Ark Pak - Questions and Queries

[Brett From Ark]

Here's a little more information. I have the 30 amp fuse, relay and switch from the battery ran to the back of the truck where I have an anderson plug. From there, I have a 5 foot cable I made with anderson plugs on both ends. When switched on, I read 12 volts from the battery to the first Anderson plug. When I plug in the 5 foot cable, I also read 12 volts when on. So no problem so far with my set up. The Anderson plug attached to the Arkpak reads 12 volts. And when I have the 5 foot cable plugged in to the Arkpak, the other end of the cable also reads 12 volts. BUT, when I plug it all together, and leave it for several minutes, the arkpak continues to display discharge cycle.

I don't get it. If the arkpak's Anderson plug is registering, and my truck 12 volt wires are correct, why isn't the arkpak charging?


I will clarify that the problems I had last year with my trip were partially my fault and were resolved by Brett by sending a new 12 volt plug for my car charger. My wiring job to connect the plug was faulty and I was relying on the 120v charger that I brought as a backup.


My two biggest complaints are that the car chargers 5 amp charge is not sufficient for my use if the stay is over 3-4 days. The amount of driving I do just doesn't keep the battery charged enough. Which brings me to the second complaint of this Anderson plug not working. At least not yet. Help please?

Hi Srpat

thanks for the additional information this is really helpful it seems as thou your alternator may not be working correctly the reason i say this is when you have your car turned on and running your alternator in your car should be putting out any where between 13.4 to 14.5 volts when your car is running if you are not getting these reading from the Anderson plug when your car is running then somthing may be wrong with your alternator.

i will post some photos up of what i am saying so you can see it as well.

Regards

Brett from Ark

 

[Brett From Ark]

Here's a little more information. I have the 30 amp fuse, relay and switch from the battery ran to the back of the truck where I have an anderson plug. From there, I have a 5 foot cable I made with anderson plugs on both ends. When switched on, I read 12 volts from the battery to the first Anderson plug. When I plug in the 5 foot cable, I also read 12 volts when on. So no problem so far with my set up. The Anderson plug attached to the Arkpak reads 12 volts. And when I have the 5 foot cable plugged in to the Arkpak, the other end of the cable also reads 12 volts. BUT, when I plug it all together, and leave it for several minutes, the arkpak continues to display discharge cycle.

I don't get it. If the arkpak's Anderson plug is registering, and my truck 12 volt wires are correct, why isn't the arkpak charging?


I will clarify that the problems I had last year with my trip were partially my fault and were resolved by Brett by sending a new 12 volt plug for my car charger. My wiring job to connect the plug was faulty and I was relying on the 120v charger that I brought as a backup.


My two biggest complaints are that the car chargers 5 amp charge is not sufficient for my use if the stay is over 3-4 days. The amount of driving I do just doesn't keep the battery charged enough. Which brings me to the second complaint of this Anderson plug not working. At least not yet. Help please?

Hi Srpat

please see the attached images the first images is my Ark Pak set up in my car to charge via Anderson plug you see the car is not turned on and running and the unit is in a discharge cycle

View attachment 284315

the 2nd image you can see i have turned the car on and started the car up with the engine running and the ark pak has now gone into a charge cycle, it is important to note you must have the red isolator key in the on position when doing an external charge

View attachment 284317

my lead i use is a 4 meter long lead an image is below

View attachment 284318

i cover this in greater detail in a different thread a link to the thread is below

http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...le-battery-boxes-and-where-to-buy-them/page36

it is located on page 36 and post number 353, i hope this additional information is helpful.

Regards

Brett from Ark

 

[Baoser]

Hi Boaser

there is no fix if you have snapped the USB port you would need a new inverter to fix your problem. if you want a new one send an email to brett@arkcorporation and i can give you a cost.

look forward to your reply.

Regards

Brett from Ark

It came out of the box broken... I had it for less than 30 minutes and I tried plugging in the USB Light that came with the unit...

 

[Brett From Ark]

It came out of the box broken... I had it for less than 30 minutes and I tried plugging in the USB Light that came with the unit...

Hi Baoser

you are best to send an email to my work email which is included in this thread, please include your contact details and best time to call you.

Regards

Brett from Ark

 

[Srpat]

Just got back from a 10 day trip to Utah. Arkpak performed, but not without a few issues. I did manage to get the Anderson plug to work before I left. The wiring (and my alternator) was fine. The arkpak, for whatever reason, can take a very long time to register a charge -- some of the time. So I left for my trip knowing that I had two ways to charge it and confident that I wouldn't run into the same problems as last year -- mainly with the 5amp car charger not being able to keep up with the battery drain from the fridge.

Once in Utah though I had some issues keeping the anderson plug attached firmly enough to receive a charge. Has anyone else had this problem? Anderson plugs snap together with like 10 pounds of force. For the arkpak connection it is more like 50 pounds of pressure plus. And for a while I couldn't get the charge to register and it didn't seem to matter how hard I tried pushing the plug in. As soon as I had issues with this, I kept blowing the fuse to my 12v plug. Yes this was wired correctly and I had not ever blown a fuse in it before. Thought nothing of it until I replaced the fuse two more times and came to the only conculsion of the 12v arkpak charger being the culprit. Anybody else have that problem?

