In my small slide-in truck camper, I went with a dedicated 100 Ah LiFePO4 connected to a dual input CTEK D250SE 20 amp DC to DC charger that includes a Solar MPPT controller. The CTEK D250SE isolates the truck battery from the camper's leisure battery when the ignition is turned off. The D250SE also will start topping off the vehicle's starter battery from solar, once the camper's leisure battery is fully charged. I only have a single 175 watt solar panel. I like the CTEK unit because it is designed to use ring terminal cable ends, which allows for a thicker gauge cable between the camper and the truck battery. I went with a #6 gauge cable run. Also, with the 20 amp max charging, it limits the current draw and heat build on my truck's 130 amp alternator. Enter the need for USB C and 120 volt AC power outputs. I took my already on hand Bluetti EB70 power station and mounted it on top of my battery cabinet in a way that is easily removable. The EB70 recharges at a modest 100 watts from the camper's LiFePO4 - which is good enough for my use.
A DC to DC charger isn't a good idea with a Bluetti. Nearly all of those chargers use a voltage sensor on their output to prevent them from trying to start a charge cycle when they are not connected to a battery. The MPPT port on a Bluetti device will read very close to zero volts when not charging. The DC to DC charger never detects a battery so it won't start charging.
@@WaveformScience You are correct. I have never tried to use the DC to DC unit on my AC200P. I have used it successfully on my 100AH and 200AH DIY cell packs.
Good info here. THANKS I went this route to charge my 2 wheel drive, 2 battery dual suspension e-mountain bike (E-CELLS Super Monarch Crown). SOLAR BLANKET-> 220 watt Off Grid TREK on my SUV's roof (VERY weather resistant, compact storage) SOLAR "GENERATOR-> BLUETTI AC 200 MAX (very slow to charge compared to similar EcoFLow.)
Very informative videos - thank you. As a suggestion, how would you go about using a D050S DC enhancer to charge the MAX from your vehicle. Perhaps talk about voltage sensitive relay to use, cable size and what you could achieve in charging power. Regards from Sydney, Australia.
Man I'm glad I watched this to the end. I have an older RV with it's original Onan 4000 generator. I just received my AC500. I assumed I could charge the AC500/B300s with the RV generator. If I'm understanding you correctly the AC500 probably won't like the power from the Onan because it does not have a pure sine wave inverter built in. Correct?
I’ve been in contact with a number of folks with older Onan generators. Those generators make very dirty power (in the 25-30% total harmonic distortion range). You won’t find the numbers in Onan’s manuals. The positive is that Onan is now making an inverter generator that fits the same footprint as their older models. The downside is there is no way to retrofit a conventional generator to make it have an inverter. The entire design is different internally.
Very informative video, Jeff. Your Open Circuit Voltage comment at the 4:24 mark really grabbed my attention. My new Renogy portable 200w will not charge my new AC200MAX. I’m getting b01 on the Renogy (no battery detected). The Renogy Open Circuit Voltage is 21.6 and the Bluetti panels in your video show 26,1. So that isn’t the problem. I’ll keep trying to contact Bluetti technical support, but wonder if you have any idea about this problem. I have tested all inputs and outputs on the Bluetti, everything is great except solar input, all connecting cables are great, and the solar panels will charge a battery. Thanks -Bill
Thanks for all the useful info. I've got AC300 + B300. It's true the fact BLUETTI suggest not to charge and discharge at the same time? And this is valid also in case you're giving to your house the AC300 energy while this one is in PV charging ? Thanks a lot & excuse my bad english.
Now if one had a van or truck with dual-alternator capability and enough cash for fun and games ... but then there might be commercial possibilities, too.
Doesn't a power inverter have a much higher power consumption overhead than a DC to DC converter? That 1000W inverter might need 15W with no load. A DC to DC converter would be next to nothing, I think.
It is higher, but not that much higher. Assuming the power source is a gas engine's alternator, the engine is so inefficient anyway that you won't notice the difference. Specific to my truck: It has a 300 amp alternator. An extra 15 watts of load is just about 0.3% of the alternator maximum.
@@WaveformScience True, in my case though I'm powering off a PHEV, so most of the time ICE engine is off and DC to DC converter is sending power from high voltage batteries to the 12v Lead battery. So this efficiency would matter especially over say a 24 hour period.
Thank god for people like you ! I am learning so much from your videos
Really helpful Jeff. Thank you so much!
I also double the wattage ratings (2x use case) for cheap Chinese electronics.
In my small slide-in truck camper, I went with a dedicated 100 Ah LiFePO4 connected to a dual input CTEK D250SE 20 amp DC to DC charger that includes a Solar MPPT controller. The CTEK D250SE isolates the truck battery from the camper's leisure battery when the ignition is turned off. The D250SE also will start topping off the vehicle's starter battery from solar, once the camper's leisure battery is fully charged. I only have a single 175 watt solar panel.
