Save up to $4,334 with early bird discounts before Black Friday. Click ankerfast.club/vreo76 to get discounts on Anker SOLIX F3800 and its bundles. Spend more, get more!
I have had mine for nine months now. I have used it to run my detached garage/shop power. With normal usage it will power everything for over 8 hrs of total use. Only surprise was the amps that the shopvac uses. It does recharge fully in 2hrs but I don't let it get below 10% before recharge. Be careful of the 120v circuit you plug it into to recharge. A 15 amp circuit with loads on it may trip breaker. Because of it's portability, I have used it to power essentials (frig, freezer, router, lights and TV) at night during power outages at main house. I even loaned it to a friend that was affected by hurricane Helene in NC. He used it at night to power essentials instead of gas generator so he could get some sleep. He has bought his own now for that use. Only con I have with it right now is specific for my application. Anker does not have a filter option for the intake and exhaust, this is for the fine saw dust that is in my shop and not picked up by the vac system. I asked Anker and at present they have no plans for one. I have had to build a filter box around it and it's a bit of a pain if you move it around.
The review of the ANKER Solex F3800 is exactly right, and, I don’t even own one yet. How do I know? Well, I do own the ANKER Solex 767 with expansion battery, for a total 4096 watt hours. I connect it manually to an inlet receptacle next to my electrical panel, which has the safety device. I run only my 120v breakers, requiring me to switch off the 240 breakers manually. Still, a huge convenience when the power Gorda out. I’ll get between 8-12 hours runtime depending on day (8) or night (12) with the heaviest loads being two full-size refrigerators. I do recommend purchasing when on sale. My system cost me $1300 plus $900 for the expansion battery. However, it still took me awhile to get over this $ outlay, for something I’ll only need infrequently. However, since purchase out power went out twice, and boy, I was sure glad to have this system. Oh, I’m no electrician, so $600 for the inlet box installation … that was expensive!
We have a couple of F2000 units. These will work well as we will only use one at a time to provide power in case of power loss for the refrig and maybe a radio or two and water heater (gas). Also have 5 200 W solar panels to recharge the unused F2000. Retired electrician here too...
Bummer. Looked really neat otherwise. Only thing it is missing is remote starter relay for genset when battery reaches configured depth of discharge. If genset has starter with a key for on/off/start then it is pretty easy to add a starting relay. This would make backup power fully automatic. If natural gas is available to your home then a genset plumbed into natural gas would provide essentially unlimited power in the most efficient method possible. Generator only runs when it can run at full load (charging) and shuts off when battery is back to 90-95%. Same is true if you have an LP tank, except the runtime is limited to gas on hand.
For anyone considering buying the sale (I was and still am considering), do check out competitor companies. There is a price war going on, so the best option may be with another offering.
Guys, if you are considering going off-grid, I suggest looking into the Jackery 5000 Plus. The F3800 is great for a quick solution during an outage but not for long-term use.
I looked up solar back up and found these units. Now I can't watch a UA-cam video without an Ankor AD. Gotta love Google with AD suggestions. I have propane back up generator and am looking to add this in. I talked to my local solar (not ankor) company and they made it sound so complicated that this unit is looking even better. Local codes seemed to be a big obstacle. As always, I enjoy the videos. Thank you for your honest review. 👍👍
The F3800 seems to be the most attractive for portable applications. Others like ECO Flow or Bluetti are nice. The limitation I have with it is the low solar input of 2400W with relatively low voltage. Most of the solar panels I would use are 50V/15A. Good jnit
It's the name of the game and youtube is a game. If your title and thumbnail don't attract a click then even the best video will get no views. I learned this the hard way. But I always try to provide a lot of value in my videos.
From other videos I've seen it will let you charge and using 240v when solar charging only. If you try to charge with AC it shuts off it's own 240v out. So I'm guessing those few hours he is charging with his gas or propane generator to charge the Anker the Anker is probably off and not supplying output power at that time.
Review is outstanding! Tech is interesting, but wow, nowhere even close to adoption! All that tech and learning, and danger of having all that lithium in your house that explodes if simply touches water, just for 7 hours of power? Nah... rather rough it. Top notch video though sir! Thank you
This is what I found on the internet. Yes, the Anker Solix F3800 portable power station ships to Canada: Shop3D.ca: Ships from a Canadian distribution warehouse within two days, with an estimated time of arrival of 2-5 days within Canada Amazon.ca: Ships from AnkerDirect-CA Best Buy Canada: Sells the Anker Solix F3800 Anker.com/ca: Sells the Anker Solix F3800 and the Anker Solix F3800 + Home Backup Kit
Appreciate the detailed review! 1 question, though: I already have a solar system that powers my house; is it possible to connect the solar system to this backup system so in case of power outage, my solar system continue to produce electricity?
Unfortunately not if you have a grid tied system which disconnects the inverter if the utility power fails. This is actually a safety to prevent your solar from back feeding down utility wires.
The F3800 offers 2 kinds of electrical panel. 1 type is tied to the power company's grid, and the other type is either/or. It can switch different circuits in your house to either your home solar and battery power, or to the power company's grid. But never both at the same time. If your panels are already selling electricity into the grid, you'll have to get that undone and rewired to charge the F3800 directly. But my understanding is that 2 of these F3800s, tied together, plus expansion batteries for extra storage capacity, can only accept power from 6 solar panels. 3 for a single F3800 unit. About $20,000 will get you 6 410 watt panels, the panel box, 2 F3800s and 12 expansion batteries. I think that stores over 50 kWh. 6 solar panels is enough to keep that charged in case of emergency, but it's not enough to run your house on. From what I've seen, if you want to run your entire house on solar, you can get 24 panels and 30kWh of battery storage for about the same $20,000.
Any idea on the dB of noise generated by the F3800 and an expansion pack? Hoping to use it to power a cabin with short term renters, and don't want a terrific howl when its running.
According to available information I have, the Anker F3800 power station, when its fans are running, produces a noise level of approximately 45 decibels. This is considered relatively quiet, comparable to a quiet library or a standard conversation.
