BTech 50 watt mobile "getting enough juice"

[mitzvah]

It seems that I should of wired my radio right to the battery. Instead i use the cigar lighter and the radio only puts out 20 watts (YT reviewer of the radio said this). Buy what about when I plug it into my Jackery power devise? Is the radio still only putting out 20 watts?

 

 

[BoxCar]

Use a power meter and measure the output. One person's report about their installation has ZERO relevance other than providing a data point for your comparison.

[KAF6045]

5 minutes ago, mitzvah said:

It seems that I should of wired my radio right to the battery. Instead i use the cigar lighter and the radio only puts out 20 watts (YT reviewer of the radio said this). Buy what about when I plug it into my Jackery power devise? Is the radio still only putting out 20 watts?

A 50W radio, at 12VDC, when you account for internal losses, could easily be drawing over 10A of current (13.8V power supplies for 100W Amateur transceivers start around 22A for light duty [less than 50% transmit time] and the better ones handle 30A surges -- a 30A surge at 13.8V is over 400W; SSB mode means the power draw fluctuates when transmitting [no power out during silence between words], FM mode is continuous power draw, no fluctuation, so needs sturdier power supplies)

Cigarette lighter sockets traditionally only ran with a max of 10A fuse. The radio can't tell what it is connected to, so either there is some nasty resistive losses in the power lines (meaning the radio is NOT seeing 13.8V) or the fuse should be subject to blowing at full power. (I miss my old Jeep Cherokee -- besides the cigarette lighter socket, it had an auxiliary socket that I'm certain was rated for 20A). Compare the wire gauge coming out of the radio to the wires behind the dash going to the lighter socket.

You don't specify which "Jackery power device" you have. There are many models all with different power ratings.

• Explorer 160: 12V 7A; not really enough accounting accounting for circuit losses
• Explorer 300: 12V 10A; same as most vehicle lighter sockets
• Explorer 1000: still 12V 10A
• Explorer 2000: lighter socket is still 12V 10A

The Jackery devices aren't meant for high power draw equipment, note how the largest is still a 10A lighter socket -- they are meant to provide /recharge/ capability for stuff like phones and tablets. Note that the 160 model is only going to last about 90 minutes at its specified output rating. Max of 2 hours: 12V * 7A => 84W, 167WHr rated device. It could, over time, recharge 10 BTech GMRS-V1 (or V2 -- same 13WHr battery).

 

 

[mitzvah]

Explorer 240

I also use it with my 20 watt Ocean (no affiliate link)

So BTech  + Explorer 240 = Yes / No

Ocean 20 watt + Explorer 240 = Yes / No

[JerryWROB834]

heck Randy's review of the radio 

 He does a test and determined that it doesn't perform as good as advertised. I bought the same before I seen this 

 He goes on too show the actual power output. If you used the oem power cable you should be okay for wire size . 

C

[KAF6045]

Read the documentation... It should all provide the needed specifications.

However... From Jackery web page, and a downloaded BTech manual, Google doesn't find "Ocean" "20W" "GMRS". Wouxun KG-XS20G and Retevis RA25, RB86 show up -- and their cheap manuals only list voltage, not current draw

• Explorer 240: "lighter jack" standard 12V @ 10A (and if that is really 12V, it means even less power since a running vehicle produces 13.8V)
• GMRS-50x1 (I'm presuming; that's what shows for Btech 50W): 13.8V +/- 15% (11.73-15.87 -- note that a 12V output is on the margin if their is any dipping/loss in cables/etc.) 20A Peak! Which is TWICE the capability of that 10A jack/socket!
• RA25 manual doesn't even mention how the power-supply is to be connected, but as the illustrations show a "lighter" plug, one may assume it is rated for 10A max.
• RB86 manual specifies "direct to battery" (as with many high-draw radio gear). 20W out hypothetically means a bit under half the draw of a 50W unit, so might be usable on a 10A lighter socket (20W/50W => 0.4 * 20A => 8A -- more than a 7A socket, so stick with 10A).
• KG-XS20G manual specifies a 15A fuse (so right there you have a risk of blowing the Explorer 240 10A socket -- fuses are supposed to protect the upstream from overloads by equipment) and mentions that the power source should be capable of 20A+. But then goes on to mention that the 12V "power adapter" works in a 10A socket (in particular, they specify the socket should have a 10A fuse). Also claim a "typical" draw is 4.5A (but don't mention surge peaks -- which may be twice the "typical")