Safari ME Deluxe Portable Power Kit Review - 600W Solar & 2048Wh Expansion Battery (Lion Energy)

[@LoveYourRV]

Link to the *previous Safari ME review* video - www.loveyourrv.com/lion-energy-safari-me-off-grid-power-station-review-portable-rv-camping-solution/

[@23JustinBlake]

I bought the Safari ME along with the expansion pack and six solar panels. In my opinion, it's by far the best and most powerful solar generator on the market. Top of the line and I'm very very pleased with it. The expansion pack has twice as much energy stored inside of it giving it three times the power.

[@LoveYourRV]

Great to hear. I'm out dry camping for the next few weeks to looking forward to putting it to the test. Cheers, Ray

[@terryhaynes1596]

You have a good list of pros and cons I think a portable system works for people that don’t move much. If one travels a lot, it takes a lot of time to setup and tear down and they take a lot of space. They won’t charge your batteries while traveling. I’m always concerned that a portable system will sprout legs when I’m away from the RV. Thanks for an honest review

[@jeffslater3708]

Great discussion on this one. I learn a little more each time I read the comments, Smart folks!

[@landstormer4884]

Thanks for the review. I have the Lion Energy Safari UT 1300 batteries in my RV. Very pleased with the performance. This would be an interesting addition to the RV but I already had a generator so I’ll use that for now. Thanks for clarifying the details of this portable power unit.

[@tmorton922]

I wouldn't know where to put it all. Pretty cool setup!

[@quackaddict9810]

Great review!! I just bought this unit for my cabin and have had it about a week. Pleased so far.

[@LoveYourRV]

Great to hear!

[@salisbury69]

The solar panels are hooked up in series not parallel. Just FYI, great video!

[@samuelreddy7816]

Good work! One correction I found in18:57 These panels are wired in series (daisy chained), not in parallel.

[@LoveYourRV]

Thanks, but you're wrong, they are wired in parallel. I know for sure they aren't series wired. The voltage coming off the array measures near 40 volts, right around the Vmax for a 24V panel. You can see that measured in this clip kzbin.info/www/bejne/raW2iJ5miJdrZ6M If they were in series, the voltages would add together, and I'd measure 6 times as high. Cheers, Ray

[@garryhammond3117]

Thanks Ray - Educational and informative - as usual!

[@tufelhunden5795]

Well now I'll have to get the add on pack the next time it's at Costco. Thanks @love your rv . 😃

[@theneverman]

Great video! I own the same system but haven't used it RVing. Its a solid backup for our frequent power outages and has saved our food a few times. I'm curious about the orientation of the Anderson connectors in the back, they are different than others and have been asking around if there is some sort of orientation standard for Anderson to distinguish 24v from 12v? Anyway, very well done video, thanks for putting it together. I learned a lot about my own system.

[@LoveYourRV]

Thanks, I don't think there are different orientations for 12V or 24V. The Anderson connectors have grooves on the sides so they can be oriented which ever way is desired depending on how you slide them together See the picture here powerwerx.com/anderson-powerpole-connectors-30amp-unassembled Lion Energy likely choose up and down so people didn't accidently plug other stuff into the solar input since most plugs you see are side by side. Cheers, Ray

[@chuckwalters4759]

Great review!

[@redwards2006]

From what I’ve read the flexible panels have a shorter life span/warranty vs glass panels

[@coreymerritt7742]

Hey ray those solar panels are very similar to my go power 120 watt same case

[@JH-zf8ff]

Wish we weren't separated by the covid restrictions at the border. We have the same lion me package we just picked up at COSTCO. Let's to learn about setting it up. We grab ed two Lion batteries. Wish I could have bought more. So you have a plan for a permanent install?

[@LoveYourRV]

I've placed the Safari ME in my basement storage area near my water closet. At the bottom of the water closet for the water hose is an opening I can use to feed through the RV power plug and the solar charge cable. I've also ran a cord from my old 1000W inverter to where the Safari ME box is so I'm able to recharge it off my existing battery system. Here is a look kzbin.info/www/bejne/oH_Ed2x_aNiiodE I'm going to have a video with a look at the complete system setup in a few weeks. Cheers, Ray

[@dirtroadsailing6418]

Nice review Ray on the pro's and con's. One question about the AC charging side of these, does it allow to set a maximum charge input rate? I was thinking of people that have the factory installed AC inverter on pickups, which usually max out around 400 watts. That would make it convenient to charge on travel days or just running around.

