Should I or should I not? Small house emergency back up system. Best bang for the buck, over the long hall! With as few headaches as possible! With a possible 6-7Kw solar array. I’m very happy with my smaller Bluettis! Yet this is on another level! Thanks Jason, for your explanation, of its capabilities. Keep your smiles on!
Hi Jason, I watch all your videos. The content of the testing is incredibly thorough and given in a straightforward well understood approach. Cudos. This machine is a beast. I know of no other power unit with so much flexibilty. Well, until next year or so. Thanks for all your work. Bill
Great testing on this. I'm on my 3rd watch of this review as there is so much to absorb. I know you put a lot of time into this review, and it definitely shows. While it's a big price point for most of us, I think it's worth it. Can't beat the promotional price. I'm all in. Thanks again.
@@jazzysbasementt its a millisecond measurement of amperage at peak power. The amperage drops significantly once the motor starts up. The clamp meter isn't wrong.
Another great and informative video! I stumbled upon your channel several months ago and so glad I did. I’m not an electrical engineer by any means but your delivery and explanation makes it easy for me to understand. I’m glad I Subbed and will be looking forward to your next video, thanks
Thank you! You are the only one who did the inverter power usage test overnight (50Wh). Most other testers check peak power, which is useless most of the time. I bought the AC500-B300s a few weeks ago and have them running my fridge and internet from solar (partly) however according to the AC500 readings I find the inverter is using around 120Wh. This means that I need nearly the whole 3000Wh battery just to run the inverter for the 24 hours! I think this is far too high and not viable considering that where I live I only average 1.5KWh daily solar this time of the year. I will probably disconnect everything until it gets more sunny…
Winter is very tough to get through, multiple times this winter I had to shut off my system and go back to grid power. Now that the sun is shining longer through the day, I am able to get my batteries up to 100% and then they run overnight, and they charge back up the next day.
Thanks for answering the question in regards to using the old B300 batteries with the AC500. It's just a shame that I still have to buy another connector just to make it work and that is for each battery.
Great video and well structured review, thank you Jason. Just bought an Ecoflow Delta Pro because it was the only model in stock where I live, but I’m very interested to purchase this new Bluetti unit as well as it ticks a lot if boxes.
I love the idea of these systems for diy, so simple. However for rv / caravan application the cable orientation makes it hard to fit in some applications.
You convinced me to go Bluetti over Ecoflow and while I don't have the dough to buy one of these AC500s I did pick up there small budget guy for power in my future overlanding rig. Thanks for your great reviews on these solar generators.
@@jonphanspromotions While the LiFePo batteries are not necessarily great for cold weather up here in Canada, I think the inherent stability of the LiFePo is something I really like. I really don't want a Li-Ion battery blowing up in my truck or anywhere for that batter. Before this I was on the EcoFlow train all the way.
Jason, I just discovered your channel. Fantastic content on everything I've seen so far. I live in Fort Myers and just made it through hurricane Ian, so I've been tasked by my wife to create an emergency power plan. I'm a technical guy, but not an electrician, so I don't know what I'm doing yet. Your videos have been helping. Thank you for creating them. Is there a way that I could ask you questions about battery backup and solar?
These panels are perfect for the battery's dedicated charge controller and the Bluetti charging enhancer. Took me forever to find a panel that stayed under 60voc.
Wow, Bluetti just keeps cranking these bigger and better power stations out at record pace. They also have a b500 battery that's being introduced in Germany starting tomorrow. I kind of wish that i would have waited instead of buying the AC200MAX at the beginning of the year, but if you are waiting for the latest, you will end up with nothing. As always, you seem to be the first to review this one, with a very thorough battery of tests and best of all, actual use of the product day to day. As a side note, there is a Samsung 19 CF full size refrigerator that will run off the EB3A for 6 hours! Do you ever think that you will add another AC500 and pair for split phase?
I saw that 'modular' design they just launched for the EU market, pretty cool stuff! I don't have the room for two of these haha! I am purchasing an additional B300s battery today, I'm hoping the delivery times are too horrible!
@@KittKattBarr222 heres a video I did comparing all my ICECO fridges, you might find it helpful: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-slLEnFgPLsI.html
@@KittKattBarr222 Hello Cat, here is the link to the video showing the EB3a running the Samsung 21 cubic foot refrig. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sORzpN90AbY.html
I think this AC500 is better of as a home back up power unit. Not really a portable one. I won't be able to carry this to the work site and camping trips due to its massive size and weight.