Luckily I brought the 120v charger with me (which I had to rely on last year as well) and didn't have too many other issues. Also, luckily, I had the Anderson plug go in all of the way and only rattle loose twice for the rest of the trip. So when that Anderson plug was working it was great. Unfortunately, it was still more stress than necessary never knowing if it was going to work or not and always being surprised when it was doing what it was supposed to be doing.

Only other issue was that the 12v receptacles on the arkpak wouldn't keep my fridge plugged in. The slightest bump and it would get unplugged. So for the majority of the trip I had to charge the arkpak with the 120v charger, and then go back and forth on using the arkpak for my fridge when parked and plugging it into my 12v plug in the truck bed when moving.

So less issues than I had a year ago, I suppose. Still plenty of issues left to work out. Maybe I should have scrapped the entire idea of a battery box from the beginning and just done a more reliable dual battery up front.

 

[Brett From Ark]

Just got back from a 10 day trip to Utah. Arkpak performed, but not without a few issues. I did manage to get the Anderson plug to work before I left. The wiring (and my alternator) was fine. The arkpak, for whatever reason, can take a very long time to register a charge -- some of the time. So I left for my trip knowing that I had two ways to charge it and confident that I wouldn't run into the same problems as last year -- mainly with the 5amp car charger not being able to keep up with the battery drain from the fridge.

Once in Utah though I had some issues keeping the anderson plug attached firmly enough to receive a charge. Has anyone else had this problem? Anderson plugs snap together with like 10 pounds of force. For the arkpak connection it is more like 50 pounds of pressure plus. And for a while I couldn't get the charge to register and it didn't seem to matter how hard I tried pushing the plug in. As soon as I had issues with this, I kept blowing the fuse to my 12v plug. Yes this was wired correctly and I had not ever blown a fuse in it before. Thought nothing of it until I replaced the fuse two more times and came to the only conculsion of the 12v arkpak charger being the culprit. Anybody else have that problem?

Luckily I brought the 120v charger with me (which I had to rely on last year as well) and didn't have too many other issues. Also, luckily, I had the Anderson plug go in all of the way and only rattle loose twice for the rest of the trip. So when that Anderson plug was working it was great. Unfortunately, it was still more stress than necessary never knowing if it was going to work or not and always being surprised when it was doing what it was supposed to be doing.

Only other issue was that the 12v receptacles on the arkpak wouldn't keep my fridge plugged in. The slightest bump and it would get unplugged. So for the majority of the trip I had to charge the arkpak with the 120v charger, and then go back and forth on using the arkpak for my fridge when parked and plugging it into my 12v plug in the truck bed when moving.

So less issues than I had a year ago, I suppose. Still plenty of issues left to work out. Maybe I should have scrapped the entire idea of a battery box from the beginning and just done a more reliable dual battery up front.

Hi Srpat

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with others just a few tips which you may already be doing any way.

when doing an external charge say via solar panels or even Anderson plug like you are, you MUST ALWAYS have the red isolator key in the ON position which is the 6 oclock position.

when doing the external charge there is a chance the voltage from the external charging source can go above the pre set maximum safety build into the Ark Pak, for example if you have got an AGM battery in your Ark Pak the maximum voltage the Ark Pak will let this battery type get is 14.5 volts and more then this is will put up and ALARM OPEN CIRCUIT on the LCD screen this is because it is trying to stop the external charge from over charging the battery.

i hope this additional information has beenof so help to you.

if you have any follow up questions please ask.


Regards

Brett from Ark

 

[Brett From Ark]

Hi Everyone

just wanted to advise that with father day weekend coming up real soon i have been able to twist the bosses arm and offer a special discount for father day it starts from Friday the 5th June 2015

so now would be a great time to save some big $$$ on an Ark Pak purchase if you have been thinking about it



if you have any questions please ask

Regards

Brett from ark

 

[franklantern]

Hi Brett,

New user and had a question regarding the fans. I understand there are 2 fans, one for the circuit board and one for the battery venting/cooling. The fan for the battery runs quite frequently, even when the temp is mild. Is this something I should be concerned about? Does the battery fan come on at regular intervals for venting purposes even if the battery is not warm? With the arkpak shut off and the isolater in the on position the battery fan ran quite a bit

If the battery is hot will the fan come on if the isolater is in the off position?

I am trying to better understand the battery fan operation since it is quite loud and I would like to be able to sleep in my truck but wouldnt be able to if the battery fan is running.

Thanks...

