Adding batteries to Bluetti
- Thread starter MarleyDog
- Start date
kundip
Micro Inverter Enthusiast
I will be trying something similar in the next couple of months.
No one has tried it out.
I think my risk will be minimal because I am using all, cheap second hand equipment.
So if it blows up my losses will be about USD $250.
If you are looking at something far more expensive - maybe keep an eye out for someone who tries it first.
No one has tried it out.
I think my risk will be minimal because I am using all, cheap second hand equipment.
So if it blows up my losses will be about USD $250.
If you are looking at something far more expensive - maybe keep an eye out for someone who tries it first.
50ShadesOfDirt
Solar Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2021
- Messages
- 469
These pre-packaged solar generator lines from Bluetti, Ecoflow, Anker, etc., have nice packaging and convenience wrapped around some (usually small) amount of LFP battery capacity. It was always this low battery capacity compared to most any DIY scheme, and the high cost of "expansion packs", that kept me from going down this convenience path and led me to build a simple DIY solar generator.
My guess is that all of these expansion packs utilize proprietary connections, such that only the vendor's battery pack will work with the vendor's base unit. Otherwise known as "vendor lock-in", and we see it everywhere; it's one of the things you have to consider in the purchasing phase. For Bluetti and similar, this seems reasonable, as their schemes would also cover the engineering/recharging of the external battery packs, something not easy to replicate in DIY fashion.
Unfortunately, the total costs spiral upwards quickly, but that's OK if you really like the convenience and packaging of base + expansion units, and are willing to pay for those things.
The only thing I could find, without going down a rabbit hole of reverse-engineering the proprietary connections, is the various youtube videos showing how to build a battery pack to feed into one of the "shore power" ports (car 12v cigarette adapter, etc.) ... these are limited to low-wattage, slow recharge rates for the base unit, but they do allow it to be recharged from a DIY external battery pack.
Whereas, if one builds a DIY solar generator, it would be easy to swap in larger battery-banks (reconfigure and add batteries). It's probably low down on your list, but an option is to sell the base unit (before you buy into their expansion pack scheme) and apply the money to a DIY solar generator. I'm not sure what the resell value is for Bluetti's and such ...
Hope this helps ...
My guess is that all of these expansion packs utilize proprietary connections, such that only the vendor's battery pack will work with the vendor's base unit. Otherwise known as "vendor lock-in", and we see it everywhere; it's one of the things you have to consider in the purchasing phase. For Bluetti and similar, this seems reasonable, as their schemes would also cover the engineering/recharging of the external battery packs, something not easy to replicate in DIY fashion.
Unfortunately, the total costs spiral upwards quickly, but that's OK if you really like the convenience and packaging of base + expansion units, and are willing to pay for those things.
The only thing I could find, without going down a rabbit hole of reverse-engineering the proprietary connections, is the various youtube videos showing how to build a battery pack to feed into one of the "shore power" ports (car 12v cigarette adapter, etc.) ... these are limited to low-wattage, slow recharge rates for the base unit, but they do allow it to be recharged from a DIY external battery pack.
Whereas, if one builds a DIY solar generator, it would be easy to swap in larger battery-banks (reconfigure and add batteries). It's probably low down on your list, but an option is to sell the base unit (before you buy into their expansion pack scheme) and apply the money to a DIY solar generator. I'm not sure what the resell value is for Bluetti's and such ...
Hope this helps ...
50ShadesOfDirt
Solar Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2021
- Messages
- 469
The AC200 version seems to be the model that is limited to 500w recharge through shore power port. If upgraded to the AC300 model, that one seems to allow up to 3000w recharge (if I'm reading things correctly).
The newer model would be a better fit for quick recharge from a DIY battery, or any other scheme to recharge the base vs buying expensive B300 battery packs.
The newer model would be a better fit for quick recharge from a DIY battery, or any other scheme to recharge the base vs buying expensive B300 battery packs.
Yes. absolutely as 50ShadesOfDirt was mentioning, you can connect in DC input to the DC input of the Bluetti as long as it stays within the limits of the unit which I believe is 900W Max., VOC 10-145VDC, 15A. So you could easily add a 12-136v lipo battery bank connected to the solar input or a 12/24v battery to the car charging port. The unit will not care the power is coming from a battery and not solar/car.
I suppose the first question to ask is;
Have you delicately disassembled one to see if 50Shades premonition about proprietary plugs and all that are true, and if there is a work-around?
If you can splice into the batts, minding that you must have identical voltage, you should be able to just increase the Ah visible to the inverter section of the box...
Have you delicately disassembled one to see if 50Shades premonition about proprietary plugs and all that are true, and if there is a work-around?
If you can splice into the batts, minding that you must have identical voltage, you should be able to just increase the Ah visible to the inverter section of the box...
Aren't there 2 major, and significantly different, connection types?
1. Expansion battery only charges Bluetti, needs some user-defined, external charging mechanism.
2. Expansion battery is tied to the main battery such that it provides capacity to the Bluetti AND is charged by the Bluetti.
The first is much easier than the 2nd. The OP seems to want the 2nd, but may be satisfied enough with the 1st.
1. Expansion battery only charges Bluetti, needs some user-defined, external charging mechanism.
2. Expansion battery is tied to the main battery such that it provides capacity to the Bluetti AND is charged by the Bluetti.
