I plan to charge the AC180 with a 24v 100a LifePO4 battery. How long does it take to fully charge from 0%? Thanks.
1 Like
With the following assumptions, as you do not state; The AC180 is totally flat and you are connecting the LiFePo4 via the DC input without any other charging enhancement.
The AC180 has 1152Wh of capacity. The DC input is limited to 10A. However at 24V you will likely be limited to 8A. Therefore 24x8 = 192W. Then divide 1152 by 192 = 6 hours.
The above is in a perfect world, we are not, so were I calculating this for me, I would approximate 6 to 7 hours. The other calculation is Wh of your 100Ah battery. The simple math is 100Ah x 24V = 2400Wh. Therefore if you divide 2400 by 1152 = 2 (rounded down) which is the number of times you can charge a 180 from your battery. (Note: again in a perfect world, due to efficiency losses, likely a little less than twice)
1 Like
Forgot to mention, the above is with no loads applied to the AC180, AC or DC.
Thanks, Mandp. Exactly what I was looking for.
How long will it take to charge with 4 200w 12v in 2S2P solar panel configuration? Thanks.
A 200W panel is nominally 10A max output. 2 in series will produce 400W @ 10A. If you then gang 2 lots of 2 x 200 series connected, in parallel, you will get 20A output which exceeds the 10A limit of the AC180. A bit like trying to fit 20lt of water into a 10lt jerry.
You are limited to 2 nominal 12V x 200W panels in series for this size power station. You could use 2 x 250W panels which will produce more than 10A (approx 13A) in good conditions the extra won’t be absorbed by the 180. However, you will get better performance in winter.
I have found a quicker way to charge mine. I have 2 x 150W panels in series and in good conditions get close to that. I then have a Victron 375W inverter run off my 4x4 aux bat. The 180 is set to silent charge mode at around 280W of AC charge. That added to the roughly 280W of solar = 560W input.
Therefore 1152/560 = roughly 2 hours. When camped this means idling the 4x4 for 2 hours, not something I do unless absolutely needed. I use my 180 when camping in the evening, rarely during the day, so it has all day to charge from solar and my usual usage is <25%.
The other way I do use - I also have an AC70, much lighter and smaller. I recharge the 180 from it via 240VAC. Then next day, I secure it on my rear drawer in the 4x4, plug it into the Victron and it charges whilst driving. As mentioned elsewhere, it’s all about redundancy. (more than one way of achieving the desired result)
Charging times can vary, but generally, the BLUETTI AC180 takes about 2-3 hours to fully charge from 0% with a suitable power source. Using a 24V 100A LifePO4 battery should be efficient. Just make sure to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for optimal charging.