Longer time readers may recall that during COVID I had a part time gig at the local Bunbury Jaycar store which I (mostly) thoroughly enjoyed.
It was during this period I learnt the wonders of 12v and solar based power – I had no idea you could do so much with a miserable little 12 volts! For example, as well as lighting, you can get fridges that run on 12v, ovens and even kettles!
Additionally, with a gizmo known as an inverter, you can turn 12v into 240v, although if as one couple wanted at the time, to run an air conditioner this way, it would be a bit prohibitive as the inverter to do that would cost an arm and / or a leg. But for a laptop say, or a small TV, no problem.
I was also introduced to the magic of “power stations” like the Jaycar MB-3748 (pictured). These are small rechargeable devices, much like the popular power banks that airlines hate so much these days.
When I had my boat (that’s a whole other story) I had one of these permanently onboard and kept a second at home for when, as it does regularly here, either the power goes off or at best, we get a 2 second brownout. If the power did go off, I can still keep such things as the NBN router working so vital comms I need don’t go down.
(That is not so important nowadays as in July we installed a solar battery running off solar panels thanks to the government subsidy – and I have to say its fabulous as we haven’t had a power bill since! And that includes charging the new BYD Atto2 EV we bought in February.)
But these power stations come into their own if you like camping say, or need power for other purposes when off grid – charging laptops, phones, tablets, drones, powering fridges etc etc.
Which leads me neatly to the DJI Power 1000 Mini.
Now I am the first to admit that formulas as used in electricities such as those to calculate voltage, resistance and current which lead into kilowatt hours or watt hours etc still baffle me a little, so as a way to describe not just what the DJI Power 1000 Mini is, I’ll use some examples based on its ratings, what it is capable to be used for.
And my benchmark here will be a standard 50l 12v fridge that I have from Brass Monkey.
First, back to the Jaycar MB-3748. This is rechargeable from 240v or 12v and takes around 10 hours to get to full power. It has a single 240v outlet, 3 x12v DC out ports and 3 x USB-A ports as shown.
We have used this camping for powering lights and recharging phones and tablets, and it kept a smaller 22 l fridge running for around 6 hours. If I tried to run the 50l fridge, yes, it would, but would be exhausted after about 4 hours max. And that would need a cold day to give minimum fridge cycling.
So, switching to the DJI Power 1000 Mini, this will go from 0 to 80% power in a smidgeon short of an hour, and to full power in 75 minutes. And while of course you can recharge from 240v or 12v, it also has the option to recharge from solar panels or blankets plus a car battery directly.
Bonus.
For output, you get a pair of 240v AC ports, dual USB-A ports, an SDC port for fast charging DJI devices such as drones, a 100W retractable USB-C cable, and it can even act as an uninterruptible power supply with an impressive 20ms changeover on main power loss.
DJI claims the Power 1000 Mini will recharge a mobile phone 54 times or drive a coffee maker for 55 minutes (if you need a coffee maker in the bush when camping, shame on you!)
However, I am more interested in my benchmark 50l 12v fridge, and this unit will power that continuously for around 24 hours.
For the technical minded, apparently the DJI Power 1000 Mini packs 1008Wh in its 11.5kg package.
All this for $799 (by comparison, the updated version of my little Jaycar unit is $220).
The major advantage of the DJI unit over any other brand – and why I mention this product here – is simply so many people have other DJI devices – action cameras, pocket cameras, gimbals, mics and of course drones, and they take these out in the field so the Power 1000 Mini which is tailored to DJI devices is the perfect unit in my opinion, especially as it supports the fast charging for DJI devices.
I understand there are many folk who scoff at any sort of creature comforts while camping, and all power to you – pardon the pun. But having done a lot of camping in bygone days, I have to admit that these days, having a proper working fridge beats the hell out of an esky and ice, and I cannot imagine going out camping without a drone or action camera these days.
And a decent set of 12v lights cannot be rated highly enough over a kero lamp. Pair the Power 1000 Mini with the optional solar blanket, and you are pretty much self-contained I’d say.
I fully intend to put this to the acid test in a few weeks when we have a camping trip down south (Augusta area south of Margaret River to be exact) planned. Just have to make sure there are EV charging stations available in the area.