The New EnerPlex 1200 Provides Needed Power Supply for Camera and Drone Batteries on Road Trip Adventures
Sierra Rec Magazine- Product Review – August 2018 – The bigger the adventure the bigger the needs or desire for more conveniences and an increased need for alternative power solutions. We are honored to introduce to you the EnerPlex 1200 Power center today by Sierra Wave.
Sierra Wave is a brand by Aervoe Industries in Gardnerville Nevada. The EnerPlex 1200 is their newest in a line of alternative power source solutions that are designed for the outdoor and emergency prepared consumer. The EnerPlex is a 1231 Watt Hour large format Lithium Ion battery power center which is relatively light compared to similar models on the market today.
We were asked to review this model as a tool for the outdoor recreation industry. The EnerPlex 1200 power center is a sleek looking unit with a sporty orange and slate gray color scheme, and two easy to grab flat handles on each side for each movement. Right out the
The unit came fully charged and ready to use which is a bonus, the power center featured many outlets on the front including (3) 110V outlets, 3 USB outlets, 19V Laptop Outlet ( plus the laptop charging cable and tips), & a 12-volt barrel plug outlet. For me
For our test of this unit, we took the EnerPlex 1200 power center on a three-day adventure road trip to get new photography and content for upcoming Sierra Rec Magazine issues. powering the camera, laptop, and drones while camping was our primary objectives. plugging in a set of 12-volt travel lights and a travel cooler were bonus features on our trip.
Our road trip destination schedule would have us on crossing the Sierra Nevada, adjusting because of fires and capturing images from both the west and east sides of the Sierra. Because we had little notice and this trip had to make adjustments for the fire conditions in the Sierra we dry camped the entire trip. The manual suggested that typical use of the EnerPlex Unit would provide plenty of power for this three-day trip, so I did not worry about recharging the unit and planned to see if I could literally drain the life to see its full capacity. (note I failed at this mission it still has juice) The manual says it will charge my smartphone 100 +time, my Laptop, and Camera 20+ times and if I ran the 12-volt lights they sent I could have light for 80 hours and the cooler for 4 days. The unit did also come with a 12 Volt adapter to charge the unit with my car as well as a standard 110V AC charger if I needed to charge the unit without solar panels. For this trip
Day 1- Hwy 4
The first night of our trip (HWY 4, Highlands Lakes region) we plugged in the 12 Volt lights until bed then the 12-volt cooler overnight and recharged the camera and cell phone and drone battery overnight. The unit was very quiet and the 12 volt light they sent with the unit was a nice little bonus for a camp light at night. We had set the unit on a folding table and hung the light above to give us a nice evening light for a game of UNO. (I Lost) The next morning, the cell phones charged, the camera is charged and downloaded to the Laptop and the cooler kept the drinks cold all night. I plugged the 12-volt cooler into the car during our day trip, I guess I was not exactly trying to tap the unit. So for us
Day 2 – Full Power and a Re-Route
The next day we traveled through Calaveras Region and had planned to take a trip over Sonora Pass but were detoured because of fire. Luckily we were able to get through on HWY 120 and headed instead over the east side of Yosemite. For kicks we plugged an I-phone into the unit and drove while listening to our playlist instead of the radio in the car, we typically do this, but usually just plug it into the car, so this is really just again to test the battery life of the EnerPlex Unit. Next Nights stop Saddlebag Lakes area (long day). Because we were tired no need for lights tonight we plugged cooler in and recharged 2 phones, and Camera again plus added the laptop. Wish we would have brought a fan to plug in, as it was a warm and smoky evening.Â
Powered Up and Time in Mono County
Next morning, the unit worked well everything is charged and we are still at 72% battery life. The EnerPlex unit is going to have no problem keeping up with our adventure.Â
We finished our three-day adventure with a day around Mono County before heading home to the Carson Valley, kept the cooler plugged into the EnerPlex unit all day, and again ran our playlist using the phone charger. Once we returned home I decided to go ahead and keep cooler plugged in for the night and charged two cell phones overnight. The overall effect on the battery dropped power storage down to 38%.  Pretty darn effective if you ask us. Charging the unit became a simple task of plugging it back into our wall at home the next day and getting it back to full charge. This is obviously the quickest and easiest way to charge the unit, and more than likely how I would use the unit moving forward. Nice to know that I could charge it with my Car and the 12-volt adapter (included) or Solar if I needed to stay off the grid longer. I can see why having this unit for a power outage at home could be very effective. According to the manual, it could run such items as my refrigerator, or appliances for several hours plus the added benefit of 12-volt appliances if you were storing this unit for common power problems in your area like a hurricane.
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