The first is much easier than the 2nd. The OP seems to want the 2nd, but may be satisfied enough with the 1st.
scootscoot1
New Member
Could you charge bluetti via dc to dc 48 volt rack battery and charge rack battery with 48 volt solar charge controller. My thinking is one pv input to bluetti by using a pv splitter run additional pv line to solar controller. Then run rack battery to second pv input on bluetti.
Rabbit
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2019
- Messages
- 85
The cheapest way that I know of to do this is to buy a 12-volt battery or batteries of whatever size and type you prefer, properly (including fuse) wire a 12-volt cig-lighter type socket to it/them, and then connect your Bluetti to recharge from it via its own cig-lighter charger plug. You can then use any method you choose to recharge the 12-volt battery as needed. The primary drawbacks to this setup compared to a Bluetti external battery are a) that it's not as pretty, b) that the charge rate into the Bluetti is relatively low (but good enough for an awful lot of applications since it can be sustained easily, even say overnight while you're sleeping), c) that you can't monitor the state of charge of the external battery without additional investment, and d) that you'll require some kind of independent recharging system for the 12-volt battery (but these can be had fairly cheap if you shop around, depending on your needs). This is functionally identical to vehicle-charging a Bluetti, and uses the same circuitry. The chief advantage, of course, is that you can add decent batteries of excellent capacity like Power Queens and Li Times at a fraction of the price of a Bluetti external battery. The only major lookout I can think of is that if you were to use a lead-acid battery you might have trouble when the voltage drops below a certain point and not be able to utilize the charging battery's full capacity. You might also lose a little capacity off the bottom of a LiFePO4 too, but probably not enough to matter compared to the massive cost savings.
>Could you charge bluetti via dc to dc
>48 volt rack battery and charge rack
>battery with 48 volt solar charge
>controller.
If you have a Bluetti with DC input up to 60v or higher, then my understanding is yes. I don't quite understand the splitter idea. If you connect the battery to the power station (via the solar/DC input) and the charge controller to the battery terminals, the charge controller is then linked to the power station.
There may be some quirks in the charging and discharging process, e.g. the battery could charge to full before the power station, and the battery will drain while keeping the power station full-ish (dependent on load vs. charge rate).
But it's a pretty valuable propostion, IMO, for those of us that want a portable home backup solution that can also be taken mobile.
>48 volt rack battery and charge rack
>battery with 48 volt solar charge
>controller.
If you have a Bluetti with DC input up to 60v or higher, then my understanding is yes. I don't quite understand the splitter idea. If you connect the battery to the power station (via the solar/DC input) and the charge controller to the battery terminals, the charge controller is then linked to the power station.
There may be some quirks in the charging and discharging process, e.g. the battery could charge to full before the power station, and the battery will drain while keeping the power station full-ish (dependent on load vs. charge rate).
But it's a pretty valuable propostion, IMO, for those of us that want a portable home backup solution that can also be taken mobile.
scootscoot1
New Member
The splitter is so that one set of pv wires into the home. Could run two sets of wires and build two series solar arrays.
scootscoot1
New Member
The reason I posted the question is that I have the bluetti but eventually want to go to 8 kw inverter. Could then use the 48 volt battery with that system instead of buying another b200 for 3k bluetti which is limited to 120 volts.
Is there any update? I like to do the same thing.
Recently Lifepo4 battery prices significantly dropped as the Chinese battery companies are dumping their battery to the market.
I am thinking about "Solar - BMS - Lifepo4 - Bluetti".
But if Bluetti can charge LifePo4 through their proprietary external battery port, then I can try this "Solar - Bluetti - Lifepo4"
Recently Lifepo4 battery prices significantly dropped as the Chinese battery companies are dumping their battery to the market.
I am thinking about "Solar - BMS - Lifepo4 - Bluetti".
But if Bluetti can charge LifePo4 through their proprietary external battery port, then I can try this "Solar - Bluetti - Lifepo4"
dkistner1111
New Member
I'm new to all this and have trouble wrapping my mind around it, but I wonder if I can hook 400 watts of solar (two 200-watt bifacials in serial...or parallel better?) to a solar charge controller feeding into a LiFePO4 battery to charge the battery, and at the same time hook the battery into the Bluetti (AC180) through the DC in port. I will use my Bluetti as an emergency backup for our freezer if the grid goes down, but while the grid is up, I'm plugging small appliances (air fryer, toaster, rice cooker, induction burner, dehydrator, etc.) as I use them (up to 1800 watts, of course) to try to cut down on our electricity use. The Bluetti now is hooked to my solar panels through one set of cables running through an RV-style gland into the house. I'd like, instead, to hook my Li Time 12.8V 100Ah (and more of them as I can get them) to the solar panels via that cable set, then simultaneously send the battery's collected power into the Bluetti for use with the appliances as the Bluetti runs down. I also have a Li Time AC battery charger that I tried plugging into the Bluetti AC output port to charge the battery, and that worked, so if that piece of equipment could be used in a setup to accomplish what I want, how would I do it? Mainly, I just need to know if it's in any way dangerous to do the solar to battery to Bluetti thing...
Andrewr05
[Replicant 42069]
No, as long as the DC voltage that you are inputting into the PV port does not exceed the maximum specification then you can plug anything you want into it, regardless of where it's coming from.
dkistner1111
New Member
Thank you so much.
