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Reviews For: MFJ-4114 Rechargable AC Power Supply w/ Battery Pack

Category: QRP Accessories

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Review Summary For : MFJ-4114 Rechargable AC Power Supply w/ Battery Pack
Reviews: 4MSRP: 69.95
Description:
The MFJ-4114 Rechargable AC Power Suppy with Battery Pack uses Ni-Cad D cells or alkaline D cells (not included). The front panel switch selects AC or batteries. Output is 13.8 VDC at 1.2 amps, voltage regulated. Charging circuit for NiCads, D cells. 6x6.5x3.5. Fasten to MFJ-90xxx, MFJ-94xx series & tuner MFJ-971 to form single unit.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-4114
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0040.8
KF7YDL Rating: 2013-05-25
junk Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
As mentioned, weak output. I'm going to replace the nicads with a small higher capacity 12v batt from the nicadlady.com (she's great BTW)

It is impossible to move the unit without the batteries falling out of their cheap holders. A joke for a portable power supply.

I taped the batteries down and put new rubber feet on the side so that the battery holder's orientation is vertical instead of horizontal. Helped some if I'm very, very careful.

I also replaced the 8 (!) Phillips screws holding the case together with 4-40 tork screws. This is recommended because you will be taking the case apart a lot to reseat the batteries.
W0ACE Rating: 2011-12-16
Well it's working.... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have used this on AC input for a couple weeks. Runs the rig ok. I got my D cells and installed them and switched to battery power. Nothing!! No power output. I spent an evening reading the manual, looking thru the schematics, then tore into it. Finally found a bad connector from one of the internal battery packs to the board. Wire wasn't stripped, and wasn't making good contact all the time. Once I fixed this it's been working ok. So, all in all, it works! I'm looking forward to using it portable this Spring. WIll update further then. 73's w0ace

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Earlier 0-star review posted by W0ACE on 2011-11-30

Ok, so ask yourself, is a nice case that matches my radio and tuner worth $80 to me? If so, get this supply and plan on making it work on your own! The thing looks good on the outside. Inside as the others said the battery holders are junkie. The wiring is VERY small, and it states only 1 amp output. I have the MFJ-9420x and matching MFJ-971 tuner. I wanted this for the complete station. I have a set of 11,000mah NiMh D cells coming. I'm prolly going to build my own charger/AC supply and just use this case basically. I can honestly say it's the first thing from MFJ I wasn't happy with.
KC9FFX Rating: 2005-10-30
At least the case is nice... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got mine in a bundled set w/ the mfj-971 and mfj-9020 (all of which i'm pleased w/ so far). Even before receiving this unit, I found it odd that it only supplies 1.2A. Thats barely enough to even supply the QRP rigs that its designed for! The solder job on the underside of the board was shoddy at best. There were some component leads that were barely soldered at all. I guess the fortunate thing about this unit is, the case is nice and there is plenty of room to add mods. I was fortunate enough to accidently blow out the 17vac wall-wart that powers it, cuz this gave me the oportunity to rework some of the components and get the power up to a useable output. I also took out the nicad packs and put in a SLA battery from allelectronics.com. The SLA battery is an ABSOLUTE perfect fit. In all, I absolutely would NOT recommend this product.
AB9GO Rating: 2004-11-06
Useless Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The unit is too high priced, too low a quality and too little available current on AC for it's task. At $69.95 WITHOUT battteries, it is a very highly priced supply. The unit comes without nicads (plan on spending another $50.00 + to get 12 nicads @ 1.6 Ah, more for the 4 Ah biggies. ) and isn't even designed to hold the lightest 1.6 Ah's. The batteries just fall out of the holders when you try to reassemble the unit! Forget the 4Ah's. You would have to glue the batts in the holders with silicone. One of the battery holders split by the contacts due to the cheap plastic used. They just cant stand the strain. The MFJ-94xx SSB series of radios ( which are quite good!) that the MFJ-4114 is sold to work with requires 2.2A @ 13.8V on voice peaks. This unit can only supply 1A on AC from it's LM7812 regulator IC. Not 1.2A MFJ rates it for. Last I looked the LM7812 is rated at 1A. You could build much better, cheaper with batteries than MFJ gets $$$ for this without. Look for a Vector portable battery. Total waste of time.