I plan to buy this item in about a week, people need to learn that those small our stations are not meant to run the whole house lol I have a few small power stations and what I run on them for the most part is a couple of USB lights and USB fans they are absolutely fantastic for that. I have a little larger one that I use to charge up my power wheelchair, I keep the power stations charged via solar panel, it saves me quite a bit on my electric bill and when the power goes out I'm not left sitting in the dark, and this makes me very happy. 😎😎
I've been using the EB3A for a month now and I'd say it's pretty good. It has replaced a Jackery Explorer 300 that came in defective (overcharged battery right out of the box, I lost confidence in the brand right there). I returned the Jackery and got the EB3A for a lower (introductory) price. I then went on for a full week of the grid, camping, with it in my Jeep. I was using a combination of the EB3A + my Jeep's battery to power my 12V fridge (BougeRV 23 quart) and recharging my laptop, phone, camera batteries, lights, etc. I also have a 300W inverter in the Jeep. I don't use solar panels for now so charging was 100% done on the road from the 12V charging cable (that they do not provide in the box for stupid reasons... you have to contact them to ask for it and they will send it to you separately). The only complaint I have so far is the unpredictive charging from my Jeep's 12V socket. Sometimes it will pull 100W from the car... sometimes 30... sometimes nothing at all. I think it has something to do with the alternator in the Wrangler being "efficient", i.e. not always pushing power to the battery. If the EB3A doesn't "see" enough voltage, it lowers it's input... as low as nothing at all at some point, I think. There's a similar system in my fridge, but at least BougeRV included 3 levels of protection so you have some control over that. So charging the EB3A through the 300W inverter in silent mode is actually more "efficient" and a lot more consistent and predictable. All in all, this is a good unit if you only need 268 Wh and know about the few little annoyances.
New to the car camping life, I have the EB3A as well. I wanted more power, but this will have to do for now. Can you/anyone lead me to good info on an inverter/what is needed/where to by? I have a 2016 Jeep Patriot 4x4
@@rainapowers Why do you need the inverter for? Just to charge the EB3A in the car, or for something else? Personally I got a 300W pure sine wave inverter from Amazon (BESTEK) that connects to a standard 12V output, and I can charge the EB3A in silence mode + it can power other things if needed. I tried to charge the EB3A in standard mode with it, but the inverter blew the fuse in my car (it tried to pull more than 20A through the 12V socket... ouch). But in silence mode it's fine. The alternative it to use a 12V adapter to charge the EB3A directly and that works but as I explained I've had inconsistent results in my Wrangler because the alternator doesn't always charge the battery... I hope Bluetti can fix this in a future firmware update.
@@OffRoadQC Thank you for this information. I was thinking of using the inverter for an electric kettle or a hair dryer, if either would be supported. That is great to know on the bluetti recharging. Maybe I should pick up an extra fuse for along the way just in case.
I got the EB3A during the special at only $209. I have found it to be a great little unit. Ran my 12volt refrigerator and changed bats for 26 hours. I really do think it’s a great solar generator.
I bought one EB3a from the Bluetti summer sale for $209. Amazon had a discount on it so I bought another one. I have a Rockwood HW A213 that's been lifted 4". I have a solar setup on it with Two 100 AH Battle Born's and 360 watts of solar. I bought the two EB3As for incidental portable power. I run an Alpincool 45 Quart refrigerator on them for in transit. If you need more than this in a power station it is time to build a robust component system.
Thanks Matt - picked this up for $209 with the black Friday sale - mine came with the Solar M4 plug but not the DC cig charger. I really appreciate your real-world review.
If Bluetti continues on this path it will definitely become the leader in this industry. The only fault of this unit is it's capacity & perhaps a wattage of 1000 or higher.
Its a nice solid unit so far (bought at launch). Its capacity is fairly small but you know that going in. I use it more than my ecoflow river max just do to the battery chemistry with the charge cycles. Does great charging my phone and all the drone batteries and controllers on the daily. I ordered a solar cable off amazon as mine didn't come with one. The next day one showed up in the mailbox with no notification at all. Guess they are just sending them out to everyone that ordered one?
Just ordered one. I'm just looking to keep cell phones, maybe a tablet and a USB fan for at night. Seems like it should work well for all of that. Thanks for the review!
I'm so glad way back I listened to you and got my Bluetti. I do however need your EB70 though cause my AC50 isn't quite enough I learned on my trip out west.
When their larger units shed the charger brick and update the displays to battery%, I'll get one. I don't want that notoriously loud and huge charging brick at all.
We've had our eb70 about 2 years now and love it. Would like to pick up one of these little dudes to help take some of the power duties away from it so it could be 100% dedicated to running our dometic fridge.
I got mine for 209$ but it shorted out where the wall plug plugs into the unit. Lasted less than a week 😢 also it couldn’t be shipped to my P.O. Box so I had to make multiple trips into town to various locations (fedex shipped panel and ups shipped eb3a) was easier to throw the unit in the trash then mail it back to Europe
New subscriber looking to buy first power station within a year, with eyes on Bluetti. New display has more info and specific %. Tempting but looking for full time vehicle use with a 12v fridge and other needs, so going to wait for updates to larger units like EB70. Thx.
