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Bluetti AC200Max - Reverse polarity on 30A receptacle

Vulcan

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Aug 16, 2021
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I thought I'd share this as a warning if nothing else. After a post on the Bluetti facebook I checked the polarity on the 30 amp outlet of my AC200Max and it appears that it is not wired in correctly (reverse polarity). Kind of interesting that the pre-production Ecoflow DeltaPro models with this receptacle were wired incorrectly too.

 
I thought I'd share this as a warning if nothing else. After a post on the Bluetti facebook I checked the polarity on the 30 amp outlet of my AC200Max and it appears that it is not wired in correctly (reverse polarity). Kind of interesting that the pre-production Ecoflow DeltaPro models with this receptacle were wired incorrectly too.


I'm not an electrician. What's the danger of a 30 amp with reversed polarity?
 
Most devices with single pole switch will open the hot lead, with the switch being one of the first things the wiring connects to inside the device. The rest of the wiring then is not hot to ground. Use a heater for example. The resister elements would be connected to ground via the neutral and be safe. But if you switch the heater off by breaking the neutral, the elements will be hot related to ground. If something were loose and rattling around inside, the chance of a ground fault increases if more of the internal wiring is hot.

So if you always break the hot wire with your switch (for those reasons stated above) your plan is wrecked by swapping the input leads.
 
There is some discussion on various forums that this polarity issue with the 30A (TT-30) outlet may also be present on the Bluetti AC300 too. No confirmation yet since most existing units are in the hands of influencers and the rest may have shipped but backlogged on shipping containers. So far no official announcement from Bluetti. EcoFlow was lucky their issue on the polarity reversal on the TT-30 on the Delta Pro was caught before mass production. I wonder why this is turning to be a common issue amongst the various manufacturers?
 
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I'm not an electrician. What's the danger of a 30 amp with reversed polarity?
A commenter on the Bluetti page mentioned that this is a very serious issue. For many of us RV'ers, we intend to plug directly into the TT-30 outlet provided by the latest products offering such capability. The reversed polarity could energize all metallic parts of the trailer, including the shell. In my case I have numerous electric devices grounded to the trailer chassis.

I'll quote Brian Stoltz here: "Having the hot and neutral swapped means when you power anything that shares a neutral and ground (like a home, or RV), you have just potentially energized the body. Imagine if your entire RV frame or skin was electrical hot, and you touched it while earth grounded? This condition is actually got “hot skin”."

Interesting article on "hot skin" condition in RV's at: https://www.rvtravel.com/proper-rv-chassis-grounding-to-prevent-hot-skin-condition/
 
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A commenter on the Bluetti page mentioned that this is a very serious issue. For many of us RV'ers, we intend to plug directly into the TT-30 outlet provided by the latest products offering such capability. The reversed polarity could energize all metallic parts of the trailer, including the shell. In my case I have numerous electric devices grounded to the trailer chassis.

I'll quote Brian Stoltz here: "Having the hot and neutral swapped means when you power anything that shares a neutral and ground (like a home, or RV), you have just potentially energized the body. Imagine if your entire RV frame or skin was electrical hot, and you touched it while earth grounded? This condition is actually got “hot skin”."
An RV should NOT have the neutral bonded to earth ground as in a house for this very reason! This is not to code.
 
New here, I have the AC200MAX as well. Did they confirm if it was a widespread issue? I haven't checked mine with a meter.
 
So far every production model that has been checked has been faulty, so it serves to reason they were all done wrong at the factory.

Also worth noting that the FB group is now seeing some comments raising alarm or pointing out legal reporting issues are quietly being deleted.
 
So far every production model that has been checked has been faulty, so it serves to reason they were all done wrong at the factory.

Also worth noting that the FB group is now seeing some comments raising alarm or pointing out legal reporting issues are quietly being deleted.

What if there a few accidents because of the faulty wiring?

Will Bluetti be sued out of existence?
 
What if there a few accidents because of the faulty wiring?

Will Bluetti be sued out of existence?
It’s a lot of accidents waiting to happen. If they don’t recall them on their own, they will be forced to recall them anyhow.

Given how long they have known about it since it was first reported and they still haven’t even made an announcement, at this rate the govt might view it as a coverup and block the company from importing anything, along with some hefty fines.
 

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It’s a lot of accidents waiting to happen. If they don’t recall them on their own, they will be forced to recall them anyhow.

Given how long they have known about it since it was first reported and they still haven’t even made an announcement, at this rate the govt might view it as a coverup and block the company from importing anything, along with some hefty fines.

Will the YouTubers like Will Prose and Hobotech have the courage to report on this story?

Or will the Bluetti Affiliate money silence those guys?
 
Will the YouTubers like Will Prose and Hobotech have the courage to report on this story?

