EcoFlow Delta 2 Portable Power Station

When I first got my Ecoflow, I very much knew I was paying a lot of money for the sake of it being a "plug and play" off grid power solution. I did not want to learn about Watts, about standard plug types, about solar yield. I am not a maths person. Electricity is basically maths+risk of sudden death. I paid a premium (and it IS a premium) to avoid all that. Unfortunately, Ecoflow is not plug and play- not even close. And, now that I'm on my third delta two unit in two years, I have OPINIONS. False Advertising: Ecoflow very much position themselves as a robust and durable "plug and play" system that you can rely on for anything from camping trips to off grid living. I want to be clear about my use case; I live off grid, with my Delta 2 and "smart extra battery" being my sole power storage (4kWh total storage). My Ecoflow devices are used in the way that they are advertised (and, supposedly, designed) to be used, and, unfortunately, they are NOT up to the task. They are plagued by problems; firmware updates that don't install correctly and brick the battery entirely, sensitivity to temperature (on a 27*C day, the battery can overheat and shut down), and a WHOLE LOT of "single point of failure" issues that offer zero redundancy. With the Ecoflow taking the place of (at least) the battery, charge controller, inverter, and outlets in your system, any of those components that fails kneecaps everything. And they WILL fail. Single point of failure is a huge weakness in an off grid system, and something that Ecoflow likes to neatly side step in advertising. However, if your system is composed of seperate components, and any one of them fails, you can go and buy another one within a day, even if you're relatively remote, even if it costs a few hundred bucks out of pocket until you sort out the warranty process. When the Ecoflow fails, welcome to having a $2k, 25kg brick that you have to return post to the manufacturer before they'll send you a replacement. Hope you didn't need that electricity for anything! Problems Right Out of the Box: The Ecoflow is much more internet and tech dependant than you think it will be. There's constant firmware updates, and the only way to really get much use out of it is to connect it to a temperamental and clunky phone app. Don't worry, the phone app won't actually record any useful information for you, like history of solar gain or battery use; it will just give you the same arbitrary recharge and discharge times as the battery screen, as well as the battery charge expressed as a percentage which seems to bear minimal relationship to how much you'll actually get out of your battery. There's no Bluetooth or "off net" setup, either; you have to use wifi. There's no subscription to use or update the Ecoflow, but I'm sure they'll figure that out soon. It's a meaningless quarrel, but this thing is also just poorly designed. You're going to spend a lot of time hauling it around, because the screen is on one end, and the inlets and outlets are on the opposite one. Unless you set it up on a pedestal in the middle of a room, you're basically going to be fumbling around on the back to plug things in and unplug them, or to find the switches (which are flush mounted oval buttons). If you have even one extra battery, the thick, inflexible cord joining them is going to increase the overall footprint of the stack or side-by-side arrangement by at least 150mm- but make it 300mm if they're side-by-side. Why make the cord so long? Why make it stick out so far? Why make it come from the side of the batteries rather than the back or front, where you're already going to have cords and things sticking out? It just sucks to use something "portable" that is so actively hostile to efficient storage. Proprietary Junk: Virtually everything that inputs to the Ecoflow uses non standard, proprietary plugs and cables. Even the cord that connects the Delta to the "smart" extra battery is so thick, in part, because it uses a proprietary connection pin to prevent you from hooking up the delta to any non-ecoflow battery. To connect your solar panels, you're going to need to get the Ecoflow-to-Solar adaptor cable, in a variety of lengths, for at least double what it would cost to just get the regular Solar cable. There's no way to use any other app besides the Ecoflow app, which, again, will not give you useful information like average solar yield, or average use. You're absolutely paying a premium to be locked into their ecosystem, where every additional item (portable ground, car input cord, smart extra battery, etc etc) drives you deeper into your expensive, single point of failure system. Warranty and Servicing Process: SO, three units in two years. To be completely fair on Ecoflow, they have paid the servicing, replacement, and postage costs every time I've had a problem with the battery. To be blunt, however, D#MN RIGHT, THEY DID. Ecoflow support just LOVES to tell you how eagerly they're going to fix your problems with whole new units delivered to you by flights of angels who gently kiss you on the brow and lift the Ecoflow into the storage rack for you because it's so bloody heavy; the fact is, Australian Consumer law forces them to replace faulty units promptly and at no cost to the customer. When I bought my Ecoflow system, it was on the assumption it would be fit for purpose (off grid power) and that it would be expected to last for "the amount of time a reasonable consumer would anticipate the product to last". So, in my opinion, 5-10 years. Ecoflow have a very American attitude about how kind they're being to consumers and how grateful you should be about it. They comply (barely) with Australian consumer protections, and if their batteries damage anything else, you'd better be ready to take them to small claims court about it, because they won't do anything for you. The first time my first Ecoflow played up, it was suddenly discharging at a much faster rate than my usage should have caused. The process of getting the battery serviced was several days