Thanks for the F3800 videos... awesome info! I'm curious if you're using the non-inverter type Champion generator to charge the F3800. You're not running into any issues? Simply asking as I thought it would need an inverter generator to charge. Any additional info is truly appreciated as I'm looking into a similar setup as yours.
The manufacturer recommends not using a standard generator to charge the unit. I am planning on purchasing an inverter generator for this and other reason.
I was under the impression you cannot recharge the batteries when they are in use unless you use the solar power input. Any other power input would autodisconnect output power of the unit.
I found that the F3800 will not charge through the 120v connection when running loads. When connected through the home power panel it does not charge but does not shut down loads either. If connect through the power block like a standard generator then the load will drop out when the charge cable is plugged in. I do have an awesome solution for this and you will see that video in early March. But the existing system will share through the home power panel with an inverter generator similar to the way it charges by utility. I just run the back up wires through the utility CTs and its switches over to generator and recharges.
Hi, Thank you for your great video. I have a question that I'd like you to answer. What kind of electrical cable do I need to purchase if I want my F3800 to be in a closet and I want to run a wire from the battery to the electrical panel to power my transfer switch? I want the battery to power my dedicated breakers and recharge automatically with grid power. Please tell me the exact cable specifications so I can buy it at an electrical store. I'm currently remodeling my ceiling and want to pass the wire between the ceiling and the Gibson board before closing. Thank you so much.
So I have basically the same setup you have(minus the addl' battery) and I noticed you said something that may or may not be an accurate statement. You said you could charge up your F3800 with your Champion generator. I recently reached out to Anker to confirm something that I did not know when I purchased my package and that is that you can't charge the F3800 with a regular generator. You need to use an inverter generator because the power going into it needs to have a clean sine wave. Now I have a Firman Dual Fuel 7500W generator and I've been hesitant to test it to charge my F3800 because I don't want to take a chance on damaging it or my Home Power Panel. Have you tested to see if you feed your main panel with your Champion that it does in fact charge up the F3800. Anker would never clarify if using my generator would damage anything. They just said that Total Harmonic Distortion can only be + or - 5%. I tested my generator with an Oscillator and the sine wave is not clean at all. Let me know how things went for you. Thanks.
I am planning to get an inverter generator which I should have mentioned in the video. I believe you can charge it with a standard generator but I don't but it's not a good idea. Another option would be to power a converter from a standard generator and charge the F3800 through the solar connections.
Round trip efficiency is not very exciting though. I have just figured out that round trip efficiency less than 60%, which is 3800WH is actually the energy consumes by the Solix F3800 from the grid or solar, and will return you less than 3KWH when discharded. Very disappointing.
Maybe revisit your math.. There are losses when rectifying the AC power to DC to charge the battery but the inverters are highly efficient. Maybe I'll discharge mine with a consistent resistive load to find out what the actual output is. May make a good video.
I just bought a Genmax 10500 inverter generator and love it. It's tri-fuel so runs on gasoline, propane, and natural gas. It's about the cost of the F3800.
Hey John, great video. Fellow Mainer here! I have a couple of questions. If you did two F3800s with the smart panel would you have just done a back feed of the 100amp into your main panel? Second when you use your generator to charge are you just running that through your old portable generator cirtcut using your interlock? I was thinking I would have to have an alternate connection to recharge but you just made me realize that if I just backfeed with my current generator connection the F3800s should recharge through that. Thanks!
Well never mind my first question after looking at the installation for the Smart Panel you have a grid input and backup terminals so obviously you must have a sub-panel. Sorry should have realized that. I am still curious about the charging function coming from the main panel generator interlock connection.
I haven't actually charged the system with the generator yet since we only had a short outage. I did shut off the power to do a test to see how long the system would last running the loads we normally run during an outage. But yes, I was planning on running my generator through my 30A backfeed breaker and plugging the F3800 into a receptacle under the electrical panel. I am little concerned about charging the unit with my existing generator since it's a modified sign wave and worry that may become an issue for the electronics on the power station. I planning to buy an inverter generator to solve this concern but I have picked one up yet. Another option would be to run a standard generator into a converter and charge the F3800 through the solar inputs. I do have a sub panel for my critical loads but with a second F3800 you would double the 6000w output capacity and the home power panel is designed for that as well so you could potentially feed your whole panel with that setup.
Thank you for the review. Do you know if the unit can be charged from a gas generator using the 120 AC outlet while also being connected to the smart panel?
I thought it could but through testing it cannot charge through the 120v connection while supplying loads through the home power panel. Also, a standard generator produces a modified sine wave which cannot be used to charge the device. You could use a standard generator to supply a power converter and charge through the solar connections or have a backup supply from an inverter generator which is the way I'm going. When I run my inverter generator to my main panel the unit will recharge to 100% pretty quickly so I should only have to run it a few hours per day during extended outages. On anything less the 14-24 hours the battery should be sufficient.
@@BackyardMaine ok that is a big problem, I'm guessing because it is ac coupled and would backfeed the main panel? What about inverter gas generator feeding F3800 and F3800 feeding an automatic transfer switch, no smart panel? Thank you so much for testing that scenario. Customer support said it should be able to do it but I was skeptical since on their site it says "Due to anti-islanding requirements, all grid-tie solar inverters must stop feeding power to the grid during an outage. Therefore, please note that your grid-tie solar array will NOT charge the SOLIX F3800 via the Anker SOLIX Home Power Panel when the grid is down"
Yes, BUT you have to get a power brick to convert the 120 AC to 40~60V DC around 1000 watts and run that to the solar input. No direct 120V charging while 240V is hooked up.
Thanks for your review. I have a question to you. Does your HPP have any problem when pulling power from a regular generator? Anker support told me that only Inverter generator is recommended when provide power to the HPP. during Power Outage.
@@DougThompson I did a bunch of research and the one that came to the top was the Westinghouse. It has a pretty large capacity and the highest review rating on Amazon. Here's a link to the one I bought. amzn.to/4imsssv
It’s capable of supplying up to 25A at 240v or 6000 watts. If you have an imbalance and run too much on one leg you could cause a shutdown at 4700 watts.
