EB240 or AC200Max?

Product Discussion
1

I’m looking to run a battery system to power around 400w load for work hours (or part of that) and have a portable option that i can use to move around via my work van.

I had been very firmly looking at the AC200P (or new Max) but i have had second thoughts over the power waste draw those units have when running (so 2000wh becomes 1500wh in effect).

The EB240 series seems to offer more hours of usage which would work better for me. However the recharging options are much weaker on the EB240 series and that might also come into play.

So my main focus now is to work out how recharging the EB240 is in the real world. So a few questions for those that know the unit.

  1. Can you recharge the unit while running and using AC power out? Either by Solar or the 200w power unit (i know it can only do one at a time)?

My idea is to have solar deployed during the day (when not raining etc) while using the EB240, and power up via the 200w power brick during the night when the EB240 is off. would that work?

  1. When using Solar, the mentioned max input is 500W, so would that be best achieved via 2x250w panels or can you overvolt (e.g. use 2x350W Bluetti panels?) and still get that to charge the battery?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

2

  1. Yes, you can charge and discharge at the same time.

  2. You can NOT go over on volts. You can go over on amps, and the unit will only accept the amount of current it can use. To get close to the rated 500 watts of solar you’d need 50+ volts coming in with 10 amps or close to it. You could not use two PV350s in series on the EB240 because that is too many volts. You could do two PV350s in series with the AC200Max, though. Two 240-250 watt panels should work provided the panels don’t exceed about 30 volts VOC, since the EB240 can take up to 68 volts.

1 Like
3

I have the EB240 and recharge it via solar (I have a 350 watt panel) or from an auxiliary B230 or if I am driving from a 1500 Watt pure sine inverter with two AC chargers plugged into it (giving about 360 watts of charging).
My usual draw is about only 50 to 100 watts per hour, though…so not nearly as much as yours.
No problems with the setup so far…I’ve used it for about 2 years…
If there is sun, the solar more than keeps up with my draw and when I am driving anywhere, the solar or AC chargers do a great job…

CyBear

1 Like
4

Thanks for the details ziggy29.

Ok so i need to be aware of the limits of the unit for solar charging beyond the basic advertised 500W max input.

There is not much info about those specific details, but you mention 10 amps and about 50+ volts is needed. The only power specs on the website relate to the AC power brick that gives: 42V/160W, OCV 16V~68V /MAX.10A, which is about the parameters to think about maybe, as they share the same input socket?

The reason i’m looking for more details is that i’d like to run a solar setup that runs at the very max the unit can manage to make it as functional and efficient as possible. I feel that using 2xBluetti 200W panels or 1xBluetti 350W panel wastes some capacity.

So using those as templates i have this:

2xBluetti 200W = 400W (100W ‘lost’ of potential 500W max):
VMP=20V, IMP=6.06Amp, VOC=24V (per panel), so that would be 40V and 6 Amps with VOC at 48V for those in series?

1xBluetti 350W = 150W ‘lost’ of potential 500W max):
VMP=36V, IMP=9.7Amp, VOC=43.2V, so that would be 72V and 9.7 Amps with VOC at 86.4V for two of those in series, which would be over the 68 Volt limit for the EB240 right?

I might have got that wrong but for sure a 200W+350W series connection (if using Bluetti’s panels as above) would not work in the same way 2x350 panels would not (too many Volts coming in).

So to hit the EB240’s limits i guess third party panels are the way to go, as long as they fit into the input characteristics for the EB240 for solar, which would be nice to know in detail (come on Blutetti, put the details down in plain site please)!

You have given me valuable data to look further into, so thank you for that reply :slight_smile:

5

That 1500 Watt pure sine inverter is when using your vehicle? Is that from the 12V ‘cigarette lighter’ socket? or something else? I had wondered about charging from the van, and i know they don’t advertise this in the EB240 as they do for the AC200P or MAX series, but would be interested to know more about your setup for that, as i will be driving around during work and charging in that period would be handy.

6

As a general update finish to this thread, i will start my solar generator journey with the EB240. It offers more hours of use per charge for less money and seems a good starting point. It also will be an easy to transport around option with some lightweight flexible solar panels (currently i’m working out which ones to use).

The eventual aim will be to also get something like the AC200 Max down the line and max out that with the full 8,192Wh with 2×B300 expansion units and a bigger solar array (probably fixed on the car-port/garage in the garden), and use that as a general home use option when desired or backup during power-cuts. It’s all quite an expensive outlay, but i figure we will all start to need to be more energy independent over the coming years, and Bluetti do offer some of the best options currently (which can still be improved upon in terms of efficiency under use etc).

Thanks to all that participated in this thread, it’s all great help.

7

So I have a Ford Transit cargo van and it has what is called a ‘CCP’ (I believe), which is a factory installed electrical connection point under the drivers seat to tap into the vehicle electrical system. I wired my inverter to that through a switch that I turn off when the vehicle is not running (to not run down the vehicle battery).

1 Like
8

I have two EB240’s. I charge them with four, BougeRV 5BB 180 watt panels in 2S2P. VOC is 21.6. On a good day, input is about 450 watts. Never get close to the 720 rated watts.

I rotate the EB240’s so while I’m using one, the other one is charging. I use them in the house. If I was using the EB240 outside, I suppose I could use pass-through charging. I purchased the EB240’s from Maxoak when they had refurbished units available. Essentially it was 2 refurbed units for a little less than the price of a new unit. I’ve had them for about 5 months. I also have two EB150’s, also refurbished. So far, so good.

1 Like
9

Yes i have considered getting two EB240’s, to use a little like you mention (use 1, charge 1). I’m currently looking at the B230 option (to add additional storage kWh) also, to go with the EB240, and ways to charge faster (via the T500 power brick for the B230 etc). I have not been able to fully decide just yet, but will over the next month.