JackeryPortable Power Station Explorer 500, 518Wh Outdoor Solar Generator Mobile Lithium Battery Pack with 110V/500W AC Outlet for Home Use, Emergency Backup,Road Trip Camping (Solar Panel Optional)

I bought this battery for really just one purpose - to power my CPAP when I went camping. I’d read some good reviews of this battery for that purpose, but it didn’t (initially!) meet my expectations…I was trying to power my CPAP with the normal AC adapter the CPAP used at home and I couldn’t even get a full night’s sleep out of it. Initially, I was going to return the battery, but then I read the reviews more carefully and discovered one of the reviews mentioned powering the CPAP with a DC adapter that plugged into the cigarette lighter adapter on this battery. It actually took me a while to find an inexpensive adapter like that for my CPAP but once I did, I gave it a try. My initial test let me run the battery for some 5.5 hours on roughly 15% battery usage! After that time, I had two power outages in my home and since I keep the battery charged at all times, I was able to just grab it and use it right away - it let me sleep even though the power was out - that was a really good sign!This past week, my family of SEVEN went on a loooong road trip (almost sixty hours of driving!). If you can imagine - the kids being able to play in the car on their electronics was pretty important to help prevent screaming and chaos so we could drive safely. I plugged the battery into the van’s cigarette lighter adapter, and the battery got a consistent 42watts of charge for the entire trip. I used a variety of devices in association with the battery to help my family. I have a “Ugreen” power delivery AC adapter that has three USB-C charging ports (two of them are rated at -*65*- watts!!) and a single USB-A port rated at 22 watts. I also used a cigarette lighter adapter from LinkOn that has a single USB-C rated at 45 watts and a USB-A rated for “quick charging”. These two along with the 3 built in USB-A charging ports the battery already provides gave me a total of FIVE USB-A charging ports and FOUR USB-C charging ports. I had all the charging cables required to allow my family to maintain charge on three Nintendo Switches while my kids were playing on them (this isn’t the easiest thing - many batteries out there can charge but not keep up with use of Nintendo Switches!), three iPads, and everyone’s iPhones. We NEVER, even once, had an issue with someone running their battery dead in all the time we were driving.We did have times, with that incredibly amount of load on the battery, where we were outputting more wattage than the battery was taking in (something like 42 watts in and ~48 watts out for example). During those times, the battery would slowly drain over time, but not rapidly. Whenever we were a few hours away from our destination I’d just have the family unplug enough devices to ensure the Jackery was taking in more power than it was putting out (say 42 watts in and ~28 watts out). Then we would arrive at our destination with the Jackery at 100% battery life to ensure I’d have several nights of sleep with the CPAP even if we weren’t able to charge the battery (which never happened). The most I think I ever used in a single night on my CPAP was 22% and that was when I was dead to the world after driving more than 24 hours in a two day period!So like I said in the title - my experience with this battery has gotten better the longer I’ve had it. A DC power adapter for my CPAP ensures I can EASILY get multiple nights of sleeping on a single charge. An AC and cigarette lighter adapter allow me to add a ton more USB-C and USB-A charging ports for my family on road trips. Charging the Jackery itself with AC or DC power allows me to keep it charged while even (temporarily) providing more power than the battery can take in! Finally, I also bought the solar charger for the battery and while I’ve only confirmed it works at home, it gives me amazing peace of mind to know that in the COMPLETE absence of power I’d be able to power and charge our devices with the sun alone (It works great even in cloudy skies here in Arizona).Overall, I really and truly cannot recommend this battery enough. I won’t go on any extended road trip without it ever again. And while my particular Jackery (explorer 500) works as good today, 2.5 years after I bought it, as the day I bought it - if it were ever to die, I’d buy another one immediately. Incredible value for the money! :)

