Companion 40 amp/hr lithium battery pack review

[@richardandrin1327]

Hi there, I own one of this and the two round pin dc plugs next to the usb are for powering camping lights strips. It should have come with 2 adapters to plug in. It's a good handy unit.

[@Gunnadoo]

Thanks for that, great to know. Yes, come with the 2 plugs.

[@meonthetube]

The double pin 12 v plug are on the domestic fridge. Unscrew the 12 v plug and it is inside it. Perfect to screw in the domestic fridge connection and it won’t wiggle out when driving. All set up in a pod trailer.

[@Gunnadoo]

Yeah I just put an Anderson plug on my fridge.

[@tambowsadventures7035]

Howdy. Would that 2 pin plug be specific for the Engel fridge range. Looks very similar to my Engel power box.

[@Gunnadoo]

After looking at the Engel plug on the internet and the plug on the battery pack I do believe that you are correct

[@dentray]

Have you come across any problems yet? Mine has After having for a few months with very light use I have noticed that the cigarette lighter 12v socket is poor quality, all of my12v plugs come out at the slightest movement so appliances can turn off quite a lot, also the input power regularly stops giving input charge when unit is also being used to power fridge, this is with both AC input adaptor and solar panels, I have tested at home as well as campsite, plugged into the 240 charger it stops charging at least twice an hour if appliance is also being used. Overnight a small fridge drew down to 71% battery while the charger is still plugged in putting no power back into the battery. When I remove the charger/solar plug and put it back it immediately starts charging again? I may have to return it

[@Gunnadoo]

Well not really, I thought I was having problems with the 12v cigarette plug but it turns out it wasn't the battery but the plug itself, and strange, it works in my car and not in the battery pack. Every other cigarette plug works fine in it so don't know what it is. But that's it everything esle is fine.

[@deecarter147]

Some of the questions about charging and drawing down power at the same time are answered in the comments on this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJS3iKqGbb6UhsU One comment notes: "Yeah these Rovers all operate like this I beleive. Essentially what happens is if the battery is charged up to 100%, it then stops charging and starts drawing down on the battery. So for example, even once it starts drawing down, you may find it gets down to 50, 40, 30, 10% even though it has a charging input. This is what the internal BMS does by design but I personally feel is a flaw in the design. It should be smart enough to know that it needs charge and accepts the input. The only way to get it to start charging it again when this occurs is to unplug the charging input and put it back in, then the charge will go back up but unfortunately this process will repeat over and over. "

[@blueyhanson6253]

That outlet is an Engel type.. don't be too rough when plugging in - the locating pin is easily broken.. Great for charging phones or drones etc. and running lights and fridges.. Its also reasonably lightweight.

[@Gunnadoo]

Yes I've found out about the Engel outlet on it, so far I'm very impressed with it, only thing I've found trouble is getting the cigarette lighter plug socket to work at times.

[@dayforit1750]

Hey Gunna Doo, have you had any issues with your fridge turning off while you have a 12v charge input going into the battery as well? I find that when using the battery to power my fridge while its plugged into a 12v socket (charging at the same time) in my tray or via solar blanket (mini-anderson), the fridge turns off every couple of hours which is problematic when it turns off over night or during a long drive. I've had the battery replaced by Companion and had half of the componants in the fridge replaced by Dometic and still have the problem, drives me bloody insane.

[@Gunnadoo]

Well no I don't have problems with it turning off, but then again I don't run my fridge off this, that I do via my house battery in my camper trailer or in my vehicle while driving. The reason I have this battery is to charge all my cameras and drones, so sorry can't help you on this issue that you have with yours but it certainly sounds annoying.

[@dayforit1750]

@@Gunnadoo Thanks mate. I do love my battery when using it standalone to power my fridge and camp lights etc, works great, just doesnt seem to handle power things while being charged at the same time. I've just bought a slimline 110ah battery that i'm gonna mount behind my rear seat as a permanament second battery to power my fridge, but may keep the companion just for portable applications, powering devices etc. Cheers mate, all the best.

[@meonthetube]

Have you set the fridge to low battery protection mode? It will switch off if set to the higher protection mode.