So I got my Eb3a on sale a week ago for $208. I did get the power cable AND the mc4 connectors in my box. But I know most of the reviewers who I’ve watched said they didn’t get anything but a power cable in their box. So idk why mine came with a power and mc4 cable lol🤷♂️🤷♂️ But so far I really love it
It all sounds great if it actually worked. I have had one around a year and bought it to use with a CPAP. It just cuts off for no reason in UPS mode. No I did not have it in eco mode. Then I tried to run a hot plate with it set in the app to provide up to 1200 watts. It konks out....! I tried a hair dryer on low heat...konks out. It works fine up to 600 watts and cuts out around 700 watts surge in normal use.
Question; what happens If a 200W load is used on the cigarrete DC plug? It's max. power is just 134W so would not want to cause permanent damage to the station.
Thanks for showing all the electronics that can be charged. It's going to work great in my Roadtrek on the way to and in Quartzsite. If I'm not driving enough once there can I charge it when I need to run the generator?
Hey Ozark Overland Adventures, I love your channel and learn a lot from you. I want to find something to plug into my 12v/3a inputs that you find on most power stations. Have you found anything such as lights or usb adaptors that plug into these? Thanks for sharing the content that you create!
I ordered an eb3a but confused on what actually I can plug into it as far as cooking appliances..I have a12" electric skillet that says 120/ 1200watts so not sure if I can use it with this bluetti..
The EB3a is too small for most electric appliances. For an electric skillet like that you need a much larger power station that can handle the 1200 watts.
Great review. Looks like a game changer when compared to the other power stations available. Now I just need to come up with a valid reason( ok, excuse) to buy another power station. 🤔😂😂
I’ve had one issue with one of their power stations and they were quick to respond and replace it after jumping through a couple testing hoops. No complains here.
I have a 2013 rubicon 2 door looking to purchase a fridge and have heard a couple times that some portable power units do not charge from the outlet in the rear. Can you please elaborate on how you charged this unit. Did you plug it into the plug near the arm rest in middle of console, instead of cigarette plug in rear? Thanks, really enjoy you and your wives content. P.s. found a Ranier stove like yours (missing griddle flat top rrrr) unused though, and the Coleman oven. Stoked in Delaware. Thank you, good day then, Terry.
This all other quick charge power stations will not charge from the AC plug in my Gladiator because they require a pure sine wave inverter and the inverter in the Gladiator is not pure sine. I charge from the 12 volt outlet in the front which still charges pretty quick.
I sent back the WattFun (as seen in your other review) with it's weak 65 watt solar charging limit and ordered the EB3A yesterday with it's massive 200 watt charging capability. And again that's on solar charging only! I bought mine for $209 yesterday but today 8/20 they upped the price to $239 on ebay. You can get a free solar charging cable but you have to ask for it. Not sure what's up with that. In some other reviews I've seen recently the mc4 to 8mm connector was included. Weird!
@@OzarkOverlandAdventures Sorry. I should have been clearer. I meant to ask the brand Bluetti or Anker is your preference. I tried to reach CS at Bluetti a few months ago and could never get a response. Enjoy your videos very much!
@@jgd2701 I have no experience with Anker's smaller power stations, only their larger ones so I don't think I can give an actual comparison. I do know this one is excellent.
This is the first of this new display and quick charging design. Their 500w and 700w are excellent but don’t have the quick charging and nicer display.
@@OzarkOverlandAdventures Thanks Matt !! I think I'll wait to see what they come up with later. I'm not in a big hurry right now so hopefully they will have the same unit in a larger capacity soon ! Thanks again !
I got mine the other day. Potentially awesome. However, I updated the firmware thru the app. It turned into a useless brick !! Zero response from customer service !!! Ive had the 200p for over a year and, thankfully,zero problems. Use it all of the time.
After I discovered their emails were going to spam folder their customer service was excellent. They sent me prepaid labels to ship it back. As soon as they received my brick they shipped me out a new one !
Love my Bluetti EB3A but what I don't love is how you can condone driving gasoline and oil soaked 4 wheel drive vehicles through pristine bodies of water as you show in your beginning Ozark Adventure video clip. I live in Northern Michigan and I love my Jeep but we do not drive through streams or creeks any longer. The last time it happened there were oil streaks for weeks or months afterwards so it's not allowed any longer in most areas. If you are gonna tell me that your 4 wheel drives don't leak oil residue into water you Sir are wrong. This country has enough land to 4 wheel drive without driving through the water because it's fun. We are in serious water issues in this country and others right now and need to protect what we have.
What may be illegal in Michigan is legal in Arkansas. These are legal trails with legal water crossings in the Ozark National Forest. Water crossings are just part of wheeling in the Ozarks.
@@OzarkOverlandAdventures Like I said I love my 4 wheeler and you say that water crossings are legal in Arkansas but you need to ask yourself if they are good for the water. Rivers and streams were never meant to have gasoline or diesel vehicles driving through them. I'm sure you do it very professionally and would never abandoned a swamped out jeep that got in to deep and rolled over and dumped two leaking 5 gallon cans of gas into a beautiful stream overnight. The water on this planet is suffering in places so bad and it's getting worse. It's apparent when you look at places like Lake Meade or just look at the trouble on the Mississippi river right now. We can't be blind any longer when it comes to protecting our good water because the water you drive through today is the water our Grandchildren will have to drink tomorrow.