Update: I purchased a second Jackery Explorer 500 on 11-29-2019 after I discovered what a great unit my 1st Explorer was. Both of the units came in really handy a few days later when a utility pole guy cable anchor failed and the pole fell across the road. The power went out just as I was getting dressed and before breakfast. Both units powered table lights so my wife and I could get dressed and eat breakfast. I also plan to purchase a Jackery Explorer 1000 to run my Maytag Refrigerator/Freezer.I purchased a Jackery Explorer 500 on 8-31-2019 and it arrived VIA FedEx a few days later. I have been testing and using it.I am well pleased with my purchase and also purchased a Solar Saga 100 watt Solar Panel a few days later. This combination works really great. My home is located near the edge of my electric service area and it gets several power outages each year. My wife has some health issues and does not have good vision. Light in our bathroom has become an issue for us even in the daytime because it does not have any outside windows. The Jackery E500 has become very useful as it will easily power fans, LED table lamps and it is easy to move it from room to room as needed during any power outage. The fan likes the sine wave output and my Ham Radios like the regulated 12 Volts (actually 13.2 volts) much better than other units that only have 9 to 12.6 Volts available depending on charge. It is very nice to be able to see the % charge displayed rather than a few lights or bars that leave you guessing at the remaining charge.The 518WH is a good size for power outages because after recharging your phone and other small items you still have power left for the TV, Computer, table lamps and electric blanket. The recharge time may be about the same (slow) as the smaller ones but you can recharge at two times the Watt Hour rate because of the larger battery.I have a solid state Oscilloscope that the Jackery Explorer 500 can power for several hours and that makes one of my best pieces of test equipment truly portable. I have a UPS to protect my desktop computer that gives me 20 minutes of runtime in a blackout but if I unplug the UPS from Utility power, in a blackout, and plug it into my Jackery Explorer 500 I can extend the operating time four more hours. I liked my Jackery Explorer 500 so much that I purchased a second one when It was on sale a few days ago.A Message sent to '[email protected]' with some questions brought a next day response.Team Jackery advises that the 6mm DC output jack actually requires a 6.5 X 1.4mm plug. I am still looking for a good source of these plugs to create some powerpole jumpers for radio and test use.I purchase a DC jumper cable to use with the Jackery E500. An 8mm to Anderson Powerpole to connect my solar panel and other charging equipment. "https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DK9N2S8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1"The Jackery Explorer 500 is a very good quality unit and I expect it to provide several years of reliable service.Update: Here is some information that I discovered today about the 6mm DC output connectors on a Jackery Explorer 500. I have purchased several "6mm" connectors from various Amazon vendors and they all arrived and looked very similar. All of the "6mm" connectors had a metal contact that measures 6mm OD and a yellow plastic tip that measures 6.3 or 6.4mm OD.I have NOT been successful in creating a good cable from any of them. All were poor connections (Think Blinking Lights).I was successful in obtaining a '6mm" cable that is used on the Jackery Explorer 160 and it works good. After measuring some connectors, here are my results:Uxcell : 6.0MM OD on barrel & 6.3MM OD on Yellow Plastic Tip, length of contact 10mm including Yellow Plastic TipJackery: 6.0MM OD on barrel & 6.3MM OD on expanded Metal Tip, length of contact 12mm including Expanded metal TipConclusion: The Jackery Explorer 500 requires the longer all metal barrel contact in order to give a good connection.11-22-2020 Update: I have been testing & using the Jackery Explorer 500 for more than a year and I can report that it still works the same as it did the day that I purchased it and I am very pleased with my purchase. It has worked very well through several short power outages and I have purchased another E500 as well as a E1000, E300 and a E160. All of the newer Jackery purchases are working very well. With the new purchases, I can have one charging with the Solar panel and another to power my equipment at the same time.I have discovered that the DC power adaptor cable supplied with the Jackery Explorer 160 also works very well in my Explorer 500 and I have modified the cable by adding a Anderson Power Pole connector to this cable. I have also discovered that Goal Zero sells 6mm cables that you can modify for use in either the E500 or the E160. I am looking forward to purchasing A Jackery Explorer that will power my 1600 watt Microwave. Maybe early next year?

This Jackery 500 is great for dealing with power outages, and still keep my medical equipment going. It's easy to transport, and I can charge multiple pieces of equipment simultaneously. It's quiet. This my 2nd Jackery, and it's a great experience.