Engel Smart Battery Box
VerifiedMPN: BATTBOXS213 reviews
had for 3 years, not used much, not abused, the main control PCB failed. over $300 to fix. Ask around before buying. Show details
Save your money – I’ve had nothing but trouble with this Engel battery box series 2 since purchase it has failed a number of times have taken it back to the local service agent. They have replaced the fan and that worked okay for awhile but now it’s back in the service Agent and I’m being told that the main PCB board is gone at a cost of $495 to repair. It’s just… Read more
not viable to do it. Really disappointed in an angle product considering the meant to have great reliability. The battery box is only just passed two years old so much for reliability
Waste of money – Owned one of these for around 2 years. Worked ok for a couple of months without issue. Then occasionally the battery box would fully discharge randomly while nothing was plugged in. This happened at least 6-7 times. Now after 2 years it will not charge at all via 12 volt or 240 volt. Time for the bin. This is definitely not Engel quality. Its just a rebraned Arkpak. Do not recommend. Show details
Battery facts – People have to realise some of these reviews are just ignorance of facts in regards to batteries SIMPLE…takes 50% to charge most battery types to 85% and the kicker….the last 15% takes just as long as the battery voltage increases the charge rate goes to very low rates…the fact that most batteries you would fit to this box would accept huge amps… Read more
the fact that the supplied 7amp 12v charger is totally inadequate doesn’t help….fit a external dc-dc charger will fix this for the bulk charge while driving and solar input for stopping
Total rubbish – This is my third Engel box within 2 years, I love my Engel fridges, yes I have 85 and 40 litres Enough pussy footing around these boxes are crap! Every time we go for a trip it does mot charge here or there an we are constantly stressed if the batterie is happening or not!! Surely some one should design that better when you are running a fridge… Read more
of theirs on it in the ute and it doesn't recharge a pissie little 3.5 amps Dont buy this rubbish I have forgiven them 3 times- no more, Thanks Engel box for headaches
Pretty good when it's able to charge – Has the necessary outputs to power what I need, with the addition of external terminals. Working fine for 3 months, charging from BCDC1225D when there's plenty of solar / battery. Have a 130Ah Lead Crystal battery installed and recognises / charges well from BCDC. Out of the box, external charger worked fine, 3 months on and low solar period… Read more
required external input and wasn't working Tested output of 240V charger and it is 24V as stated Tested output of 12V external charger and that's also fine. BCF couldn't exchange for working unit Box has internal fault and needs to be taken to Engel Agent for assessment. Not very convenient when we have a planned trip in a weeks time.
Not designed with packing conditions in mind – This product has some nice features and may well be built to stand the test of time as well as other Engel products do but certain design features leave me feeling that the engineers at Engel don't design some of their products with packing space in mind. There are power ports and connections points on. Several sides of the box, laid out in such a… Read more
way that should you like to use the box while in transit, as many would, you face the problem of having to keep a large space around the box, so as to not damage cables and plugs. Other battery boxes in the market place ports on only one side, making packing and use during transport in a loaded vehicle much easier. To add to it, the flaps used to cover the ports when not in use create even more space issues when open, as the design doesn't allow for the flaps to be easily removed or to be folded out of the way. In the case of the cigarette lighter ports, why not just have small circular covers that clip over the ports, instead of a bulky flap that can't be closed when a plug is in, putting the flap right in the way of putting something on top of the box. All this means you will have trouble with flaps and ports on as many as 4 sides of the box during use! I desperately wish I could return the box for a full refund but as that window of opportunity has passed, I suspect I'll be dismantling and attempting to rearrange the whole layout, just so I can get the box into the back of my vehicle without having to build a giant box around it to protect cables and flaps. As for the very slow charging rate when plugged into a vehicle's 12v port, well that's a killer too, though I accept it may be warranted for safety reasons.
Great camping accessory – Not had any issues with this box.....In fact it has met every expectation so far though I am yet to use the inverter. I did blow a fuse once due to my own incompetence but it was easily replaced... Runs my 30 year old Engel fridge and is easily charged with Solar Panels....Hope to eventually replace the AGM with A lithium battery to increase performance and decrease weight Show details
Great when it is working – Bought this box 3 years ago, when it was working it was great. This week the inverter fuse blew, when I put in another it also blew. This is as soon as you turn the battery isolator switch on and WITHOUT turning the inverter on. Engel customer service is useless, it always goes to voicemail and they dont respond to your online requests. I'm not… Read more
going to give them another cent to have this fixed so I've bought an external inverter and will hard wire it in. If I'm going to spend money to replace it one day I'll get an EcoFlow River or Delta, they're much better made and their service (friend has one) is spot on. Sorry Engel you've lost me as a loyal customer of 15 years
waste of money and absolute dud – Bought this a year back and has been sitting in storage thanks to Covid, first use of 240 Volt plug and fuse kept on blowing even with items that are like 20 watts like a phone charge. Spoke to support and all they can do is make excuses. Do not waste your money, why would someone pay $700 and support local businesses when its probably worse than a $300 amazon box. Show details
Don’t waste your money!! – Bought this battery box from BCF. Used it once and upon return, the PCB failed. Been waiting for months for Ark/Engel to get the parts in to fix it. Heard this is a common issue Show details
Best battery box on the market – I tried Primus and a friend tried a Projecta, they were both rubbish. We've both gone to the Engel using 130am batteries and very happy. It's great that it has an inbuilt charger and you can trickle charge from your car's cigarette lighter, or you can use 240v to charge. I especially love the 300w inverter so you can charge devices using 240v much… Read more
faster. Great for long camping trips! It has one regular 12v point and an Engel point. If you want 2 x regular points get the Arcpac, it's the same unit rebadged but it doesnt have the Engel point.
Doesn’t recharge with a day of driving! – We bought this to take on our Gibb River Road trip to power my husband’s C-Pap every night, assuming that our daily long drives would recharge it during the day. Big mistake. Even after 10 hours of being plugged into a running car it STILL WASN’T CHARGED! Totally useless. The salesman tried to warn us that it charged slowly but I didn’t realize… Read more
how bad it would be. It was very easy to use, but since it didn’t have power most of the time that didn’t really matter.
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This is for smart Bart, The harping on about batteries - charging bla bla is not the issue The box… Read more (+1 reply)