[@LoveYourRV]

Thanks, no, I don't see anyway to do that. That would be a great idea

[@glenschumannGlensWorkshop]

Thanks! Quite the set up.

[@cbman2184]

Nice setup!

[@w.sonyagambarogambaro8266]

thank you for the info

[@thewanderingwoodcrafter]

Did you scratch the solar panel glass scraping it around directly on the truck bed?

[@LoveYourRV]

No, my truck bed has a rubberized bed liner plus the glass on the panel is inset a little so just the panel aluminum frame and plastics corners were touching, not the glass.

[@lethomps1]

Great review. Thank you very much.

[@LoveYourRV]

My pleasure!

[@jameschristie4596]

Hi Ray, I have a question for you about LifePo4 battery storage capacity. If you and Ann are boondocking at a place like Palm Canyon in January, when the daily temperature can struggle to get into the mid 60's during the day and can dip into the high 20's at night, and don't forget the windy days that sucks the latent energy from the rig, how many watt hours would you say would be more than adequate to have in your lithium batteries? And I guess to further clarify, I would add that ideally you would have adequate capacity so you are not draining and charging the batteries hard enough daily to adversely impact the batteries serviceable life expectancy.

[@LoveYourRV]

Last trip in the southwest we had 315 amp hours of lithium and 700 watts of solar power and most days it was plenty. Nightly discharge of the batteries was about 30% of capacity . Gas generator runtime for a 4 months of boondocking was about 30 hours total and that was mostly for when we would have several days in a row of cloud or rain. Cheers, Ray

[@jameschristie4596]

@@LoveYourRV - Hi again. Thank you, very helpful. So you are figuring about 1.2 kilowatts per night, whereas I figured we were closer to the 1.5 kilowatts per night average. The colder nights really make a difference as we have a lot of heatloss around the main slide and furnace was always the biggest battery drain by morning. I am so disappointed in our Rolls Surrette batteries that I am putting them out to pasture after only 2 years. I purchased 8, 3.2 volt 280ah Grade A, LifePo4 cells and am assembly two batteries, that will have over 7.1 kilowatts capacity. My theory is on extreme usage nights we should never use more than 25 percent capacity. I only have 3 x 165 watt solar array, so a lower than yours, but shouldn't take half the time to top up the LifePo4's with the generator if needed, compared to topping up the Surrettes, which was slow. Thanks for the comparison, but does appear that we old geezers spin the DVD player longer, watching more TV in the evening then you and Ann do...looks like about 300 watts more TV.

[@jameschristie4596]

@@LoveYourRV - Forgot to say we won't have to be one of those boondockers that has to run the inverter generator until 10 pm at night anymore to get through the cold ones.

[@LoveYourRV]

Yeah, we tend to be on computers more than TV. We also use a Big Buddy propane heater during the evening hours since it uses no electricity then I crank it up before bed to heat the place up really well. Then turn on RV furnace but set it pretty low around 58F which is good for me. Anne needs a little more heat at times so has an electric throw blanket she can adjust.

[@jameschristie4596]

@@LoveYourRV - Easy, not so loud....Heather doesn't know anything about those electric blankets!!! Ha, ha.

[@galabb99]

Approximately how long could I run a 5ooo BTU window AC with this set up? I'm totally in the dark on this stuff!

[@LoveYourRV]

Hard to answer due to variations in power (wattage) draw. It will depend on the AC units efficiency (cheap units draw more power) so how many watts the air conditioner draws and how often the compressor on the AC cycles on and off. If its hotter the compressor needs to cycle on more often to cool and so the wattage (power) used increases. I wish I had a 5000 BTU AC to test with.

[@williamkn621]

Not very long .. if you haven't already received that answer...

[@JoelWelter]

I wish the solar industry would pick one connector to use with all solar panels. While I'm complaining, please add cell phones and tablets to that request.

[@jeradalex]

can you use the generator while charging?