of phone and internet support chat troubleshooting, then shipping the thing to the battery servicing third party based in Wagga, where, despite knowing that the battery was my only source of power, and it was the middle of a punishing winter, the third party servicing guy took two weeks to "service, and rebalance the cells" (no fault found) and ship it back to me. It was gone for five weeks total, because they also use the cheapest courier they can. It worked for approximately three months, then bricked during a 3am automatic firmware update and left me without power again. I lost $400+ worth of groceries from my fridge and freezer, plus I was without power again for three weeks, because they needed me to post the bricked Ecoflow back to them before they would send the warranty replacement. Although the Ecoflow support guy was profusely and sincerely sorry for my lost groceries and inconvenience, the grand sum of compensation that was offered to me by his boss was an INSULTING 5% off at the Ecoflow Australia online store, and a free camping lantern (their cheapest item at $70). The support guy was literally embarrassed to offer me this "compensation", and apologised that they couldn't do more for me. Now, less than a year later, I am yet again having to go through the warranty replacement process, because this time, the bloody thing CAUGHT FIRE during AC charging, which melted the plugs, but THANKFULLY didn't spread to the lithium cells. It could have gone disastrously wrong; if the cooling fans had kicked on and fanned the flames, if I hadn't been standing right there and watching it when it went "Pop" and started burning; if I hadn't switched everything off and put a blanket over it to smother the flames. The Ecoflow needs to be stored inside, where it's safe and dry, and, during AC charging, is plugged in about 1m from a wall socket. It is, by its nature, right in the middle of all your most valuable, flammable junk when you charge it, so consider that carefully! My newest experience of dealing with Ecoflow about this has been typical so far, except in that I've refused to send the faulty unit back until they send the replacement. I've now been without power for a week, and expect to be without power for another week to come. I would have lost another fridge and freezer full of groceries, had I not bought a petrol generator. I'm couch surfing while intermittently going back home to run the generator to keep the fridge and freezer cold. Will Ecoflow answer for this disruption and inconvenience? I didn't even ask. Offshore Support: I've had to deal with Ecoflow's support multiple times, at this point, and the experiences haven't been ideal. They're hard to raise by phone or email, and the line is ALWAYS bad. I'm not obsessed with the need for "real Australian call centres", and I don't mind dealing with people with strong accents, but the Ecoflow support team are the unfortunate combination of deeply unempowered to actually help, and deeply unknowledgeable about the devices. They work through support scripts that are clearly Ecoflow's own, publicly available troubleshooting videos, and they have no idea what to do when the device doesn't behave the way Ecoflow say it will. Ecoflow has no actual support or maintenance infrastructure in Australia, as far as I can tell; they send faulty batteries to a third party battery shop in Wagga, and, once you're dealing with the third party shop, Ecoflow have no power or interest in them whatsoever. They don't TELL you that you'll be contacted by a third party, and the third party don't tell you that they're working with Ecoflow, don't email from an Ecoflow domain, nor refer to your Ecoflow case number or warranty. This slows down support even more, obviously, and also means that Ecoflow is giving out your support case information, address, phone number, and email to a third party. Obviously that is the "legitimate" warranty service and replacement pathway in Australia, but it's slow, cumbersome, and feels like a scam. Cost Breakdown: I am approximately $5k in the Ecoflow ecosystem, now. I have 4kWh of storage, and a max 800W of solar. If, from the start, I'd built my own setup from seperate components, I could easily have had twice the battery storage, a larger inverter, and more panels for the same budget. It would have been a much more robust setup, without such a heavy reliance on a single point of failure. I am transitioning away from the Ecoflow system, personally; once I've replaced them, I'll sell them or, as seems more likely, demand a refund instead of a replacement next time it breaks. Would Ecoflow have been worth the premium if it had been reliable? Probably! Bigger isn't always better, and I've been living quite comfortably with the size of my system. The Ecoflow handles my peak demand very well, and I've only ever tripped it once (running a 1200W hot plate and a 2200W electric kettle at the same time in a brain fart moment). It certainly runs tools like heavy angle grinders and hammer drills without breaking a sweat, and it's a relief to not add even more decibels to a worksite by using the Ecoflow instead of a petrol generator. Does a battery like the Ecoflow have a place in your off grid home or workshop? Maybe! But probably only as a luxury item- not as a fundamental part of your power infrastructure, no matter how they like to sell themselves. Be nice to the Ecoflow support staff- they are people with a crummy job- and, if you really want an all-in-one portable power station, maybe go for the Jackery, instead. They avoid a lot of the issues that I've brought up with Ecoflow, including that they don't use proprietary plugs and connectors, they're roughly the same cost-per-watt, and their support staff are much quicker to respond to enquiries- though, I have to say, I've owned my teeny little 200Wh Jackery for 6 years, now, and only had to email Jackery support about it ONCE, when I lost the AC charger, and wanted to buy a replacement, and they sent me the exact specs to look for in a generic replacement charger, which I bought for $15.