Hi Jason, I did not see you use the NEMA 14-50R Receptacle in your testing. Can I use two Bluetti AC500 units with a total of four B300S (3072 Watts each battery) batteries in Split-Phase mode to safely power my 50 Amp 2022 Jayco Pinnacle RV? Proposed Setup: Each Bluetti AC500 has a 50 Amp female connector: (NEMA 14-50R) that is NOT a 240 volt receptacle, instead it is only 120 volts on one leg--the other leg is 0 volts. But, if you purchase two Bluetti AC500 units (each with at least one battery connected to it) and then use both a special Bluetti Communication cable that connects one AC500 unit to the other AC500 unit (and a special Bluetti "Y-Cable", discussed below)--the software in the Bluetti AC500 allows you to perform a master-slave 240 volt Split-Phase setup (I believe this is called a 240 volt Split-Phase setup???). The "Y-Cable" mentioned above, has two NEMA 14-50P male plugs and you connect one of the two 14-50P male plugs on the "Y-Cable" to one AC500 unit via its NEMA 14-50R receptacle and the other 14-50P male plug on the "Y-Cable" to the other AC500 unit via its NEMA 14-50R receptacle. The third connector on the "Y-Cable" is a NEMA SS2-50R. I can purchase an adapter on Amazon that has NEMA SS2-50P/CS6365 on one end and a NEMA 14-50R on the other so I can use it with my RV's 50 Amp Plug (NEMA 14-50P) that I normally use for plugging into shore power. I know this is somewhat of an elaborate setup--but I am wondering if it will work? I decided to go this way instead of a Cummings Onan propane generator. Thanks for taking the time to look at my setup, Steve Weakley
@@Jasonoid Oh yeah. I’m living my best off grid life with it for one year and half now. I purchased it when bluetti was still not so popular and now I’m happy to see it gaining a lot of traction! The day I’ll move from my cabin to a better of grid setup I’ll probably stay with bluetti. Super cool products.
This was the biggest video project I had ever finished. Weeks of testing, filming and editing! So glad to have this video out now. I can actually sleep haha.
Hello Jason, Thank you for your videos! I'm still a newbie and know enough to get myself in trouble. I'm still confuse about bonded and floating neutral but one day i will understand. I recently just purchase the AC500 and B300S. I want to use the AC500&B300S to back up my house when the gird is down. I have install a Reliance Controls R306A on the main panel for this purpose. I've also install a Reliance Control CSR202 on my sub panel. The CSR202,AC500&B300S will run my pool pump 24/7. I will charge the AC500&B300S with the DC/solar input only. I will not use the AC input for charging while hook up to the transfer switches. Will I have issues with bonded and floating neutral using these transfer switches and charging only with the DC input. Your advise is greatly appreciated
As long as you don't charge from the grid you should be fine with however your main panel is connected up. I run mine off solar panels all the time and I haven't had any issues. The transfer switch isolates the circuits completely from your main panel.
Another fantastic review (as always). Question about the B300S. Would you ever consider doing a separate standalone review on it? So, some of the testing that you do but on a smaller scale. That would include actual charging of the unit as well. Although it’s just DC there are still plenty of reasons to use it separately, for example, using it with the Iceco JP50 Pro that you reviewed, or a CPAP machine etc. I’m sure there are other creative ways of using that we haven’t thought about. Given the capacity of the battery and the current price, the watt hour per $ is very reasonable. Thanks!
Since it a modular system wish they come out something smaller with it, or has two inverter one can be more efficient to run appliance longer. Instead 40w idle power, switch to 10-15w when you don’t need high output.
It would be nice to have a "low power" mode if you knew you weren't going to be pushing it past 1000 watts. With two batteries the idle power isn't horrible. Any 5000 watt inverter will be pulling that much power when not in use.
Thank you for a great review! I'm wondering how much the battery capacity test is affected by the Deep Discharge feature on the AC500. I'm guessing the AC500 holds some capacity in reserve for that functionality (not found in any other Bluetti products) which most likely impacts the results of your battery capacity test. It would be very interesting to see the results of a battery capacity test on the AC500 which discharges the battery to 0 percent, then enables the Deep Discharge feature to see what remaining capacity there is. Thanks and keep up the great work!
