AC180 & AC70 Recent Real World RV Experience

[Mandp]

I thought I would note my recent trip use of the AC70 & AC180 in my RV. I use my rig primarily for gold prospecting. Apologies for the long post, but hopefully of interest…

SETUP

Before going further, I’m in Australia, we use a different grid power to the U.S. Also, certain nouns used
to describe items differ. That said, I’ll use Au terms and (*) those that I know in U.S. speak, lol. i.e. Caravan or Van abbreviated = (RV or trailer). I’ll use W or Wh for AC items and A or Ah for nominal 12VDC.

My caravan is a small single axle, off road pop top, with combined loo (toilet) and shower. It has a 110lt compressor fridge and a 30lt drawer fridge accessed from outside, which is rarely used.
Also, a 700W microwave, all LED lighting and the TV is on 12VDC all of the time even tho’ I have a VAC power brick. FYI, we use 240VAC at 50Hz and that is the output of the Bluetti power banks. The van has a 160W on roof horizontal only solar panel and the battery management system is a combined unit that provides; 30A from 240VAC supply, inbuilt 30A max MPPT solar controller and a voltage sensing relay for vehicle charging.

I was not happy with this method of DC charge and have disconnected that input and rerouted it to a Redarc BCDC1225n Lithium profile DC-DC charger. I fitted 2 x 100Ah LiFePo4s when I bought the van, replacing a 100Ah AGM as all chargers have a Li profile. I have also wired in an external plug for an additional x 150W solar mats, for a total solar input of 460W max. That’s most of the background, next post = PROCESS.

[Mandp]

PROCESS - VDC

From past experience, measured power usage and displayed real time power status, the following items are powered.
Daytime when not at camp the only thing running is the 110lt fridge. It’s daily use in 25C (77F) ambient or below is approx 28Ah @ 13VDC = 364Wh. Here in Australia, I detect in late Autumn, Winter and early Spring. i.e. cooler to cold. Cold here = around zero C, unlike northern climes.

As this is the only item using power, on a sunny day I get between 20 & 25A input from solar, depending on fridge cycle. On overcast days, the array is running the fridge and adding 2-3A if lucky.

The obvious usage increase occurs when in residence and at night. What do I run from 12VDC? A. Other than the fridge, LED lights, minimum required depending on activity. i.e. when cooking more light is safer, when watching TV less is better. Water pump as req’d and loo flush when used. Charging and or running a laptop (DC supplied), Android Tab, mobile phones and the TV. I should note that if watching TV, I don’t usually need the laptop and vice versa. As it is winter, the diesel heater in the van goes on at around 5pm and stays on till 8-9am, using around 20Ah. Last, recharging detector batteries and associated bluetooth audio devices. Cooking is at times LPG only.

In total my daily use of power from all of the above is constantly around 30% of my 200Ah capacity or 60Ah = 3 days without recharge.

PROCESS - VAC

The VAC items in the caravan are; Roof mounted airconditioner, hot water system duel LPG/VAC (LPG is similar to Propane), the main battery bank charger at 30A DC output and around 550W AC input and the microwave oven rated at 700W output. When free camping (boondocking) I only use LPG for hot water and as it’s winter never the air conditioner as the diesel heater is used. I do carry a small collapsible kettle, a 2 slice toaster and a toasted sandwich maker, all at 240VAC. More on them later.

This leaves the microwave and the battery charger to note. Re the charger, this would only get used if grid power is available or with a generator. The more or less daily use is the microwave oven. As mentioned it is 700W, that is heating power, however it is rated at 1184W of AC input. I noted that when tunning on the AC180 its draw was nearer 1380W on the AC180 display. This is for 2 reasons, firstly the efficiency of the inverter and secondly, the rated output is at 240VAC and the AC180 runs at around 230VAC.

[Mandp]

RESULTS

I have the AC180 on a spare seat near the microwave and as it is 16kg (35lb) not something I want to continually move. If I cook a store bought frozen ready meal for 6 minutes, from 100% full the AC180 drops to 88% capacity, which means it will last 7-8 days before a recharge. This is approx 140Wh of use, however, I believe that a quick charge every day is better for the battery and quicker to do using my process. So, I then charge the AC180 from the AC70, which is next to it, with the AC180 set to charge in silent mode at around 290W. This takes approx 40minutes to bring the AC180 back to 100%. The AC70 then shows a capacity of approx 65-70% after recharging the AC180. Next day, I tie the AC70 down on my rear drawer in the 4x4 and hook it to the Victron 375W inverter when I drive it charges in less than an hour, also on silent mode. The rest of any driving recharges the auxiliary.