EDIT: The warranty replacement unit arrived more promptly than anticipated (no thanks to Ecoflow themselves, who shipped it fully three days later than promised), and, when I was setting it up, the brand new unit arced and caught fire while I was plugging it into the SOLAR lead. It absolutely beggars belief. The replacement for the faulty unit was ALSO faulty, in a different, but equally frightening way. When I reported this to Ecoflow support, they initially questioned if it was my wiring, but I want to point out that BOTH points of failure were DIFFERENT wiring (AC charging vs solar charging) and ECOFLOW PROPRIETARY CABLES, PURCHASED FROM ECOFLOW DIRECTLY. I understandably cannot trust Ecoflow a fourth time, so I requested a full refund. Ecoflow management tried to offer me an 80% refund "due to depreciation of the units". I had to talk to a solicitor, retain the faulty units as evidence, and clearly express that I planned to take ecoflow to small claims court for the refund, before they had a sudden change of heart and agreed to the refund. Don't let these American companies fob you off; you have protections under Australian consumer law. I'm no longer "transitioning away from the Ecoflow system". I'm getting the bloody things out of my space ASAP. Maybe there are good ecoflows out there, but I've now had 3/3 faulty units, so I cannot recommend the Delta 2, or the company. Buyer beware!

EDIT (part two): WELL, after almost two full months of near daily emails, twice weekly phone calls, contact with a solicitor and with CAV, after being promised a full refund more than a month ago, I have FINALLY received a full refund from Ecoflow. In the middle of this "support" process, they abruptly ended their contract with the call centre where the staff actually seemed helpful; the new support centre staff are startlingly rude and uninterested in helping. My previous support case worker went to great effort to do the handover of my case AFTER he had been fired, but it was still like starting from square one, having to recap the entire case, resubmit evidence and details, and even track the returned ecoflow units through the courier system myself because the new ecoflow case worker would not or could not follow their tracking numbers. Ecoflow sent me inaccurate shipping labels, and then complained that the parcels were delayed because the shipping labels were wrong. That does not appear to have been the case according to my screenshots of the courier service tracking, but I do know that they were marked as "delivered" for almost two weeks before ecoflow finally acknowledged them. My solicitor and CAV made calls to Ecoflow to reference the case; only those calls seem to have ever spurred them into action. I believe that the support centre dodged my calls and ignored my emails, despite my courtesy (my solicitor was FAR more rude). I have every reason to believe that whatever the aftersales service quality was before the change to the new call centre, it is now very much NOT worth bothering with.

