Great video, thanks. Started working on my self build campervan here in the u.k in March and decided to buy the Bluetti AC200L , my intentions were to power the campervan via this unit with just the addition of 400 watts of solar to charge it. I really didn’t fancy going the Victron and battery route. As you say it’s easy to pull from the van to power anything else in or around the home. The D40 was not available when I bought the power bank but I had heard it was being developed, so I took a chance, last weekend I fitted it to my campervan and it was a simple task, and it does everything I need. I loved your enthusiasm and I have subscribed to your channel. Thanks once again.
@@andrewhamilton-gill I really like the concept of the D40 as it provides a lot of flexibility. I can't wait until we can properly get into our camper build and have this properly setup in it. The flexibility of being able to add a house battery if we need to is also appealing however my plan is to just use the 200L. I'd love to do a self build campervan or even a bus conversion, that on my future list 👌
I enjoy watching your Vids as you provide so much information in layman’s terms 👍 I stumbled upon a Canadian guy talking about the AC200L it was interesting also. However, his unit he had the ‘sure power’ outlet with no adaptor, therefore he could then run his aircon on his RV. Would you know why the Australian version of the AC200L doesn’t have a’sure power’ outlet? 👍
Great video and really enjoyed it. You’ve certainly given me an alternate option for a touring solution in the back of my next gen (which I’m also getting heaps of ideas of from you). I was quoted over 15k for a system, this may do everything I need at a fraction of the cost. Thanks for the inspo! Looking forward to the $ comparo vid.
I have been scratching my head trying to figure out how to power the van's DC from the Bluetti. You are the first, out of many videos on the Bluetti, to actually show me how to do this-and you kept it simple. I am a little lost when you say you can't charge BOTH the Bluetti AND a separate battery at the same time. I am planning on charging the system with the Pecron 500 W alternator charger. Maybe you can explain how to charge both batteries via the Pecron--or will charging one battery "pass through' to the second? Sorry if that sounds dumb. I'm very familiar with AC wiring, I'm a true novice with DC systems. Finally: Bluetti tech help is non-existent. It totally relies on a bunch of FAQ's that confuse the situation more than it clarifies. I've been waiting several days for the answer to a simple question via email. There is no phone number listed for them anywhere. BTW: I just got the Bluetti AC200l for $1199 just by joining Amazon Prime.
@@user-oe4hr6ie8w I have been meaning to get a Pecron and test how they work. I've not had to worry about it with my smaller EcoFlow, however can see the benefit of fast charging when on the road with these larger units. To charge the Bluetti and a separate battery if you are running the D40, you could connect both to the Pecron. This would reduce the amount going into each if they were both charging, however it would probably still be acceptable and more than just the 12v DC output of most vehicles. The D40 will favour the alternator input via the Pecron if it's above the required rate (I can't remember what that is) so will not draw from the 200L if it doesn't need to. This is great as you should be able to charge the 200L also, assuming there is enough capacity to do both via the Pecron. How I would do it without a Pecron is via the 200L in a pass through fashion.
Good vid, enjoyed. Went down this rabbit hole and it's just best to buy the ac200max. Which I did. In terms of lower solar charge rate. I think It is near impossible to find a 1200w solar setup that will fall within the input specs. If anyone is looking to run a camper and wants max 12v output without the hassles just but the 200max. Appreciate your vid it reinforced buying the 200max was the wise choice.
I must admit I was originally thinking the Max however as the D40 was just released here, they wanted me to test that. For our setup it will probably work well, however I do wonder if the 12v 30A port of the Max would do pretty much the same without the need for the D40. If the D40 was more like the EcoFlow Alternator Charger, I think it would be a lot more useful or easier to justify. I'm going to keep experimenting with it to see if there are any other tips and tricks or something that might unlock some potential we haven't thought about. I'm certainly not unhappy with it, as it definitely does the job I need though.
renogy 320 watt bifacial solar panels have a open circuit max of 30.4 volts so I ran 4 in series using 120 volts well within the 145 volt limit and it does really well for my 200l. can get 1200 watts on sunny days most of the time.
