EB3A "Overload" When Used as Uninterruptible Power Supply
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aw_
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Ordered one of these on a recent 'sale', which may or may not have actually been much of a discount, but the overloads are still occurring on new units with latest firmware. I also see power glitches on the AC that are sufficient to reset a connected PC when the unit is charging from DC.
Waiting for first contact from Bluetti support after sending them email today. BTW, I don't know if it's a recent change in the app (I'm new to Bluetti), but firmware updates to the device only seem to be available if you create an account.
Waiting for first contact from Bluetti support after sending them email today. BTW, I don't know if it's a recent change in the app (I'm new to Bluetti), but firmware updates to the device only seem to be available if you create an account.
aw_
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IIRC, the app did not even show the Firmware Upgrade panel in the Settings menu until I created an account and bound the EB3A to the account. If there are no updates available it only lists the "Current Version", which are v2057.11 for the ARM fw and v2056.10 for the DSP according to my app.
FYI, mine shows ARM version v2062.03 and DSP version v2056.10. Mine was delivered five days ago.
I received my EB3A just before Thanksgiving, and it has v2057.11 / ARM and v2056.10 / DSP.
I've been using it as a computer UPS for the past 5 days, everything works with no sign of dropout.
However, every 35min or so when battery SOC drops to 99% and it starts re-charging, it makes obnoxious buzzing sounds and then the jet-blower-like fan turns on for several minutes. I have "silent" mode set in the charging profile, but seems like that does not work given the fan behavior.
Why it has to full-throttle recharge the last 1% of energy is baffling...
Even when logged into the Bluetti app, I don't see any way to update the FW code.
I've been using it as a computer UPS for the past 5 days, everything works with no sign of dropout.
However, every 35min or so when battery SOC drops to 99% and it starts re-charging, it makes obnoxious buzzing sounds and then the jet-blower-like fan turns on for several minutes. I have "silent" mode set in the charging profile, but seems like that does not work given the fan behavior.
Why it has to full-throttle recharge the last 1% of energy is baffling...
Even when logged into the Bluetti app, I don't see any way to update the FW code.
Bluetti EB3A was not designed correctly and the company should stop selling it. I have noticed in the UPS mode, when the battery level drops below 100% and the EB3A starts to recharge its battery, during that period of time, the unit generates too much harmonics on the 120-volt AC line that messes up my PC's monitor (located next to EB3A but not plugged into it). I originally had my PC & its monitor plugged into the EB3A (UPS mode) and noticed the monitor is acting funny, and then I unplugged my PC & its monitor and plugged them into a regular 120-volt outlet. Troubleshooting indicated that my monitor starts to act funny at the same time the Bluetti EB3A is trying to recharge its battery back to 100% in the UPS mode and when the EB3A is fully charged, my monitor behaves normally. I never had any issue with my monitor until I got the Bluetti EB3A.
Vigo
Solar Addict
Man, those are both really odd behaviors. I'm guessing you can't dictate charge limits, like 10-90% soc? I'd be ok with some workarounds given the price but if there are no easy workarounds... it's not THAT cheap to justify all the annoying behaviours.
So I grabbed an EB3A and updated the firmware. Tried it for a few days on my computer as a UPS. ~90 watts. Absolutely no issues. During the last wet heavy snowfall, I put it on my CPAP in UPS mode. The grid didn't go down, but my CPAP turned off on me during the night. So the UPS range where this happens is definitely around the 50 watt mark. I thought I got a good deal when I purchased it (Lightning deal -$80 plus a -$80 coupon for a total of $140), however it doesn't really work for what I intended it to do.
I wonder if it would work if I mounted an external fan to push air through when the unit is in UPS mode.
When I was using it on the computer, I had the digital noise that others had described. I think it is a low level PWM to the fan and the fan can barely start.
I wonder if it would work if I mounted an external fan to push air through when the unit is in UPS mode.
When I was using it on the computer, I had the digital noise that others had described. I think it is a low level PWM to the fan and the fan can barely start.
Vigo
Solar Addict
THAT is an interesting thought! So you think it is an overheat issue and might be caused by the 'minimum' fan level being unreliable because it's too susceptible to slight differences in fan resistance (to turning) and under some conditions might just be vibrating the fan a bit but not actually spinning it? Wouldn't it just try giving the fan more juice before it had an overheat fault?
For $140 i would have tried it too, can't fault you for that!!
Rabbit
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For what it's worth... A couple weeks ago a friend suggested to me that I should try the EB3A again, but this time using a surge suppressor in the wall-power feed into the EB3A. I did so (this time using a fan as a test-load instead of a medical device) and it ran for many hours without indicating an overload, something it could never manage before. So I hooked it back up to my CPAP (along with a loud plug-in power-failure alarm device, just in case), and it worked well for several days. Then, while I wasn't using it and was sitting in the next room, the utility power blinked. It was off for perhaps thirty seconds, then "flickered" erratically for ten seconds maybe five minutes later. I listened carefully for the alarm I'd set and, not hearing it, at first thought the EB3A had passed the test with flying colors. But about an hour later, when I went to bed, I discovered that the unit was very warm to the touch-- much more so than usual-- and the fan was running like a jet engine despite my having set it to the slowest charge mode available and the fact that the indicator showed a 100% charge. (Please note that I haven't updated the firmware since immediately after the initial purchase simply because no updates have shown as available.)
