Jackery Explorer 240 quietly got an input upgrade - Now 80W

[Bob142]

The short version: Jackery customer support has confirmed that all new E240s have max input of 80W vs the previous 42W.

The long version:

I bought a Jackery E240 back in July and had only ever charged it using a 50W solar panel or the wall charger that came with it. Recently I bought the new E500 and a 100W solar panel. When I connected the 100W panel to the E240 I was getting around 60W on input. Much higher than what @Will Prowse and other reviewers got back when they tested theirs. I then tried the E500 wall charger on the E240 and got 81W. I contacted Jackery customer support and they confirmed that all new E240s available on Amazon have a higher input wattage spec of 80W. I asked them if they could provide a serial number range or some way of identifying which units had the higher input capability but they didn't provide that. The one data point I have is that I bought mine in late July and it has the upgraded input.

I've included some pictures of my E240 and E500 charging using their respective wall chargers and each other's wall chargers.

E240 on left using the E240 charger (getting 39W). E500 on right using E500 charger (getting 82W).


E240 using E500 wall charger (getting 81W). E500 using E240 wall charger.


Close up of E240 using E500 charger:



(Edited to make the pics less obnoxiously large.)

 

[Will Prowse]

Incredible! I need to get may hands on one. Thank you for posting this!

I found a similar sized unit that will pull 140watts, and I will have it in my hands for testing at the end of the afternoon. Can't wait to show you guys

 

[Bob142]

There have been some discussions lately about Jackery 1000s and I recently made some observations about my Jackery 500 regarding the difficulty of getting to their max charge rates via solar. With those two units, the max voltage and current spec combinations aren't really achievable in practice with standard solar panels.

Best solar bang for the buck in the Jackery lineup remains the 240. I can consistently achieve over 60W using an HQST 100W mono panel. It's the only power station of the three that you could potentially recharge in a single (sunny) day.

Pics from this morning:

 

[Bob142]

I picked up a second Jackery 240 on the recent sale and thought I'd try chaining them together just for fun rather than put out two panels. 100W panel into the left one, car charger from left one to right one, a couple of laptops sipping some AC power from the right one. All good.




The left one started with a lower state of charge than the right one so it'll play catch up when I reduce the load.

 

[squoril]

I just noticed this today, however i was only getting 65w out of a rich solar 100w panel, both brand new and 75% soc, about noon on a clear day i wonder if thats the PWM controller thats hamstringing it or being flat mounted

 

[Bob142]

I just noticed this today, however i was only getting 65w out of a rich solar 100w panel, both brand new and 75% soc, about noon on a clear day i wonder if thats the PWM controller thats hamstringing it or being flat mounted

It’s not the panel flat mount. My tests show that the Jackery 240 limits the input current to 3.5A. So maximum solar charge power is basically your panel Vmp * 3.5A.

With a typical 100W panel 65W is about the best you can do on the Jackery 240. I routinely hit that with a 100W HQST mono panel and am quite happy with it.

(Edited so that people don't misinterpret what we're talking about in a Jackery 240 thread.)

 

[squoril]

Vmp * 3.5A

That is exactly it, my panel 18.6Vmp*3.5A = 65.1W, at the time of testing i had 22.3Voc and 4.5Isc

 

[Bob142]

For those of you looking for a faster charge from the grid for your 240, if you have an old Lenovo laptop charger you can use it to push up to 65W. It's a nice cheap (or free if you have one lying around) charging upgrade vs. the 42W charger they supply.

 

[CanadianDude]

I am new to solar generators and solar in general, however, I was looking for a battery inverter and ordered a Jackery 240, a Belker 90W universal AC charger, and a 90W universal car charger after I saw this thread about the 80W boost. I confirmed that I could sustain inputs of 63W and 66W respectively with these chargers lowering the charge times to just under 5 hours.

I then picked up a cheap adjustable boost converter and a couple of cables that I cut to have a 7.9mm Lenovo female for the input and a 8mm male for the output. Now when I plug the 90W AC charger into the boost converter (set to around 26.15V) and the boost converter into the Jackery, I can charge it up to 84W. This is the same when I plug the Jackery car adapter into the boost converter then into the Jackery when the car is running; I no longer need the 90W car charger.

Anecdotally, I performed charge time test and it took around 3 hours and 50 minutes to charge the Jackery with the boost converter. This included the last hour where the Jackery steps down the input to around 5-7W (this tail takes around the same length of time regardless of the bulk charge input).

