several threads about not all devices working relaibly while charging apple products. Perhaps someone here that owns one can comment.

The tekkeon units may be charged and used as a power source at the same time with a caveat. The discharge voltage can not exceed incoming charging voltage.  For example, if you are charging this pack with your 12V car adapter, you may not be able to power your 19 V laptop. You could, however, power devices that operate at 12 V or lower.  I was a bit disappointed in that, hoping I could essentially use this unit as a DC to DC adapter so that we could power the laptop directly off the cigarette lighter on a car trip. However, with a fairly adequate battery capacity built in the unit, it should still be able to provide ample energy to extend the normal laptop battery life by a few hours.


Well, without the solar panel this tekkeon is just not as fun to play with. I have an older, very rugged folding panel made my unisolar but a nearly five pounds it is pretty heavy.  So in an effort to go light I  took this as a great excuse to my wife  to buy a eighteen ounce powerfilm 20 watt panel off amazon.  Powerfilm is an American company and manufacture their cells in the USA, although they apparently ship their cells overseas to have them assembled into the final folding product.  They have some impressive videos on youtube showing their panels taking multiple gunshots and the result was minimal damage to their output.  At this point I have owned three powerfilm products and felt the quality of all the products was good. Testing showed them to generate close to their rated output. Nevertheless, portables PV panels are a small niche market and are expensive. The 20 watt panel was on sale for $209.00. It seems like right now a good price  for most folding panels seems to be roughly in the $10.00/watt range, so I felt like this was a reasonable price for a portable panel which seems to be of good quality.  Her's a pic of a powerfilm 20 watt panel and a powerfilm 10 watt panel I used for testing.




I have charged the 3450 a couple of times with these two different  panels through the optional sunbooster adapter,  The sunbooster is designed to take a variety of incoming voltages and current and convert it to what the tekkeon unit needs to properly take a charge, apparently around 25 volts. As mentioned earlier, the tekkeon can be charged and also dispense energy  at the same time as long as the charging voltages is the higher of the two.  If that is true, since the sunbooster has a voltage input of around 25 volts you may be able to use this unit to power laptops while hooked to solar.  However, at this time I have not tried that.  The sunbooster seemed to work fine, but it uses a small six pin interface that looks awfully fragile. You may want to find a small  box such as a plastic soap dish to put the sunbooster in for protection.

The unit did take a charge hooked to a powerfilm 10 watt panel, but due to a couple of factors working against me I only managed to get about 30 watt hours in  the pack in the entire day.  Earlier testing showed that it takes about 65 watt-hours to bring a dead pack back to full charge. The powerfilm 20 watt panel fared much better, with the unit getting completely charged in about five and a half hours on a good clear day.  As a result I think the 20 watt panel is the way to go if the weight, size, or price doesn't discourage you.  

As far as portability, the total package of powerfilm 20 watt panel, tekkeon 3450 R2 battery pack, nine other power adapters, and a lenmar AA/AAA/USB charger fits in a 12x12 loksak and weighs in at 3 lbs, 3 oz. Obviously the gram weenies aren't going to be happy with that number, but perhaps additional weight could be shaved off by carrying a smaller panel ( a powerfilm 10 watt panel weighs 11.4 ounces vs 18.6 for the 20 watt)and fewer adapters. However, like many of you, I want the ability to charge as many devices as I encounter, and the few extra ounces in penalty I pay won't stop me from carrying all the goodies.  At  a total weight of less than four pounds, there is a lot of capability in that package.   Here's a pic of the entire package, with a Glock 19 to give you guys the idea of the size.



In comparison, just my 7ah AGM battery weighs almost five pounds by itself! Nevertheless, If you're solo and weight is an issue, consider looking at the newest generation of smart phones that can be charged  via USB.  There are AA/USB chargers  that weigh less than two pounds and are priced in the $100 range.. But if you're trying to figure out how you're going to power your laptop or other DC powered device on an extended outing, this package might be worth considering.

Earlier I  mentioned price . Yes, the price can be discouraging.  The entire outfit, accessories, and a powewrfilm 20 watt folding panel set me back close to $400. Obviously  $400 would go a lot farther with a standard rigid polycrystalline panel and a lead acid battery, but just like a lot of other camping gear, the words “lightweight  and portable” cost a premium.  If you don't need light and portable you can get a lot more bang for your buck purchasing other “mainstream” solar components.  