I enjoy your passion and detail and have been following bluetti for some time. I have two comments .. one of the great features is you can take the battery to charge up in town ..of course you would need a lessor battery at base. Secondly i believe the dc input from car, is its slowest charge rate..? Only flaw i can see Also could be a saving using the battery for a boat electric motor.. many wins
Downside is the price. Great if you use it around home, but I did the sums and you get a bigger capacity if you build your own for the money. Brand specific connections are also expensive. Good video all the same👍🏻
@@ottoswinebar the Bluetti on special is pretty decent value. This unit is $600 cheaper than the Jackery unit which I was incredibly surprised by. The D40 however is pretty expensive at $400 unfortunately. EcoFlow have been doing specials with their Alternator Charger as a combo which would work well for Bluetti. I am going to do a video on the cost comparison however. One setup will be essentially Kings, another Renogy. The Renogy system is soo close to the Bluetti, it is essentially the same. It's hard though as do you use discounted pricing or full RRP? I will probably have both just to see. I will also throw in the Jackery 2000 Plus and probably add in the AC200 Max seeing as it doesn't require the D40. I have been using the Jackery and now the Bluetti in multiple vehicles and the Journey, so for us it's the best solution. I even took the coffee machine out for a picnic on Mothers Day 😆😂🤣
Jayco eagle outback with the 200l is magic. Use it to run the van's 240V offgrid and the vans battery runs the lights and pump. Very little use for the 12v stuff on the 200l other than charging phones etc.
I happen to have a spare early release of the D40 and was thinking about fitting into our Swan, so I could then upgrade to lithium seeing as it doesn't have the compatible J35. Alternatively I was thinking maybe the Journey so I could supplement our current batteries, however we tend to just use it separately anyhow. I'm assuming with the Eagle you are plugging in a cord from the 200L GPO into the power input of the camper? That actually works really well. I have done that with the Jackery a few times. Do you turn it off when you don't need the outlets inside? I never leave it ours on so it doesn't drain down but I'm curious if it would use that much, other than it would potentially be trying to charge the internal battery. It's all very interesting. I really like seeing how everyone is using these power stations 😊
Just fYI I just connected a Victron energy Orion 12/24-20 amp Dc 12 volt to 30 volt converter to charge my AC200L a little disappointing only put in 214 watts at full. Looking at an 2000 watts inverter to charge from alternator whilst driving failing that will top up with inverter generator 2600 watts or mains AC so the AC200L can be use silently through the night so as not to disturb anyone
Would it be possible to create an xt90 to 3pin aviation cable coming from the ac200L. I’m trying to power my 48v 8amp air conditioner directly from the 48v 8 amp from the ac 200L. But I’m not sure how to create a 3 pin aviation to xt90 cable.
nice If only they had that in older models or some backward capability.. the 12v 10A and cig lighter port was the issue... my ac70 is in storage gathering dust.. they need to improve the IP rating though
Yes, the cigarette lighter port has been the stumbling block as if you are running a fridge etc it consumes a lot of the output. I don't know how they might reverse engineer however how good would that be?! I absolutely love the ability to run all this out of the 12v. It makes complete sense as that's what most of us use off grid. It's been the one weakness against a built in battery system where you can simply connect up whatever you eant. From a weatherproofing point of view though, I look at it as an expensive asset, so tend to protect and locate where it's not going to get damaged. I've done that with all my power stations. Dust is always an issue though and that's relatively hard to stop if you have a lot of dust in a ute tub etc. There is a fair bit that has to go into an IP rated power station given they need to vent in order to cool the internals. I'm guessing that's why the AC240 is huge, weighing an extra 5kg even though it's capacity is around 500wh less.
