I went back and reviewed the video I made for Bluetti support on the issue of the transfer switch connected and gird power on and then off and then restored back on. The AC300 was often cutting the AC Output/inverter when power was restored. But the video also caught when it did not or it went in anｄ auto turned it back on, or by clearing the alarm, it turned it back on. Take a look at the whole video if you can and give your comments. The inconsistent behavior begins at around 5 mins into the video so pay more attention there to the end. This unit was RMA and sent back to Bluetti for analysis. I received the new one back and did retest until I spoke with Winnie asking if the new one fixed the issue. 2 days ago, I then retested and the unit Popped with a 008 OCP and now dead. I am waiting for an RMA．
I am also wondering about the 008 OCP problem causing the unit to shutdown and die. Because clearly others have turned grid power on and off many many times and the ac output cuts but the unit does not drop dead. But some did drop dead and is it due to a bad batch of AC300s/hardware or relay/circuit protection?
Your video is consistent with my experience: most of the time the alarm would trigger and the AC would go off, but occasionally no alarm or no shutoff would happen.
What did Winnie say when you asked if the new unit fixed the issue?
What version of firmware did each unit have?
some confusion here.
I did not ask if the new would fix it.
She asked me if my new one fixed it but I did not know the new one changed and did not retest. With her asking, then I realized I should retest. Then it popped when conducting the test.
I told her I retested and the new unit popped with 008 OCP now dead. Need RMA TO SEND IT BACK.
I think The firmware level was captured in the video. So you should see it there. Where I captured the product information with the serial number.
The reason why I asked about the firmware, is today Bluetti Support released an early version of a firmware update to me… I tested it this morning and it resolved 90% of my issue that I documented in my spike load issue video. I just recorded them an updated video and I did make mention of this issue with the AC output being turned off when Grid power is restored after a power outage.
I’m still going to do more testing today, but I’m going to see if I can get the firmware released to you guys as well so we can get a wide set of testing.
amazon lists this product as 20 amp but from what i can see, its 15. correct? many of my circuits that i need to transfer are 20…so I dont think this would work for me.
My understanding is the switch is rated at 20 amp for the grid connection, but their internal circuit breaker is only for 15 amp. So if you don’t expect the AC300 to output more than 15, you could hook it to a 20 amp breaker. But if you need 20 amp output from the AC300, then no it wouldn’t work.
yeah. just ordered the generac 9855 to replace my Reliance 310A. bummed but not taking any more chances with this stuff
Excuse my lack of knowledge. Would someone point out how the generac 9855 differs from the reliance 310a? I just viewed someone installing the generac 9855 on YouTube.
It is powered by a 50a breaker from the main panel or backup powered by generator. There is a toggle switch on the panel.
whereas the reliance 310a the power remains on the main panel and the routing of the load is managed individually on toggle switches on the 310a.
To install the 9855,
Must run and hook up the red and black wires from the 50a breaker to the utility leads on the 9855. Run ground and neutral from 9855 to the main’s ground and neutral bars.
Remove load wires from main circuit breakers and connect to hot wires from 9855 breakers for each load.
This is the part I am confused about as the 9855 have a bunch of neutral wires that must be connected from the 9855 neutral bar over to the mains neutral bar. However the load’s neutral wires are not moved to the 9855 and connected to the 9855 neutral bar. the load’s neutral wires are still connected to the main’s neutral bar. Also there are no individual grounds from the 9855 to the main’s ground bar.
Are the extra neutral wires from the 9855 to the main’s neutral bar adding wire gage capacity so the neutral wire capacity is not overloaded? Since the awg gage looks like 14 gage? Where as the reliance has one neutral back to the main and it is 10 awg and sufficiently thick? And the ground is only for short circuits and not really carry anything? So no need to run more??
But the 9855 still shares the neutral over to the main and it will still be bonded to ground. And connecting the ac300 to it when in backup generator mode still be an issue no that the ac300 will see bonded neutral to ground?
Also can you put gfci or afci breakers in the 9855 and have it work and up to code? It should because it has a neutral bar?? I am not familiar with replacing breakers and must get more hands on so excuse these questions.