I find it ironic that most of my friends warned me back when I bought the EB3A that I'd not like it because it was far too small. I already owned an EB70S, however (which by the way is a solid, much-loved, and utterly reliable if less sophisticated unit), and based on my experience with it was pretty sure that if I was careful and worked at finding alternative ways to perform a couple of my more-demanding tasks the EB3A would be both more portable (I'm getting old and weight matters) and at least adequate in terms of output and capacity. This has proven to be the case, and if Bluetti had stopped at the point of simply making a better small portable power station at a fantastic price I'd be a very satisfied customer. But instead they had to make it not only a dangerously nonfunctional UPS, but then keep right on selling the things in an unmodified form (based on what I see above) to large numbers of vulnerable customers knowing full well they were defective. On top of that (I just checked while typing this) they _still_ are promoting the EB3A on Amazon for medical device (CPAP) backup. I can't see this as anything but utterly irresponsible behavior, and they've therefore managed to transform a happy customer who was previously word-of-mouth telling his friends how great Bluetii's stuff was into someone doing just the opposite.
I find it ironic that most of my friends warned me back when I bought the EB3A that I'd not like it because it was far too small. I already owned an EB70S, however (which by the way is a solid, much-loved, and utterly reliable if less sophisticated unit), and based on my experience with it was pretty sure that if I was careful and worked at finding alternative ways to perform a couple of my more-demanding tasks the EB3A would be both more portable (I'm getting old and weight matters) and at least adequate in terms of output and capacity. This has proven to be the case, and if Bluetti had stopped at the point of simply making a better small portable power station at a fantastic price I'd be a very satisfied customer. But instead they had to make it not only a dangerously nonfunctional UPS, but then keep right on selling the things in an unmodified form (based on what I see above) to large numbers of vulnerable customers knowing full well they were defective. On top of that (I just checked while typing this) they _still_ are promoting the EB3A on Amazon for medical device (CPAP) backup. I can't see this as anything but utterly irresponsible behavior, and they've therefore managed to transform a happy customer who was previously word-of-mouth telling his friends how great Bluetii's stuff was into someone doing just the opposite.
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I just had this issue when operating in UPS mode, with no loads as I turned my ham radio off, and three computers. The AC that feeds it comes from my solar array. Very discouraging after the 2nd night in use. Prior nights I left the computers on with about 120w load but didn't experience the overload. Is there a firmware update for this issue?
While monitoring with the Bluetti app, in AC UPS mode, battery @ 100% with 140W load, the battery will drop to 99% every 45 minutes.
At that point it draws another 100w from my (grid) solar for about a minute and a clicking sound can be heard in the unit. It then goes back to Grid = AC with battery @ 100. The additional draw from my solar can be seen in PowerWatch software.
Hopefully, it will not repeat again but I wasn't monitoring the solar output when it tripped last night.
The unit gets warm and emits an distinct odor.
Rabbit
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I have owned four solar generators as of this writing. None of the others have ever gotten even remotely near as hot as my EB3A did after the brief power outage described above, though I noted no smell. It may be that mine is extra-bad somehow or perhaps there's more than one root cause of these problems, so that yours may well behave entirely differently than mine. Note that mine was at 100% when I found it, with the fan screaming along at the very top speed. Indeed, many EB3A owners seem to experience no problems at all, and I envy them. But after finding the unit so hot even just that one time I'll never attempt to use this specific power box in backup mode ever again. I still use the EB3A for other purposes-- it came in handy in support of a phone and laptop on a weekend trip just forty-eight hours ago as I type this. That one severe overheat, however, was scary enough that I'll never trust this individual, specific device again in backup mode, even for non-medical gear. I watch it _closely_ whenever I use it or recharge it, except when using a relatively gentle 100 watt DC source to recharge. (This is my normal method.)
Good luck!
I have not felt this unit to be hot at any time, I hardly push it and only use it to cover the 10 seconds I might switch from solar to grid in my office and keep the computers running.
That is very concerning.
Rabbit
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Mine failed consistently with a 40 watt load. For what it's worth, as I said above Bluetti offered me a refund and I turned it down on the basis of convincing them that I was sincere and not just after a "free" replacement product. (Also, after waking up with my health at least slightly damaged and seeing so many other negative reports on the EB3A I'd never again trust an identical replacement for this purpose anyway, so why not save myself the trouble of the return and keep what I've already got since it works just fine for everything else?) I remain very concerned that people are going to rely on the EB3A for backing up the power supply of a CPAP, a usage case which Bluetti specifically and actively advertises, and end up dead as a result. I'm absolutely stunned to still see these things un-fixed, un-recalled and still being actively marketed for use with medical devices while the underlying problems clearly remain unresolved. I'm not an investor, but if I were I'd seriously consider shorting Bluetti stock. I think there's a very real chance of this all blowing up into a mushroom cloud of high-dollar lawsuits on them.
CChrisS
New Member
Yep, nothing but problems with mine also. Soon after I got it, it decided to spontaneously discharge its battery bank with nothing plugged into it. Then, it wouldn't display accurate charge condition, so Bluetti told me to "train" the thing with charge/discharge cycles without any draw during charge. That helped for a minute but then it reverted to it's normal facocta condition. Then today "OVERLOAD" with only a single M1 Macbook Pro plugged into it. I'm done with Bluetti.
Did you update your firmware recently? That fixed my issues.
CChrisS
New Member
Yes, I sure did. That was the first thing I did. I had so many issues with this thing they have just offered to replace it, so maybe a newer version will be without the inherent issues. I'm not surprised they discontinued the EB3A. I'm aghast that Newegg is selling "reconditioned" versions of this thing that has so many issues.
That's too bad. I was disappointed in it, so much so I bought an Ecoflow Delta2 Max for my office UPS and not another Bluetti.
Kremer
New Member
The new little Bluetti, the AC2A, does not exhibit these issues in UPS mode and is pretty solid. They have learned.
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