Is it more cost effective than creating a system yourself with individual parts or is it more the convenience of the system why you went this? (Like a battery box or installed system)
I did the sums quickly with the Jackery unit and it was within a few hundred dollars using a Renogy setup. I'm going to do a video on all this using the Bluetti as I think it will now be very, very close given the RRP if the AC200L is $600 less than the Explorer 2000 Plus. The huge weakness has been the 12v however now that is essentially resolved, I think this will be a very interesting comparison. I will work on some new figures over the weekend. Cabling and connectors does add up, I actually spent a fair bit on that demonstration board just to get it happening, which a lot of people don't account for. So there is probably $75 or so connecting up the chargers etc if you are buying the heavy cable, terminals etc. Stay tuned. I just need to work out how to not talk so much and compress a video like this down 🤣😂😁
I will add it's now a lot easier to add in extra capacity. It's reverse of what people have been trying to do in the the power station will feed into the second battery. However in the case of oan off-road setup that's actually how most would have it. It makes sense as you can remove the power station and you still have a fully operational setup via the D40 which can do all the charging. There is a huge amount of potential and quite a few combinations you can now do.
Interesting perspective and keen to understand more. I only really know the build yourself systems, so I'm keen to see more. Some questions would be expandability and also repair/replacement. How easy is it to add more capacity? What happens if one of the internal units fails and how easy it is to get repaired.
I think its just how it comes out lol. Etti, Yeti it's how it blurs with our Aussie accent. I know its actually officially 'Blue T' however I just can't get used to that as everyone I know refers to them as 'Blue Etti'
The 200max with the 12v @ 30A has a higher DC output then this D40, which has a 20A max. Sorry, this is an over engineered unnecessary product. Big fail.
@@cdnkitesurfer my follow up video noted this also. I feel it does work however and probably helps in some instances, however if the AC200L just had the 12v/30A which the other 200 series have, it would be a lot simpler.
Great video, thanks. Started working on my self build campervan here in the u.k in March and decided to buy the Bluetti AC200L , my intentions were to power the campervan via this unit with just the addition of 400 watts of solar to charge it. I really didn’t fancy going the Victron and battery route. As you say it’s easy to pull from the van to power anything else in or around the home. The D40 was not available when I bought the power bank but I had heard it was being developed, so I took a chance, last weekend I fitted it to my campervan and it was a simple task, and it does everything I need. I loved your enthusiasm and I have subscribed to your channel. Thanks once again.
@@andrewhamilton-gill I really like the concept of the D40 as it provides a lot of flexibility. I can't wait until we can properly get into our camper build and have this properly setup in it. The flexibility of being able to add a house battery if we need to is also appealing however my plan is to just use the 200L.
I'd love to do a self build campervan or even a bus conversion, that on my future list 👌
I enjoy watching your Vids as you provide so much information in layman’s terms 👍
I stumbled upon a Canadian guy talking about the AC200L it was interesting also. However, his unit he had the ‘sure power’ outlet with no adaptor, therefore he could then run his aircon on his RV.
Would you know why the Australian version of the AC200L doesn’t have a’sure power’ outlet? 👍
Great video and really enjoyed it. You’ve certainly given me an alternate option for a touring solution in the back of my next gen (which I’m also getting heaps of ideas of from you). I was quoted over 15k for a system, this may do everything I need at a fraction of the cost. Thanks for the inspo! Looking forward to the $ comparo vid.
I have been scratching my head trying to figure out how to power the van's DC from the Bluetti. You are the first, out of many videos on the Bluetti, to actually show me how to do this-and you kept it simple.
I am a little lost when you say you can't charge BOTH the Bluetti AND a separate battery at the same time. I am planning on charging the system with the Pecron 500 W alternator charger. Maybe you can explain how to charge both batteries via the Pecron--or will charging one battery "pass through' to the second? Sorry if that sounds dumb. I'm very familiar with AC wiring, I'm a true novice with DC systems.
Finally: Bluetti tech help is non-existent. It totally relies on a bunch of FAQ's that confuse the situation more than it clarifies. I've been waiting several days for the answer to a simple question via email. There is no phone number listed for them anywhere.
