Issue with E100V2 on Fridge/Freezer/AC units

I thought that the compressor pressure was high due to recent running so I let the freezer sit for 30 minutes before plugging the E100V2 into it. However, I didn’t observe any different behavior, it still runs abnormally for 2 minutes before stopping. It seems like this unit has a problem and cannot run / backup a fridge, freezer etc… which is a major issue that needs to be addressed.

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@sealy1986 , @snowstorm . Whilst I agree with the noted anomalies running certain compressor devices, I would not use the term “cheaped out”.
As an engineering designer, I have seen redesigns to make certain improvements for the next iteration, have subsequent unforeseen consequences. Sometimes these consequences are quickly obvious, sometimes not. That does not mean bad quality.
The true test of a manufacturer, is to take on board these issues and hopefully rectify the problem. If this can be done via software, then great, it’s an update. If it is hardware, then further design is needed for a future release.
I’ve seen a handful of Bluetti disassemblies on Youtube, where the manufacturing quality detail seems good.
With regard to home appliance backup - I am a day from a remote camping trip, I’ve set up 2 power stations to a generator transfer switch so my wife has backup power, should the grid fail.
I have 2 x AC180s, one on top of the other. The bottom one has its 240VAC charging cable plugged in, but not connected. The top one has its 240VAC charging cable plugged into the 240VAC outlet of the bottom AC180. There is an extension cable with a 10A plug connected to the top AC180s 240VAC outlet. The other end is a 15A socket, plugged into the generator plug to the house.
With both AC180s turned on and both their 240VAC outputs also on, there is 1,800W of inverter, with a combined 2304Wh capacity. Usual load is around 300W, with me not home.
Would I use the Elite 100 v2 for grid backup? I am not sure, I would want to trust it yet. The 2 x AC70s, 3 x AC180s and the AC200P, I know, will all work.

I do believe Bluetti makes high quality equipment, and own an AC300, Apex300, AC70, EB3A, multiple B300(k), EB70 plus a few Jackeries. I just want to flag this so we can get it fixed, hopefully in software.
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One can imagine that it is important for a battery inverter backup to work for a freezer or fridge, and not just resistive heating coils. It is not reasonable for a brand new E100V2 to not work like this.
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Let’s hope Bluetti can get this fixed. Am I am open to running whatever experiments to help gather info.

Hi @snowstorm, thank you for your feedback. Today, we have rolled out the new ARM firmware for the AC70 in batches.
Customers can upgrade it by themselves to obtain the System Switch Recovery function. With its help, the AC70 will automatically restore AC power after it shuts down.

Yes, we have received your email and will push the latest DSP v2200.11 to you. This may take some time. Please test it after upgrading tomorrow.

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Point taken. Fair assessment. Regardless of “design improvements” at its very core you have to understand your client base. What type of equipment do they use with your units? Take a common 12V fridge. There are ton of dirt cheap power stations which cannot reliably run even a basic 12V fridge. You have to at least nail the essentials in quality and control testing. Use of these compressor style appliances (on one of these more portable units like AC180/Elite 200 etc) are not common, so I can see this being a specific one-off niche type of issue. A lot of people who run window A/C units I imagine are using larger inverters like APEX series style or larger. Another possibility is if the parameters of the appliance itself changes, for example going from an inverter style unit to soft-start compressor. Maybe an old device from 5 years ago is compatible today, but a new unit from tomorrow may not be due to internal parts changing. I have to ask myself am I being realistic at what I am asking my Bluetti unit to run? We often just look at things at face value without taking into consideration parameters like startup characteristics, how stable the voltage may need to be coming in, does it demand a neutral ground, etc. It’s not as simple as “this appliance runs at this many amps and this many volts” since my power station has higher then that it will run. You must size the inverter not just for continuous watts, but for surge as well. Numbers can be deceiving. My original concern about the issue with my compressor-based dehumidifier not running was due to the fact the behavioral characteristics was contradictory to the capability/demand of the unit itself. I could understand if I went from an overpowered to an underpowered unit, but it was the opposite, henceforth why I was raising a concern about potential cost-cutting measures within the internals or if something like inverter logic changed which makes the unit less tolerable to certain appliances. For clarity I have a Midea 22 pint dehumidifier. It’s inrush current/surge current/constant voltage/amps is all within the parameters of my Bluetti units. It would run on my smaller EB3A and larger AC180, but would not run on my AC70 or the Elite 30 PP unit. Keep in mind my remark about cost cutting is just a theory, not a valid claim. The claim is baseless, however, the expected behavior is certainly contradictory. All of the product design change happens at the C Level but what often is left in the dark or omitted is what they changed (or otherwise cost-cut). Remember back in the long ago when General Motors used to make dependable cars? Why did their quality slip? Well I come to find out that the reason why their cars break down more often (lack of quality) was due to the fact more people were “leasing” cars vs. owning them, so the C Level made an executive decision to put in the cheapest of parts to offset the cost of depreciation/damage caused by customers neglecting their cars. The product was pushed at still obtaining high quality and the price point reflected it, but internally under the hood at the C Level they made a poor decision. I hope this is not the case with the newer Bluetti units. What I can say is this… if it is indeed truly a firmware or software change, then it can be fixed. I can reinstall Windows on a PC that was infected by a virus, but I cannot reinstall Windows on a hard drive that physically failed.

The Elite 100 V2 was explicitly promoted on their buy page for home backup and even has an example of run time on a fridge. So it is reasonable for one to buy it for that advertiser purpose. Let’s hope Bluetti team sees this and is working on a fix that can be applied via software.

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That is an excellent observation @snowstorm . If it was not listed that would be one thing but advertising is another.

I noticed a DSP V2200.10 > V2200.11 for the E100v2 this morning and applied the update. However, the behavior didn’t change.

My freezer is still short cycling and won’t run continuously. It would try to start, pull 350w, stop after 1 minute, then retry again in 5-6 minutes. When on grid power or AC70 or Apex300, it would pull 120-150w and run for a much longer period of time. Another thing I tried to do is to run a hair dryer on low (350w resistive) together with the freezer, to see if a mid-sized resistive load would stabilize things by adjusting the blended power factor, but it didn’t seem to matter and it is still short cycling. I tried to run my miter saw with it, this is also an inductive load and pulls >1800w for a split second on startup, but then stabilizes around 800w when spinning. There are no apparent issues, though this is a “dumb” device and would keep going no matter what so it might not be the best indicator.change.

On the AC70, I did receive an ARM update and it activated the restore function, so it can finally function as a UPS. Thanks! I have posted an update on the AC79 thread for there as a reference.

I do need help with the E100v2, please let me know what else I can try and test to help.

@sealy1986 Your comment re 12V fridges, I have 3 of these; An Engel 40lt combi fridge freezer in the 4x4, a 110lt Dometic upright in the caravan and a Dometic 30lt drawer fridge also in the RV.
None of them run from a power station - The Engel runs from an auxiliary 12VDC LFP in rear of the 4by. Both Dometic fridges run from the 12V RV house batteries.
The Engel and the upright Dometic both have 240VAC power capability. I’ve never run any of these fridges from 240VAC. Even if the RV is on shore power, they stay on 12V as the shore power charges the house batteries anyway. I do the same for my laptop and television, both of which could run from AC power, but don’t.
I can’t see the point in inverting battery output to then convert back to DC.
The issue I have is with my 240VAC only home fridges.
As mentioned in other posts, the big 540lt fridge works well on the AC*** power stations, but from the Elite 100 not the same. The smaller 90lt 240VAC only drink fridge won’t work from any of my power stations. I’m now part way into my trip, I set up 2 AC180s for my wife to have home backup if the grid goes down. I also turned the 90lt fridge off before departing; a. it’s empty, as I took the drinks for the trip, and b. I don’t want bad things happening, if it’s left on and I’m not home. Like you, I wish that every 240VAC device worked, worked well and had no noticeable issues when powered by a power station.

My concern here is that the new E100v2 is not capable of powering my 120v AC chest freezer which usually uses 100-150w when running. The AC70 and AC300 and Apex300 can.

