AC 200 Standby Power Consumption

Just found out some information from member Paul Lehr. If you press the (state of charge) area, you get the main battery screen. This screen tells you some interesting info:

Idle power used when no items are connected:
1-System on with AC and DC power OFF…6 watts
2-System on with AC Power ON…17 watts
3-System on with DC Power ON…12 watts
4-System on with AC and DC Power on…23 watts (yes, if you use both AC and DC at the same time it is less than the seperate total of adding the AC and DC)

So when you are running small DC loads like a compressor fridge, you are actually using 12 additional watts even when the compressor is off. This also appilies to those that are connecting the DC to your RV or van system. Shut the AC200 off when not in use.
Basically, you will get the most usuable battery power when using higher loads over a shorter time due to the standby power consumption.

If you left your AC200 with both the AC and DC on but no appliances drawing power a fully charged AC 200 would be at 0% in 61 hours.

Also, as Paul stated in his post reply, for any charging to take place you would have to have a greater wattage incoming that the standby load. For example, if you had 20 watts of incoming solar and the AC and DC was turned on, you would receive no charging. If AC and DC were switched off then according to this you would need more than 6 watts incoming for any charge to occur. There is mose likely a minumum start up charging watts so this may be a reason we have seen a few posts of solar being connected (in cloudy conditions) with no charging occurring.

6 Likes

Great info! Thanks for the work!

1 Like

@Scott-Benson yes this is incredibly valuable information to have! Thanks again to you and Paul for the insight. I have a feeling questions regarding this are going to get brought up a lot.

3 Likes

Scott,

That’s not what the unit says…I have just Ac on and it says it’s consuming 120W…there is no load…if Dc is on by itself it oscillates between 35W and 0W…I’d estimated 18W. What does the inverter consume?

Tom

Are you possibly confusing the volts for watts? 120 volts will be displayed at all times when the inverter is on without anything connected

There is a W by the 120 on units screen. It’s only after it’s has had a recent load with killawatt meter still attached. I really want this to work well…I’m getting very worried after Will Prowess’s video on crowdfunding. I’m not convinced yet there are any deal breakers. It does seem to drain faster than I expected.

In all fairness, I could not recreate it…however the fan still pulsates and no turns off 1500W

You may want to consider that Will Prouse did his last long term test video on the AC200 where he ran the unit non stop for over a month. Several times during that video he mentioned that he was impressed and all three of his AC200 units were flawless. The only “suggested” changes he had at the end of the vide was the grey plastic out trim ring was softer than the trim ring plastic on the EB150 and 240 series as well as not needing the rubber dust covers on the ouput connections. Will’s only critisism since that point is based on second hand information received from the “internet”.

The AC200 has a wealth of features and configurable selections that are not well understood by a few. Many people have not taken the time to read not only the manual, but the wealth of info contained in the Indiegogo site to become better educated about the operation of the product.

With a mass release of the qty of AC200s sold there are bound to be a few that did not or do not perform as expected. You will always hear the exceptions because the units that are meeting expections rarely get commented on. Shipping half way around the world and being handled by a variety of carrier options is a daunting challenge for any product of this size, type and complexity to arrive 100% damage free.

The vast majority of units work well. Some perceived as not functioning properly were actually a misunderstanding or lack of understanding the proper operation. (Connecting a single solar panel and receiving no charging input is an example even though there is a large amount of info stating two panels minumum must be used or 35 volts) There will be some units that need to be returned and I am confident that Bluetti will stand behind any of those inevitible issues. We do have a three year warranty after all.

3 Likes

Will came out today in video and expressed his concern that bluetti device worked flawlessly but he is unhappy that is not what his followers are experiencing. He has decided he will not evaluate any more crowd funded devices cause the companies are using him and others to pad the upfront money but not delivering devices as good as the ones he evaluated.

It concerns me cause I can do my research for a year, save money, buy the AC200p and now 2nd guess myself, waiting for it to arrive, that I made a wise decision. I have been waiting for a quality device with all the features I wanted and finally the AC200p had them all except one so I pulled the trigger.

I hope these issues are a small percentage.

1 Like

@roxie60 I think you’ll be more then ecstatic with your bluetti. I can tell that you that I most definitely am! haha

And isn’t it always a “gamble” when purchasing something online? I mean you’re not ever in complete control of what might happen during shipping and like @Scott-Benson touched base on, with producing mass amounts of a high tech/quality units such as the AC200, quality issues are unfortunately going to happen.

But for me, whats really important is seeing how these companies will handle these mishaps. And honestly I feel very strongly that Bluetti has excelled in that field. They have been very transparent and have been able to respond very quick to any questions I’ve had, and thats the kind of company I will proudly stand behind.

2 Likes

believe me…I saw that solar shed video…Will sold me! However…he’s put out three others suggesting that the prototype he got and the production model are different. Apparently, he got a lot of negative comments…If it works as has been advertised…I’m more than happy. I’m aware of all of those critical settings, and have no doubt that some were simply misunderstandings (PV vs Car, 35v, etc). I’ll test the Fan question with a heat gun…and the stand by power consumption just seems glitchy…I can distinguish Watts from Volts. :slight_smile: However it is…easily fixed by simply turning inverter AC off. I don’t really plan to leave it on anyway. I do need the continuous DC for the dometic fridge. On the Will month test…the AC was around 500W continuous as I recall. That was a solid test.

2 Likes

Thanks. I’m hopeful. My bluetti made it to my state on the 27th but no progress reported since. Was kinda hoping it would get here today or tomorrow. If not will be Monday I expect. All good, I still to find a place for it. Sounds like Maxoak is responsive so I’ll wait to see what my experience is.

1 Like