I’m new to these battery generators and it’s been 50 years since my 9th grade electronics class.
I purchased a Jackery Explorer 1000 v2, which has two DC inputs at 200W max each. As I understand it, each input has its own charge controller. I suppose the idea is to use them to plug in a pair of 200W solar panels without bothering with external parallel and series adapters.
I want to purchase the Bluetti Charger 1, but I’d very much like to connect it to both of the Jackery DC inputs so I can charge at 400W. Is this possible?
If it is possible to split the Charger 1 outputs, will the output amperage/wattage shown in the app be accurate?
@mitchedo Sorry for late reply.
Product manager replied: In theory, it is possible, but it requires a Y-type adapter cable to connect the output cable of Charger 1 to the Jackery PV charging cable, and then connect the two ports to the two PV inputs of the Jackery Explorer 1000 V2.
However, this is only theoretical; we cannot rule out whether the Jackery power station accepts this charging method. Because of this special usage scenario, we have not advertised 100% compatibility, but rather compatibility with 95% energy storage products.
Hi Mitchedo, did you ever figure out whether the Bluetti Charger 1 could work efficiently with the Jackery 1000 v2 as Bluetti Admin suggested?
I have the same question.
Thanks!
I did indeed. You don’t need to split the Charger 1 output into 2 for Jackery 1000v2 – just send the full 400W on one DC8020 input. I had assumed, or heard, that the inputs were limited to 200W each, but the sticker on the Jackery does not say that. Just make sure your input cable gauge is heavy enough to handle 400W over the length of your cable. I bought this one Amazon.com: JacEnergy Solar Panel to DC 8mm Adapter Cable, Solar Connector to DC8mm ，DC 8mm Connector with DC8020 Converter for Portable Power Station GZ Yeti Jakery Solar Generator 12AWG+14AWG Heavy Duty : Patio, Lawn & Garden
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I went to the trouble of purchasing a pair of parallel splitters and 2 DC8020 input cables to the Jackery. However, when I was first testing, I sent 30V to the Jackery via a single input and noted that it was taking 300W on the single input.
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I did hook up the parallel cables and sent the full 400W to the Jackery. I don’t have my clamp meter yet, so I didn’t measure amperage on each leg.
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But the way the Jackery behaved, I concluded there had to be a single DC charge controller (not 2 as I’d been led to believe). This single charge controller is simply split in parallel into the pair of DC8020 inputs on the Jackery. I’d seen videos of a Bluetti with a barrel plug DC input taking some 600W, so I figured the connection was capable of handling 400W.
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At any rate, the Jackery will accept its full 400W DC to a single input. I even FINALLY found documentation from Jackery that shows it. If you go to the Jackery page for their 500W solar panels and download their connection guide, you’ll find the 1000 v2 at the bottom, with a diagram showing that you should connect the 500W solar panels to a single input on the Jackery generator.
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I wish Jackery would stop with the poorly-documented weird configurations and just publish good information about their products and stop making it so hard to use non-Jackery products.
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One thing I noticed was that I had originally chosen the Bluetti setting in the Charger 1 for my little AC2A, which should have worked fine for the Jackery. However, when I plugged the Jackery in with that Charger 1 setting, nothing happened. It wasn’t until I went out to the custom settings and set the same voltage that the Charger 1 allowed the charge to go to my Jackery.
Wow! Bingo. Jackery jackpot! It’s awesome to know all that. Super interesting to hear that all those watts can be crammed into one of the two ports, as I assumed/conceptualized the same as you originally (so I guess the sole purpose of having two ports is to have the option to plug…another solar source into it, and now also a Bluetti car charger?). Do you suppose I can keep my two van top 100w parallel’d panels plugged into one of the ports, and adjust voltage accordingly and reap benefits of both energies when driving (and also just to keep the arrangement as a permanent setup?).
Thanks for for suffering all that legwork so that fellows like me can come along later and reap the benefits of your trials.
Yeah, Jackery can be very flaky. Had a very lousy customer service experience with them recently, caused so much unnecessary confusion and brain pain.
I’ve seen where folks have connected uneven input wattage to each of the input ports, but I don’t think I would do it. There are DC-DC chargers that will accept and handle varying input sources (your alternator and solar), but I wonder how the Jackery input controller would handle unbalanced loads long term. …but I’m no charge controller guru, so there’s that. It’d probably be better if you at least balanced the voltage on each input, but I think one of those dedicated DC/Solar to DC controllers is the way to go. I expect that will be where Bluetti goes on a newer iteration of the Charger 1.
As I think about it though, you could have a pair of 200W solar panels connected to the Jackery inputs (one panel for each input) and solar panels aren’t necessarily consistent in their voltage and amperage output. The Jackery seems designed to handle that just fine. Think if one solar panel got more shade than the other. That would result in some significant imbalance.
It’s all just a guess though unless Jackery has some documentation buried somewhere.
Good point about varying volts of panels depending on various chance factors of placement. A lot of these more complex/varied uses of power stations are not necessarily understood by the technicians themselves. The vast majority of users of power stations are using them in a very elementary way, so it’s up to either online sharing or risky tinkering that might bring answers sometimes. Thanks again for the input. You’re really helpful.