[@LoveYourRV]

Yes

[@john543]

Just an FYI, the solar panels I use put out 18V at Vmp. I wire 3 in series for a total of 54V and 2 sets in parallel for 20A at 54V. The controller is what determines if the system is 12V or 24V. If Lion is really wiring those panels in parallel, then they need bigger wire to handle the increased current. In my case, it would go from 20A to 60A. I know you know this stuff so I am really confused.

[@LoveYourRV]

The VMP rating of these 100W panels is 35V and the stated max current carrying capacity of the wiring they use is 25 amps. So 35V x 25A = 875W so I guess that is where they come up with the 800W max rating for stringing together their 100W panels.

[@john543]

@@LoveYourRV Very weird, they look like those 6 panels should be closer to 1200 watts, something is weird.

[@LoveYourRV]

What panels are you using to get the 20A x 54V for 1080 watts?

[@john543]

@@LoveYourRV Bouge RV. Series connections are not the problem they used to be and gets the system going far faster. For an MPPT charge controller to work correctly, the solar panel operating voltage must be at least 4V to 5V higher than the battery charging (absorption) voltage, not the nominal battery voltage. On average, the real-world panel operating voltage is around 3V lower than the optimum panel voltage (Vmp)

[@LoveYourRV]

"Very weird, they look like those 6 panels should be closer to 1200 watts, something is weird." OK, I happen to have a pair of 170W BougeRV on my roof so I laid the Lion 100W on one of them to show you they aren't as big as your imaging them to be. www.loveyourrv.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/solar-panel-bougerv-170-lion-100.jpg

[@gayleangerdina7151]

I have this Lion setup. It doesn’t allow me to use the unit while it is charging. Am I missing a step? I’ve tried while using the solar panels & plugging into my house. When I click the output button, nothing happens. Can you help me please.

[@LoveYourRV]

It should allow you. btw, my unit ended up not outputting on DC no matter what. See this update video kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3TFfX5tgK52Y7M I took it back to Lion Energy and let them have it back so they could see what happened.

[@gayleangerdina7151]

Thank you, I will call Lion to get it resolved. I thought I was missing a step. Take Care! 😊

[@larrycox6614]

So those are 50W panels? Weight & space inefficiency concerns it would appear

[@LoveYourRV]

Yeah, looks like two 50 watt making a 100 watt suitcase

[@redwards2006]

No different than a folding 100 watt. 50 watts on each side

[@bertkelly7650]

LOL, I was running around like a chicken w/ my head cutoff chasing the sun with one panel trying to charge my Jackery, can't imagine doing that w/ 6 panels.

[@LoveYourRV]

With 6 panels there is less need to chase since the power output can charge the box much quicker. :)

[@kimwarfield1587]

For 20lbs you should have gotten 200W RichSolar panels. 3 of those gives you 600W in series. Looks like a descent system. For the same price I got the Bluetti 200Max with bigger power, better charge life and more outlets of each kind. Better MPPT and accessories internally. Of course the units are heavier and a bit larger, but for the price and power it was unbeatable. Your unit maybe more efficient though. I think my unit is about 88% efficient. But 4000 + Watts at $3400….

[@LoveYourRV]

The Rich 200W solar suitcase panels are 36.8 lbs The 100W are 21.8 lbs so I really don't see much difference richsolar.com/products/100-watt-portable-solar-panel-briefcase

[@kimwarfield1587]

@@LoveYourRV 10 lbs isn’t that big a difference but 100 more Watts and only three sets of panels….

[@ClarksvilleTN]

That interconnect cable almost looks like a Tesla connector on the end of it.

[@ronwasser4852]

Nice

[@justsomeguy6474]

Nice set up but a little bulky.

[@bt4b4]

Ummm portable 6 solar panels. ? All that weight doesn’t seem ideal.

[@LoveYourRV]

Yup, that's why I made sure to point it out. Though, lightweight flexible panels aren't ideal either.

[@Gusinabus]

Put the glass side down, drag it around and scratch the glass. If you knew anything your review might have been useful Was nice the see the product, though

[@LoveYourRV]

The glass is inset into the metal frame and it was just the raised plastic corners touching my rubberized spray on truck bed liner, no harm done to the glass.