I just received the EB55. Charged it to 100% using the AC adaptor. Then plugged in my mini fridge into the EB55 AC. Fridge is rated 90W peak, and 50W operating. When the fridge cycles the cooling, I keep seeing an “overload” message on the EB55 panel. The fridge is the only item plugged in.
If I turn off the EB55, by holding in the AC output power button, then turn the EB55 back, I hear the fridge turn on and no overload message.
Let the fridge sit 15 minutes off to relieve the compressor pressure and you will not see the overload. What watts of power usage is the screen displaying when you see the overload.
Around 60W watts of power usage when I see the overload. Following your instructions, seems to be operating OK now.
I spoke to soon. The overload is still kicking in. I have to press the EB55 AC output power button to clear the overload message, then press the EB55 AC output power button again to turn the output back on. The overload is intermittent. Fridge is only rated at 90W peak and 50W continuous.
Try something else that’s rated for over 90 watts. Could be your fridge is spiking a lot more than the rated 90 watts. My EB55 can easily run a full size household fridge for a little while and it spikes at little over 700 watts for a second or two. A watt meter with a high/low watt memory is a handy gadget to have when dealing with sogens as well.
Many thanks. That was it. Mini fridge pulling 900W on startup, operates at 50W.
That mini fridge must have a problem to pull 900 watts ( 7.5 A at 120 VAC) . If you plan to keep it, have the refrigerant level checked.
See, everything operating as intended. EB55 received an overload and the overload indicator worked. The highest load is usually when the fridge is restarted shortly after it was turned off. When you waited about 15 minutes as before, the pressure bleeds off and much less power is required to start. In normal operation with a load of food or items in the fridge, the compressor will cycle on and off with quite a few minutes between cycles. This should lower the pressure and the starting watts required and you may well be able to use the fridge just fine. Try loading the fridge up with liquid and other items, let it cool down for a day or so, turn it off for 15 minutes and then connect to the EB55. That may well work for you.
I suspect earlier that the compressor cycling on and off with little time between cycles is what was triggering the overload. Or…you could do the easy thing: buy a new low power consumption mini fridge.
I ran across this interesting explanation of surge watts. For a refrigerator, it may be helpful to look at the compressor itself and see what the Locked Rotor Amp aka “LRA” value is. I am guessing this should be pretty close to the maximum amp draw you would see. They give an example of how to calculate max wattage.
Eric102, you mentioned a “watt meter with a high/low watt memory”. I only have standard killowatt meters. Can you suggest a product you are using?
Yep. I too could run my kitchen size Whirlpool fridge off the EB55.
The Insignia mini fridge is surge is 800 to 1000w. Hence the “overload” tripping on the EB55.
I ordered another mini-fridge rated LRA surge at 550w and my neighbor-confirmed - known to work smoothly with the EB55.
The dual tariff “Baldr” will store max and min watts used until cleared, the single tariff Baldr doesn’t have that feature. I have found the Baldr’s read a few running watts lower than my other two meters, a Killowatt and a Poniie but they all seem to end up with about the same KWH used when draining a sogen. https://www.amazon.com/BALDR-Electricity-Monitor-Power-Energy/dp/B07Y1SLZ8W/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2IAXI5KB6RCE1&dchild=1&keywords=baldr%2Bwatt%2Bmeter&qid=1634221360&sprefix=baldr%2Bwatt%2Caps%2C230&sr=8-5&th=1
Thanks, eric102. I just ordered the dual tariff “Baldr”. Looks reasonably priced and hoping I can figure out how to use it to view the max and min watts (it wasn’t clearly described in the Amazon description).
They are accessed through the energy button which has eight different read outs. Watts, volts, hertz, amps, power factor, max watts, min watts and an energy overload setting.
Eric102, the dual tariff Baldr is great! Tested on my refrigerator that cruises at about 110 watts and discovered the startup current is close to 800 watts.
It took a little while to sort out all the features. Great to have the cumulative run time. My kilowatt meters registered no current draw when the compressor was not running but the Baldr showed a background draw of about 0.8 watts (probably the timer), apparently below the killowatt meter’s threshold.
I think for anyone who wants to run a refrigerator on a Bluetti, it is an invaluable tool for finding out the startup wattage and determining if the product you are looking at can supply the power you need. Thanks again for introducing me to this meter.
Great! Glad it worked for you.