I think any listed above could lift and carry it a short distance (like around a house). The built in light would be useful to use to light up a small area as a work light, such as when jump starting a car or changing a tire. I wouldn't count on it to light up a room; but then again, this is why I said I bought LED lightbulbs.

I'm not much of a multifunction kind of guy because typically, you lose on quality. But for this unit, everything seems to work as one could expect.

So, I've finally decided to purchase a solar panel to work with the power pack. Amazon had a decent folding 100W with charge controller, so I should get a nice box delivered by UPS sometimes Monday. Next would be to purchase additional deep cycle battery(ies) and connect everything together for more power / longer use.

In case anybody cares, this is a decent emergency setup. It can't power large appliances or a sump pump though. Stressed tested the powerpack by plugging in 2x 60W lightbulbs to see how long it would last (in reality, I have 100w equivalent LED bulbs I would use) and got 3 hours out of it. I recharged the pack with the 100W PV panel. After about 2 hours of mostly overcast skies and 2 hours of full sun, the powerpack was fully charged.

Next step, another deep cycle battery...

When you look at the box , it's weight and size, just think how much battery is actually in there. Not much. Fast recharge with that 100w panel.
They're useful though and for not too much weight they supply a decent amount of power. A pair of 100w equivalent LED bulbs would probably last 5x as long as your pair of 60's.

The battery in the one I have is getting tired after about 5 years, won't hold much of a charge anymore but I'm going to see what I can find in a generic replacement battery.

I've built my own portable solar generators way cheaper then a lot of the ones mass produced out there. Was enough to power my 27' travel trailer without needing a gas generator. Was a 100 w foldable panel. 1000w inverter and 1200w battery. Was just a crude set up but was on wheels and was easy to pack around. I'm looking into building them with nicer looking boxes and such but it worked great for what I needed for and was cheaper than when I looked at becoming a dealer for a lot of these company's selling there own kits. If anyone is interested in more info send me a message.

Just thought I'd pin this here, but I see on Amazon.ca that the Duracell power pack is 21% off right now... https://www.amazon.ca/Duracell-DR600PWR-Powerpack-Pro-1300/dp/B009YR00MI/ref=gbps_img_s-3_7162_b448974f?smid=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_p=2654567162&pf_rd_s=slot-3&pf_rd_t=701&pf_rd_i=gb_main&pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_r=NT5ARQRZGP1EQAQB2GHE

I would swear that looks exactly like the ones for sale at Costco (south Side) for 98 dollars.

I would swear that looks exactly like the ones for sale at Costco (south Side) for 98 dollars.

If they're $98 at Costco, I'll have to go get a 2nd one. Well worth it. Especially I can charge them with solar panel.

That Costco is only a couple blocks from Princess Auto...

I wanted to "walk the talk" so I built a solar powered outhouse. Light, continuous fan, and I'm working on rainwater collection with solar heating for the sink, pressurized. The sink is cold only water from the cabin system at present. The fan blows in. The odor goes down and out a high vent. System is a 15W panel, charge controller and large case 12V battery.

I wanted to "walk the talk" so I built a solar powered outhouse. Light, continuous fan, and I'm working on rainwater collection with solar heating for the sink, pressurized. The sink is cold only water from the cabin system at present. The fan blows in. The odor goes down and out a high vent. System is a 15W panel, charge controller and large case 12V battery.

Sounds like a fancy outhouse! Think you could share some pictures? A picture is always worth 1000 words and they are pretty good for ideas!

In case anybody cares, this is a decent emergency setup. It can't power large appliances or a sump pump though. Stressed tested the powerpack by plugging in 2x 60W lightbulbs to see how long it would last (in reality, I have 100w equivalent LED bulbs I would use) and got 3 hours out of it. I recharged the pack with the 100W PV panel. After about 2 hours of mostly overcast skies and 2 hours of full sun, the powerpack was fully charged.

Next step, another deep cycle battery...

While restuffing our sump pump pipe with more steel wool ( emptied by gravity to our valley) to keep mice out, I was thinking about what people would use during power outage.

Inverters work of course but has anyone considered a simple boat sump pump? Just need 12 volt battery and strong enough pump to lift water up and out.

As an aside, they make a great pump to suck water out of a lake... to fill buckets... I used one on my boat to replenish holding tank while out and away from marinas for days. Wrapped a couple of layers of cheese cloth around it to keep larger debris out and ran it on small 7 amp alarm battery. Some bleach and we were good to go

About 15 years ago, I purchased a system from Canadian tire (which has since been discontinued). It was a sealed box containing a dry-cell battery, an inverter and two 110 volt receptacles all contained within a hard plastic container, which was on wheels with a handle to make rolling it around the house easy. It also had a female cigarette lighter socket, male connector with 110v input for recharging. I think I paid somewhere in the neighbourhood of $200 for the complete unit.

This worked quite well and would power the coffee maker when we had a power outage. Something that in my family is a priority in the morning. Unfortunately, batteries don't last forever and as this was a sealed unit, the battery couldn't be replaced.

I've noticed this with several other similar units. This has caused me to investigate putting a DIY unit together.

I think I would start with a DeWalt Tough Chest or something similar and work from there ( https://www.amazon.ca/DEWALT-Gal-Tough-Chest-DWST38000/dp/B00PP4U7FO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1533061125&sr=8-3&keywords=dewalt+tool+chest ). At least when the battery requires replacement, it could be opened, the old one removed and replaced. I think it will save me some money as well.

Does anyone have any experience putting something like this together? If so, what are your thoughts?

I would first try to replace the battery in the old unit. If the warrante is ovcer, then there is no such thng as a sealed unit.
There are probably screws somewhere, often hidden under information stickers or rubber feet.
In the case of a snap together case, a few flat head screwdrivers will open it up.
You can always use duct tape to hold it together once done if need be.

About 15 years ago, I purchased a system from Canadian tire (which has since been discontinued). It was a sealed box containing a dry-cell battery, an inverter and two 110 volt receptacles all contained within a hard plastic container, which was on wheels with a handle to make rolling it around the house easy. It also had a female cigarette lighter socket, male connector with 110v input for recharging. I think I paid somewhere in the neighbourhood of $200 for the complete unit.

This worked quite well and would power the coffee maker when we had a power outage. Something that in my family is a priority in the morning. Unfortunately, batteries don't last forever and as this was a sealed unit, the battery couldn't be replaced.

I've noticed this with several other similar units. This has caused me to investigate putting a DIY unit together.

I think I would start with a DeWalt Tough Chest or something similar and work from there ( https://www.amazon.ca/DEWALT-Gal-Tough-Chest-DWST38000/dp/B00PP4U7FO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1533061125&sr=8-3&keywords=dewalt+tool+chest ). At least when the battery requires replacement, it could be opened, the old one removed and replaced. I think it will save me some money as well.

Does anyone have any experience putting something like this together? If so, what are your thoughts?

Wayne, the top of the line and VERY expensive mobile Electric vehicle chargers use Nissan Leaf batteries. These things are going for 35K. So if they use these batteries, chances are they are the Best Buy for the buck and in performance.

Besides the conventional 12 marine batteries I like using, I find the best small batteries are the 12 volt , 7 amp types used in security systems. When I purchase UPS systems for short term backup of computers etc, I make sure they use these 7 amp units. Cheap and easy to obtain at Canadian tire....( used for fish finders). TSC also carries them Also,God forbid one ever needs to break into an abondoned house, if they have an alarm system, one could salvage these units.