Warning: This is a 101 type of question. My apologies; I’m overwhelmed reading through the threads here.
Goal: Use Bluetti ac200p to power conversion van for traveling. Don’t plan on staying in one place for more than one-two nights; driving a few hours most days. Will mostly charge Bluetti at home before/after trips.
Plan: Connect aviation plug/XT90 to 12v fuse panel. Connect LED lights, fridge, etc. to fuse panel. Starting off with NO solar until it’s determined to be needed.
Question: In order to charge Bluetti from van while driving, do I simply purchase another aviation plug and connect it to the car charging cable (“cigarette lighter”) that came with the Bluetti?
I realize this the slowest way to charge but it’s were I’d like to start.
Thanks for your patience with this basic question!
Not sure why you need another aviation cable when you already have the car charging cable and aviation cable that you would use to car charge. Cig. plug to XT90 connected to XT90 to Aviation cable which then connects to the AC200. AC 200 must be in “Car” mode in the settings screen to charge and you will see a little better than a 1-100 watt charge rate.
Not sure if your van is 12V or 24V, if it is 12V, it will charge pretty slowly. If you need to charge faster from the car, purchase a 12V to 24/36/48V step up converter. It will charge it 2-4x faster. 24V is almost always OK and you will still use car mode to charge 2x faster.
However, you should only step up to 36V or 48V if you know your wiring and alternator can handle the additional current and power. Also, if you step up to 36 or 48v, then you will need to use a non car mode (other or PV) setting to charge instead.
Thanks @snowstorm. I read about this option on another thread (thanks @scott-benson) and plan on moving in that direction eventually. It’s baby steps for me. LOL (By the way, the van is a 2021 Promaster 1500, 139" WB high roof. Huge learning curve taking place as we convert it for travel!)
I am not sure what you are referring to with regards to set up. The aviation cable that came with the unit is for input. There is also a second aviation cable that is meant to be an output which would go to your fuse block in your RV. That’s what I am confused on as the aviation cable that came with your unit would not be connected to a fuse block
KKS if you are referring to the RV Cable you can order separately you are correct - this is plugged in the front aviation port for Output 12v/25A and you can run it to your aux fuse panel which I am guessing you have run all your conversion items to…output
In regards to the side aviation port this is for input - sounds like you are going to use a keyed chassis 12v socket from your Promaster, and solar when parked they would both use the aviation input port and those cables are included in the box.
Hope this helps - I’m currently getting mine delivered today or tomorrow for my conversion … good luck
You are up converting 12V → 24V with a max output of 20A.
The AC200P can accept a max input current of 8.2A in car mode, so your input current to that converter would be around 16.5A. In that case, a 14AWG wire would work.
If you are planning to use the full capability of that converter in the future, it would be 20A out and 40A in. In that case, you would want to go with a 8AWG input wire.
And have the run from your battery to your step up converter as short as practical. You are going to be pulling closer to 50 amps. If you can fab up a low power 12 volt pancake fan to direct air on the step up converter while in use, you will be much happier. You can wire the fan directly to the step up converter input terminals and that way, whenever the step up converter is in operation, the fan will automatically be on as well
The step up converter on Amazon (I decided on 10A - rather than 20A), looks like the it has four pretty small gauge wires going in and out - the previous poster also noted using 14 gauge - why would this converter be pulling 50A from the chassis battery ?
My bad, I was thinking 12 to 48 volt which is what I did on another project. If you are using car charge mode then you are limited to 10 amps output and around 20 amps input. I think you will find that running the step up converter at full capacity will cause it to heat up quite a bit. I would recommend the 20 amp model which runs cooler in this application. Here is the model that I ended up with that works well. I have tried smaller and a few of the open circuit board type models that did not work.
Okay good point I’ll need to return the 10A model I received
I have another thought this may be way off but haven’t used my Bluetti yet - if I was to put an xt90 splitter plug into aviation plug - one side of the splitter 24v / 10A solars and on the other side of splitter this step up converter 12 to 24V at 20A and put the charge mode to solar
My thought is as I drive I can use power coming from 12/24 converter and solar panels combined into aviation plug input
