My D050S charger died! Are there any other solar charging options for the B230. I’ve noticed MC 4 to DC 8mm cables! Can they be used without using that D050S??!
Are there other companies that make a substitute for the D050S with the same connectors??
Trying to communicate with Bluetti has been slow and frustrating!!
Yes, you can use the MC4 to 8mm cable to charge the B230 battery from PV panels. Read the owner manual to determine the minimum (usually around 12 V) and maximum PV inputs to calculate and obtain the needed panels.
So, you’re saying I can use this cable without the D950S? Just straight into the battery via the 8mm connector…That’s great ! I am already committed to 2-345watt panels and with full summer sun they can generate close to 625 watts connected in series. Will they work?
Interestingly, a chap on YouTube who posted a video on how to set up the Bluetti, wrote back to me…“Unfortunately you can’t bring the solar straight into the ac side. You will need the D050”… Which is making my head spin! Do you or someone you know have experience with direct connect?? At any rate, the MC4 to 8mm cable is cheap enough that I could give it a try. Thanks for responding and I look forward to any future you can impart.
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The B300 has a solar charge controller but I don’t think the B230 does so in my opinion MC4 to 8mm won’t work. On my B300 the solar has to go to a dedicated XT90 input which has the charge controller and a D050S is needed to input additional solar into the 8mm port.
Thanks for the info. So far, your answer is the predominant answer I’ve been getting,
Do you know of any other units besides the D050 I can use to charge the B230
using solar? Since the B230 doesn’t have a charge controller, would it be possible to use an external controller so I could use the MC4 to 8mm cable to charge the B230??
Would I still get the 500 watt charging I need??
You would need something that would mimic the output voltage of a D050S or T500 AC adapter. Its somewhere in the 50 to 58 volts range but I don’t know the exact number. Even then I’m not sure it would work as there may be more to it than just the correct voltage.
Thanks for that info.
Thank you Eric. I’m still looking for a substitute for the D050.There’s gotta be something out there that’s better than D050. Mine died in just a couple of months, and having to shell out $200 every time one breaks is not acceptable !
Yeah I don’t blame you for wanting a cheaper option, I thought they were expensive at $150! So far my two D050S’s have been flawless and they were worked pretty hard all summer charging my AC200P and B300. I see my T500 AC charger has a DC output of 58.8v so that’s probably the voltage you should be looking for.
I am looking also for an alternative - want an alternative to the D050S to charge with PV on the 8mm port.
In general it seems one can utilize the 8mm port with whatever input device, as long as there is the proper voltage (as stated above).
I did talk to a friend, he used a DC Boost MPPT PV charger (with 400 W) where the output voltage can be set (fond online). This however did NOT work on the 8mm port.
Why did it not work? The Bluetti unit has some kind of sensor, and will only accept a charge, if the voltage is present for at least ~3 seconds on the 8mm port. The MPPT-charger did provide the proper set voltage, but only for approx 1 second, then “sensing” that no battery is present to accept the charge and with that cut power. It would try again, but only for ~1 second at a time, always too short for the Bluetti unit to activate the port. No luck with that.
So we all are still looking. The unit used by my friend was theoretically cool. I had an aluminum casing, no fan, but fins, and a display which would show PV voltage and Amps, and Voltage and Amps in to the Battery. All this is not available on the D050S, and the D050S is pricey (from my perspective way overpriced for what it does), the MPPT boot was approx $50…