 

[Bob142]

I am new to solar generators and solar in general, however, I was looking for a battery inverter and ordered a Jackery 240, a Belker 90W universal AC charger, and a 90W universal car charger after I saw this thread about the 80W boost. I confirmed that I could sustain inputs of 63W and 66W respectively with these chargers lowering the charge times to just under 5 hours.

I then picked up a cheap adjustable boost converter and a couple of cables that I cut to have a 7.9mm Lenovo female for the input and a 8mm male for the output. Now when I plug the 90W AC charger into the boost converter (set to around 26.15V) and the boost converter into the Jackery, I can charge it up to 84W. This is the same when I plug the Jackery car adapter into the boost converter then into the Jackery when the car is running; I no longer need the 90W car charger.

Anecdotally, I performed charge time test and it took around 3 hours and 50 minutes to charge the Jackery with the boost converter. This included the last hour where the Jackery steps down the input to around 5-7W (this tail takes around the same length of time regardless of the bulk charge input).
View attachment 19161View attachment 19166

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Nice job! Welcome to the forum.

 

[CanadianDude]

That is exactly it, my panel 18.6Vmp*3.5A = 65.1W, at the time of testing i had 22.3Voc and 4.5Isc

As I attempt to find a solution (if possible) to exploit the solar charging characteristics of the Jackery 240 (without changing the firmware), from my limited testing, the Jackery 240 has lower and upper current limits that are voltage specific and specifically in the 18V-25V range, the upper limit is around 3.18A. The greatest current I have been able to draw from a bench power supply is not surprisingly equal to the standard Imp=3.3A of the Solar Saga 60.

So if I understand the solar panel IV curves correctly, as a general rule I believe that the maximum input of the Jackery 240 for panels with a Imp<=~3.2A should follow the panel’s Pmax (which is temperature specific) and for panel’s with Imp>~3.2A should follow the Jackery imposed Pmax which should occur at the intersection point of the Jackery’s current limit and the right hand side of the IV curve (which is also temperature specific). With my 120W panel (standard Vmp=16.9V, Voc=22.4V), I see inputs of up to 65W before the panel heats up; this indicates that the effective Vmp is closer to the panels Voc, so I believe that the Voc gives a better indication of the effective Pmax than Vmp for larger panels.

Nice job! Welcome to the forum.

Thanks, I’m looking forward to learning and sharing in this forum.

 

[6thgear]

There have been some discussions lately about Jackery 1000s and I recently made some observations about my Jackery 500 regarding the difficulty of getting to their max charge rates via solar. With those two units, the max voltage and current spec combinations aren't really achievable in practice with standard solar panels.

Best solar bang for the buck in the Jackery lineup remains the 240. I can consistently achieve over 60W using an HQST 100W mono panel. It's the only power station of the three that you could potentially recharge in a single (sunny) day.

Pics from this morning:

View attachment 11669View attachment 11670

Am debating between the Jackery 240 and the Rockpals 300. Do you still believe the Jackery 240 is the better bet? Rockpals has more ports and more W and Wh, for example. Thoughts?

 

[Bob142]

Am debating between the Jackery 240 and the Rockpals 300. Do you still believe the Jackery 240 is the better bet? Rockpals has more ports and more W and Wh, for example. Thoughts?

I don’t have a Rockpals so I can’t make a direct comparison based on tests. In the Jackery lineup the only model I would buy again (and did) is the 240. The other models aren’t worth it IMO.

For me, the most important feature in the small portables is the ability to recharge it fully in a day. The 240 can be. I’ve done it. Not sure about the Rockpals 300. The Rockpals site lists solar recharge time as 8-9 hours which is two full days of sun.

It all comes down to your use cases as to which is best for you.

 

[6thgear]

Found the answer. Rockpals 300w max solar input is 80W.
Go to time stamp 8:45 in Will's video. Link below.
Any other thoughts re Rockpals 300W vs. Jackery 240?

 

[Bob142]

Found the answer. Rockpals 300w max solar input is 80W.
Go to time stamp 8:45 in Will's video. Link below.
Any other thoughts re Rockpals 300W vs. Jackery 240?

As I said in my earlier post, it comes down to your use cases (you haven't shared any so I can't comment on them). For my use cases the Jackery 240 wins, that's why I own two. Watch the tear-down video of the Jackery 240: high quality inside and out. If you need a regulated 12V output you'll get it on the Jackery but not on the Rockpals. Good luck on your selection. Hopefully whichever you choose works out well for you for years.