I often wondered about connecting a modified sine wave generator up to charge such a smart device. I also was thinking of running a old coleman 2K modified sine wave generator to my all in one solar/inverter/MPPT solar charge controller. I was concerned of damage.
have you found a way to limit the charge when the Smart panel is charging the F3800's I have a Disconnect and when running my Gen the smart panel seems to want to put 2400 watts into each F3800's
It does auto adjust based on the current level of charge but I don't think that feature is adjustable. You can adjust the charging wattage of the for the cord connected charger on the App but I didn't see anything adjustable through the home power panel.
No. EMT is required to be supported 36 inches from a box. The nipples are all between 28 and 32 inches so no additional support is required. Nice try though.
I was looking at this unit to purchase but thought that charging via 120V would disconnect the 240V output? Can you confirm that? You said that you can charge and output simultaneously? If that's true, that would push me to purchase it. Thanks! Great video.
You are correct, when AC charging you are limited to 120v and 1440 watts of passive through charging. Many including myself using an EG4 Chargeverter with a generator to charge through the DC ports (solar) and maintain full 240v power.
You'll need to buy the electrical panel that goes with it, and get an electrician to install it. Then, when the power goes out, you can flip a switch in the panel box to run your apartment from the battery.
The plan was to charge with my generator but I learned that you cannot do that with a standard generator because it produces a modified sine wave that the system doesn’t like. The solution would be to use an inverter generator or a EG4 charger converter. I have another solution that I will be making a video about in two months when it arrives. Stay tuned
i got f3800 two of them,but i wasnt happy about it,i even called to cancel the order,before they ship,but coustmer service told me to give it try and refunded 80 dollar.after i got them ,i wanted to return it because i didnt want to add solar pannel on the house,i found out that i need to pay for the shipping and that cost me $600 ,just to let every boyd know,you be paying for the return shipping.
@@everythingpony They move around easy on floors and flat ground. I bit heavy for stairs but they have handles on top and bottom so they can be carried easily by two people or one very strong person.. lol
Prices vary so much in different areas and even between different contractors in the same area. It’s probably about six hours labor maybe eight depending on the skill of the individual. I can really tell you a price.
I was doing sponsored content with 50k subs but it's not the subs that brands care about. Its views and engagement only. Once I started getting 100k or more views on many of my videos the brand emails started flooding in. I get at least ten offers per day now but only accept one or two a month.
6000 w or some where around 45--50A for a house to draw. Lets see what it takes. Refer 10A so that is 1100 04 1200w freezer same dyer same if 110 if 220 and 10 A it will pull twice. Now if u have an electric stove that is the biggie 220 30A or wait for it 6600 Looks like that stove wont be run But we have so many things to us electric with but these are the really big ones we have in our homes. Light bulbs 15W u need 80 of them to = a refer. Computer not much same phone and all ur portables. Kids if ur house if pulling more then 2000 w without a major on u got a lot of thing running. My house runs me on average about $100/mo. Summer it has gone as low as $23. I have a 2nd meter on my barn and greenhouse. When Greenhouse working between $100 and $400. Headed with a 220 set on 20A heater. Last ur was warm coldest mo Feb was just $350. Barn has some lights in it and I have my work shop there. I figure maybe 1/20 of bill goes to it. U can only run one thing at a time and some dont take much in a work shop.
No I didn’t know that. I just discovered you cannot charge through the 120v charging cable when running loads through the home power panel. I guess you can when connected through the power block. I think my plan now is to buy an inverter generator and run that to recharge when the system gets low. I’m estimating I can run 14 + hour on battery and about 4 hours of charging.
Also with the home power panel and the app you can draw power from the F3800 for several hours a day with no interruption of power. This would be ideal for recharging with solar during to reduce your electricity consumption. I’ll probably buy about six panels next spring and schedule the system to run on battery for a period of time every day
@@BackyardMaine I am trying to convince myself and mi wife that the f3800 can work better than a EG4 off grid inverter and a eg4 5.12kwh battery rack that you can connect any type of solar panels you want. not as smart as the anker panel but there are several modes that will prefer charge from solar than from grid saving a lot more money that the f3800.
You're a electrician, so I wanna ask you A question that I argue with people all the time, is leaving that at 100%. Okay, or should you go by the 80/20 rule?
These systems are designed to be charged to 100%. They will actually do that automatically when connected through the home power panel. I would not let the battery get below 20% because lithium iron phosphate batteries will not last as long if you do. I’m pretty sure EV car batteries do recommend the 80/20 rule for extended life time of the battery. For a backup system that gets used infrequently and needs lots of power for extended outages, I make sure to charge to 100%.
@BackyardMaine I have been looking to get a power station. And I forgot which one it was, but 1 of the brands out there in the app. It lets you choose the 80/20 rule. So there might still be something to that If all you care about is longevity of the battery at the expense of not having enough power When the lights go out.
Were you actually able to charge F3800 with your gas generator? I was told it can be only charged with a pure sign generator. Otherwise, F3800 will be damaged.
This is what I discovered after running several tests after the video. When running 240v from the 30A or 50A receptacles on the power block, the system will shut down when you plug in the charging cable. When running through the home power panel nothing will happen at all but it also will not attempt to charge. I can use the generator to feed my main panel and if I run the wire from my back feed breaker through the line CTs the system will think utility has restored and begin to recharge. The only caveat is they don't recommend charging the unit with a standard portable generator because they produce a modified sine wave which the system will not like. So there are two options. You can run a standard generator to feed a an EG4 Chargeverter and charge the F3800 form the solar inputs, or you use an inverter generator to supply the main panel to recharge the unit like I mentions above. I hope this helps.
When running 240v from the 30A or 50A receptacles on the power block yes, the system will shut down when you plug in the charging cable. When running through the home power panel nothing will happen at all but it also will not attempt to charge. I can use the generator to feed my main panel and if I run the wire from my back feed breaker through the line CTs the system will think utility has restored and begin to recharge. The only caveat is they don't recommend charging the unit with a standard portable generator because they produce a modified sine wave which the system will not like. So there are two options. You can run a standard generator to feed a an EG4 Chargeverter and charge the F3800 form the solar inputs, or you use an inverter generator to supply the main panel to recharge the unit like I mentions above. I hope this helps.
Just normal operation. The fridge and freezer were always on and run when needed. We use the microwave to heat up food several times. A pot of coffee in the morning. The pump and boiler run intermittently when using hot water in the sink or for taking showers. Maybe a few hours of tv and pc combined. Lights when and where they are needed.
@@kennethcollins148 Its silent normally but when its running loads or charging, the cooling fans run which you can hear. It's still extremely quiet though. Not nearly as loud as a refrigerator.
I’d be more inclined to just switch to the gas generator once the battery died during an extended outage. Using a gas generator through an AC/DC converter to charge a battery generate that goes through a DC/AC converter to power the house is probably the most inefficient way to use a limited power source. EDIT: correction, using the gas generator to charge the battery generator that powers a gas pump to fill the gas generator would be more inefficient. 😂😂😂
I run my electronics of a battery for cleaner sign wave right along with all the other tings that go with it. I have 2 of them. One will run all my stuff for 3 days. have solar panels to charge. Rest of house is run off another brand of battery of only 3000W. Have 4 of them solar charged. All my batteries will charge in less then a day in total cloud b/c of # of panels. Hell i run my house on them sometimes I use that little. Ex: right now I have 4 lights on computer 75"tv and pellet stove. This is all I have on most of the timer. BTY my water is all gravity fed from a spring. Hell spring is so far above house i need a flow inhibitor in line to keep it down to 45 psi. This is why i for got water pump for some of u but most r one water systems so no pump needed. Ya I got me a big desal gen that puts out 13,000W. Got 2 heater in there for when it goes below 0. Most of the time just run the one. That 8x16 greenhouse is my food and that of a few others. I do a 2 ac garden and give away to those in need what i dont use which is about 90% of what I grow. I grow 50 plants/ 10"x20" flat. I have 2 shaves to grow on 16' long bottom one just 24" top one 42". 16'=184" this means i can fit 54 flats at a time or about 27,000 plants. Very few get hole hand dug and hand planted. Got me a machine that makes the hole the person setting n it put plant in hole and then cover seedling. Three ppl can put in 20,000 plants with this in three days. Ya it is a 12 hr day but then were farming and that is what we do most every day of the yr.
@@lscott3641 Thats crazy. It was not hard to install at all. Maybe look for someone who does commercial or industrial work. Maybe someone doing solar installations.
What they don't tell you, is the internal battery is not replaceable, you have to buy a new unit when the battery can no longer be recharged. I asked Anker CS about this.
The battery is where all the money is anyway. The cost of new ones would probably be as much as a new unit or close to it. They should last ten years or more.
I watched the whole video and did not here anything that others won't tell me. You, like other reviewers, fail to even mention that it only puts out under 30 amps. I don't see how any house can run on only 30 amps!
If you watched it then why are you thinking that it will run your entire home. I went into some detail about the sub panel that I installed and the capacity of the unit. Also the total output capacity and how long it lasts with my connected loads. I may have also mentioned that two F3800s can be connected to the home power panel doubling the output capacity the 12000w. Maybe watch it again??
Save up to $4,334 with early bird discounts before Black Friday.
Click ankerfast.club/vreo76 to get discounts on Anker SOLIX F3800 and its bundles. Spend more, get more!
Battery, solar and a gas generator together is the way to go.
I have had mine for nine months now. I have used it to run my detached garage/shop power. With normal usage it will power everything for over 8 hrs of total use. Only surprise was the amps that the shopvac uses. It does recharge fully in 2hrs but I don't let it get below 10% before recharge. Be careful of the 120v circuit you plug it into to recharge. A 15 amp circuit with loads on it may trip breaker. Because of it's portability, I have used it to power essentials (frig, freezer, router, lights and TV) at night during power outages at main house. I even loaned it to a friend that was affected by hurricane Helene in NC. He used it at night to power essentials instead of gas generator so he could get some sleep. He has bought his own now for that use.
Only con I have with it right now is specific for my application. Anker does not have a filter option for the intake and exhaust, this is for the fine saw dust that is in my shop and not picked up by the vac system. I asked Anker and at present they have no plans for one. I have had to build a filter box around it and it's a bit of a pain if you move it around.
Great info. Thank you for adding it. They are very capable units.
As a suggestion... There's a company that makes cloth filter material with magnets to attch to standalone upright fans as well as computers.
Assuming you’ve added 2 add on battery, Can it handle 240v 22amps for daily use 12hrs a day?
@@djwanye83 22A of continuous load at 240v is over 5 kilowatt hours. So with two batteries you would get about two hours of run time.
Panty hose or build a small furnace filter box with some trim and plywood and hot glue to the intake side.
The review of the ANKER Solex F3800 is exactly right, and, I don’t even own one yet. How do I know? Well, I do own the ANKER Solex 767 with expansion battery, for a total 4096 watt hours. I connect it manually to an inlet receptacle next to my electrical panel, which has the safety device. I run only my 120v breakers, requiring me to switch off the 240 breakers manually. Still, a huge convenience when the power Gorda out. I’ll get between 8-12 hours runtime depending on day (8) or night (12) with the heaviest loads being two full-size refrigerators. I do recommend purchasing when on sale. My system cost me $1300 plus $900 for the expansion battery. However, it still took me awhile to get over this $ outlay, for something I’ll only need infrequently. However, since purchase out power went out twice, and boy, I was sure glad to have this system. Oh, I’m no electrician, so $600 for the inlet box installation … that was expensive!
We have a couple of F2000 units. These will work well as we will only use one at a time to provide power in case of power loss for the refrig and maybe a radio or two and water heater (gas). Also have 5 200 W solar panels to recharge the unused F2000. Retired electrician here too...
