Troubleshoot Surge Power

I am connecting my RV to my AC200Max via the 30amp connection. Everything seems to be fine on draws of <= 500W (a few lights and small appliances). My Air Conditioning unit is a 13,500 BTU with a surge of @3,200W, common run of 1,000 - 1,300 W. I assumed this would not exceed the capabilities of the AC200Max. My test scenario has nothing pulling except the hardwired guys (stereo, thermostat, etc.) drawing 75W.

When I power on the AC I can see the draw climb from 100W, to 700W, to 1400W, and then immediately AC power shuts off with Error Code 20. 20 seconds later, the ac200 throws another Error Code 20, and than throws an Error Code 32. When I attempt to power on the AC output after that, it throws an Error Code 17, and I need to reboot the ac200 to use it again.

I am inexperienced with this hardware - how do I troubleshoot? How can I verify that the ac200max is functioning properly? What do these error codes mean?

The surge rating lasts for a fraction of a second. Your AC unit is exceeding the inverter output capacity during startup for well over the surge limit timeframe. If you install a soft start kit on your AC unit you should experience better results.

The ability for the AC200Max is both a function of power and time. It says it can surge up to something like 4000w, but the key is duration. If you exceed 2000w by a little bit say you are at 2400w, it can last 30s, but if you exceed by a lot say mealy 4000w, then it would only last for a fraction of a second before it shuts down.

I think the exact table is in the manual.

Thank you both for the information. I had purchased the AC200Max believing its “4800W Surge” (listed on Bluetti’s product description webpage) would allow me to simply “plug and play” my RV… I’m guessing someone more familiar with all this (appliance draws, inverters, "surge) would have realized that output capability was for a fraction of a second and was not a particularly useful number. The manual does indicate that 4800W surge is supported for 100ms; I’m not sure what scenarios (if any) that would be useful in, but it certainly doesn’t include an air conditioner! :slight_smile:

I’ve been learning about soft start kits over the past few days; sounds like that will be a requirement.

Thanks again for the help.

Any device that uses a motor generally requires more power on startup than generally running at normal running. A refrigerator is a good example. While a std. fridge will consume say 120 watts, it can require 850 to 1000 watts to start up.

Your AC unit in the RV will require the most starting wattage when it has been shut down and attempted to restart soon after a shut down. In many cases you can leave the AC unit off for about 5 minutes and a re-start will be possible with less wattage required. If it were me, I would go the soft start route as it is not too expensive. One other thing to think about is that you would only be able to power your AC unit for about an hour at max battery capacity. Is this something that is useful for you with the run time limitations?

Also regarding your question on the meaning of the error codes, there should be an index of error codes on the main panel menu.

Very good point on run time expectations. If your AC pull 1300w average when on, then it is going to last just over an hour on a full AC200Max battery. If you load it to the max with solar panels and is sunny, you can extend that to maybe to 3-4 hours.

@Scott-Benson , we plan on leveraging solar during the day, and I’d like to get some practical field observations on consumption/accumulation. The first few trips will be a lot of experimenting. We’re a family of converted tent campers - our first RV trip will be in a few weeks - and I don’t expect we’re going to spend too much time inside the RV during the day. I like the idea of telling the kids “You can watch a movie OR have AC at bed time.” If we can hit the evenings at 70-80% battery, I feel pretty confident we can get the RV comfy enough where everyone can fall asleep.

1 Like

I installed the MicroAir EZ Start on my AC and this greatly reduced the initial current draw during start. The AC 200 Max has no problem powering the AC. During operation the AC pulls @500W from the AC200Max when the compressor is off, to @1200 when the compressor kicks in. I have not yet run til dead as it hasn’t been hot enough to leave it on.

1 Like

@philfr212 - out of curiosity, do you know what your consumption was prior to installing the EZ Start? I’d love to have numbers like that, but we might be comparing apples to oranges…

There are quite a few youtube videos on that subject. I did not measure it.

Good to hear your AC200 Max is operating as intended and your are able to power your AC. Motors take a large amount of power momenarily to start esp. under load. Happy cooling

good info here as I also was hoping my ac200 max would power my 15,000 btu air conditioning unit. it trips the alarm when I’ve tried. Still learning, was looking at expanding my ac200 with an add-on, BUT now looking at soft start. anyone ever run ac200 AND Honda Gas Generator together in parallel? is there way to do that?