BTW: I just got the Bluetti AC200l for $1199 just by joining Amazon Prime.
@@user-oe4hr6ie8w I have been meaning to get a Pecron and test how they work. I've not had to worry about it with my smaller EcoFlow, however can see the benefit of fast charging when on the road with these larger units.
To charge the Bluetti and a separate battery if you are running the D40, you could connect both to the Pecron. This would reduce the amount going into each if they were both charging, however it would probably still be acceptable and more than just the 12v DC output of most vehicles.
The D40 will favour the alternator input via the Pecron if it's above the required rate (I can't remember what that is) so will not draw from the 200L if it doesn't need to. This is great as you should be able to charge the 200L also, assuming there is enough capacity to do both via the Pecron.
How I would do it without a Pecron is via the 200L in a pass through fashion.
Good vid, enjoyed. Went down this rabbit hole and it's just best to buy the ac200max. Which I did. In terms of lower solar charge rate. I think It is near impossible to find a 1200w solar setup that will fall within the input specs. If anyone is looking to run a camper and wants max 12v output without the hassles just but the 200max. Appreciate your vid it reinforced buying the 200max was the wise choice.
I must admit I was originally thinking the Max however as the D40 was just released here, they wanted me to test that.
For our setup it will probably work well, however I do wonder if the 12v 30A port of the Max would do pretty much the same without the need for the D40.
If the D40 was more like the EcoFlow Alternator Charger, I think it would be a lot more useful or easier to justify. I'm going to keep experimenting with it to see if there are any other tips and tricks or something that might unlock some potential we haven't thought about. I'm certainly not unhappy with it, as it definitely does the job I need though.
renogy 320 watt bifacial solar panels have a open circuit max of 30.4 volts so I ran 4 in series using 120 volts well within the 145 volt limit and it does really well for my 200l. can get 1200 watts on sunny days most of the time.
I enjoy your passion and detail and have been following bluetti for some time. I have two comments .. one of the great features is you can take the battery to charge up in town ..of course you would need a lessor battery at base. Secondly i believe the dc input from car, is its slowest charge rate..? Only flaw i can see
Also could be a saving using the battery for a boat electric motor.. many wins
Great video.
Really enjoy your videos that you.put out. I just.ordered the light for my jayco that you recently done a video on.
Cool...Thanks. There is no "Y" in Bluetti's name though. Yeti is cooler company.
Great video!
So just confirming, you can’t charge your bluetti via your car alternator?
Downside is the price.
Great if you use it around home, but I did the sums and you get a bigger capacity if you build your own for the money. Brand specific connections are also expensive.
Good video all the same👍🏻
@@ottoswinebar the Bluetti on special is pretty decent value. This unit is $600 cheaper than the Jackery unit which I was incredibly surprised by. The D40 however is pretty expensive at $400 unfortunately. EcoFlow have been doing specials with their Alternator Charger as a combo which would work well for Bluetti.
I am going to do a video on the cost comparison however. One setup will be essentially Kings, another Renogy. The Renogy system is soo close to the Bluetti, it is essentially the same. It's hard though as do you use discounted pricing or full RRP? I will probably have both just to see. I will also throw in the Jackery 2000 Plus and probably add in the AC200 Max seeing as it doesn't require the D40.
I have been using the Jackery and now the Bluetti in multiple vehicles and the Journey, so for us it's the best solution. I even took the coffee machine out for a picnic on Mothers Day 😆😂🤣
Jayco eagle outback with the 200l is magic. Use it to run the van's 240V offgrid and the vans battery runs the lights and pump. Very little use for the 12v stuff on the 200l other than charging phones etc.
I happen to have a spare early release of the D40 and was thinking about fitting into our Swan, so I could then upgrade to lithium seeing as it doesn't have the compatible J35. Alternatively I was thinking maybe the Journey so I could supplement our current batteries, however we tend to just use it separately anyhow.