One thing I learned is that the Elite 100 V2 does have an upgraded AC input filter for managing incoming “dirty” power which helps the sensitive electronics, but what changes they made to how it handles the inrush current (most notably for how long) may be the deciding factor into why it doesn’t work. It may be too aggressive. One thing for certain is marketing needs to tread carefully on what they advertise. They often stretch the truth or overstate what a product can do which may put them in some legal hot water. They could benefit from some more rigorous internal quality control testing. They are probably doing the bare minimum testing, otherwise, we would not be experiencing these problems. It reminds me of YouTube content creators that just shill for cash and don’t do a dime a research to find out what company they are supporting. Perhaps Bluetti could benefit from a feedback style community-driven app where users can submit their feedback on what products work for them and what don’t. That might be nice for potential future buyers who are looking to see what setup others may have and what works for them and what doesn’t. I have this fridge, this pressure cooker, this fan, this blah blah, does this work with THIS powerstation?

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So I just got a ARM update from V2186.07 > V2186.12 but unfortunately, it didn’t help. My freezer still attempts to start but shut off within a minute and then repeat. My current firmware status is as follows.

image

My freezer is a Danby Designer chest freezer DCFM289WDD

I’m moving camp tomorrow for the remote spot. I have an Engel 40lt combi fridge freezer, which works from 12VDC or 240VAC. The caravan fridge (110lt also has 240VAC connection to a outlet.
I’ll test both fridges from 240VAC on the Elite 100 and the Engel from the 10A 12VDC cig socket. I can’t test the van frodge from 12V as its’s hardwired.
That will be in a few days time. :grin:
So far the Elite has worked running my 700W microwave, which draws over 1,200W. (My current camp was temporary, so haven’t fully set up.)

I managed to find room for my 100Ah LFP and the Charger 1 and also one of my AC70s. It has enough grunt to test as above as well. In fact I’ll use it first to benchmark smooth running and Watts load from display and power meter.
Then see what the Elite 100 does, stay tuned…

I am pleased to announce that this has been FIXED with DSP V2200.99
This can now run my chest freezer as well GRID can.
I updated from DSP V2200.11 to v2200.99, it says successful, but when I go back to the firmware screen, it still says my version is DSP V2200.11 → V2200.99
The freezer definitely works though

This is good to hear since I have a E100V2 on order and one of the things I was expecting to run is a freezer!
Thanks to everyone who’s tested and worked towards a solution on this.
Richard.

Good to hear a software logic fix was available :slight_smile:

I am getting something similar too but wonder if it’s the “same” problem?

For reference, the E100v2 is my first power station… i’m kinda new at this.

Just got the unit few days ago, updated the firmware arm v2186.12 dsp 2200.10 (which is different than what I see above even tho unit says it’s up to date) bms v1083.07

I got this unit for emergency home backup, “keep things alive” during the night and be able to re-charge during the day off a generator. Most common things I’ll prob try to run include, fridge, freezer, furnace, and fish tank pumps.

So first thing I went to test this unit on was a small compressor driven bar fridge… and the fridge hates me. It rattles and squeeks when running off the battery but as soon as I put grid power to the E100v2 and it goes into bypass mode, everything is quiet and normal. unplug it and compressor is noisy again. Front display showing the fridge drawing 75W when on grid power and about 120-140w when on battery power. One thing I did check and change was the 50 / 60hz ac output. Unit was shipped set at 50hz and I have since changed it to 60 (i’m in canada). No difference tho.

What worries me if a few things. a) Is something wrong with the software and it needs an update? If it’s having that much trouble running a tiny fridge, a larger item (like my chest freezer or kitchen fridge) is going to be much worse. b) I’m kinda worried what damage it might end up doing to things I plug into it… The little bar fridge is not a big deal but I would hate to fry expensive electronics on a new furnace or main fridge, etc…

Thanks,

This is likely the same issue. DSP 2200.99 is the firmware that fixed it for me. It can be a test build that they pushed to a subset of units and they would likely push it to everyone soon if there are no reported issues. I would not run the fridge with the E100v2 until the update as that strange state might not be good for the fridge. This is a brand new unit so there might be some unexpected behavior with some devices, they have a firmware fix though and it would likely work for you too. Wait a week or so, and if you don’t get an update. Send them a email and ask for it, give them your serial number.

I was told that my 2200.99 was a test build to test improvements for compressor like loads. It seems that it was successful. They would likely roll whatever changes to the next official firmware version. It is good news that it can be fixed in software.

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