Sounds like a good plan. Retirement is underrated👍
One note on being able to charge while using. If you're using 240v you can't recharge on AC power using the generator.
Thank you. I was about to make the same comment.
Also, half the 120v outlets are disabled while, AC charging.
Learned that from watching Jasonoid.
I think that's the biggest con to this unit, I have an eg4 chargeverter so I need to wire up an xt60 adapter cord deal.
Bummer. Looked really neat otherwise. Only thing it is missing is remote starter relay for genset when battery reaches configured depth of discharge. If genset has starter with a key for on/off/start then it is pretty easy to add a starting relay. This would make backup power fully automatic. If natural gas is available to your home then a genset plumbed into natural gas would provide essentially unlimited power in the most efficient method possible. Generator only runs when it can run at full load (charging) and shuts off when battery is back to 90-95%. Same is true if you have an LP tank, except the runtime is limited to gas on hand.
For anyone considering buying the sale (I was and still am considering), do check out competitor companies. There is a price war going on, so the best option may be with another offering.
I got my Solix f3800 for only $1980 and I’m gonna run some fun experiments including charging my ford lightning on my channel!
@@ThunderandLightningEvPickupyou just spamming comments with self promotion for your channel?
Thanks for the review. A con worth mentioning is their bulky cables connections - no 90 degrees like other competitor.
Who is the other competitor?
Guys, if you are considering going off-grid, I suggest looking into the Jackery 5000 Plus. The F3800 is great for a quick solution during an outage but not for long-term use.
Many reviewers (Will Prowse, Hobotech) having serious problems with jackery's wifi connectivity and their tech support hasn't been helpful.
I looked up solar back up and found these units. Now I can't watch a UA-cam video without an Ankor AD. Gotta love Google with AD suggestions. I have propane back up generator and am looking to add this in. I talked to my local solar (not ankor) company and they made it sound so complicated that this unit is looking even better. Local codes seemed to be a big obstacle. As always, I enjoy the videos. Thank you for your honest review. 👍👍
Yup. Since making this video I get an Anker ad every hour as well.
The F3800 seems to be the most attractive for portable applications. Others like ECO Flow or Bluetti are nice. The limitation I have with it is the low solar input of 2400W with relatively low voltage. Most of the solar panels I would use are 50V/15A. Good jnit
I have a video coming up in March with some awesome solutions I have to this problem and others. Stay tuned.
@ thanks I will look forward to it.
Click bait! Where’s the section of “what others won’t tell you” Why use these tactics? The video was good.
It's the name of the game and youtube is a game. If your title and thumbnail don't attract a click then even the best video will get no views. I learned this the hard way. But I always try to provide a lot of value in my videos.
Costco just came out with this system: f3800 plus expansion battery plus 400 watts in solar panel...all for 3799.00
Starts January 29
No kidding.. ??
@BackyardMaine just came out on there mailer...online only tho
Yes. Costco has it
I thought you couldn’t charge the F3800 when the 240v outlet is being used.
Look for a video in early March where I will go over that and more.
From other videos I've seen it will let you charge and using 240v when solar charging only. If you try to charge with AC it shuts off it's own 240v out. So I'm guessing those few hours he is charging with his gas or propane generator to charge the Anker the Anker is probably off and not supplying output power at that time.
Review is outstanding! Tech is interesting, but wow, nowhere even close to adoption! All that tech and learning, and danger of having all that lithium in your house that explodes if simply touches water, just for 7 hours of power? Nah... rather rough it. Top notch video though sir! Thank you
Beautiful set-up, but no shipping option to Canada😔
This is what I found on the internet.
Yes, the Anker Solix F3800 portable power station ships to Canada:
Shop3D.ca: Ships from a Canadian distribution warehouse within two days, with an estimated time of arrival of 2-5 days within Canada
Amazon.ca: Ships from AnkerDirect-CA
Best Buy Canada: Sells the Anker Solix F3800
Anker.com/ca: Sells the Anker Solix F3800 and the Anker Solix F3800 + Home Backup Kit
Appreciate the detailed review!
1 question, though: I already have a solar system that powers my house; is it possible to connect the solar system to this backup system so in case of power outage, my solar system continue to produce electricity?
Unfortunately not if you have a grid tied system which disconnects the inverter if the utility power fails. This is actually a safety to prevent your solar from back feeding down utility wires.
The F3800 offers 2 kinds of electrical panel. 1 type is tied to the power company's grid, and the other type is either/or. It can switch different circuits in your house to either your home solar and battery power, or to the power company's grid. But never both at the same time.
If your panels are already selling electricity into the grid, you'll have to get that undone and rewired to charge the F3800 directly.
But my understanding is that 2 of these F3800s, tied together, plus expansion batteries for extra storage capacity, can only accept power from 6 solar panels. 3 for a single F3800 unit.
About $20,000 will get you 6 410 watt panels, the panel box, 2 F3800s and 12 expansion batteries. I think that stores over 50 kWh. 6 solar panels is enough to keep that charged in case of emergency, but it's not enough to run your house on.
From what I've seen, if you want to run your entire house on solar, you can get 24 panels and 30kWh of battery storage for about the same $20,000.
Any idea on the dB of noise generated by the F3800 and an expansion pack? Hoping to use it to power a cabin with short term renters, and don't want a terrific howl when its running.
According to available information I have, the Anker F3800 power station, when its fans are running, produces a noise level of approximately 45 decibels. This is considered relatively quiet, comparable to a quiet library or a standard conversation.
this thing looks awesome
Thanks for the F3800 videos... awesome info! I'm curious if you're using the non-inverter type Champion generator to charge the F3800. You're not running into any issues? Simply asking as I thought it would need an inverter generator to charge. Any additional info is truly appreciated as I'm looking into a similar setup as yours.
The manufacturer recommends not using a standard generator to charge the unit. I am planning on purchasing an inverter generator for this and other reason.
I was under the impression you cannot recharge the batteries when they are in use unless you use the solar power input. Any other power input would autodisconnect output power of the unit.
I found that the F3800 will not charge through the 120v connection when running loads. When connected through the home power panel it does not charge but does not shut down loads either. If connect through the power block like a standard generator then the load will drop out when the charge cable is plugged in. I do have an awesome solution for this and you will see that video in early March. But the existing system will share through the home power panel with an inverter generator similar to the way it charges by utility. I just run the back up wires through the utility CTs and its switches over to generator and recharges.
Hi,
Thank you for your great video. I have a question that I'd like you to answer.
What kind of electrical cable do I need to purchase if I want my F3800 to be in a closet and I want to run a wire from the battery to the electrical panel to power my transfer switch?
I want the battery to power my dedicated breakers and recharge automatically with grid power. Please tell me the exact cable specifications so I can buy it at an electrical store. I'm currently remodeling my ceiling and want to pass the wire between the ceiling and the Gibson board before closing.
Thank you so much.
So I have basically the same setup you have(minus the addl' battery) and I noticed you said something that may or may not be an accurate statement. You said you could charge up your F3800 with your Champion generator. I recently reached out to Anker to confirm something that I did not know when I purchased my package and that is that you can't charge the F3800 with a regular generator. You need to use an inverter generator because the power going into it needs to have a clean sine wave. Now I have a Firman Dual Fuel 7500W generator and I've been hesitant to test it to charge my F3800 because I don't want to take a chance on damaging it or my Home Power Panel. Have you tested to see if you feed your main panel with your Champion that it does in fact charge up the F3800. Anker would never clarify if using my generator would damage anything. They just said that Total Harmonic Distortion can only be + or - 5%. I tested my generator with an Oscillator and the sine wave is not clean at all. Let me know how things went for you. Thanks.
I am planning to get an inverter generator which I should have mentioned in the video. I believe you can charge it with a standard generator but I don't but it's not a good idea. Another option would be to power a converter from a standard generator and charge the F3800 through the solar connections.
@@BackyardMaine YUP.....48V GOLF CART CHARGERS WORK GREAT FOR SOLAR INPUT
Round trip efficiency is not very exciting though. I have just figured out that round trip efficiency less than 60%, which is 3800WH is actually the energy consumes by the Solix F3800 from the grid or solar, and will return you less than 3KWH when discharded. Very disappointing.
Maybe revisit your math.. There are losses when rectifying the AC power to DC to charge the battery but the inverters are highly efficient. Maybe I'll discharge mine with a consistent resistive load to find out what the actual output is. May make a good video.
Is there any information regarding life expectancy of the batteries and current cost to replace?
I don’t know about replacement cost but the batteries have a 10 year expected lifetime with a 5 year warranty
It would seem that the generator you are using does not supply true sine wave power. Is it OK to charge the battery with that sort of generator?
Probably not ideal but I haven’t had any issues. I’m planning on getting an inverter generator soon. Hopefully before our next outage.
I just bought a Genmax 10500 inverter generator and love it. It's tri-fuel so runs on gasoline, propane, and natural gas. It's about the cost of the F3800.
Hey John, great video. Fellow Mainer here! I have a couple of questions. If you did two F3800s with the smart panel would you have just done a back feed of the 100amp into your main panel? Second when you use your generator to charge are you just running that through your old portable generator cirtcut using your interlock? I was thinking I would have to have an alternate connection to recharge but you just made me realize that if I just backfeed with my current generator connection the F3800s should recharge through that. Thanks!
Well never mind my first question after looking at the installation for the Smart Panel you have a grid input and backup terminals so obviously you must have a sub-panel. Sorry should have realized that. I am still curious about the charging function coming from the main panel generator interlock connection.
I haven't actually charged the system with the generator yet since we only had a short outage. I did shut off the power to do a test to see how long the system would last running the loads we normally run during an outage. But yes, I was planning on running my generator through my 30A backfeed breaker and plugging the F3800 into a receptacle under the electrical panel. I am little concerned about charging the unit with my existing generator since it's a modified sign wave and worry that may become an issue for the electronics on the power station. I planning to buy an inverter generator to solve this concern but I have picked one up yet. Another option would be to run a standard generator into a converter and charge the F3800 through the solar inputs. I do have a sub panel for my critical loads but with a second F3800 you would double the 6000w output capacity and the home power panel is designed for that as well so you could potentially feed your whole panel with that setup.
Your concern with the dirty power is correct. Look in to the EG4 chargeverter to solve this exact problem
Is there a fire risk to keeping it plugged in all the time ?
No they are designed to be connected and ready to go when needed.
Thank you for the review. Do you know if the unit can be charged from a gas generator using the 120 AC outlet while also being connected to the smart panel?
I thought it could but through testing it cannot charge through the 120v connection while supplying loads through the home power panel. Also, a standard generator produces a modified sine wave which cannot be used to charge the device. You could use a standard generator to supply a power converter and charge through the solar connections or have a backup supply from an inverter generator which is the way I'm going. When I run my inverter generator to my main panel the unit will recharge to 100% pretty quickly so I should only have to run it a few hours per day during extended outages. On anything less the 14-24 hours the battery should be sufficient.
@@BackyardMaine ok that is a big problem, I'm guessing because it is ac coupled and would backfeed the main panel? What about inverter gas generator feeding F3800 and F3800 feeding an automatic transfer switch, no smart panel? Thank you so much for testing that scenario. Customer support said it should be able to do it but I was skeptical since on their site it says "Due to anti-islanding requirements, all grid-tie solar inverters must stop feeding power to the grid during an outage. Therefore, please note that your grid-tie solar array will NOT charge the SOLIX F3800 via the Anker SOLIX Home Power Panel when the grid is down"
Yes, BUT you have to get a power brick to convert the 120 AC to 40~60V DC around 1000 watts and run that to the solar input. No direct 120V charging while 240V is hooked up.
Thanks for your review. I have a question to you. Does your HPP have any problem when pulling power from a regular generator? Anker support told me that only Inverter generator is recommended when provide power to the HPP. during Power Outage.
Yes. I have an inverter generator on order so I can charge the unit when needed for extended outages. I didn’t get it in time for the video.