CONCLUSIONS

1. The above process works very well for me when the sun shines and I have almost indefinite power.
2. If there are 1-2 days of overcast weather, where solar is not “cutting it”, I have enough residual capacity to ride it out.
3. However, if the weather is bad for a number of continuous days, thing start to get worrying.

In the circumstances noted at 3. I have a couple of options, 1. Use a generator, or 2. Idle the 4x4.

The pros and cons of doing this;
Carrying a small generator in the range of 800-1000W will recharge all of the above in bad weather. However, it is another item to carry, so space and weight are the issues. Also, as my 4x4 is diesel as is the van heater, I then need to carry petrol (Gas), which is a. more dangerous than diesel and can smell in a vehicle.

Idling the 4x4 removes the need to carry separate fuel and a generator and given the usual weather patterns here, my preferred method. My recent trip was 25 days and I only idled the 4x4 once in that time for around 2 hours.

Additional solar is also weight and space problematic.

[Mandp]

DISCLAIMER

1. I do not work for or receive any gratuity from any of the brand names noted in this post.
2. The above are my observations and personal processes and may not suit everyone. They are intended to note methods, pros and cons of my use and provide insight others may find of use.
3. My background is in elec/mech engineering design, within commercial industry and aerospace. However, as in most countries, a license is required here, to work with high voltage and current. Low voltage DC does not but, a knowledge is when performing work, as there are still associated risks.

ADDENDUM

Forgot to mention the kettle, toaster and toasty maker. These are there specification loads;
Folding Kettle = 1035, Elec Toaster = 820, Elec S/W Toaster = 740.
They all work from the AC70, even though the kettle exceeds the 1000W rated output of the AC70, it does not trip the inverter, nor was it set to power lifting mode. Make a hot sandwich and boil water for coffee whilst eating it. :)

On occasion, I take the kettle and S/W toaster with me in the 4x4 and make lunch using the AC70. I do have a 40lt Engel combi fridge/freezer in the rear of the 4x4 to carry food and drink.

[BLUETTI]

Thank you for your sharing!
I look forward to the release of more pictures, as the combination of text and images will be more intuitive :)

[Mandp]

My bad lol, I did not take any whilst away, at least of my setup. However, in a month or so, I am off again on another trip and will rectify, with future posts.
Although I could take pictures of individual items in the mean time, I feel that would lose on the “Real World” theme. Stay tuned.

[Mandp]

This is the rear of my 4x4. To the left is a 40lt Combi Fridge on a slide. To its right a single drawer with a slimline 75Ah LiFePo4 battery fixed to the drawers right hand side. Sandwiched between it and the side of the vehicle are a small sack truck and folding stool. On top of the drawer is a fire extinguisher, behind that the Victron 375W inverter. Hung from an upper shelf is a 12VDC Oven.

[Mandp]

This is how the AC70 travels when driving, strapped to the drawer and plugged into the inverter for charging.

[Mandp]

Here are the kettle and Toasty maker, although both are shown plugged to the AC70, when in use it is one at a time as their combined W draw is well over the AC70s 1,000W inverter.

[Mandp]

Here is an interesting result from a recent test on my caravan charging system.

The charging system is a Projecta PM300, rated at 30A charging to 2 x 100Ah LiFePo4 batteries. The charging amps is from the PM300 display. I used a separate power meter to measure V, A & W, Vmp is the voltage under charging load. The Watts AC70 & AC180 are what was read from the Bluetti display screen.
Of note, the power meter read 531, 531 & 531 from all 3 power sources, so constant. the additional Watts of 49W from the AC70 & 39W from the AC180 are the actual draw from the Power Bank battery and would be the efficiency loss of their inverters & the internal electronics. (7.3% for the AC180 & 9.2% for the AC70).
These % are as a % of the watts load and as far as I am concerned anything less than 10% is good.
These readings were all taken within 4 minutes and the 29.1A charge rate was constant.