Or will the Bluetti Affiliate money silence those guys?
Both have been asked. Hobotech’s reply was “well it works for my RV”, which is a non-answer. I don’t think he comprehends that a device working does not mean it’s safe to do so in that manner.

Most devices will technically “work” on reverse polarity, but it’s incredibly unsafe to do so for a variety of reasons. US electrical code has a lot of embedded safety mechanisms in place for multiple fault tolerance, and operating reverse polarity bypasses a whole lot of them, meaning what was a system where lot of bad things had to happen to shock you or cause a fire now requires one super minor thing to happen to shock you or cause a fire.

Continuing to sell and ship a product which they know is faulty is SUPER illegal, so it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out…
 
Both have been asked. Hobotech’s reply was “well it works for my RV”, which is a non-answer. I don’t think he comprehends that a device working does not mean it’s safe to do so in that manner.

I guess we now know who butters Hobotech's bread.
 
Here is a statement from Mark Yue who is the Bluetti Chief Marketing Manager (posted on the "BLUETTI Portable Power Station Club" facebook group)...


**AC200MAX - Reversed Polarity of TT-30 Update**

Sorry for keeping you waiting till now. After a thoroughly internal investigation, we found that some of the AC200MAX had polarity reverse connection on the TT-30 socket due to negligence of management, corrections have been made and we promise this will not happen again.

If you feel uncomfortable using the AC200MAX with a reversed polarity TT-30, feel free to send it back to our service center in Vegas, NV. We offer adjusting service of the polarity and cover the shipment cost. Usually would take about 5~15 days to get the work done(sequential maintenance), more details on this service shall be updated later.

We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience caused and thanks goes to Dan Farren for pointing out this issue and make us better.

Is a floating neutral solar generator safe when the polarity is reversed?

Verbal statements are no guarantee, we've been testing the safety of these AC200MAX in our lab and the testing video will be shared here in this week. Our only goal is bringing you peace of mind.
 

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Here is a statement from Mark Yue who is the Bluetti Chief Marketing Manager (posted on the "BLUETTI Portable Power Station Club" facebook group)...
Doesn’t matter what their opinion or testing is, it will have to eventually be a mandatory recall. Lying to people in the meantime claiming it’s not a safety issue is criminal negligence.
 
Has anyone purchased and received AC300 kit? I am still waiting on mine, but am curious if this will be an issue with the AC300 as well.

I already have everything in place to use this as you would a generator to power your house. Transfer switch, inlet box etc. I will also be using the fusion box pro with 2 x AC300 & 4 x B300 to get 240V and 6000 watt out put as well.

I'm very nervous about my purchase now.
 
New here, I have the AC200MAX as well. Did they confirm if it was a widespread issue? I haven't checked mine with a meter.
I just checked mine which was ordered when they had the $400.00 discount, and the polarity is not correct. Get yourself an ohms meter and check for continuity. I don't know for sure but I have a feeling that this will be a widespread issue and Bluetti has a MAJOR problem on their hands with this one.
 
I don't think it is an issue at all. Just posted this in my community section. It is a floating system, and grounds are bonded. So polarity does not matter at all. Here was my post:

Hey everyone. I had a lot of people email me this week about concern over bluetti/goalzero/ecoflow products having a reverse polarity RV plug. I don't think it's a problem at all. There is no exposed case on these units, and it's a floating system. It is only considered "reverse polarity" when using the other receptacles as a reference as to what "hot" and "neutral" is considered. It's alternating current though, so it doesn't matter. What does matter is if the reference potential of grounding conductors across ac outputs is bonded. And after testing this five seconds ago, they are. So I don't see any safety issue either. If the outputs were in parallel to increase capacity (with some way to sync the waveforms), the relative "polarity" of the inverters output would matter. But in this instance, I don't see an issue at all. I also can't imagine how electrical engineers from multiple companies could all be wrong in the same way. It is possible, but highly unlikely. If you disagree with me and the engineers, please explain your reasoning below. I would love to hear your reasoning.
 
Will the YouTubers like Will Prose and Hobotech have the courage to report on this story?

Or will the Bluetti Affiliate money silence those guys?
Courage?! I don't think the polarity of an alternating current output in a floating system is an issue at all, and bluetti pays garbage on top of everything else. I cannot stand working with them. Their links fail half the time because they dont refill their account balance on share a sale. Please, find a better product than bluetti/ecoflow/goalzero etc and I will be all over it.

And that doesn't matter at all. I do not care how much they pay, it will not change how much I criticize all of these products. Considering how many videos I have made bashing EACH and every single product, seeing a comment posted like this makes me angry. Did you miss all of my videos where I covered their flaws? Including their customer service? Give me a break. Hobotech also complains about them all the time. How about you build a better product?
 
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