Limits on pass through charging with AC200L

Product Discussion BLUETTI AC Series
1

Anyone know about the limits of charging while discharging?

This is about the AC200L, but it would probably apply to most models.

One reason I bought this is because it has pass-through charging, or the capability to charge while it’s in use powering something else. I intended to use it on my boat as a buffer when I want to run air conditioning off a generator. In other words, power the aircon with the battery, while simultaneously charging the battery with the generator.

Only problem with this idea is that the AC200L doesn’t want to do this. Pass through charging seems to work ok as long as the output is low. But my aircon uses about 1250 watts. The charging works for about a minute, then stops accepting the charge. On the LCD screen, the AC output shows about 1250 watts but drops to 0000 for AC input. Why is this?

I have a theory - the AC200L specs says it can handle up to 2400 watts output. It also says it can handle 2400 watts input as well. So maybe those are not separate totals but have to be considered together? So when my air conditioning is drawing 1250 watts from the battery, the most concurrent charging it could accept is up to 1150 watts? (my generator puts out up to 2000W). Even if that’s the case, this is supposed to be a smart battery after all. Why can’t it accept a lessor charge that wouldn’t overload it?

So anyway, if this is true, I need to figure out a way to get my generator to charge it at a lower wattage, which I’m not sure is possible, or get a smaller generator to do it. But I want to know if my theory is correct before spending more money.

2

First thought is, what is the input current configured to be on your AC200L? I don’t remember the default, but I think it is 12 amps – although that should be enough. Also, I think the AC200L power cord that comes included (talking about the US version now) is limited to 15 amps, and the full 20 amp power cord is not yet available, although you shouldn’t need it. The output capacity and input capacity are independent of each other.

This next thought is more likely related, does your generator have an inverter output, or is it mechanically regulated? Is it possible that under high loads the generator’s output goes out of specification for the AC200L’s input? That should show up as an error on the AC200L if that was the case.

3

Thanks for answering, I’m not aware of any way to configure the input. Doing some quick math, I’m probably giving the unit a maximum of 16.6 amps (2000W / 120V). But that shouldn’t matter because (and I should have added this part), there is no problem charging the AC200L from my generator when I’m not using the battery for output. It’s only when I’m trying to do pass through charging that it stops cooperating.

The generator does have an inverter. It is this model: 2000W Dual Fuel Inverter - Champion Power Equipment

4

Hello Rohan , have you tried using the Grid adaption mode in advanced settings.

5

Can you also check if your charging mode is set to silent, standard or turbo. It may start charging in turbo.

6

@Rohan Your AC200L shows a charging power of 0 when running the air conditioner, which is abnormal. Could you please confirm the following:

  1. What is the charging mode? What is the input current set to?
  2. If it cannot charge, is there any error reported? Can you check the historical error codes?
  3. Even if the charging power drops to 0, can it still power devices normally?
7

I purchased a refurbished AC200L and B300 and searched and found this thread because I’m having the exact same issue. There are no issues charging from a 2000W inverter generator however if I am drawing power while charging and the power I’m drawing is a significant amount over a few hundred watts, the generator seems to flutter a bit and then I get 0W input to the AC200L no matter what I try. My charging mode is standard and I’ve tried grid adaption mode both on and off for extended tests.