I like the CTEK unit because it is designed to use ring terminal cable ends, which allows for a thicker gauge cable between the camper and the truck battery. I went with a #6 gauge cable run. Also, with the 20 amp max charging, it limits the current draw and heat build on my truck's 130 amp alternator.
Enter the need for USB C and 120 volt AC power outputs. I took my already on hand Bluetti EB70 power station and mounted it on top of my battery cabinet in a way that is easily removable. The EB70 recharges at a modest 100 watts from the camper's LiFePO4 - which is good enough for my use.
Jasonoid turned me on to the ABSO DMT1250 DC to DC Charger. I find it to be a flexible and useful unit for for my various panel and battery set-ups.
A DC to DC charger isn't a good idea with a Bluetti. Nearly all of those chargers use a voltage sensor on their output to prevent them from trying to start a charge cycle when they are not connected to a battery.
The MPPT port on a Bluetti device will read very close to zero volts when not charging. The DC to DC charger never detects a battery so it won't start charging.
@@WaveformScience You are correct. I have never tried to use the DC to DC unit on my AC200P. I have used it successfully on my 100AH and 200AH DIY cell packs.
Thank you!! ❤
@@mmcg5043 Love that Kisae DMT1250! Pretty dang small for being both a MPPT and DC to DC charger in one.
Very interested in the panels on your truck hood. Have you documented that anywhere?
Good info here. THANKS I went this route to charge my 2 wheel drive, 2 battery dual suspension e-mountain bike (E-CELLS Super Monarch Crown). SOLAR BLANKET-> 220 watt Off Grid TREK on my SUV's roof (VERY weather resistant, compact storage)
SOLAR "GENERATOR-> BLUETTI AC 200 MAX (very slow to charge compared to similar EcoFLow.)
Ac200l will not charge off of a 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter
Very informative videos - thank you. As a suggestion, how would you go about using a D050S DC enhancer to charge the MAX from your vehicle. Perhaps talk about voltage sensitive relay to use, cable size and what you could achieve in charging power. Regards from Sydney, Australia.
Man I'm glad I watched this to the end. I have an older RV with it's original Onan 4000 generator. I just received my AC500. I assumed I could charge the AC500/B300s with the RV generator. If I'm understanding you correctly the AC500 probably won't like the power from the Onan because it does not have a pure sine wave inverter built in. Correct?
I’ve been in contact with a number of folks with older Onan generators. Those generators make very dirty power (in the 25-30% total harmonic distortion range). You won’t find the numbers in Onan’s manuals.
The positive is that Onan is now making an inverter generator that fits the same footprint as their older models. The downside is there is no way to retrofit a conventional generator to make it have an inverter. The entire design is different internally.
@@WaveformScience Thank you. Very helpful videos.
Very informative video, Jeff. Your Open Circuit Voltage comment at the 4:24 mark really grabbed my attention. My new Renogy portable 200w will not charge my new AC200MAX. I’m getting b01 on the Renogy (no battery detected). The Renogy Open Circuit Voltage is 21.6 and the Bluetti panels in your video show 26,1. So that isn’t the problem.
I’ll keep trying to contact Bluetti technical support, but wonder if you have any idea about this problem.
I have tested all inputs and outputs on the Bluetti, everything is great except solar input, all connecting cables are great, and the solar panels will charge a battery.
Thanks
-Bill
cant seem to find the cascade flexible solar panels mounted on your car. looking for a 100 watt.
can you post a link?
Couldn't you somehow plug the smaller one into the bigger one and let it charge?
Thanks for all the useful info. I've got AC300 + B300. It's true the fact BLUETTI suggest not to charge and discharge at the same time? And this is valid also in case you're giving to your house the AC300 energy while this one is in PV charging ?
Thanks a lot & excuse my bad english.
Now if one had a van or truck with dual-alternator capability and enough cash for fun and games ... but then there might be commercial possibilities, too.
Doesn't a power inverter have a much higher power consumption overhead than a DC to DC converter? That 1000W inverter might need 15W with no load. A DC to DC converter would be next to nothing, I think.
It is higher, but not that much higher. Assuming the power source is a gas engine's alternator, the engine is so inefficient anyway that you won't notice the difference.
Specific to my truck: It has a 300 amp alternator. An extra 15 watts of load is just about 0.3% of the alternator maximum.
@@WaveformScience True, in my case though I'm powering off a PHEV, so most of the time ICE engine is off and DC to DC converter is sending power from high voltage batteries to the 12v Lead battery. So this efficiency would matter especially over say a 24 hour period.