Another great video. Always one of my first stops before purchasing. Quick question, do they sell, or will they sell an adapter for the 300S to connect to the AC200Max. If you are aware, the cable name would be great. Thanks!
I dont think they are planning to make a "backwards compatibility" cable for the B300s since it has the heaters and such. I don't think the older power stations can operate the heaters. Just plan on using the B300 batteries.
I was wondering what would happen if you have it connected to the grid while also having 3000w solar panels connected, but then you remove the battery because you want to take it with you on a small camping trip. Will the AC500 continue to supply the things you have connected, and when it doesn't get enough solar energy, will it automatically switch to drawing from the grid and actually operate as an on-grid system without a battery? Or will it just shut down and "die" the moment it doesn't have a battery connected?
Jason, hard core review and thanks from down under, we have different models 240, but interested in 12 output, is there a current limit and what happens when this is triggered ? Thinking RV use, fridges, fans all sorts. Regards
If you only need 3000 watts of power, get the AC300. if you an to be in temps under 32F and you need over 3000 watts of power, get the AC500. They are very similar and I have reviews on both of them.
Why grid connection is consuming same or more than inverter, when grid is connected but not charging, and AC and DC output is off? My nightmare. How to avoid such loss?
My wife would hate that behemoth sitting in a corner of our utility room with wires and extension cords going everywhere. Only an idiot would buy this. So anyway, it should be here by December. And man am I stoked!!! Thanks my bauruther... . LOL
This is in my storage room so out of sight. There are no extension cords with a transfer switch setup, I just had the extension cord with the fridge run test haha. You can choose to route the solar wires how you want, there are many options 😁
@@Jasonoid Thank you so much. This was a great video. I think I'm going to love having this system to run some RV things and as a home backup. And wow! What a price. Thanks again.
Thank you Jason for another very informative video review! QUICK QUESTION: I assume your 6-zone transfer switch works with Pass-through charging with the Bluetti? I've read in several forums of the Bluetti AC300 tripping codes or having issues while pass-through charging with certain transfer switches something to do with and Open Neutral or Open Ground. Also can you provide me with the make and model of your transfer switch? Thanks and keep up the Great videos!
Mine doesn't have any issues, but I don't charge mine from the grid. I mostly have solar panels hooked up to charge it (99% of the time). This video has the make and model I used in the video description ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eiWnqukg9mM.html
You mentioned Bluetti is making a cable so you can use the B300 batteries w/the AC500, do you have any idea if the B300S batteries will work w/the AC300? The kickstart price on the new batteries makes me want to buy 1 or 2 for my AC300. Great video as always, thx for getting the info out so fast!
20:43 is incorrect. Everyone is assuming it can charge at 240V. It actually charges at 120V @ 50amps. It uses the 240V outlet ONLY because of the thicker #6 gauge wiring and 50 amp receptacle. Bluetti sent me a diagram of the 50 amp charging cable. It's a 3 wire cable but it has a 4-prong Nema 16-50 connector. Only the W, X, and Ground are wired; W is Neutral /White, X is a HOT wire, G is green/ground. It has to use this 240V outlet to handle the 50 amps, which is on a 50 amp double breaker. On another note, the 50 amp charging cable is not really rated for 50 amps, as it's #8 gauge wire which is normally rated for 40 amps. I'm waiting to hear back from them on this. You COULD use this #8 gauge cable at 50 amps but it's going to get hot. You can set the charging input to 40 amps to be prudent. It's marked as a high temperature cable but I wouldn't run it hot unattended.
I literally charged it with my neighbors 240v 30 amp car charger using Bluettis car charging adapter... It got 5000 watts input via 240 volts. Did you miss that part of the video? If you charge at 120v you are limited to 30 amps charging input. The AC port has three inputs, two hot and one neutral, no ground. (It also showed 240v input on the screen details. There's no magic 120v to 240v charging conversion in the wiring)
@@Jasonoid Well, Bluetti sent me the wiring diagram of their Nema 14-50 charging cable. The three connectors on the Aircraft plug are wired as follows: one is to the G (Ground) prong, the 2nd is wired to the X (one of the 120v legs) prong, the 3rd is wired to the W (neutral) prong. The Y (the other 120v leg) prong is NOT wired at all. I have this cable, and verified it with my voltmeter. It will only connect of one of the two 120v hots when plugged into the Nema 14-50 receptacle. I had planned to buy an adapter cable to use my current Nema 6-50 240v 3-prong outlet. But Bluetti told me NOT to do that as it will not work. It MUST have a Neutral wire. I think the confusion is that the input can take a single lead of 240V (as opposed to a single 120v lead). But as Bluetti themselves showed me, the 3 inputs are hot, neutral, and ground. You can find their pic in this discussion community.bluettipower.com/t/50-amp-ac500-charging-cable/22382/9
@3:00 at that point I tested using a 240v car charging cable connected to the Bluetti stock charging cable which has three leads. Maybe that car charging adapter takes the two hot leads and puts them in series? I'm not sure how it works, but it did indeed charge at 240v and 20 amps ~4800 watts. I don't have a car charger to test with, but maybe I can disassemble the adapter to see whats going on with the wiring.
