I bought a 2 cycle 1000 watt generator that also outputs DC. It came with a T shaped battery charging cable so I added xt90 connectors and a length of wire to plug it into the AC200P.
When I set the input to CAR it faults on overvoltage. I changed it back to PV and it is reporting 30volts and giving me 15 watts of charge. Does someone know what I can do to make this work better? I didn’t think the AC200P would charge with less than 35 Volts on the PV input. If I step down the voltage, will I be able to get a better charge from the car setting?
Of course, the generator will charge with the AC charger at 460 watts, but I was hoping to maximize the input to save fuel and noise. The AC is pure sine.
You are tripping over dollars to save pennies. The two cycle generator you have is a low end low cost unit with unregulated DC power. (I have not seen one of those units with a pure sine AC output) Even if you could car charge at around 13 volts you are only going to see a little over 100 watts of charging power. That would take around 24 hours of run time to charge your AC200P (which is a high dollar electronic item) even if you could get it to work. You are much better off charging with AC at around 4 hours than to try and run for 24. Another solution would be to purchase some solar panels or a higher end generator that will run at 500 watts quietly and economically. A decent 4 stroke of around 2000 watts are very easy to find.
I do have 2 24v 210 watt solar panels I plan to mount on a van rooftop but so far, I’ve only managed to get a max net gain of 39% battery charge from a days charge. I have the panels flat and unfortunately, the position of my house shades the sun until 11am - and it is winter.
I also plan to use DC charging from the van while driving as solar charging is not recommended over the road.
The generator is a backup source for extended weather conditions when sunlight will not be available.
The generator is pure sine wave. I am using the AC charger with the generator for the 460 watts, but since the DC is also live simultaneously, I wanted to tap it as well.
I would be happy with an additional 100 watts making a total of 560 charging watts. This would reduce overall charging time. With the AC and DC outputs connected, I saw a 12% battery increase in 30 minutes (timed) which would charge the AC200P in about 4 hours. This was with the 460 watts AC + 15 watts DC, so getting another 100 watts DC instead of 15 would make the charge time even shorter. The fuel tank is 1.1 Gallons and will run for 5 hours.
How would I regulate the DC output from the generator? I have heard of DC to DC converters but I don’t know much about them.
I looked up the owners manual for the Power smart generator. It does not list the output capacity of the 12volt output and only states that the output is not designed to charge 12 vdc batteries. With all that said, the Bluetti will attempt to pull approx. 10 amps of power. If the output of the generators12 VDC is not capable of producing 10 amps or more, the generator would trip its circuit breaker and not be a viable option.
If you are experimental, you could get a DC to DC converter that will allow up to the 30 volts you are seeing on the generator side and output a steady 13.5 to 14 volts on its output. The output from the DC to DC converter would then be connected to the Bluetti in car charge mode.
In my experience, these small generators have very low 12 VDC amperage outputs but this one may be different. The thing you need is the output to be around 15 amps or so in order to work successfully.
If fast generator charging is the main goal, a larger generator that can power two AC charger bricks for the AC200 would be the fastest. You can connect one as you normally do and the second to the PV aviation input just like car charging except you have to have PV selected.
Two AC chargers, of course! Why didn’t I think of that?
I just noticed that the pic I posted is not accurate to my generator. The manual and plate for mine shows 1000 watts continuous and 1200 watts surge so it should handle the 920 watt draw. This will cut charging to about 2 hours and reduce the noise and 2 cycle pollution! One benefit of the 2 cycle is not having oil changing maintenance.
Also, how do you convert the AC charging plug to xt90? Will I have to make that?
I tried car mode but it gave me an overcharge fault. It didn’t like the unregulated 30v it was getting. In PV mode, it registered 30v 0.5 - 0.6 amps and surprisingly showed 8 -18 watts of charge (I didn’t expect the PV input could charge under 35v).
Wish I knew. I’m not an electrician but I’ve seen electrical engineers on YouTube talking about 12v DC outputs being regulated and unregulated but I don’t really know how that works. I’ve never had an aptitude for electricity.
Or maybe they were saying unregulated DC without specifying 12v.
I only know the Bluetti showed 30v and 0.5 amps input.
Here is the item you need for dual AC charging for your AC200 series product. The charger comes with a short cable that is XT90 on one end and the opposite end connects to the charger itself.
But…you will be right at maximum output power for your generator because if you have a charging brick that outputs 460 watts, it takes more than 460 watts to product that 460 watts of DC power. I am not sure of exactly how many watts are required but it will be somewhat more than 460 watts. The new charger outputs 500 watts and will consume somewhat more power. All in all your little generator will be running its little heart out at maximum power and may exceed the 1000 watt limit. This would be a better scenario for a quiet 2,000 watt inverter generator.
Thanks just ordered it. I’ll upgrade my generator eventually. It’s really meant as an emergency backup and not a regular charging method.
I’m thinking of hinging two panels together so that one can fold over the other. This would give me room to mount 4 panels that unfold while providing additional protection when folded against hail or debris. They would also lift to angle towards the front of the van. Facing the van south also collects solar heat through the windshield on colder days. Based on my testing, this should provide a full 0 - 100% charge in perfect conditions daily. Between that and a DC alternator solution I shouldn’t need the generator much. With some creative latching, the panels could even angle toward the front or back letting you face the van north in the summer and reduce solar heat capture.
Thanks for the advice
Final test results. This generator cannot handle both AC chargers at the same time. The 2000 watt generator is a minimum for that but double charging is great when it works.
Back to the original post…the low cost generator choses is not actually the lowest cost because you cannot use it for the intended purpose and have to replace it which will end up costing more than if you bought a capable generator in the first place. I would recommend the WEN brand of low cost 2000 watt generators. Decent product at a decent price.
Yeah the Wens are excellent for their price point. I just got a DF400i dual fuel https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09585G57S/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1 to give me a propane option in case I were to run low on gasoline for my Honda EU7000i during a long outage. I’m impressed with how miserly it is with fuel and its almost as quiet has the Honda plus the build quality is a lot better than Wen products used to be.
I may end up using it most of the time in place of the Honda on gasoline since it only uses about 1/4 gallon an hour at 1/2 load or less.
My Bluetti chargers and APC backups all seemed happy so the inverter sine wave must be good on it.