@@BackyardMaine I looking for an inverter generator also. Which one do you have on order?
@@DougThompson I did a bunch of research and the one that came to the top was the Westinghouse. It has a pretty large capacity and the highest review rating on Amazon. Here's a link to the one I bought. amzn.to/4imsssv
@@BackyardMaine Thanks for the reply. I saw this one too, but looking for one that uses natural gas, but this one looks good, I might get it anyway.
@@DougThompson Yeah the choices are slim for the trip-fuel inverter generators..
Just got a new f3800, when it reached 4700 ish, the unit shut down- why, its a 6000 genertor?
It’s capable of supplying up to 25A at 240v or 6000 watts. If you have an imbalance and run too much on one leg you could cause a shutdown at 4700 watts.
Does it have the option to only recharge overnight when my TOU rates are low?
Yes that can be set up in the app..
I often wondered about connecting a modified sine wave generator up to charge such a smart device. I also was thinking of running a old coleman 2K modified sine wave generator to my all in one solar/inverter/MPPT solar charge controller. I was concerned of damage.
Probably not the best idea. I going to get an inverter generator before the next out season.
I have an F3800 that I recharged with a Pulsar 2319 inverter generator.
have you found a way to limit the charge when the Smart panel is charging the F3800's I have a Disconnect and when running my Gen the smart panel seems to want to put 2400 watts into each F3800's
It does auto adjust based on the current level of charge but I don't think that feature is adjustable. You can adjust the charging wattage of the for the cord connected charger on the App but I didn't see anything adjustable through the home power panel.
Are you going to put half inch EMT straps on your work shop plugs you said you do electrical work
No. EMT is required to be supported 36 inches from a box. The nipples are all between 28 and 32 inches so no additional support is required. Nice try though.
I was looking at this unit to purchase but thought that charging via 120V would disconnect the 240V output? Can you confirm that? You said that you can charge and output simultaneously? If that's true, that would push me to purchase it. Thanks! Great video.
You are correct, when AC charging you are limited to 120v and 1440 watts of passive through charging. Many including myself using an EG4 Chargeverter with a generator to charge through the DC ports (solar) and maintain full 240v power.
According to the information I have you can. I test it and get back to you over the weekend
I don’t have solar or A/C. How can I connect the system to power my apartment and charging the system?
You'll need to buy the electrical panel that goes with it, and get an electrician to install it. Then, when the power goes out, you can flip a switch in the panel box to run your apartment from the battery.
How do you charge the battery while in use in an blizzard
The plan was to charge with my generator but I learned that you cannot do that with a standard generator because it produces a modified sine wave that the system doesn’t like. The solution would be to use an inverter generator or a EG4 charger converter. I have another solution that I will be making a video about in two months when it arrives. Stay tuned
Solar panrl
@@toyarj37 Coming soon.
i got f3800 two of them,but i wasnt happy about it,i even called to cancel the order,before they ship,but coustmer service told me to give it try and refunded 80 dollar.after i got them ,i wanted to return it because i didnt want to add solar pannel on the house,i found out that i need to pay for the shipping and that cost me $600 ,just to let every boyd know,you be paying for the return shipping.
Who said you have to add solar panels to the house? It’s portable
Do they have authorized techs to install the system? Thanks.
Any licensed electrician will be able to install the setup in less than a day.
Pretty sure most people can roll it into a garage and set it up?
@@everythingpony They move around easy on floors and flat ground. I bit heavy for stairs but they have handles on top and bottom so they can be carried easily by two people or one very strong person.. lol
How Much More Or Less Does This Cost To Install By Electrician ?
Prices vary so much in different areas and even between different contractors in the same area. It’s probably about six hours labor maybe eight depending on the skill of the individual. I can really tell you a price.
To get sponsored with only 200k subs thats impressive
I was doing sponsored content with 50k subs but it's not the subs that brands care about. Its views and engagement only. Once I started getting 100k or more views on many of my videos the brand emails started flooding in. I get at least ten offers per day now but only accept one or two a month.
6000 w or some where around 45--50A for a house to draw. Lets see what it takes. Refer 10A so that is 1100 04 1200w freezer same dyer same if 110 if 220 and 10 A it will pull twice. Now if u have an electric stove that is the biggie 220 30A or wait for it 6600 Looks like that stove wont be run
But we have so many things to us electric with but these are the really big ones we have in our homes. Light bulbs 15W u need 80 of them to = a refer. Computer not much same phone and all ur portables.
Kids if ur house if pulling more then 2000 w without a major on u got a lot of thing running.
My house runs me on average about $100/mo. Summer it has gone as low as $23. I have a 2nd meter on my barn and greenhouse. When Greenhouse working between $100 and $400. Headed with a 220 set on 20A heater. Last ur was warm coldest mo Feb was just $350. Barn has some lights in it and I have my work shop there. I figure maybe 1/20 of bill goes to it. U can only run one thing at a time and some dont take much in a work shop.
Yes about 50A of 120v loads and 25A of 240v loads.
you can not use 240v out if you are charging DC. Did you know that?
No I didn’t know that. I just discovered you cannot charge through the 120v charging cable when running loads through the home power panel. I guess you can when connected through the power block. I think my plan now is to buy an inverter generator and run that to recharge when the system gets low. I’m estimating I can run 14 + hour on battery and about 4 hours of charging.
Also with the home power panel and the app you can draw power from the F3800 for several hours a day with no interruption of power. This would be ideal for recharging with solar during to reduce your electricity consumption. I’ll probably buy about six panels next spring and schedule the system to run on battery for a period of time every day
@@BackyardMaine I am trying to convince myself and mi wife that the f3800 can work better than a EG4 off grid inverter and a eg4 5.12kwh battery rack that you can connect any type of solar panels you want. not as smart as the anker panel but there are several modes that will prefer charge from solar than from grid saving a lot more money that the f3800.
You're a electrician, so I wanna ask you A question that I argue with people all the time, is leaving that at 100%. Okay, or should you go by the 80/20 rule?
