The converter does not shut off when the AC200 is full, the AC200 just stops accepting power. The converter will not be under load after charging is complete, so very little standby power consumption will be present.
I’m going to use those anderson 50 amp connectors just before the converter and manually unplug it when not in use as my truck might sit for some time without driving. Thanks for being a awesome moderator on this forum. Lots of good information and ideas.
I wanted to try the anderson connector idea more for portability so I didn’t have to permanently mount the converter. The only negative I saw with the whole setup initially was the heat generated off of the converter. That seems to have been solved with the fan or the heat may no longer be an issue by using the 20 amp converter. I was using a 15 amp converter so it was more stressed. But…I love the idea of pumping in 575 watts of charging power while driving or even when parked for a short time.
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Hi Scott, I will try an outing without the 12V fan to cool the 20A converter and let you know. I was lucky that the guy I bought the Transit from ordered the 250A alternator and the upfitter switches when he ordered it from the factory. The switch outputs are fuse protected, so I didn’t need to add anything. I absolutely love having 570+ watts charging while the engine is running, too. The AC200P went from 52% to 100% in about 1.5 hours.
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Hi Scott, Just went on a 50+ mile outing with the 20A converter and with the muffin fan disconnected. Some highway and some stop & go driving. AC200P went from about 65% to 95%. Converter was slightly warm to the touch. Could leave my hand on it indefinitely
By the way, finally received the new aviation charging cable from Bluetti to replace the one with reversed polarity. Now I have a spare!
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Great information. In your opinion based on your observations, would you recommend using a fan for this type of installation or do you think going to the 20 amp converter keeps the temps reasonable? Slightly warm sounds good to me but I suppose the fan is good insurance.
We’re going to take it out for a three day camping trip in eastern TN next week. I’ll try it both ways and let you know the results. The fan is insurance, for sure.
I’m back. Just double checking. I have everything mocked up, inverter is suppose to be here today. I ran power directly from the trucks battery with anderson 50 amp disconnect for ease. 80 amp fuse switch on the + cable. going too wire those to the inverter input and I have a xt90 cable ready to wire to the inverter output. Do i need to worry about amperage coming from the truck battery and do i wire that little fan to the input side? Thanks guys Its kind of over my head but i’m great at monkey see monkey do.
Working, 577 watts while truck is idling in driveway in the pv mode. Goofed that up thought car mode and threw a fault. alligator clipped the fan to input side and seemed to run fine. Not sure if I will permanently mount it or not. I will check after the inverter charges for a longer period and see how warm it gets. If this works long term, wow what a setup. A lot of extra watts while driving. Thanks for all the help
Sounds like you are up and running. Yes, you do need to be concerned with the cables going to the step up converter input from the battery. They need to be capable of handling about 60 amps of power without getting hot. Think battery cable size or so. If your cables are getting hot while running for an extended period, it is a sign that they are too small in size. Check the temp. of the step up converter for excessive temp as well as this would indicate you need the fan running. You did connect it correctly to the input side. The cables from the output to the XT90 do not have to be near as large as the input side and 8 or 10 ga. should be fine. I agree, this is a great way to fast charge while driving.
You can also charge from a fully charged vehicle battery with th engine off for a short period time. If you turn off the step up converter after this type of charging, your vehicle battery will rapidly recharge when you re-start the engine. You would need to experiment how long you can charge with the engine off and still safely re-start your engine. I recommend that the step up converter be in the off position when re-starting the vehicle so your alternator does not have to carry the load of both recharging the vehicle battery and powering the step up converter as well. If you have a larger than normal alternator this may not be an issue.
Stock alternator, 2020 chevy colorado ZR2, Hopefully it will be ok. Now i’m a little nervous with my 8g wire running from truck battery to inverter. Approx. 14 ft. I could upgrade to 6g , but what a pain. Seems like I never get it right on the first go around. I will have to check the wires and see if there getting warm after charging for a extended period, don’'t want to burn my truck up. Thanks again for all the info
Help, Failure. Drove truck approx. 30mins, charging @ 577 watts. While driving truck shows 14.2 volts output. Stopped at 600 rpms drops down to as low as 12.6 volts. 8g wires are warm, inverter is warm nothing crazy. Problem is 80 amp switched fuse is tripping after about 30 min of charging. Will reset but trips again in less than a minute. The fuse is much warmer than wires but not to hot to touch. Ac200p shows 48.6 volts 11.9 amps on the data screen. Will larger wires solve my issue or is something else amiss. Looking for trouble shooting ideas. That charging is bad a** while it last Pre thanking any help Quitter
If you are using 8 ga. wires from your vehicle battery to the power converter, then yes…8 ga. is too small. You want something more like a vehicle battery cable size. (See my pics above way up in this post). The most amperage will be traveling down these two wires and they need to be the heaviest.
