Yep, the Valeo smart 250A alternator in my Mercedes Sprinter is also pretty much running at 14.9 as long as it needs to recharge to vehicule battery. The dealer confirmed me that 14.9v is on specs.
OEM battery in my Sprinter is a Varta AGM battery.
@chauffeurdevan spoke to my local caravan service friend and he said he is looking into a Vistron DC-DC regulator for me
@Audiotech1986 The 12-12/30 dc-dc converters are limited to 380 watts and same price as a charger1 - not sure how the charger1 gonna react if input current is limited. If not there is the new 12-12/50, but this one is already a charger and even more expensive (but only 12v).
On my side, i might just go the victron dc-dc charger 12-48/8 route (seems they are not available in canada, that’s why i did know they existed.) Might be able to charger my power station (in power supply mode i suppose), and also charge my lifepo4 battery (need a victron mppt 100/20-48v if i choose to keep the charger1).
I sent the charger1s for repair/replacement yesterday. Not sure i want to lose more time beta-testing this on my Sprinter, already lost too much time on this, and still no real info on what’s triggering the G003 error.
Hi @Audiotech1986, The peak voltage won’t last long.
Charger 1 was originally designed for 12V starter batteries. As long as the car uses a 12V starter battery, it should be fine.
We don’t think a voltage regulator is necessary—you can use it directly.
Hi @chauffeurdevan, Thank you for sharing this. If you need to arrange priority handling, please let us know your service ticket number.
I appreciate your kind understanding and patience.
@BLUETTI_CARE can you please help explain in lamens terms what G003 error is please if it isn’t the voltage
Your factory battery is an AGM ? If your car/van is built to be used with an AGM battery, bulk charging voltage should be higher. Acid-lead battery BULK charging voltage is 14.2v. AGM bulk charging voltage is 14.7v (on my sprinter, with a factory AGM with smart alternator, bulk is at 14.9v).
Hi @Audiotech1986, A G003 error indicates an input overcurrent. Hope this is helpful.
Thanks to @chauffeurdevan for the explanation.
@BLUETTI_CARE can you explain in lamens terms what “input overcurrent” is? In my mind this means it is receiving too many amps whereas if it is to much voltage it would read “input over-voltage”
This has been so frustrating. I’m having the same issue with my 2023 Sprinter. I was sent another Charger 1 but same problem. Bluetti please help!!!
What’s the voltage you are getting ?
And just for future ref, your sprinter is diesel or gasoline?
how many amp the alternator (M40/200A or M60/250A)?
AGM battery ?
Auxiliary battery installed ?
Hi @Audiotech1986, We would like to confirm whether the input and output share a common ground.
Excluding this possibility, input overcurrent is just one of our conclusions. The underlying cause may be due to a chip malfunction.
Hi @BLUETTI_CARE,
No, the ground (negative terminal on the vehicle battery) is direct to the Charger 1 alongside the live (positive on the vehicle battery) and the same from the charger 1 to the AC200Max aka the positive output of the charger 1 is direct to the AC200Max positive DC input and the negative output of the Charger 1 is direct to the DC input of the AC200Max.
This is the second Charger 1 I have had and really don’t beleive I could be so unlucky to have a second one showing the same fault.
I beleive my VW van is producing to much voltage as stated in previous posts of about 14.9v which is above the 13v threshold of the Charger 1. I have a caravan friend investigating a type of regulator for me to bring that voltage down to within the ratings of the Charger 1 you so kindly shared with me in a previous post
@BLUETTI_CARE @Audiotech1986 It really look like it mightbe too much voltage at the input. Nobody here in this thread have their alternator voltage under 14v, but more in the range 14.1-14.9v.
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Hi @Audiotech1986, We would like to explain why Charger 1 reports G003 (input overcurrent). Typically, this issue is caused by the common grounding of the input and output.
Please refer to the figure below. The green arrow indicates the current flowing out from the positive pole, the blue arrow indicates the current returning through the negative pole, and the yellow arrow indicates that part of the current flows back to the negative pole through the frame.
First, Charger 1 adopts a negative pole sampling scheme for current sampling. The output current limit of Charger 1 is 10A, and it will report an overload when the sampled current exceeds 10A. Secondly, when both the input negative pole and the output negative pole of Charger 1 are connected to the car frame (that is, the input and output share the same negative pole), during the operation of Charger 1, the current flows out from the positive pole (green arrow), and when returning through the negative pole (blue arrow), part of the current flows back to the battery’s negative pole through the frame (yellow arrow).
The relationship between the three is: green = blue + yellow. Since we have limited the blue current to 10A, the green current will inevitably exceed 10A. That is to say, under this working condition, the actual output current of Charger 1 is greater than the designed rated current (similarly, the power is also greater than the rated power), so the actual input power (current) will exceed the rated value, resulting in the overcurrent error.
Regarding grounding, please refer to the figure below. The top two are wrong demonstrations, and the bottom two are correct ones.
@BLUETTI_CARE thankyou so much for taking the time to explain in lamens terms what the fault could be and where the fault may occur I will certainly check there are no shorts to ground in my system and / or anything weird happening in my system which I have also draw for you.
As you can see I don’t have anything going to chassis ground as I prefer to know where my electricity is going.
Old electricians habit.
Hi @Audiotech1986, We are not quite sure what the part circled in blue specifically is. Could you please explain it?
Also, what are the specific functions of the remote switch and the 100A relay? What is the load?
In addition, could you test the working status of charger 1 when the remote switch is disconnected and closed, respectively?
We also noticed from the diagram that the negative pole of the battery is not connected to the frame. Is that the case?
@BLUETTI_CARE the circled area is the coil for the relay to turn the Charger 1 on. The purpose of the remote switch is the abilty for a panic button to disable the Charger 1 in case of emergency shutdown, the reason for the relay being so large is because that was all i had in stock.
When the remote switch is on (normal position and circuit closed) the relay is active and allows the charger 1 to work, when remote switch is in off position the charger 1 is deactivated and power to it is cut.
Nothing is sent to chassis as i didn’t wire it that way, old school electrician so i don’t run cables to chassis for ease i run two core 6mm cable from battery to circuit.
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Hi @Audiotech1986, Thank you for confirming — it looks like your wiring is correct.
It’s possible that the battery voltage is too high. Installing a voltage regulator to lower the voltage before testing might help.
We look forward to hearing your test results.
Wishing you the best of luck!