These systems are designed to be charged to 100%. They will actually do that automatically when connected through the home power panel. I would not let the battery get below 20% because lithium iron phosphate batteries will not last as long if you do. I’m pretty sure EV car batteries do recommend the 80/20 rule for extended life time of the battery. For a backup system that gets used infrequently and needs lots of power for extended outages, I make sure to charge to 100%.
@BackyardMaine I have been looking to get a power station.
And I forgot which one it was, but 1 of the brands out there in the app. It lets you choose the 80/20 rule. So there might still be something to that If all you care about is longevity of the battery at the expense of not having enough power
When the lights go out.
Were you actually able to charge F3800 with your gas generator? I was told it can be only charged with a pure sign generator. Otherwise, F3800 will be damaged.
This is what I discovered after running several tests after the video. When running 240v from the 30A or 50A receptacles on the power block, the system will shut down when you plug in the charging cable. When running through the home power panel nothing will happen at all but it also will not attempt to charge. I can use the generator to feed my main panel and if I run the wire from my back feed breaker through the line CTs the system will think utility has restored and begin to recharge. The only caveat is they don't recommend charging the unit with a standard portable generator because they produce a modified sine wave which the system will not like. So there are two options. You can run a standard generator to feed a an EG4 Chargeverter and charge the F3800 form the solar inputs, or you use an inverter generator to supply the main panel to recharge the unit like I mentions above. I hope this helps.
@@BackyardMaine That's good to know. Thanks very much for the detailed info!
Another con is, you can't charge up
The expansion battery by itself
I am not sure u can charge w your generator. U may need an inverter generator
Yes you do need an inverter generator to charge the unit. I had one ordered but didn't get it in time for the video.
Has anyone verified you lose 240v if you recharge with a gas generator during operation?
When running 240v from the 30A or 50A receptacles on the power block yes, the system will shut down when you plug in the charging cable. When running through the home power panel nothing will happen at all but it also will not attempt to charge. I can use the generator to feed my main panel and if I run the wire from my back feed breaker through the line CTs the system will think utility has restored and begin to recharge. The only caveat is they don't recommend charging the unit with a standard portable generator because they produce a modified sine wave which the system will not like. So there are two options. You can run a standard generator to feed a an EG4 Chargeverter and charge the F3800 form the solar inputs, or you use an inverter generator to supply the main panel to recharge the unit like I mentions above. I hope this helps.
how many of the applieances were running for the 7 hr period. or how long did each one run intermittantly?
Just normal operation. The fridge and freezer were always on and run when needed. We use the microwave to heat up food several times. A pot of coffee in the morning. The pump and boiler run intermittently when using hot water in the sink or for taking showers. Maybe a few hours of tv and pc combined. Lights when and where they are needed.
Thank you so much. How loud is it may I ask?
@@kennethcollins148 Its silent normally but when its running loads or charging, the cooling fans run which you can hear. It's still extremely quiet though. Not nearly as loud as a refrigerator.
I’d be more inclined to just switch to the gas generator once the battery died during an extended outage.
Using a gas generator through an AC/DC converter to charge a battery generate that goes through a DC/AC converter to power the house is probably the most inefficient way to use a limited power source.
EDIT: correction, using the gas generator to charge the battery generator that powers a gas pump to fill the gas generator would be more inefficient. 😂😂😂
I look at differently. A few hours of generator run time will charge the batteries and give me 14 hours of use.
I run my electronics of a battery for cleaner sign wave right along with all the other tings that go with it. I have 2 of them. One will run all my stuff for 3 days. have solar panels to charge. Rest of house is run off another brand of battery of only 3000W. Have 4 of them solar charged. All my batteries will charge in less then a day in total cloud b/c of # of panels. Hell i run my house on them sometimes I use that little. Ex: right now I have 4 lights on computer 75"tv and pellet stove. This is all I have on most of the timer.
BTY my water is all gravity fed from a spring. Hell spring is so far above house i need a flow inhibitor in line to keep it down to 45 psi. This is why i for got water pump for some of u but most r one water systems so no pump needed.
Ya I got me a big desal gen that puts out 13,000W. Got 2 heater in there for when it goes below 0. Most of the time just run the one. That 8x16 greenhouse is my food and that of a few others. I do a 2 ac garden and give away to those in need what i dont use which is about 90% of what I grow. I grow 50 plants/ 10"x20" flat. I have 2 shaves to grow on 16' long bottom one just 24" top one 42". 16'=184" this means i can fit 54 flats at a time or about 27,000 plants. Very few get hole hand dug and hand planted. Got me a machine that makes the hole the person setting n it put plant in hole and then cover seedling. Three ppl can put in 20,000 plants with this in three days. Ya it is a 12 hr day but then were farming and that is what we do most every day of the yr.
Wow. Great info. Thanks
I’ve had mine for about a month and have called five electricians in the area each one of them won’t touch it
Where do you live? I worked with my guy and we learned how to install it together. He’s got it down now.
Surprising.. It was an easy install.
Call companies in your area that do solar installations. They certainly have electricians that know how to do this type of installation
I’ve had the same problem, North Georgia
@@lscott3641 Thats crazy. It was not hard to install at all. Maybe look for someone who does commercial or industrial work. Maybe someone doing solar installations.
What they don't tell you, is the internal battery is not replaceable, you have to buy a new unit when the battery can no longer be recharged. I asked Anker CS about this.
The battery is where all the money is anyway. The cost of new ones would probably be as much as a new unit or close to it. They should last ten years or more.
If they sent me free stuff I'd give glowing reviews as well, duh.
I watched the whole video and did not here anything that others won't tell me. You, like other reviewers, fail to even mention that it only puts out under 30 amps. I don't see how any house can run on only 30 amps!
If you watched it then why are you thinking that it will run your entire home. I went into some detail about the sub panel that I installed and the capacity of the unit. Also the total output capacity and how long it lasts with my connected loads. I may have also mentioned that two F3800s can be connected to the home power panel doubling the output capacity the 12000w. Maybe watch it again??