I have noticed this also - I have left my device plugged in with both AC and DC off and every 5-10 mins the fans kick in and it takes charge again (~450watts in turbo mode), even though it’s already at 100% and has been for over a day. Seems like there is a large amount of idle consumption for it to be continuously doing this. Very frustrating!!
My SN:AC1802315000191267
On latest firmware:
ARM v2074.05
DSP v2078.05
BMS v1033.06
@Cambert @Q.E.D @bluetti_curichinatogmailcom The latest software for the fan issue has been sent to all AC180, please try to update and see if the problem can be solved.
@BLUETTI_CARE thank you for continuing support and communication.
I’ve tested the new firmware through the night and during the day.
While it is an improvement on an original situation condition, I’ve to say I’m very puzzled by the way Bluetti is solving this problem.
The fans kick in now for me every 2hrs and 20min pretty much on the clock.
The fans still start what sound like full speed and settle to a much quiet operation within a second. The initial start is like turning on a hair dryer on high. Very loud with lots of air movement.
The battery pack shows 100% all the way up to the fan kick in at which point level drops to 99% and AC charges at roughly 260 Watts.
I’ve just two questions:
Why on Earth fans have to get initiated at that full speed? Those are tiny fans and they shouldn’t need any starting breakthrough current to begin to spin and move air.
The battery pack is cool just before the start and seem 100% charged. It almost seems that whatever this periodic event is, that you just made less frequent, loads the pack, which increases the temperature, which then triggers the fans. It appears that this event is not driven by temperature, but temperature is increased by something else that the pack is doing.
I know a few things about system controls and I’m very puzzled because this issue seems like something that should be possible to solve completely.
@jakubx80 It is normal that the fans kick in now every 2hrs and 20m. The fans should start with 35% speed. But if the charging power is over 500W, the fan will start at full speed.
Hi!
Same experience as jakubx80.
With:
ARM 2074,06
DSP 2078.06
BMS 1033.06
It should be possible to program the fan to turn on at low rpm instead of still generating the loud sound every time it starts. Or keep the fan always on but at a very low speed. I think it is preferable to have a constant but very low and unobtrusive sound, like that of a PC, rather than a loud noise for 4 or 5 seconds and then a medium/high noise for a few minutes.
Wouldn’t it be possible to select the mode we want it to be cooled?
Initial loud noise for 5 seconds and medium noise for minutes.
Constant but very low noise 24 hours a day.
Or could we change the fans for quieter ones?
I build PC’s and I know very well how to do this operation, and I think the fans you have installed are too noisy. There are better fans for sure, with more airflow and air pressure and less noise, and they start with very low initial voltage.
Best regards.
@bluetti_curichinatogmailcom Thanks for your opinion. Sorry for not being able to keep the fan running at a constant low speed. Once this is done, there is no guarantee that the internal temperature will not get too high. When the charging and discharging power increases or the temperature rises, the fan will be intelligently regulated to ensure heat dissipation.
I’m personally not buying this as a reason at all because the fan could just spool up if temp raises. The unit cycles precisely on the clock, no matter what ambient temperature it is at or what is connected as a pass through UPS load.
Also, right before the cycle starts the battery is showing 100% and somehow the team was able to figure out a way to prevent overheating where before the unit turned on every 40mins now every 140min on the clock. How? All these reasons make no sense to me from systems control perspective.
Call me paranoid but I’m starting to think this cycling of the unit is intentional. Not sure if that cycle deteriorates battery and counts towards 3,500 cycles life, but I’d see how one could design an obsolescence of the system by loading batteries to ensure the pack will need replacement every so many years.
I can see how LiFePO4 eroded market for the manufactures due to longer life and I see how this could be a way to mitigate that.
I also have noticed that the AC180 is operating poorly as a UPS (which is what I purchased it for). As a power station alone, it seems to do pretty well but I purchased one specifically to act as a UPS for a device that is only operating occasionally and only uses about 120 watts when it is on. With no load and plugged into the wall, I noticed that the battery would drop to 99% after a period of time and it would start pulling several hundred watts from the wall in order to get back to 100%. I observed this for several days and finally put a meter on the wall to see how much power was being consumed to have the AC180 operating simply as a standby UPS with no load turned on. I was pretty surprised to see that it was pulling over 800 watts for a 24 hour period just to be plugged in and have the AC inverter turned on (no load from devices plugged into it)! I plan to keep looking at it and do some additional testing but I don’t think I will be able to use this unit as a dedicated UPS if it is going to consume that much power just to be online. I am curious if anyone else has done any similar measurements. Does anyone know if the AC60 behaves the same way and how much power it consumes on standby in UPS mode?
I have two AC180’s all updated with the latest firmware and concur that your observations are the same as mine.
I also have an AC60 which operates, in regards to fan cycling and power dropping to 99% then back to 100% the same as the AC180 prior to the latest firmware upgrade.
On a side note the AC60 has a separate issue which means I am presently awaiting Bluetti to contact me to arrange its return and refund.
So in conclusion this seems to be the standard Bluetti operating mode for these units.
Thanks for confirming my observations. I never would have expected the power draw to be so high just to have a UPS for equipment that is not used very often. That is a little disappointing as I was trying to replace an older UPS with something that operated on Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries and thought the Bluetti was the answer. I will likely have to find something else that uses less power to keep things on standby. I also have an AC60 on hand and was going to try it to see how much power it consumes as a UPS. Not to stray off topic, but would you mind briefly describing the issue you are having with the AC60? Is it also related to the UPS? I might be able to look out for something similar. Thanks.
Regarding the AC60 issue please see the following link for detailed description of issue.
Bluetti Australia have agreed for me to return the AC60 and issue a full refund.
I’ve axactly the same observation and it is absurd that a UPS would need to consume so much power just to stay online, which is why I think it has jothing to with powering an inverter because this cycling interval should shorten based on what load is on inverter (due to either more heat or more battery draw).
@jakubx80 @bluetti_curichinatogmailcom Based on the discussion, the R&D team revised a new version of the software: when the machine is charging with AC, the fan will continue to rotate at a low speed, so that it will not start suddenly and cause noise after a while. Do you want to try it? If you are willing to try, you can send me the SN number and firmware version again, and we will push the firmware for you separately.
Ok, let’s try it.
SN: AC1802313000166292
BMS: v1033.06
ARM: v2074.06
DSP: v2078.06
If I don’t like the new version, can I go back to the current version?
Thank you very much!
Thank you for offering this update. I may be missing something but I don’t think this would address the particular problem of high power draw while being used as a UPS. If I am not mistaken, this might address an issue with fan noise but it will likely still cycle through and use a great deal of power to charge/discharge the battery. I am just wondering if I missed something and this update would also address the issue of power draw while operating as a UPS.
@DJR - Thanks for sharing the other thread on the AC60. I have a feeling that it will not be much better as a UPS from the power consumption side either but I have not done any testing yet.
Are you sure it consumes 0.8 kWh every 24 hours without connecting anything to it?
How many watts does it consume in standby and how many when it is charging from 99% to 100%?