Jon S
Super Member
I live in Hawai'i and with the weather getting worse every year, we have been getting some irritating power outages. The last one lasted a couple of days so I invested in an Anker SOLIX F3000 Solar Generator with an expansion battery with a total capacity of 6000 watts. I read that to extend the battery life, there are a few rules to follow. Do not store them in hot areas (e.g. garages). Do not fully charge the batteries and let them sit for a long duration. Do not charge over 80% unless needed and do not discharge below 20%. The batteries are rated for 4,000 cycles or about ten years of normal use depending on load.
So I figured, why not connect the generator to my tube audio system (Willsenton R8 amplifier, Polk R700 loudspeakers, Oppo BDP-95 Blu-Ray player (used as a CD transport) and FiiO Warmer R2R Tube DAC). That way I can use the batteries as needed and when it reaches 20% I just have to recharge them. Of course, this means I have to unplug the Anker from the AC otherwise the Anker will operate as a UPS mode only, passing through the 120V without charging/discharging the battery. If the power goes out, I just have to wheel the generators next to my fridge and connect it. 6,000 watts should be able to power it over three days.
My audio system went through four star-linked Richard Gray Powerline Conditioners as well as a Monster Cable HTPS7000 surge suppressor. My HT is also connected through the same AC setup.
I was pleasantly surprised to see (actually hear) an improvement in the audio quality. There was better focus in the sound. The soundstage had less smear and better detail, clarity and slightly improved depth. Surprisingly, the Anker showed that the audio system used about 300 watts but my HT system (JVC RS660 D-ILA projector, Oppo BDP-95 Blu-Ray player and Pioneer Elite SC97 AVR) used the same amount of power. I would have thought the HT system would use a lot more power. I did not see any notable difference with the HT system but I thought the contrast seems a bit better and the image had seemed a wee bit cleaner (of course, this really depends on how clean the power in your home is).
Using the audio and HT for six hours depleted the battery by 30%. When the battery reaches 20%, I just have to connect the Anker back to the AC line. It takes about one hour for every 15% increment to recharge. I think I would do one cycle of charging every three days at this rate.
There are a couple of negatives... The Anker uses ~20watts/hour just sitting there on standby or about 500 watts/day so the batteries would discharge in 12 days in standby mode. The other nitpick is that the Anker needs to be powered on from sleep mode then the AC outlets have to be enabled.
You probably don't have to spend $3000 for the same setup as me. In fact, you probably could get by with just the 2,000 watt C2000 Gen 2 for $1,000. Anker always seems to have them on sale so you could get them for hundreds less (unfortunately, they do not ship to Hawai'i so i had to buy them from the local distributor who does not recognize the sale prices.) If you decide to buy any solar generator, make sure it uses LFP batteries. Older models used lithium-ion batteries which only lasts a couple thousand cycles. Units that seem cheap or on sale may be using these batteries.
So I figured, why not connect the generator to my tube audio system (Willsenton R8 amplifier, Polk R700 loudspeakers, Oppo BDP-95 Blu-Ray player (used as a CD transport) and FiiO Warmer R2R Tube DAC). That way I can use the batteries as needed and when it reaches 20% I just have to recharge them. Of course, this means I have to unplug the Anker from the AC otherwise the Anker will operate as a UPS mode only, passing through the 120V without charging/discharging the battery. If the power goes out, I just have to wheel the generators next to my fridge and connect it. 6,000 watts should be able to power it over three days.
My audio system went through four star-linked Richard Gray Powerline Conditioners as well as a Monster Cable HTPS7000 surge suppressor. My HT is also connected through the same AC setup.
I was pleasantly surprised to see (actually hear) an improvement in the audio quality. There was better focus in the sound. The soundstage had less smear and better detail, clarity and slightly improved depth. Surprisingly, the Anker showed that the audio system used about 300 watts but my HT system (JVC RS660 D-ILA projector, Oppo BDP-95 Blu-Ray player and Pioneer Elite SC97 AVR) used the same amount of power. I would have thought the HT system would use a lot more power. I did not see any notable difference with the HT system but I thought the contrast seems a bit better and the image had seemed a wee bit cleaner (of course, this really depends on how clean the power in your home is).
Using the audio and HT for six hours depleted the battery by 30%. When the battery reaches 20%, I just have to connect the Anker back to the AC line. It takes about one hour for every 15% increment to recharge. I think I would do one cycle of charging every three days at this rate.
There are a couple of negatives... The Anker uses ~20watts/hour just sitting there on standby or about 500 watts/day so the batteries would discharge in 12 days in standby mode. The other nitpick is that the Anker needs to be powered on from sleep mode then the AC outlets have to be enabled.
You probably don't have to spend $3000 for the same setup as me. In fact, you probably could get by with just the 2,000 watt C2000 Gen 2 for $1,000. Anker always seems to have them on sale so you could get them for hundreds less (unfortunately, they do not ship to Hawai'i so i had to buy them from the local distributor who does not recognize the sale prices.) If you decide to buy any solar generator, make sure it uses LFP batteries. Older models used lithium-ion batteries which only lasts a couple thousand cycles. Units that seem cheap or on sale may be using these batteries.
