Bluetti EB150 and Power inverter 500w 4.2 AMPS

[Max55]

I'm newer than a newbie here...

We are thinking about getting the Bluetti EB150 solar generator, as we heard many good things about it.
To charge it we know A/C is most preferred and of course via solar panel, however we also have a Power inverter rated at 500w at 4.2AMPS

Can we charge the Bluetti EB150 while in transit using our inverter which is plugged into the cigarette outlet?
If we need to use 10AWG wiring, we can do so straight from the battery if it's best preferred.

Thank you in advance for good advise...

 

[svetz]

Welcome to the forums!

To know if it'll work for your applications you'll need to do an energy audit. Take a look at this post to see how it's done. Post your math and someone will let you know if they see any mistakes (if they "like" the post it means they think it's okay).

...Can we charge the Bluetti EB150 while in transit using our inverter which is plugged into the cigarette outlet?

From the Bluetti page:

Car Charge: you need buy a Power Inverter(≥300W) yourself.

 

[zilch0md]

I'm newer than a newbie here...

We are thinking about getting the Bluetti EB150 solar generator, as we heard many good things about it.
To charge it we know A/C is most preferred and of course via solar panel, however we also have a Power inverter rated at 500w at 4.2AMPS

Can we charge the Bluetti EB150 while in transit using our inverter which is plugged into the cigarette outlet?
If we need to use 10AWG wiring, we can do so straight from the battery if it's best preferred.

Thank you in advance for good advise...

Your 12V inverter will power the Bluetti's AC charger but the inverter should be a pure sine wave inverter (to cleanly energize the Switch Mode power supply of the AC charger.)

Hobotech recommends this inverter for vehicle-charging a Bluetti EB240 (only while the motor is running)

Amazon.com

I've built a different solution for vehicle-charging the EB240, that's more efficient the inverter+AC charger but, in truth, offers no significant advantage while the motor is running, except for having less "stuff" strung around inside the car. It will charge the Bluetti with a steady 240 Watts, pulling only 5A from my vehicle's 12V power jack and stays cool with a small 12V, low-amperage, low-CFM fan installed inside the project box. LED voltmeters show input and output voltages, allowing me to keep an eye on input voltage, if I want to take the rusk of charging the Bluetti when the motor isn't running. (Not recommended, but I stop using the car battery if it gets down to 11.5V - I want my car to start - and the same goes for using an inverter+AC charger.)

12V-to-48V DC-to-DC Step-Up Converter
1x https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06W2M2CXM/

Two Terminal Blocks (for connecting input and output cables to the step-up converter)
2x https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0195UWAQ2/

40x40x20mm 0.03A 12V Fan (connected to 12V input terminal block, to pull air across the heat sink to exit through holes drilled in the other side of the box)
1x https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07V4GGPW3/

Two LED Voltmeters to display input and output voltages (one at each terminal block, mounted in the clear box lid)
2x https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N65379V/

4.7x4.7x3.5-in. Project Box (it's just big enough)
1x https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PZ4BSFQ/

Input Cable with fused 12V cigarette lighter plug (cut off and discard crimped terminals)
1x https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JBM6DWW/

Output Cable with 8mm connector for Bluetti (cut off and discard the Anderson connectors)
1x https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WP4696G/

BlueTack to easily affix components inside the box
1x https://www.amazon.com/Blu-Tack-S050Q-Reusable-Adhesive-75g/dp/B001FGLX72/

You'll need a drill or Dremel, screwdrivers and wirecutters/strippers (no soldering required), plus a lot of THINKING before you start drilling holes in the box. Pass the cables thru holes on opposite sides of the box, then tie knots inside to act as strain relief, before attaching the stripped leads to the tetminal blocks that are shared with the converter's four leads.

 

[zilch0md]

Picture taken before flush-mounting the meters in the clear lid:

 

[zilch0md]

The flanges on those voltmeters only overhang by 2mm, so cutting the holes to be just large enough and no larger, was tedious.

I started by drawing 25mm x 45mm rectangles with a fine-point marker. Then I drilled holes in all four corners of each hole, before going in with the cut-off disk, finishing with the sanding head, testing the fit repeatedly.










Wrapped the input and output terminal blocks in gaffer's tape.



Attached the voltmeter leads:



Closed it up, finally.

 

[zilch0md]

WARNING: Please don't try to replicate this build. It failed.

The $22 DC-to-DC converter is no longer putting out enough amps to register even 1 Watt of input at the Bluetti. The Bluetti display lights up and the fan comes on as if it's charging, but that cheap converter isn't actually charging any longer. The converter has never even been hot. What did I expect for $22? Uggh!

I should have put this thing through a few more duty cycles before posting anything about it. My apologies to the community.

For charging while driving, I think I'll just stick with using the 300W pure sine inverter + the Bluetti's AC charger. ?

 

[zilch0md]

WARNING: Please don't try to replicate this build. It failed.

The $22 DC-to-DC converter is no longer putting out enough amps to register even 1 Watt of input at the Bluetti. The Bluetti display lights up and the fan comes on as if it's charging, but that cheap converter isn't actually charging any longer. The converter has never even been hot. What did I expect for $22? Uggh!

I should have put this thing through a few more duty cycles before posting anything about it. My apologies to the community.

For charging while driving, I think I'll just stick with using the 300W pure sine inverter + the Bluetti's AC charger. ?

Mission accomplished, after figuring out that Bluetti's EB240 requires the inner sleeve AND the center pin of the 7.9mm plug to have "+" polarity (with "-" at the outer sleeve.) The center pin cannot be dead, as is the case with iGreely, Jackery and many other cables that are terminated with the 3-pole DC7909 (7.9mm) coaxial power plug.

See my post at:

Charging a Power station with an Existing Battery Bank via DC?

Trying to figure out how to use my solar system to charge my current AGM battery bank and a Bluetti EB240 at the same time. I don’t want to use the inverter either, I’m sure that’s the easiest way but I rather use DC for efficiency. I tried doing a search here first but came up with nada. Any...

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