Hi great video , I live in south spain where we have sun 300 days a year , I would like to use one of these ac500 to power my townhouse for my family of 4 due to high energy prices here . I have 1 refrigerator , 1 washing machine , 1 80 liter electric boiler , and typical oven couple of TVs etc , could I use the ac500 to power my house? How many solar panels and batteries do you think I would have to purchase ? Really at night we don’t use much power , I also have 2 aircon units but only put them on for short periods of time in the summer. Thanks !
It would be fine to run the fridge and washing machine with 700+ watts of solar. I would recommend at least 1200 watts of solar to charge it faster. In my opinion I think it would struggle with the larger electric appliances. Those usually require lots more power!
What about idle power consumption with both AC and DC outputs off (for the times the AC500 is just connected to a small solar panel on a cloudy day)? This was the biggest problem with the AC200P.
Hey Taske, I talked about DC idle power draw in the video, it's in the dc capacity testing section. See the time stamps. The screen uses minimal power and you shouldn't worry about it.
@@Jasonoid Yeah, I commented too hastily, but edited after seeing that part of the video. How about the idle power consumption with the outputs off with just a solar panel connected though?
It doesn't have noticeable power draw with the the outputs turned off. If you have the screen on, WiFi and Bluetooth enabled it will use some power. If the outputs are off and solar is coming in, it will charge up, not discharge.
@@stephensmith777 This is my video about my transfer switch, the part is linked in the video description. Reliance Controls is the brand, they have many to chose from: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eiWnqukg9mM.html
I got mine last week. 500 w/ 2 300s. IT IS HEAVY!!! Not hardly portable. Why are my 200 Amp Hr Amperetime bats. so much lighter. They weigh about 25lbs. The 300S bats weigh about 80lbs and are the same size. WHY!?!? It is nice and quiet and runs all my chest freezers for 24 hrs with no problem. Keep in mind the foot print is about double what it claims to be due to the huge forearm size cable hooking up both bats. I have tried to put this thing in several spots to store it but with the cables it is simply to big. Bluetti needs to come up with a better connection. Like many other units it needs to connect from top to bottom not from side to side. The bat cables make this unit much less desirable. If you have all the room in the world and a wight lifting background you will probably love it.
I agree the cables are rough since they are big. A click in top to bottom setup would be nice! Quick tip, I twist them into loops. If you twist them up they will loop up and take up about half the space.
Is it really that exciting? Not sure. I have the AC300 and have ordered the AC500 power station but am not sure. I have 5 B300 and ordered 4 B300s. Will have back problems for sure.
Hi, I like your grading sheet, but I'm missing one very important information, how much watts each device can get from solar panels. As Ecoflow's largest device can only input I think 3kW from solar panels. Which for a 10kWh system or more is nothing for every day off-grid usage. And for example, River Mini can only input 100W from solar panel. Which is fine until you want to run something all day from an solar panel and is taking up 50W or more...
Can you do a 24 hour small simulated off cabin type of setup with a 24-28 cubic ft fridge, a gaming PC, lights, window ac unit, router, all running at same time? How much solar input do you think you would need to not have the system drop below 25% at continuous full load? Will one battery do it or how many batteries would someone need to run that set up 100 percent off grid?
With one battery I was having issues getting my two full size fridges to get through the night. I purchased a second battery on the indiegogo campaign and ever since I haven't seen it drop below 45% with 5 circuits running 24/7. Now these aren't heavy use circuits but they do have some big loads on them throughout the day. For example, my home office (laptop, three monitors and printer) two full size microwaves, two full size fridges, garage door, bunch of LED light circuits, couple TVs. It does it all. So IMO two batteries is MUCH better than one. I have about 1600 watts of solar coming into my system during the day.
