ArkPak vs. Thunder Weekender - and a charging questions

[peripatew]

Greetings from SE Asia!

I'm looking into these two options for a flexible dual battery for my truck and for a backup power option for my house.

Our family just moved to SE Asia from the States to work with an not for profit organization that works with young girls rescued from sexual exploitation. I'll be making frequent trips into some remote areas, and being able to use one of these two battery packs seems ideal. Our home power is also a quite unreliable. We lost it for 18 hours yesterday, and high 90's outside made it miserable inside. My wife and I can manage, being able to run some lights and fans would be amazing (trying to avoid a gas generator), and our water tanks pump in a pinch.

I'd be getting the non-110v version. The ArkPak seems a bit smaller in external dimensions, and seems to be the more popular unit. I like that it's already been through a few versions to get the kinks out.

From what I can tell, it seems the Weekender has a better inverter, with a higher watt rating and being pure sine.

Any recommendations?

And a charging question: ArkPak makes a dc charger, and Thunder does not. I don't think my primary charging solution will be in my truck (2003 Tacoma Double Cab), but I will be using it frequently there. Does the ArkPak charger require a high wattage cigarette socket?

Someone recommended I look into the CTEK chargers (D250) with a proper solenoid, which should give 20amp charging (vs the 7a? ArkPak) and serve as a charge controller if I decide to go for solar panels. (Though, I might rather have a dedicated charge controller not permanently mounted to my truck). But is the ArkPak car charger adequate for long-term usage?

I'm having difficulty as it is trying to import either option at a price our family can afford, so I want to make sure I choose my setup appropriately.

I'm planning on using a 100-130ah battery as long as I can find a quality one here.

Thanks for the help!

Here's a truck pic from an exploration trip I went on recently.

 

[Brett From Ark]

Hi Peripatew

in terms of which one suits your lifestyle that is a choice you need to make i can tell you some facts about the Ark Pak and happy to answer any additional questions you may have.

we have released two new model into the market place they are the AP715 and the AP730 a spread sheet is listed below for your information



the dc to dc car charging lead will work fine as long as your DC socket in your car is fused at 15 amps and rated to 120 watts of constant power and would be suited for long term use.

the Ark Pak will also work well in conjunction with a Ctek charger as well if you choose to go down this road as well.

if you have any more questions please ask.

Regards

Brett from Ark

 

[peripatew]

Hi Peripatew

in terms of which one suits your lifestyle that is a choice you need to make i can tell you some facts about the Ark Pak and happy to answer any additional questions you may have.

we have released two new model into the market place they are the AP715 and the AP730 a spread sheet is listed below for your information

View attachment 315996

the dc to dc car charging lead will work fine as long as your DC socket in your car is fused at 15 amps and rated to 120 watts of constant power and would be suited for long term use.

the Ark Pak will also work well in conjunction with a Ctek charger as well if you choose to go down this road as well.

if you have any more questions please ask.

Regards

Brett from Ark

Thanks for the response. I think I've decided that the ArkPak is what I'll go with. I'll be using it in my truck a lot, but not enough at this point to justify the price jump to a dedicated charger. And since the 730 comes with the DC/DC charger and the mounting kit, I think that put its above the Weekender in terms of bang for buck (though I would much prefer it was a pure sine inverter). I figure I can always utilize an external inverter if I need to go with something that is more power-hungry.

Is ArkPak able to ship directly? I've contacted a few places listed on the website that carry the ArkPak, but so far none ship internationally. I'm able to get things brought over from the states occasionally, but I'm not able to get the Australian version there.

 

[Brett From Ark]

Thanks for the response. I think I've decided that the ArkPak is what I'll go with. I'll be using it in my truck a lot, but not enough at this point to justify the price jump to a dedicated charger. And since the 730 comes with the DC/DC charger and the mounting kit, I think that put its above the Weekender in terms of bang for buck (though I would much prefer it was a pure sine inverter). I figure I can always utilize an external inverter if I need to go with something that is more power-hungry.

Is ArkPak able to ship directly? I've contacted a few places listed on the website that carry the ArkPak, but so far none ship internationally. I'm able to get things brought over from the states occasionally, but I'm not able to get the Australian version there.

Hi peripatew

send me a email direct to brett@arkcorporation.com i help point you in the right direction for overseas supply to your location.

Regards

Brett from Ark

 

[poisonedpeople]

Look at these reviews

Look at these reviews re the Arkpak. I was shocked!
These are copied from the productreview (Australian) website because this forum will not allow me to post links:


Beth

1 review
1 answer
1 helpful vote

Buy a car battery & solar panels would work better!

1 out of 5, reviewed on Mar 28, 2016
Very disappointed! After the salesman convinced me to buy the best product on the market that would charge almost anything except a blow dryer or straightener. I went camping with friends and thank heavens for that! The ark kept blowing fuses whilst charging only mobile phones or iPods, lucky the guys had spare fuses so we could run lights at night and blow more fuses the next day when trying to charge the mobile phones for emergency.
When we came back I took it back to BCF which they told me that they would only exchange the ark system only o
Boesman
Boesman

2 reviews
2 helpful votes

Gives me power everywhere

4 out of 5, reviewed on Mar 21, 2016
I bought an Arkpak after much research. It is now nearly two yrs old. It has its niggles, There was a time when it wouldn't charge off the mains. Don't know why, but for about three days it wouldn't charge. Then suddenly one morning I tried again and it started charging again. When travelling we charge it via the anderson plug off the main battery and that works beautifully as it takes less than an hour to charge from as low as 45%. However, I don't trust the the readings all the time. My 100amp agm battery is as old as the arkpak, but drains
Ric B
Ric B

1 review
1 comment
1 answer
1 helpful vote

Unreliable

2 out of 5, reviewed on Jan 24, 2016
I purchased the ArkPak 730 (black handles) 3 months ago. It broke down on the first camp trip. It kept blowing internal fuses and was replaced under warranty. Ruined our trip as we had no fridge. 2nd camp trip it worked fine. I'm getting it ready for its 3rd trip and now it won't charge off the mains power. ArkPak are replacing the mains adapter charger. I have little confidence left in this item.