14 feet is a very long run for any cable size and 8 ga. is way too small for the amps carried over 14 feet. You can also try using a larger amperage of circuit breaker… say a 100 of 125 amp but larger wires is the best route. Make absolutely sure that your circuit breaker wire connections are still tight and have not have come loose causing excess resistance and heat.
If there is any way to mount the converter closer to the battery with shorter cables that would be best. You can get away with 8 or 10 ga wires running from the output of the converter to the AC200 because they are only carrying 1/4 of the electricity that the input side is carrying.
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Thanks, I’ll start tearing apart for redo. Unfortunately I can’t place the inverter closer. Do you think 4g would get it or go 2g. I dont have any good areas to penetrate the firewall. 2g oh boy, now i’m going to have to buy a crimper heavier ring connectors. Bird feeding is starting to look better all the time except hiring someone to fill my feeders when i’m gone. Anyway thanks. Looks like new old project. Quitter
4 ga. calculates that you can do a 17’ run before dropping more than 2% of the voltage so it should work. If you have a torch, you can solder the ring terminals on by heating the ring terminal, adding solder and then add the wire while still heating.
Update- New supplies showed up today. 2 gauge awg wind natiion welding cable 9’ 6" long, 100 amp breaker. Charging at 577 watts, After 30 mins idling in driveway. cables are warm but the breaker didn’t feel that warm and didn’t trip. Inverter was very warm but I could grab it and hang onto with no problem. Don’t think any hotter would be that great. I did buy that little 12v fan. Are there any DC outputs on the AC200p that would run that fan. I could make a adapter cord that i could just plug in when i’m driving. Not sure if that fan would really make that much difference. Thanks for any thoughts. Forgot to mention that my inverter is mounted on 1 inch spacers so it can get air all around.
Any 12 volt output on the AC200 would power it but the easiest way to power the fan is to connect it directly to the voltage step up converter input terminal. That way anytime the converter is running the fan will be running as well. When you are driving and the voltage is a little higher, the converter should run a little cooler as well. Great job on the install.
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Just got back from a three day camping trip to eastern TN. About 500 miles. Ran the converter with and without the 12v fan. Without the fan the converter just got mildly warm.No problem holding my hand against it indefinitely. Still going to use the fan just for insurance. 572 watts of charging while driving.
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Huge shout out for jkennon/Scott-benson. Tested today. 12v fan installed. Drove truck around and let idle while mowing my parents yard. Went from 30% to 100% charge in less than 3 hours. 577 watts. Inverter is ice cold especially with AC on in the truck. 2 gauge wires are barely warm. I’ll run for a few more days and than i’ll bury the wires under the carpet in the truck. If this has some longevity its going to be way better than portable solar panels and really if you do the install correct from the get go way cheaper. (Cant believe that little fan makes that much difference) I’m super stoked with this set up. Plus I’m learning some good knowledge along the way. Thanks again guys.
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Glad to help. I originally was experimenting with an Ecoflow EF1500 24 volt output battery that I purchased a 24 volt to 48 volt step up converter (same unit you have but made for 24 volt input) for. My purpose was to be able to use the 1500 watt hour battery to charge at 575 watts the AC200 the same way you are running in your van. It worked great and now I have the ability to add my pair of EF1500 batteries feeding the AC200 for longer run time if needed.
The 24 volt system worked very well and that is when I decided to try the same thing in a vehicle but with a 12 volt input. Ther 12 volt version definitely got hotter due to the lower input voltage but I was encouraged by the results. Jkennon got involved with his install and came up with the cooling improvements and did some longer term tests in his van. Overall, it seems to be a great way to provide a faster charge while in a vehicle and not have to rely on solar near as much. If the step up converter components hold up long term, I think it is a win / win for everyone.
I would think there would be a good market for an all in one product (built in fans, circuit breaker, cables etc. that a brand (Bluetti / hint / hint) could sell and offer this charging method.
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