[Mandp]

From a RVers perspective, I also did a test on the queen size electric blanket fitted to the caravan bed. It is a 3 setting control of Low, Medium & High. I tested the AC180 only to power the electric blanket. (FYI, to remind readers, this test is done at nominal 240VAC 50Hz)
I set both sides (2 controls) to High for 15 minutes, to pre heat the blanket and the AC180 was at 100%. After 15 minutes the display read 96% and the average Watts read approx 92W on the AC180 screen.
I then turned both sides to the Low setting and ran the test for 4 hours. I also noted that the Watts fluctuated and periodically read zero W. This means the control acts similar to a compressor fridge thermostat, by turning on and off.
At the 4 hour mark, the AC180 reading showed a further 18% of capacity use. This calculates to 45% use over 10 hours set at low using both sides of the blanket, or approx 517Wh.
Given there were no bodies in the bed at the time, I can assume that the actual 10 hour usage would be less than the 517Wh, however 1/2 a kWh for 10 hours is pretty good.
As an aside, if I used a small 150W PS inverter from my caravan 12VDC system, it would equate to approx 40Ah of nominal 12V battery use. :)

[mnovotny]

thanks for the post…great setup. I use a AC200L in my travel trailer and a AC200MAX in my sprinter van. Both do the job.

[Mandp]

I tested my electric blanket again, this time from the AC70. To remind readers, this is at 240VAC at 50Hz and the blanket has 3 settings of H, M and L. The AC70 display was at 98% battery capacity at the start of the test and both sides of the blanket (queen size) were on and equal settings. Here are some pics;

Next post = Results

[Mandp]

I have tabulated the results, below;

To explain; the Bluetti AC70 used 9% of capacity with the blanket set to H for 30 minutes. There was a 27.7W difference in power use and as mentioned due to the inverter, BMS parasitic loads.
I then ran the blanket at the L setting for 1 hour, again noting all of the data. At this setting the AC70 used 4% battery.
Conclusion - Most people may sleep for 8 hours, however for ease of calculation and “worst case scenario” I have assumed a 10 hour use at the L setting plus a 1 hour preheat at H.
The total capacity used calculates at 58%, leaving 42% from a fully charged AC70.
Does an AC70 have the battery capacity to run an electric blanket overnight? My answer is Yes it will, however, there will be a recharge of approx 400Wh to recharge.

[Mandp]

Here’s my setup for the Caravan, when the sun doesn’t shine for several days. When that happens, not only can’t I charge the power bank/s, (PB) the van house batteries also suffer. I have enough stored power for 3 days of “crap” weather, but, I do watch the forecast, lol.
I am able to top up the van batteries from any of the PBs I own, how much is dependent on their capacity. The orange box is an “Amphibian”, it has a 15A - 240VAC socket for RV connection, a 10A circuit breaker and a 10A plug top. This is the only legal way to connect a 15A load to a 10A supply in Au.

The 288W shown on the AC70 is the charge rate, set to silent from a Generator and AC load is off as I’m not charging the Van.

[Mandp]

To save weight and space, I bought a Gentrax Pro 800W inverter generator with a 700W constant load and weighs 9.3kg or just over 20lbs. My caravan charger draws 510W at full load, it will therefore charge from the AC70 & AC180 inverters. Plus, set to silent the Genny will charge the AC70 & 180 and probably both in Standard mode, but why run a genset flat out. :) As mentioned, previously, I also have the 375W Victron in the rear of the 4x4.

Even tho’ the Gentrax is only 700W constant, it has a 15A socket.

[Mandp]

The primary thing to note is, redundancy;
My setup shows, multiple sources of battery power, multiple sources of grid equivalent power and multiple methods of charging i.e. solar genset and vehicle. We can’t guarantee the weather, sometimes run out of fuel, sometimes don’t drive for several days and that’s without equipment failure. When free camping, the last thing we need is a warm beer, lol.

[Mandp]

I returned from a recent 3 week off grid camp. This trip, I took the AC180 and left the AC70 at home. As it is winter here, my 460W of solar did not make it on 4 days of the 20 away. I used the above 800W inverter genset to cover these days to top up both the caravan batteries and the AC180. Not a huge impost as I was prospecting and on these wet overcast days, couldn’t go out anyway.
However, I did note an issue using the AC180. I use an electric toothbrush and on occasion an electric shaver. both are rechargeable battery operated. As I use the AC180 primarily for microwave use, when using, I also plugged in the toothbrush. The microwave was 6-7 minutes use, but I would leave it on for a couple of hours to give the toothbrush a charge as it is a daily use item.
It didn’t charge and I found the shaver was also not charging. More…

[Mandp]

I did some tests from a 12VDC LiFePo4 battery and a small 150W PSW inverter I have using a DC power meter between the battery and inverter and an AC power meter on its output. The results;

1. The toothbrush showed zero W on the AC power meter and a net 1W increase on the idle load of the DC load.
2. The shaver showed an AC load of 4W and a net load of 4W on the DC side.
   Even added together the total load seems too low to trigger an AC output from the AC180.
   (Note: As I previously noted “Redundancy”, I do carry a normal toothbrush and a razor, just in case. )