Can you tell us about the MOST IMPORTANT question, Did they fix their customer service problem ???????? Nobody answers the phone when you call them and have a problem or questions. Products are great but their customer service SUCKS 👎👎👎. Nobody answers the phone or calls you back. Let us know before we spend our money on this thing..🤷🏻♂
I appreciate what you are doing. Your test showed this would run the refrigerator for 27.5 hours. Does it harm the battery to run the battery to 0%? How long would it run the fridge if the system was also being charged with solar or generator (or both) during the day? My primary concern is saving my food during an outage.
With a decent solar panel setup of 500 watts + and consistent sun through the day you can run your fridge off this power station indefinitely. I have been running my fridge for 3 months non stop on the AC300/AC500 setup. When clouds set in for multiple days is the only time I have an issue. In a long term outage, my plan is to charge this system off solar when possible, and then charge it off my 2000w inverter generator when at night or cloudy if needed. As for damaging the batteries, hitting 0% won't damage them since Bluetti saves a lower portion of the battery so avoid damage. I have been very impressed by both the AC300 and AC500. You could also get by with probably the AC200max if you just wanted to run 1 full size fridge.
@@Jasonoid Thank you. I would like to run more appliances and reduce reliance on the grid but the fridge is my priority. I plan right now to get the AC500 and 2 B300S and will use your link. IndieGoGo lists the batteries but does not mention connection cords between the AC500 and B300S'. Do they come with the purchase? I don't know what to buy with the package. Could you make suggestions? I hate to ask more from you but I already have 8 solar panels on my small home but can't currently use them to charge the Bluetti batteries. My solar inverter is not capable to do battery back up. I would need a new inverter, an auto transfer switch, and I am told a critical load panel besides batteries. An estimate with the smallest battery was 13K. If this was done could the B300S be used with this setup? Any ideas or suggestions? It seems the more economical plan is to install an auto transfer switch (w critical load panel?) for the Bluetti system and add solar panels myself somewhere in back at a later time. Would this work just as well to take away reliability on PG&E?
@@michaelg1816 The power cables come with the battery purchase, so you will have the cables you need to connect the batteries, no need to purchase anything else. As for the solar panels on your house, you should be able to tie those into the Bluetti AC500 if the voltage specs match the charge controller (150VDC, 15 amps, 1500 watts X TWO, since there are two charge controllers). I don't see you having to purchase a new inverter since the AC500 already has a built in inverter. You would just plug in your AC500 into your transfer switch. I used Reliance Controls and they have many transfer switches to chose from. This is a video of my transfer switch setup: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eiWnqukg9mM.html
There's no UPS mode when charging with only solar panels. UPS mode is only for AC charging. When charging with solar the inverter is always on and the battery stays full with enough solar input. I only use solar charging on my AC500 and it's awesome.
Great video @Jasonoid, I picked up the AC500 w/ 2x 300s batteries, great deal, my question is what transfer box would I need for this? Any help would be appreciated.
You can look at any of the Reliance Controls 510 series. You'd need to find the proper adapter cable to connect to the AC500: www.reliancecontrols.com/ProductDetail.aspx?510A
@@Jasonoid they don’t sell them yet at bluetti right. I just saw the $79 one but that only got 3000watts. Sorry I’m totally new to this and I’m just trying to learn and get the parts to have it installed. I appreciate the help.
Great video, I just ordered the AC500 + 1 B300S. Is the EV charging adapter you mentioned an product from Bluetti? I can't find it on their website. If it's not, do you know who the manufacturer is?
Great video. Did you find out what the 10KW surge duration spec from Bluetti is? I think it may be only 30 ~ 50mS (about 4 AC cycles), I do not see the spec on Bluetti web site in your link. @18:21 according to the spec on Buetti website, it shows PV max input of 3000W 12 ~150V, 12A. Did they change the spec of the PV input?
The manual says 500 ms 10,000 watt surge. I don't think it actually went that long in my testing as I only hit 6880 watts. That's the one Bluetti needs to do better, allow more surge! They raised the amperage from 12amps to 15amps, slight upgrade to get the 1500 watts each.
The new EP800 is best suited for 240v applications, this one is really designed for just 120v output. You can buy two of them and put them in series for split phase 30 amp operation but that's pretty expensive.