Any insight and explanation would be appreciated.
i’ll add to this confusion a bit bc there are (i think) 2 contradictory youtube generac 9855 installation videos.
on this one: How to Install a Generac Generator Transfer Switch - YouTube
i believe he disconnected the neutrals from the bus bar in the main panel and tied those neutrals with the corresponding neutral which is grounded to the bus bar in the 9855 box. see 13:12 in the video
on this other video, at 6:30, How I Installed the Generac Generator Transfer Switch | Full Install | Home Link - YouTube
he leaves the main panels neutrals intact on the bus bar and transfers the neutrals from the 9855 to the same bus bar.
is the result the same? the neutrals connected on the 9855 are being fused with the neutrals in the main panel? video 1 - he’s tying the neutrals together. video 2 - he’s fusing them on the bus bar. correct?
now i’ll add 1 more question: all of the breakers going into my 9855 will be taken from my main panel and they are ALL afci breakers. So correct me if I am wrong here. In the 9855 box, the neutrals on the bus would have to be removed and installed into the neutral slot on the afci breaker, AND the small coiled neutral attached to the afci breaker would be tied to the neutral bus in the 9855 box, right? then, inside the main panel, I would tie the removed neutral to the bus bar, tie the 9855 hot to the removed hot in the main panel, and then tie the remaining 9855 neutrals to the neutral bus bar in the main panel. Correct?
@t4602yf see my note below regarding 2 contrasting videos. your comment
“However the load’s neutral wires are not moved to the 9855 and connected to the 9855 neutral bar. the load’s neutral wires are still connected to the main’s neutral bar” has me intrigued as well because in the First video he is in fact removing the neutral loads from the main panel bus bar and switching them by tying them to the neutral wires that are connected to the 9855 neutral bus. **so maybe that’s the answer? the neutrals for these circuits are switched to the 9855 and isolated from the main panel. having installed the R310A myself, i can now see that is not the case. the original circuit in the main panel are not removed, and the neutrals of those circuits are still tied to the main panel
ah, you just highlighted the AFCI breaker for me that it has a neutral lead pass through it back to the main panel and or 9855 neutral bar. I guess for GFCI, it is similar. that is the way those breakers sense a neutral to hot imbalance?? And that is the function of the Reliance neutral kit, to allow individual neutral hook ups for those breakers.
One thing I’ll add because I also installed my reliance 310CRK?? I think same switch as the 310A just a different inlet box.
With the switch connected to the main panels neutral, it is tied to all the circuits from the panel and connecting the AC300 power outlet to the switch’s plug now, the AC300 sees them as well. And will see and sense all the panels circuits neutral’s activity/voltage/current ?? But on the switch, it has 10, but it sees like 30/40 however many circuits from the panel?? so we need isolation and have a separately derived system so it only sees 10 hots and 10 neutrals belonging to the loads of those hots. instead of 10 hots from the switch and all those neutrals.not belong it its management??
Hey guys, please look closely on the second video that @mjb8706 referenced. In the video description he mentions that he wired incorrectly and failed inspection and had to pigtail the neutrals into the Generac transfer switch.
The main difference between the Generac, X-Series and Bluetti Smart panels is they physically switch the 2 Hots and the Neutral from each power source to complete their circuits inside the transfer switch.
The Pro/Tran only switches the 2 hots and uses the main breakers neutral system to complete the circuit… which may be fine if you only had one power source.
If you’re running your AC300 for your whole home and turning off grid power, then the Pro/Tran isn’t an issue and you can use the neutral system from your home’s electrical system. However if you’re actively allowing your GRID and your AC300 to share your homes electrical system I can’t tell you what fuckery that will cause… are they sending the same phase of power to the same leg, are they exactly on the same frequency, or are you accidently creating 240v on your 120v system?
Again this is how about how you’re using your AC300 system… when the Pro/Trans was created I don’t think they expected you to be running a “generator” all the time… as they ran off fuel and were only for backup when the grid went down… however you’re using it differently, potentially all the time.
To confirm, Then I the proper way to wire the generac is to move the load’s neutral wires from the main panel’s neutral bar to the generac’s neutral bar?
Never mind. The neutral wires from the generac (similar to the hots) connect to the load’s neutral wires over at the main panel.
Hey guys,
If you want to send me a private message with your serial numbers, support will release the firmware to you for testing. This way you can see if it software that is the issue or if it is related to the neutral.
Support did say that when grid power is restored that it is expected that their will be a brief interruption of power to your loads for a moment, but it should automatically restart. There should be no interruption when grid power is lost…
Hey guys,
I did confirm with Bluetti Support today that they recommend a transfer switch that isolates the hots and the neutrals from the main grid, otherwise you risk the 008 OCP (Over Current
Protection) hardware failure error.
I’ve actually been doing allot of research on this subject the last few days and the more I dig into it I’m surprised that with the use of the Pro/Trans switches that no one has damaged other equipment in your homes or started a fire if your running the AC300 with your Grid power still active in your main box.
Just finished reading through this thread.
If I understand correctly, the official Bluetti transfer switch is the way to go when backing up select circuits with an AC300 system? Or at least a third party transfer switch that also switches neutral if you can find one?