About the same price. The Goal Zero comes with a battery and is smaller and lighter. A solid group 31 deep cycle battery in the Ark looks like maybe a more robust system. Anyone have expereince with both? Wanting to power a 12 volt fridge with one and a couple of 200 W solar panels.
Goal Zero 400 or Ark Pak 730
- Thread starter dcg141
- Start date
I can speak for the Goal Zero 400. I bought mine about six months ago to mainly power my ARB 50 fridge and couldn't be happier with its performance. I love the fact that it is compact and can fit in many location in my Jeep (JKUR). I have a 120v outlet that charges Goal Zero while driving. The ARB, like many of the newer generation of 12v fridges is super efficient so I feel its a great match to the approximately 30 amp hours of the Goal Zero. I have never ran the battery down to empty before. Conditions will obviously change how the battery functions but I just had the fridge running off the goal zero without charging it for about 3 days (temps. in the 50s) and it was more than half full. Anyhow, I feel its certainly robust and well worth the cash.
Happykamper
Explorer
Ark 730 hands down
1Louder
Explorer
I took advantage of the Black Friday sale with ArkPak and got a 715. I used it in Mexico and was happy with the performance I got with my Group 34 Optima battery installed. I didn't see a reason to buy the 730. A group 31 would give it the most power but also very heavy. I need to find where I want to "mount" the thing in my FJ. The way I used it was have my fridge on my Group 31 vehicle battery during the day and the ArkPak at night. I would then charge the ArkPak back up on days that I was driving. My 60 watt solar panel could not charge the ArkPak and vehicle battery at the same time. So if you want to do something like that I would get at least 100 watts of solar. I need to do more testing on amp hour life of my group 34 in actual conditions on a future trip. I would read the threads in the Power Section.
spikemd
Explorer
Disagree.
Yeti400 hands down.
The Ark is huge, about three times the size of the Yeti, and so heavy, its not really portable.
Depends on your needs and space. If you have a trailer and lots of accessories and space, the Ark is a good unit. If you are limited in space and only plan to run an efficient fridge like the ARB (not Whynter), then the Yeti will handle that. Coupled with adequate solar, it is a pretty robust system.
dstock
Explorer
When ambient temps hit the 80's and up, you will run into issues if you don't have some solar backup to keep the yeti charged up, minimum 100 watt panel.
Keep wanting to build a system inside my trailer but the costs keep going up. AGM battery, isolator, inverter, good quality monitor, controller for solar. It gets expensive. My main goal is to run a fridge. Seems like overkill. Plus you can chain another battery to the Yeti for extended run times.
I just ordered a GZ400 the other day for simplicity sake. I like the idea that's it's all self contained, easily portable, had a solid track record, and when/if I need to I can chain it with another similar size battery. I figured it's a good way to dip my toes into the power bank and solar stuff.
However, shop around for prices. I wouldn't pay more than ~$350 for one.
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However, shop around for prices. I wouldn't pay more than ~$350 for one.
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Here is the thing with diy vs prebuilt from my experience. The Yetti is a nice system and you may never have an issue with it. But if you do, and it's under warranty you will need to send it in. I believe you will still need to pay the shipping, not cheap. If it's after warranty and something other then the battery goes out say the inverter, or the display its trash. Regarding diy, yes it may be a bit more expensive but it's expandable as your needs may grow I.e. Need more power, swap out the battery, want USB. Or extra 12 volt connector, You can add it. Inverter goes out you replace just that piece. Check craigslist for a deep cycle battery, also solar. eBay as well.
Also I don't think the fridge requires pure sine wave, modify will be just fine.
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True, that is easier but not much of an apples to apples comparison. I was trying to demonstrate that you could get the same functionality in a diy.