AC50S paired with Iceco VL45 fridge test

I just got my AC50s and fully charged it yesterday. Tested it on my Iceco VL42 last night and today. The AC50 shuts off with E27 DC over current error after a while when connected to the DC Cigarette jack. I am not sure why.

That jack is labeled 10 amps and he screen reads just 55 Watts max on compressor startup. Thats just 4.6 Amps, well below the jack limit. Once started the current drops to mid 40s or mid 30 Watts.

Shouldn’t the Dc jack handle this device?

(Fridge seems to work fine plugged into the AC inverter plug.)

This, and the comment about the AC 20 wasting energy converting to 12V DC leads me to the question: Is the inverter more efficient than the DC voltage converter?

@MauryJ yes, that DC 12v car/cigarette jack on the AC50S should have no problem running that fridge. I’ve used it for my iceco jp50 with no issues, which is very similar in power consumption.

Have you tried plugging your vl42 fridge into your car cigarette plug? Or another SoGen (solar generator)?? This would determine whether or not the problem is in the cig plug of the AC50s, the DC output on the VL42, or maybe even just the cable.

Is your fridge running off the cig plug on the AC50s at all?? Or does it run for awhile then turn off as the battery is dropping??

The AC50s has a regulated DC output so it shouldn’t be tripping the VL42’s battery protection mode, but you could try turning that down to “low” on the VL42 and see if that helps? If switching the mode to low works, that would lead me to believe you have the AC50, rather then the AC50s. The AC50 would be allowing your fridge to run for a while, then would stop as the incoming voltage drops below 9.6v.

As far as the AC vs DC efficiency in the unit, I would stick with using the DC output for the fridge. There will be added losses with changing DC to AC.

On the Facebook group for the “bluetti portable power station club” there was a guy who ran his VL45 and a coffee grinder at the same time with no issues for 44.5hours so the Bluetti AC50s def can handle the fridge, we just gotta determine where your issues are coming from. :metal:

I looked the the Iceco VL42 operators manual on the Iceco site and they only show the VL45. Your title states the model as VL45 so this may be your model rather than the later mentioned VL42. Maybe the operators panel is the same. The manual shows the operation panel for the VL42 as having a “compressor speed” button which you should be able to vary the compressor speed with and use a lower amp draw on initial start up. It would be interested to see the results of changing the compressor speed to see if the operation results with the AC 50 change.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0053/1536/2906/files/VL_series.pdf?v=1599552151

panel

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I use my AC50S with my VL60 all the time with no issue or settings changes.

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Looks like I have a problem with the cig circuit on the AC50s.

I ran the fridge on the AC plug all night last night no problem. Used about 25% of capacityBut the AC50s errors out when the fridge is plugged into the DC cigarette plug after about a half hour to an hour.

Fridge is an ICECO VL42. The control panel on that is different from the VL45. It doesn’t have battery protection buttons.

It does have an “eco mode” but I can’t seem to control that. I have contacted ICECO for more instruction on that.

Any suggestion from BLUETTI would be appreciated.

True, except the the 55 watts is running watts and the startup watts / amps will be higher. If the start up amps of the fridge exceed 10, the power socket will overload. I understand that you are only seeing 55 watts on the display, but it only takes a split second of overload to trip. I do not see any mention of start up amps in the manual. (link supplied below)

It appears that there is no eco mode on the VL42 or battery save mode. The green energy saving light only means the compressor has shut off and is not running due to the internal temp being within two degrees of the desired temperature. Red light on, compressor on / green light on, compressor off.

My last thoughts are: Make sure the DC plug is pressed firmly into the socket and rotate somewhat for good contact. Also…have you tried the plug in any vehicle socket that you have available and compare how that works?

Complete manual link: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/B1KBTcbMZLS.pdf

The fridge cig plug works fine connected to the car battery. I have been using the fridge like that for a month or so.

I will have to get an ammeter that will record the peak draw to test for that startup surge if the Bluetti is averaging in its readout. (I watched it startup and saw a peak of 55 Watts on the DC then drop down to low 40s and even mid 30s as it ran.

Same when plugged into Bluetti AC circuit.

Checked the voltage (not under load) of the cigarette lighter port and it does indeed seem to regulate. Measured 13.68 at 100% battery and 13.66 at 66% battery charge. Under a 13 watt load it reads 13.60 at 60% battery. So my problem must be over current on fridge startup and the Bluetti is working perfectly!

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Glad to hear it got all figured out @MauryJ :metal: