I am having an electrician INSTALL (2) PORTABLE GENERATOR LOCKOUT KITS WITH 50 AMP 250V INLET PLUGS. I have two electric panels. Anyway, will I be able to plug my AC300 and use it to power various circuits in my home? I have been reading other threads where people had issues. From what I gather they are trying to charge the AC300 from grid at the same time, I guess to use the AC300 as UPS. For my situation, I plan to only connect the AC300 to my house via the generator plug when the power goes out and I will do so manually. Nothing automatic. We are not installing a sub panel as I want to be able to pick and choose what breakers to turn on. I am getting worried about the stories of people frying their AC300s. Any info would be appreciated.
Why are you installing 50 amp inlets ?? the AC300 doesn’t supply 50 amps out AND it only supply’s 120 volt not 240 volt…RU doing this for future use on a different generator set up…just curious
I have 2 AC300s. I wanted 240V and it is my understanding the 50 amp Bluetti is coming.
Yes, there is an AC500 unit coming. Someone from the service department confirmed it. And there is information on the Bluetti home page. I may plan to buy two of them for 10 kW of power.
The AC500 needs 5000 / 120 = 42 A, so a 50 A wiring is correct.
The AC300 needs 3000 / 120 = 25 A, so a 30 A wiring is correct.
Just a FYI …every licensed electrician use’s #6 gauge for 50 amp load same as he would use 10 gauge for a 25 amp load. Wire sizes not available for certain ampere ratings in between.
As an EE with decades of experience, you must buy the next larger wire size if the amp load is greater. It may cost more but these ratings were established by the National Electric Code which was created by the New York Fire Dept over a hundred years ago. The gage values are calculated by the heat rise at the amp rating. And overloading can cause overheating leading to fires
The best level of safety is to put in a wire size that is 25% higher than the amp needs. So for 5 kW load, you need 42 amps, and the next gage is for 50 amps which is close to the extra 25% even if you never plan to consume 42 amps in a continuous mode.
So go safe, pay more, and prevent fires.
Article 310.15 (B) (16) NFPA NEC is available to anyone . You can read the requirements. This is the most used table in the NEC It was known as 310-16 . There are other correction factors but these will keep you safe on amperage ratings. Note: These are for not more than 3 conductors in a raceway
I am working on a UPS for my house. After blowing the House Circuit Breaker for the AC300 charging circuit and the FI breaker many times I did a lot of research. The following was confirmed by Bluetti EU.
You need to ground the neutral from the AC300 as close to the unit as possible. Then ground the AC300 to a real earth ground. The EP500 has a grounding jack by the way as it is more suited for home backup. The AC300 has a floating ground.
In addition keep the neutral from the AC300 separated from the house neutral. There is interaction otherwise since your AC charge input had a House neutral. Here is my schematic in German. Notstrom is emergency power from AC300. I switch both Hot and Neutral simultaneously with a two pole center off switch for each circuit - after connecting ground and neutral together And running a separate ground wire to Earth. Also add a FI circuit breaker.
At least in Europe.
Amy you do not need to ground your unit… you are using an inlet that will send the power into the main breaker box. The main breaker box already has the neutral and ground bonded and therefore is grounded. By Code and for safety reason you should only have one bonded neutral in your system and that already exists in your environment.