Purchased at: BCF

1 person found this helpful, do you?
Comments
Ric B

Update to my "Unreliable" review. Mains power supply replaced after Arkcorp tech diagnosed it over the phone. Guess what ? Still doesn't work, it's not the power supply. I can still charge it off ... read more »

Ric B posted on Feb 05, 2016
NC
NC

Perth

12 reviews
1 comment
15 answers
1 helpful vote

Does the job

5 out of 5, reviewed on Oct 06, 2015
My Arkpak is now a year old. We take it away on weekends about once a month to a house with no mains power connected. We plug the Arkpak into the fusebox and power lights, bathroom exhaust fan, TV+playstation and charge phones, ipods and dvd players. It gets carted around in the trailer most of the time. We use a 120 Amp hour AGM battery which makes it heavy but still portable. We now have a generator to keep it topped up on longer stays or heavy demands. I also use it to maintain a lead acid battery in a car that doesn't get used much. Its a b
Josh
Josh

1 review
1 helpful vote

715 Ark Pak blowing fuses

1 out of 5, reviewed on Aug 19, 2015
Would be a handy unit if it was reliable. You would think they could get it right by now. Went through 2 of these as they would start blowing fuses in the vehicle and not charge off the mains after approx 3 months?? Saw this in another review and wasn't surprised.
Gave up on them after 2nd return and steered well clear of these products. So much wasted time and frustration!

1 person found this helpful, do you?
Heath Burchfield
Heath Burchfield

Melbourne

1 review
4 helpful votes

Great Product, Appaling Support

1 out of 5, reviewed on Apr 08, 2015
I purchased an ArkPak AP730 and had issues within 3-4 months of purchase.
It's had a fairly "cushy" life in the back of the Land Rover Discovery 3... Nothing Hard.

Wasn't charging with the DC to DC or AC to DC Chargers. Return Unit to Ark Directly via Courier with the 2 x Chargers (as I wanted it handled ASAP rather than relying on BCF etc.. to return the unit) and called them a couple of times during the next week to ensure it was repaired promptly.

They advised they were waiting on some Capacitors to repair my unit, and it shipped the
boonybabe
boonybabe

Newcastle

1 review
2 helpful votes

Great toy whilst it worked

2 out of 5, reviewed on Dec 01, 2014
Great little device for camping allowing flexibility for various different styles of camping from tenting through the caravan.

Worked like a treat for the first 10 months then started having problems with the electronic screen output. I approached Ark within the warranty period and now that the issue still exists after warranty has lapsed Ark are requesting payment to resolve the issue.

As much as the arkpak is great I would now recommend purchasing a simpler unit of ebay. At least fleabay sellers generally honour their warranty. And if they dont at least you havent outlayed $350 for a defective unit.

Purchased at: Repco

2 people found this helpful, do you?
johnt57aus
johnt57aus

3 reviews
9 answers
10 helpful votes

Power to the people

5 out of 5, reviewed on Jul 09, 2014
We have recently returned home from a trip to NSW with the wife in our caravan. I have an ArkPak with an Exide 105amp AGM as used in R&D by Ark Corp. We have a new Waeco CFX65DZ which we ran from the ArkPak via the 12v and had the ArkPak plugged into our Isuzu D Max whilst driving but over night I plugged the ArkPak into 240v from the caravan to avoid the possibility of flattening the tug battery. I didn't have any problem and 1 day even had the Waeco plugged into the 240v on the ArkPak while we drove along to see if there was any difference. I

Greetings from SE Asia!

I'm looking into these two options for a flexible dual battery for my truck and for a backup power option for my house.

Our family just moved to SE Asia from the States to work with an not for profit organization that works with young girls rescued from sexual exploitation. I'll be making frequent trips into some remote areas, and being able to use one of these two battery packs seems ideal. Our home power is also a quite unreliable. We lost it for 18 hours yesterday, and high 90's outside made it miserable inside. My wife and I can manage, being able to run some lights and fans would be amazing (trying to avoid a gas generator), and our water tanks pump in a pinch.

I'd be getting the non-110v version. The ArkPak seems a bit smaller in external dimensions, and seems to be the more popular unit. I like that it's already been through a few versions to get the kinks out.

From what I can tell, it seems the Weekender has a better inverter, with a higher watt rating and being pure sine.

Any recommendations?

And a charging question: ArkPak makes a dc charger, and Thunder does not. I don't think my primary charging solution will be in my truck (2003 Tacoma Double Cab), but I will be using it frequently there. Does the ArkPak charger require a high wattage cigarette socket?

Someone recommended I look into the CTEK chargers (D250) with a proper solenoid, which should give 20amp charging (vs the 7a? ArkPak) and serve as a charge controller if I decide to go for solar panels. (Though, I might rather have a dedicated charge controller not permanently mounted to my truck). But is the ArkPak car charger adequate for long-term usage?

I'm having difficulty as it is trying to import either option at a price our family can afford, so I want to make sure I choose my setup appropriately.

I'm planning on using a 100-130ah battery as long as I can find a quality one here.

Thanks for the help!

Here's a truck pic from an exploration trip I went on recently.