Awesome, Mike. It was fun watching how you clicked through the internet to experience, more remorse for your purchase of that 4Patriots Generator. You helped me to search out better alternatives, at your expense of course, ha-ha. Thanks for your time spent on this informative video.
Thanks for the review. I hate it when companies overcharge for a less than decent product and you get ripped off. That's a lot of money not to be satisfied with the generator. I try to do research first and I am definitely not going to buy a Patriot.
Yeah, I am looking at getting my final BIG solar generator. I have 3 right now. I have two from Inergy, they were one of the very first reputable mfg's of quality solar generators. But....they're small. Well.....lol.....actually they're bigger than the 4Patriots! And I have a Bluetti, which I crowd funded, and I'm pretty happy with it. It's got a 1750 watt hour battery, and a 2000 watt run/4000 watt surge inverter. I think I paid around 1000 dollars for it, and I paid around 1500 each for the Inergy ones, because, again, at that time, there really wasn't much else out there except Chinese Junk. See.....what 4Patriots appears to do, is label the size of the generator based on the inverter in it......that's as close as I can figure, becauzse the Patriot 1800 only has 760 or so watt hours. EVERY other MFG labels the size of the generator based on the size of the battery.......within reason.... And then they claim that the 100 watt solar panels, and the 40 watt panels are each worth 500 bucks! LMAO!! You can go on Amazon and get a quality Renogy 100 watt regular panel for 83 bucks, and a foldable one for 160. Check out the EcoFlow Delta Pro, and the Pecron E3000. I mean....the E3000 is only 1400 bucks! Pecron is based in San Fransisco, but everything is made in Shenzen China, but that happens to be where 80% of the world's computer chips and batteries are made, so......pretty much EVERYONE's stuff is actually MADE in China...... You can shop around and wait for a sale, (won't have to wait long, they go on sale all the time.....just don't buy it directly from their site) and get an EcoFlow Delta Pro for around 2500 bucks. I feel for you man! Gotta do more research!
We have the same generator and I tried to use once for a park party and keep a crock pot warm and use a hot plate using the solar panels and it only worked for a very short time. We regret the amount we spent. It doesn’t do what we thought it was going to do after looking at the advertising. My husband plans on building his own power station using the lithium batteries and a couple other devices!!
You can buy a high quality trace pure sine wave inverter a few large deep cycle batteries, marine rapid charger/maintainer and solar panels for a fraction the cost and have something with more output that will run your stuff much longer
Thank You! Their commercial makes it sound this thing is revolutionary, & its NOT. Now they are throwing in a Ton of "Free" stuff, 72 weeks of food, Solar cooking canister, some kind of subscription, flash light, & more but its still not worth it IMO. For one I don't want any of that junk, I want a generator. Price mark it fairly keep all the other crap & maybe I would buy it.
Hey bud, Thanks for your review! I would like to ask please. Could I swap my 1500 model batteries out for LifePo and make external ports to charge them do you know? I have RC car Chargers that will charge that type of battery. That part I'm familiar with... unless they need balancing ports..idk. what are your thoughts on this please? Thanks in advance!
The 4 Patriot "Solar Generator" and others like it are NOT generators. That's the first thing that should be looked into by the FTC or other regulating entities. The Solar Panel IS a generator. The Solar Panel takes sunlight and converts it into usable electricity. A photovoltaic solar panel GENERATES electricity. What the 4 Patriot "Solar Generator" and others like it actually are comprises the following: 1. It has a 12v battery (it is possible for such a unit to utilize a 24v or 36v battery, but most are going to be 12v) to store energy 2. It has an inverters which converts 12v DC (Direct Current) to 110v to 120v AC (Alternating Current) at 60 hz for use with standard U.S. household appliances. 3. Voltage Converter which converts 12v to 5v for the USB plugs 3. A standard cigarette plug which simply uses the native 12v from the battery 4. 110v to120v AC plugs which are connected to the inveter (remember, the inverter is what converts 12v DC to 120v AC) 5. A screen showing various stats, depending upon what brand and model of inverter/battery combo you purchased. 6. A nice case to put all of the stuff in: Battery, Inverter, electronic circuit boards, plug in outlets, etc. Again, the only thing that is a GENERATOR is the Solar Panel. Everything else is battery, inverter, electronics, outlets, display and case to house everything. Next point: Yes, this has a lithium battery and the person making this video showed how cheap higher AMP-HOUR (aH) batteries are, relative to the high cost of this unit. What wasn't talked about was how expensive lithium batteries are compared to LEAD ACID MARINE BATTERIES. I picked up a brand new 121 AMP-HOUR lead acid marine battery at Walmart for less than $150. It is perfectly fine for back up power needs, hooked to the proper inverter to power your appliances, etc. in the home. Need more power stored? Buty more marine batteries. Yes, if you can afford them and it is no problem for you, go ahead and spend $350 for comparable Amp-Hour lithium batteries. But, keep this in mind: Go to any marina and look at all of those boats or look at RV's. The electrical systems on boats and RV's are mostly using 12v Lead Acid Marine Batteries. Now, if you want to create for yourself the simplest and cheapest minimal solar back up system that can at least power some lights and charge up your phone, etc., then this is all you really need: ONE 100w solar panel - ONE 121 AMP-HOUR lead acid marine battery - ONE DC to AC inverter,1000 watts with at least 2 AC outlets. DONE! No, that won't keep a fridge running long. Then again, the unit reviewed in this video wouldn't keep a fridge running long either! Which is why I have a 3800 watt dual fuel (gasoline / propane) generator to do that kind of heavy lifting. Don't be fooled. Before blowing a lot of money on some fancy package, do your own research and for heaven's sake, get information from people that know what they are talking about. Don't buy the hype. I mean, for $2500, you can buy a dual fuel 3800 watt generator, Five 100 watt solar panels, Five 121 Amp-Hour lead acid marine batteries, a couple of good 1000 watt inverters, RV lighting (12v) put in every room in your house, properly rated 12 wire, 12v switches, outlets and more. How do I know that? Because part of that is what it is an off the grid 1000 square foot old house that I bought for storage, a workshop and a music studio. Actually, I only have ONE 100 watt solar panel, a new marine battery and a used car battery (switchable), etc. I can add more solar panels and more batteries if I need to in the future. There are no utilities hooked up at my MAN BARN (yeah, not a man cave - the whole house is a MAN BARN). . ;-)
Thank you so much for this valuable information! I was really wanting a power source (any brand) and your post has convinced me NOT to get one. ( I have a gas generator) I wanted a power source to test electric devices at community garage sales. Thanks again.