Initially impressed with the power station until I took it camping. There is no Anderson plug socket for my fridge only a cigarette type socket so when we went over corrugations the lead would come out of the socket and my fridge would get warm. Every time I popped the lead back in it would just come out when off road. I bent the lead wings out and it improved slightly. I bought the unit in early 2024 and recently it has stopped charging properly on 240v and now not charging at all on solar input. It is being dropped off at Battery world where I purchased the unit and they were very helpful but have informed me it may have to go out for repair and might take " a while". Which means I will have no fridge in the back of my ute for that period. In hindsight I should have gone for a traditional dual battery set up.

EcoFlow River Pro (and similar EcoFlow models) – Not Suitable for Powering a Portable Fridge While Camping I’ve owned the EcoFlow River Pro for a couple of years now, and I want to share my real experience to save others time and money. What frustrates me the most is the amount of time I lost doing research before buying this unit. I spent months watching reviews, reading forums and comparing options, trying to make the right decision. Looking back, I honestly can’t believe how much time was wasted researching a product that, in real-life camping conditions, simply does not do what most people buy it for.

Before buying this unit, I did a lot of research. I watched countless reviews and videos, and at that time, within that price range, this was basically the only portable power station I had access to. Most reviews showed it powering portable fridges without issues, which is one of the main reasons people buy these batteries, especially for camping.

My main goal was to use it with my Dometic portable fridge here in Australia. It’s a small fridge, suitable for one or two people, not a large family-sized unit.

I followed all recommendations: • Correct fridge temperature (as recommended by Dometic and EcoFlow) • Battery fully charged to 100% • Very careful usage • Minimal fridge door opening (2–3 times a day) • Proper battery care and efficiency checks • I also purchased EcoFlow solar panels

I’ve tested every possible scenario.

The reality

The EcoFlow River Pro does NOT power a portable fridge for more than one day.

When I say “one day”, I’m talking about roughly from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm.

At night, while camping, you go to sleep and leave the fridge connected. When you wake up, the battery is often completely flat (0%), even though the fridge was not running constantly overnight.

This creates several serious problems: • The battery doesn’t last through the night • If there is no sun the next day, solar panels are useless • Most campgrounds I use don’t have electricity, which is the whole point of camping • EcoFlow recommends not letting the battery reach 0%, as it affects battery health, making this setup even more impractical

About the extra battery

EcoFlow does offer an expansion battery that can be attached to the River Pro. However, this is not a realistic solution for many users. • The extra battery is very expensive • Carrying two heavy batteries is not practical • Constantly loading and unloading two units into a car defeats the purpose of a “portable” solution

If a product only performs as expected after purchasing additional expensive components, then it does not meet the expectations set by reviews and marketing.

If EcoFlow would like to contact me to offer a realistic solution, I am open to listening.

Otherwise, I will continue sharing this experience across other review platforms/social media to help people make an informed decision and avoid losing money.

If your intention is to use this battery for a portable fridge while camping, I do not recommend the EcoFlow River Pro.

This is my honest experience after years of use.

Don't waste your money – Says you can charge it via cigarette lighter in car. Well that ended up costing $1400 for new alternator! Then plugged camping fridges in to same outlet, thinking it was just too much drain to be powered by car. Fridges worked for 24 hours and then the cigarette outlet on the power bank just shut down and that was it. So all up a very costly waste of money. About to contact them so let's see if their customer service is any better than their product!