Jasonoid, good morning. As always, I have a question in reference to bluetti ac 500. Today I'm charging the B300s . Is it safe to have the battery outside individually without the whole system, so I can charge with my 300w off grid solar blanket. Oh, also I think the solar blanket is connected to an xt90 connector. Thank you
Yes, it can be charged individually without damage. Each B300s battery comes with a 'xt90 to mc4' charging cable. That adapter will allow you to connect your solar panel easily. Its probably with your boxes and documentation if you don't see it.
The power station will limit the input amperage automatically. It's okay if your panels create a little extra amperage. You just want to make sure to not go over the maximum voltage limit as that will damage the power station.
@@Jasonoid so those panels equal 630 watts and the charger can only do 500. I assume that’s fine and it will only take what it can handle. The 200max can handle 900 without the controller is it better to go over because often enough you don’t reach full potential of a panel so you can increase your odds of hitting the 900?
I have yet to find a power station that doesn't have an inverter that uses "phantom power". It takes power to convert power from DC to AC, it's just physics. I have been running two fridges off this for 2 months straight via my transfer switch. Solar panels charge it up during the day, it runs down at night. You could go with a smaller inverter unit that has less phantom power. Ecoflow has the new LFP Delta 2 coming out this month and it seems to have really low Phantom power on the AC inverter.
It's hard to test the actual efficiency without seeing the voltage and amperage on both sides of the charge controller (Being that it's all internal and I can't get those readings). From my observations it seems fairly efficient.
@@Jasonoid I used an inline meter as well as what the app says at the bottom for PV input. Appears to be around 87.7% efficient to the AC500 and I haven't tested the BS300 yet. Was just looking for another data point to compare to as this meter is supposed to peak at 60v and I had 90v constant running through it so I don't know if I should trust its readout but the app showed 3,500w PV created to fill the battery through the AC500 from 0%-100% which would be 87.7%. I would hope the efficiency through the B300S would be better, it should be the same as their supplemental charger since that's what they're using inside, I just haven't found anyone who's tested that yet. In any case, that and their AC charger efficiency is lower than I'd like to see.
@@reviews2you that level of power to fully charge the batteries up sounds about right, at least using the AC charging. It's not super efficient going from AC to DC power. I believe the solar charging to be much more efficient since it's DC to DC Charging. In my daily use case, I strictly charge mine with solar panels only, so I haven't tried doing a full AC charge with my watt meter inline in the last couple of months. I currently have 2 B300s batteries attached (just got my second battery from the indiegogo launch) and I have been able to run 5 circuits 24/7 for the last week. It's been pretty cool to be running those completely off solar!
@@Jasonoid Yeah I got 73% charge efficiency from the wall, so the solar charge is definitely better which is good. Discharge efficiency should go up with your second battery I bet, you should do a follow up video when you get some more time with it. I contemplated getting 3 more batteries but just bought 30kWh in server rack batteries w/ a 12kWh PV array. I haven't gotten it installed yet but should be within the next month or so. Currently running my entertainment center (with two amps and a receiver and 60" TV) off just the AC500 and 1 battery with solar. Been mostly happy with it! I enjoy your reviews, keep up the nice work.
The table saw had a normal 15amp plug since it runs off 120v normal wall outlets. It only pulls that many amps for a split second. I didn't have an adapter to try the larger ports. I have the feeling that all the ports are tied together in the back so the surge would be the same on all outlets.
I'm trying to find a use case of the 50amp plug besides an RV, It would be cool to be able to utilize the 12volt 30amp dc port and 50 amp plug inside a residential home somehow. And one other question, when you used the power saw in your test did you have Power Lifting on? The saw that couldn't run?
Power lifting only works with 'resistive loads' like heaters or heat guns. You can't really use it on anything else. Very limited feature. I use my power stations with my transfer switch to power 6 circuits off solar: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eiWnqukg9mM.html
The saw has a 15 amp plug so that's how we tested it. It maybe have done better on the larger outlet but I'm guessing they all have the same amp cutoff.
Does anyone know the UL number for the AC500 and B300s? They say they have the following certification: UL, CEC, DOE, FCC CA Prop 65, but I can't find this information anywhere. An inspector is hassling me to provide the UL info for the Bluetti system before he passes my transfer switch installation.
One AC500 will handle 4500 watts output, or about 37.5amps @120volts. If you have one AC500 with two batteries it can handle the full 5000 watts output, or about 41amps @ 120 volts. If you put two AC500 units together with the special Bluetti junction box, you can get the full 240v output @ 50amps.
