By 
Power stations are something that you wouldn’t necessarily think that you need, but when you do end up using one, you’ll start to wonder how you ever lived without them. For those unfamiliar, you can think of power stations as being souped-up versions of your smartphone power banks.
In concept, they are pretty much the same, where they offer users power while on the go without having to find a wall outlet to draw the power from. One of the advantages of power stations over power banks is that they can output more power and support more devices, so you can charge and power up more than just a smartphone.
We’re talking about electrical appliances such as heaters, electric stovetops, kettles, and so on. They even have the added advantage of being able to recharge themselves using solar energy, meaning that in theory, you’ll never need to find a wall outlet ever again. If a power station is something you’re keen on, maybe to use as a backup generator for your home, or maybe to bring with you on the road, then perhaps you might want to take a look at VigorPool’s Captain 1200 power station.
Design
Right off the bat, the Captain 1200 draws our attention to its looks. It features a very sleek-looking exterior with sharp angles that makes it look kind of futuristic. While the functionality of the power station is obviously more important, who says that you can’t have a power station that not only does the job well, but looks good too, right?
On one of the sides of the Captain 1200 there is a built-in display that can show you the status of the power station, like how much power is left, what devices are being charged, and so on. Then there are also a host of ports and connectors including a car charger port that you can use for an air pump or outdoor refrigerator, 2x USB-C connectors, 2x USB-A connectors, 2 DC connectors, and also 4x AC connectors.
It even comes with two LED light panels on each side, which means that in the event of a blackout or when you’re outdoors, these LED lights can be used to illuminate the area and you won’t have to go find a flashlight or use your phone, which is actually really neat.
Also, one of the reasons the Captain 1200 has been designed the way it is, it is because the folks at VigorPool have actually built-in a wireless charger on top of the power station. This means that not only can you charge devices using a wired connection, but if you want to free up some ports, you can charge your mobile devices wirelessly.
Charging capabilities
Now that we’ve gotten the design out of the way, let’s get into the meat and potatoes of the Captain 1200 — its output capabilities. The Captain 1200 by itself is capable of delivering 1,200W of power and has a 1,280Wh battery capacity. For the most part that’s already pretty decent, but one of the unique features of the power station is its parallel system.
What this means is that you can actually hook up two units together, which effectively doubles the capacity to 2,560Wh and also its output power to 2,400W. This means that with this kind of power output, you’ll be able to power more energy-hungry appliances that other power stations might not be able to.
We’re talking about powering appliances like a 1,800W oven, or a 2,200W room heater, a 1,500W washing machine, or a 1,400W bench grinder. This wide range of support means that the Captain 1200 will be more than just a power station used for backup electricity or used when you’re out camping, you could actually live on the road with it.
You can even connect devices to it and then the Captain 1200 to a wall outlet if there are gadgets that need continuous energy throughout your house. This is because the Captain 1200 features support for an uninterruptible power supply, meaning that should there be a blackout, it’ll switch over to the power station in under 10ms, thus ensuring that there are no interruptions.
Battery technology
Like all batteries, they do tend to degrade over time and with use, but the Captain 1200 features the use of LiFePO4 batteries that are rated for over 3,500 charging cycles. This means that even if you were to recharge it daily from 0-100% (which would count as one cycle), it would easily last you almost 10 years, which is pretty crazy.
Speaking of charging, the Captain 1200 also supports fast charging where users can recharge the battery back up to full in just 1.5 hours. This is a relatively short amount of time considering how big the battery is, but it also means that you won’t have to sit around and wait too long to recharge it.
There is also support for solar charging if you were to buy and attach the company’s 200W solar panels, but using solar charging will take roughly 5.5 hours, but the upside is that as long as you have direct sunlight, then it shouldn’t be a problem.
To ensure that the battery is safe to use, VigorPool has also introduced 7 types of protection. These include Over Charge/Discharge Protection, Overload Protection, Short Circuit Protection, High Current Protection and High/Low-Temperature Protection, all of which is designed to help keep the battery safe while in use.
Pricing and availability
If you’re keen on the VigorPool Captain 1200, it is available for pre-sale from the company’s website. As for the price, the VigorPool Captain 1200is currently discounted from $1,399 to a relatively affordable $999. Head on over to their website if you’d like more information or to get your hands on it.
Comments