I'm assuming with the Eagle you are plugging in a cord from the 200L GPO into the power input of the camper? That actually works really well. I have done that with the Jackery a few times. Do you turn it off when you don't need the outlets inside? I never leave it ours on so it doesn't drain down but I'm curious if it would use that much, other than it would potentially be trying to charge the internal battery.
It's all very interesting. I really like seeing how everyone is using these power stations 😊
Just fYI I just connected a Victron energy Orion 12/24-20 amp Dc 12 volt to 30 volt converter to charge my AC200L a little disappointing only put in 214 watts at full.
Looking at an 2000 watts inverter to charge from alternator whilst driving failing that will top up with inverter generator 2600 watts or mains AC so the AC200L can be use silently through the night so as not to disturb anyone
I have had my AC200L for two weeks now and it is a great product. However, in Australia at least, the support is almost non existent.
Would it be possible to create an xt90 to 3pin aviation cable coming from the ac200L.
I’m trying to power my 48v 8amp air conditioner directly from the 48v 8 amp from the ac 200L. But I’m not sure how to create a 3 pin aviation to xt90 cable.
nice If only they had that in older models or some backward capability.. the 12v 10A and cig lighter port was the issue... my ac70 is in storage gathering dust..
they need to improve the IP rating though
Yes, the cigarette lighter port has been the stumbling block as if you are running a fridge etc it consumes a lot of the output.
I don't know how they might reverse engineer however how good would that be?! I absolutely love the ability to run all this out of the 12v. It makes complete sense as that's what most of us use off grid. It's been the one weakness against a built in battery system where you can simply connect up whatever you eant.
From a weatherproofing point of view though, I look at it as an expensive asset, so tend to protect and locate where it's not going to get damaged. I've done that with all my power stations. Dust is always an issue though and that's relatively hard to stop if you have a lot of dust in a ute tub etc.
There is a fair bit that has to go into an IP rated power station given they need to vent in order to cool the internals. I'm guessing that's why the AC240 is huge, weighing an extra 5kg even though it's capacity is around 500wh less.
Is it more cost effective than creating a system yourself with individual parts or is it more the convenience of the system why you went this?
(Like a battery box or installed system)
I did the sums quickly with the Jackery unit and it was within a few hundred dollars using a Renogy setup.
I'm going to do a video on all this using the Bluetti as I think it will now be very, very close given the RRP if the AC200L is $600 less than the Explorer 2000 Plus.
The huge weakness has been the 12v however now that is essentially resolved, I think this will be a very interesting comparison. I will work on some new figures over the weekend.
Cabling and connectors does add up, I actually spent a fair bit on that demonstration board just to get it happening, which a lot of people don't account for. So there is probably $75 or so connecting up the chargers etc if you are buying the heavy cable, terminals etc.
Stay tuned. I just need to work out how to not talk so much and compress a video like this down 🤣😂😁
I will add it's now a lot easier to add in extra capacity. It's reverse of what people have been trying to do in the the power station will feed into the second battery. However in the case of oan off-road setup that's actually how most would have it. It makes sense as you can remove the power station and you still have a fully operational setup via the D40 which can do all the charging.
There is a huge amount of potential and quite a few combinations you can now do.
Interesting perspective and keen to understand more. I only really know the build yourself systems, so I'm keen to see more.
Some questions would be expandability and also repair/replacement. How easy is it to add more capacity? What happens if one of the internal units fails and how easy it is to get repaired.
Blue Yeti lol😂
I think its just how it comes out lol. Etti, Yeti it's how it blurs with our Aussie accent. I know its actually officially 'Blue T' however I just can't get used to that as everyone I know refers to them as 'Blue Etti'
The 200max with the 12v @ 30A has a higher DC output then this D40, which has a 20A max. Sorry, this is an over engineered unnecessary product. Big fail.
@@cdnkitesurfer my follow up video noted this also. I feel it does work however and probably helps in some instances, however if the AC200L just had the 12v/30A which the other 200 series have, it would be a lot simpler.