Hi Jason, great video and very informative. Do you know if the two hot legs are bridged from the L14-30 (30 Amp) plug of the AC500 and does it provide 5000 W output or are we limited to using the 50 Amp outlet to obtain 5000 watts? If not bridged, I believe the max output from the L14-30 plug would be 3750 watts. I am trying to determine if the AC500 could interface with a Reliance 310CRK Transfer switch (rated for 7500 watts) via the L14-30 inlet box and achieve the maximum output wattage of the AC500.
You will want to use the 50 amp port / cable for the larger 5000w loads. The L14-30 cable is designed for only 30 amps and will overheat at 5000w. It works fine on my AC300 but I will probably update my transfer switch in the future to support 10 circuits and the 50 amp cable.
I also heard that the 50A output only works with a split-phase setup. Since I won't be taking that route, I'd still like to know if the two hot legs on the L14-30 receptacle are bridged, since my transfer switch is expecting 120V on both legs. (I'm not expecting 5000W.) I won't have one for months; can you put a meter on the L14-30 with AC on, and see if there's 120V on each of the two hot legs? I don't like to ask a reviewer who has already put in so much test time (thank you!), but there are very few of these units out there to get an answer.
Looking at the wiring diagram for the L14-30R socket, I was able to pull 120v from the Y and W slots using my voltmeter. No power from the other slots. I believe if I was able to pull 120v from both slots, it would be putting out 240v. I'm not an electrican so take that with a grain of salt LOL... Maybe message Hobotech, he might know more about it.
@@anthonydrake7767 According to Hobotech's review the 50A outlet has 120V coming from one of the two hot legs. I reached out to Reliance about their 50A transfer switch (A510A Pro/Trans 2). The technician mentioned that the two hot legs (red & black hot wires inside the transfer switch), that connect to the power inlet box, may need to be bridged. Like Jason, I am not an electrician, but it seems possible that the 50A output could work without a split-phase set-up.
Question for anyone that can help. I have 2 BLUETTI AC200P and one of them won't power up. Can I take the battery out of the one that don't work and hook it up to my other one? In series or parallelIn?
Jasonoid, good morning. Im going to test charge my bluetti ac500 this week using my Honda 7000is gas generator. As you suggested, im going to start the test with the amperage setting at 7, and after a few min. ill change to 15. I'll need an extension cord, is there a specific brand or length needed for efficiency, and will the eco throttle be useful ? Thank you
Jason, will the Nema 14-50p power both legs of your power panel when plugged into the transfer switch. Or is one leg of what would normally make up the 240 volts dead?
I don't have a way to test out the NEMA 14-50p since I don't have the cable. I'm guessing one of the legs isn't powered. My 3 prong RV plug works great with my transfer switch though.
This was asked and discussed on the Bluetti Facebook forum. The answer is as Jason guessed; only one hot leg of the NEMA 14-50R is powered (at 120V). The other leg is unconnected. I don't know if a transfer switch would be happy if you make your own cable and plugs to bridge the two potential hot legs going to your transfer switch. Might work; don't know. An expensive alternative is to add a second AC500 and connect them in a split-phase arrangement with a communication cable, so with a Y adapter cord, you could get two hot leads with 240V between them. At the moment, Bluetti doesn't sell an output 50A Y adapter cord set, so you'd have to make your own, or wait for them to offer one for sale.
Correction: Bluetti does indeed sell a 50A Y adapter cord set on their Indiegogo site, using a "secret" perk URL. Check the discussion messages for "mstang1988" where they provided the URL.
I have 1 question that I cannot find an answer to, I want this to use for my internet/ CCTV/ security system and network as a UPS, my question is I'm out of town for a week and there's a power failure the batteries get completely depleted and the system shuts down, When the grid power comes back on and recharges the batteries can the unit be set to resume the last state that it was in IE: backup mode for the next event or is it just sitting there requiring me to come back to the physical location and push buttons on the devices to reengage it?
You have to manually turn back on the AC inverter once the power station shuts back down. If you had wifi access to the unit, meaning your router was on but not connected to the AC500, you could turn on and off the inverter remotely via the app.
I would go with the AC500 since it takes in a bunch more solar and has newer features. The EP500 is a little older and doesn't support as much as the newer model. They do have some similar specs but the AC500 is more expandable.