I'm so glad I stumbled across this RU-vid video. I especially am grateful for the comment from WillyWithAwhY. I took notes. A big 'thank you' goes out to both Michael Lopez AND WillyWithAwhY!!!
Thank you for the info.i also am looking for a power source to prepare for an emergency or to just go off the effing grid, and have been looking into various generators. Nice to know that I can build my own. 🙂
Charged up fine by electric but with the 2 power solar panels didn’t even get passed 2 bars. And was was in the sun 9 hours, not worth it, we were out of power for 2 day’s so now got to find another way to
You don't have to belong to the Church of Climatology to get suckered in on a product like this, but it sure would help. If you know how to do the math, you'll quickly find out that a battery isn't going to run an appliance very long. To buy an emergency generator that runs on a solar panel instead of gasoline is insane.
I feel the same way. I hate that they call a battery a generator. I have solar and batteries and I have a gas generator to power my heavy load tools ;) @@MikeDoesDIY
Yeah the patriots solar generators are a very poor choice. I run my fridges on Bluetti eb240’s (2400wh) and the are aprox $750. Best price per watt hour. I run Ecoflow delta pro’s w/extra batteries (21600wh) for home backup.
Even the food they sell is crap ,i got almost nothing in a survival food crate from them and it was mostly oatmeal type of crap ,I'll probably feed it to my chickens lol.
Those 4P are not generators and nothing more that a battery with an inverter to convert AC to DC that's it....A generator has an engine spins a shaft which rotates an electromagnet (rotor or armature). The rotating armature spins inside a stationary magnetic field (stator) to produce electrical current through copper wiring.
Solar panels to charge the batteries are part of the bigger $ kit, making the thing a generator. Grid Doctor and 4P aren't the only ones on the market and all of them are comparable in cost per watt hour. Which is to say, a pretty substantial $ outlay to keep up with a gas generator.
With as many power tools as you have, having something like this would be very useful. Server rack batteries continue to drop in price. The DIY build would take 30min. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fdeZz4QvxG0.html
@@MikeDoesDIY for this 48V EG4, I believe the minimum solar input is 90vdc; for example, that would be five 100watt panels in a series. When working with 48volt systems you have to follow protocols as it’s enough voltage to kill you.
From what I saw in the reviews I'm almost thinking most are fake reviews and the 1 star are the true reviews! Every single 1 star complained that they never received their generator and only got the solar panels! Sounds fishy, so many didn't get their generator!
I got the 2000 x it’s been pretty good but it didn’t come with a 12vdc in to charge from a vehicle but it ran my 120vac home fridge for 10 hours and my iceco portable fridge/ freezer for three days with solar panels it will go longer
Very respectfully i'm going to say this.. If you're going to make a video that people are going to watch to gain knowledge.. Please do your research so you're constantly not saying I do not know this and I do not know that. When your constantly telling people, you don't know what you don't know about what you don't know about what you don't know.. Your video quickly loses any credibility.. Respectfully submitted!!!
so really no generator is worth it . even generac which means a monthly mantinance fee or you void the warranty plus the cost of propane . Solar is crap because most panels are still made in china . . My neighbor after only 4 years of solar panels on his roof had them taken off . To maintain them he had to clean them often because of pollen and dust from mowing and pollution from just rain ontop of that all the wild fire smoke . Bird poop , bird nesting and critters chewing wires and then the worst was the wind shaking the panels and causing his metal roof to leak .His horror story turned me off . Plus in just 4 years several of the panels became cloudy and did not work as well. snow and sleet also caused failure and then his insurance companty would not cover any of the damage these panels caused . He told me the savings were not worth what he spent on them . But my house overbuilt for southside VA 2x6 stud walls R 30 insulation and basement slab and walls insulated . 2 layers of R 30 in attic and in just 3 short years my electric bill has gone up from 100 dollars to almost 300 dollars and I am using less electric than ever before . We have only propane if we want another power source and even that is not cheap and in hunting country maybe not as safe . Saw my neighbors propane tank hit buy a stray hunters bullet and it was not good .. We lost power for 10 days during epic ice storm here and more because some idiot here was usng a generator and did not cut his power and it was going back into the grid which almost cost the life of a lineman near our road working on the wires that a tree took down . He lost both arms and one leg and is still suffering for someones stupidity and because of it we lost power for another 3 days . But a man and his family paid the price for this . We all donated to help his family expenses