 

[Brett From Ark]

Hi Brett,

New user and had a question regarding the fans. I understand there are 2 fans, one for the circuit board and one for the battery venting/cooling. The fan for the battery runs quite frequently, even when the temp is mild. Is this something I should be concerned about? Does the battery fan come on at regular intervals for venting purposes even if the battery is not warm? With the arkpak shut off and the isolater in the on position the battery fan ran quite a bit

If the battery is hot will the fan come on if the isolater is in the off position?

I am trying to better understand the battery fan operation since it is quite loud and I would like to be able to sleep in my truck but wouldnt be able to if the battery fan is running.

Thanks...

Hi Franklantern

if you have the Ark Pak with the LCD screen model number AP620 this unit has one fan only, this fan will always run when the LCD screen is on this is to keep the PCB board cool, you can turn the fan off at night by turning the LCD screen off and you can have the isolator in the on position this means the fan is off but you are still able to provide power to your devices.

if you have any more questions please ask.

Regards

Brett from Ark

 

[franklantern]

Thanks for the reply Brett. Yes I do have the AP620. The manual says on page 17 that there are 2 fans. There is clearly a audible difference in the fan operation depending on the temp. The manual says the second fan is when the inverter is running but I have heard this (second) fan running even when nothing is plugged into the Arkpak and was wondering if this was heat related? This fan runs even with the LCD screen turned off. That is why I thought it might be related to the temperature of the unit.

 

[mep1811]

Is it normal for the battery in the ArkPak to discharge when not being used or plugged in? The switch was in the off position.

After a month, the battery voltage was down to 9.7 volts. If this is the case this is not a good backup battery solution

 

[Brett From Ark]

Thanks for the reply Brett. Yes I do have the AP620. The manual says on page 17 that there are 2 fans. There is clearly a audible difference in the fan operation depending on the temp. The manual says the second fan is when the inverter is running but I have heard this (second) fan running even when nothing is plugged into the Arkpak and was wondering if this was heat related? This fan runs even with the LCD screen turned off. That is why I thought it might be related to the temperature of the unit.

Hi Franklantern

in terms of 2 fans yes that is correct, but one fan is mounted inside the Ark Pak to keep the PCB board cool and the other is located inside the inverter.

1st fan inside the Ark Pak that keeps PCB cool will always run when the LCD screen is on you will here this fan speed increase in speed during the charging process as the fan is working much harder to keep the PCB board cool. you can still provide power to all devices and turn the fan off all you need to do is turn the LCD screen off and leave the red isolator switch in the on position this shuts down the fan but still provides power to all the outlets.

2nd fan inside the inverter is thermally controlled and will only turn on when the inverter reaches a certain temp.

the 2 fans are independent of each other and depending on the situation you could have both fans running at the same time or one running only.

if you need anything else please ask.

Regards

Brett from Ark

 

[Brett From Ark]

Is it normal for the battery in the ArkPak to discharge when not being used or plugged in? The switch was in the off position.

After a month, the battery voltage was down to 9.7 volts. If this is the case this is not a good backup battery solution

Hi Mep1811 (Mike)

if you leave the isolator in the on position and in turn also leave the inverter switched on the inverter consumes approx 5 watts of power every hour it is left in this state that is approx 0.42 amps used every hour so even leaving it over night in my view would not be enough to drain the battery also the inverter has a low voltage cut out which activates when a battery is at 10.8 volts.

to give some feed back on batteries 100% is 12.6 volts or more 0% is 10.8 volts if you go below 10.5 volts this is known as a kill zone for a battery and there is a chance the polarity on your battery ca actually be reversed as a result of extreme discharge.

in my opinion i would be getting your battery load tested to ensure it has not suffered from a dropped cell or even sulfation.

also ask for a copy of the load test report so you have it for your records

please keep me posted on this situation.

Regards

Brett from Ark

 

[AndrewP]

to give some feed back on batteries 100% is 12.6 volts or more 0% is 10.8 volts if you go below 10.5 volts this is known as a kill zone for a battery and there is a chance the polarity on your battery ca actually be reversed as a result of extreme discharge.

Brett from Ark

Do you mind explaining this reversed polarity comment?

Cheers

 

[mep1811]

Hi Mep1811 (Mike)

if you leave the isolator in the on position and in turn also leave the inverter switched on the inverter consumes approx 5 watts of power every hour it is left in this state that is approx 0.42 amps used every hour so even leaving it over night in my view would not be enough to drain the battery also the inverter has a low voltage cut out which activates when a battery is at 10.8 volts.

to give some feed back on batteries 100% is 12.6 volts or more 0% is 10.8 volts if you go below 10.5 volts this is known as a kill zone for a battery and there is a chance the polarity on your battery ca actually be reversed as a result of extreme discharge.

in my opinion i would be getting your battery load tested to ensure it has not suffered from a dropped cell or even sulfation.

also ask for a copy of the load test report so you have it for your records

please keep me posted on this situation.

Regards

Brett from Ark

Both the inverter was off and the isolator switch in the off position. The battery was brand new and fully charged when I unplugged the ArPak for a trip. I'll have the battery tested but does not explain why the battery drained while connected to the ArkPak.