I've only owned this package a month or so and have put it  through about ten charge/discharge cycles, so I haven't exactly put it  through the ringer yet, but I am enjoying our honeymoon period. These early tests shows the package has some promise.  I really like this package as it is a good compromise in flexibility and weight.  I plan on using it a few more months and re-testing battery capacity. Hopefully, time will reveal it to be a reliable unit.  

I hope this review was helpful.  If anyone has any questions, I'll be glad to try to answer them.

Note to self, clean camera lens on phone before using it to post pictures-

This is exactly the setup I have been working on. I have purchased three of the powerfilm 10W panels, and am now looking to pick up one more panel and a Tekkeon. Thank you so much for the outstanding post.

Great Post! I have the 10W panel with the older Tekkeon 3750. I found the 3750 from B&H photo for $80 in an open box but everything was there. I found the 10W powerfilm panel on amazon.com for $99. Adds a great deal of flexibility to my backpacking and I am looking forward to using it much more this summer. The hard part was finding the 3 pin sunbooster for the older model Tekkeon.

Between this thread and the other I'm rethinking getting the Goal0 I wanted....

Is anyone reccomending AGAINST the GOAL0? It will be for recharging aa and aaa batteries in the backcountry on hiking/hunting trips.....

Great post!  I was hoping you would start this thread.
Thanks!

Good write up.

Just so others are aware: some companies sell an older molder tekkeon with a 3 pin unit for a 3 pin sunbooster.  All the new tekkeon units and sunboosters being produced are 6 pin. Just make sure you are ordering the correct fittings to match your unit.

I am going to continue copying your setup but will go with the 10W panel for now and eventually get a larger panel.

I am thinking
1) tekkeon + 10W panel for hiking/BOB
2) tekkeon + 20W (or more) panel for family camping trips (when the crying kids need Elmo on laptop DVD) when space is less of an issue.

Please keep updating this as you perform more tests.

NH

mine with the battery pack works fine for my iphone and the wife's droid. you might have to use an aftermarket cable for the iphone

OP, excellent post; thank you. 2 questions because i'm technically challenged:

1) can you charge the tekkeon from the goal zero solar panel?
2) can you recommend a source for smaller batteries (like the 7ah you had pictured)?

tagscribed



Thanks for posting... this is one of the actual "holes" in my preps.

Great write up....thanks...

Earlier test indicated of the first  goal zero panel provides just a bare trickle at 12V. the panels native voltage is I believe 5 or 6 volts, and they have to step it up to get 12V and I assume there is a conversion loss there. I got less than two watts out of mine at 12V.  That is not nearly enough  to work well. I will try to test the replacement panel and confirm the anemic 12V output.



I bought mine off amazon. At the time of purchase they had a special and I got two delivered for 41.00. They sell a lot of them on ebay but make sure they're fresh.  Powersonic recommends no battery sit on the shelf for more than six months without being topped off.  7ah seems to be the best bang for the buck in small AGM batteries because they are so popular in small homeowner UPS systems. 20-25.00 each seems to be the going rate for the 7ah.  It is about the about the size of a brick, and weighs about 4.6 lbs. It can accept a charging current of about 2.1 amps, so a 20 watt panel is a good match for it.   You can get smaller batteries if weight is an issue but they often will cost as much if not more than the 7ah

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002ILJZ0

+1 to the Tekkeon. I use essentially the same setup, but with a Brunton 26w folding panel.

I really like your setup and plan to copy it, however, when I searched for the sunbooster, it was connected to a bundle loop. Is this how yours came?

I assume you're talking about that rigid bracket? No. it did not come with that. That bracket is for the 3 pin sunbooster and will not work with the 6 pin according to tech support at tekkeon.

As mentioned in my review, those six pins are fragile, and I need to figure a way to secure that connection.  I took a small plastic container and cut a groove in it to place that end of the sunbooster in to help protect the pins. I think a better solution would be something akin to an altoids tin.

Fantastic write up.

Just checked Amazon and the price jumped more than $100 For the 20w Powerfilm . Outrageous!!! Guess Ill have to wait for a lower price again.  

 

http://www.amazon.com/Powerfilm-F15-1200-Folding-Solar-Charger/dp/B002LCEQRI/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1307914854&sr=8-4

WTF I checked this morning and it was $311?!!!!!





 

This. ^^^ Well done.



 

Glad you guys liked it.