Charging my Eco-Flow River 370 ?

[bassplayer]

First off, total newbie here. Just bought an Eco-Flow River 370 and am really happy with it Rather than buy their solar panel solution, I picked up a 180w 17v 10.5amp panel and am trying to figure out if I can connect the solar panel directly into the River 370, sticking with a 12v charging solution. (we have a ton of sun here in SoCal) Cable-wise I'd connect the wires from the solar panel into a 12v female cigarette lighter connection. Then I'd connect the cable the River 370 comes with.... cigarette lighter male to USB-c for charging. My big question: does the River 370 have the electronics built-in for this or do I need to go more traditional ? BTW their USB-c is rated at 6ow 20v

 

[bassplayer]

Ok, what I tried to do in my post was not good at all. I blew out my fuse on the 12v charger cable. So I'm going to try going from solar panels to a 12v dc to dc converter and then to an a/c inverter. Guess I'll have to charge my River 370 from the inverter but maybe that's the best way to go.

 

[Forbisher]

Ok, what I tried to do in my post was not good at all. I blew out my fuse on the 12v charger cable. So I'm going to try going from solar panels to a 12v dc to dc converter and then to an a/c inverter. Guess I'll have to charge my River 370 from the inverter but maybe that's the best way to go.

Doesn't the River have a built in solar charge controller?
Why are you trying these wacky ideas?
Just plug the panel in where and how you would plug any panel in.
You dont have to use their panel.

I suspect you are confused about the 12V panel designation.
17 volt is a so called 12V panel as that is what they put out.

 

[bassplayer]

Thanks for the response MBR. The only way you can charge the River is thru the usb-c port. They give you an ac adaptor that you plug the usb-c cable into and you're good to go. But I'm trying to figure out how to plug my solar panel into the usb-c port to charge it off-grid without using a battery system. EcoFlow also gives you a cable with a 12v cigarette plug on one end and usb-c on the other. It works great when I plug it into my car. But I'm totally stuck how to connect my solar panel direct to the EcoFlow usb-c port. EcoFlow sells the panel for $399 and it comes ready to plug into the River 370. I already had a panel and figured it would be a plug & play but I'm at a loss.

 

[Forbisher]

Thanks for the response MBR. The only way you can charge the River is thru the usb-c port. They give you an ac adaptor that you plug the usb-c cable into and you're good to go. But I'm trying to figure out how to plug my solar panel into the usb-c port to charge it off-grid without using a battery system. EcoFlow also gives you a cable with a 12v cigarette plug on one end and usb-c on the other. It works great when I plug it into my car. But I'm totally stuck how to connect my solar panel direct to the EcoFlow usb-c port. EcoFlow sells the panel for $399 and it comes ready to plug into the River 370. I already had a panel and figured it would be a plug & play but I'm at a loss.

You need to buy this adapter to attach a panel to your River.
Recharge RIVER 370: MC4 ports to Type C Cable (Sold separately

 

[bassplayer]

You need to buy this adapter to attach a panel to your River.
Recharge RIVER 370: MC4 ports to Type C Cable (Sold separately

Ok, thank you. I got it on order today.

 

[bassplayer]

Got that cable today and it works perfectly! My 180w panel registers 65-66w on the River so it charges pretty quickly. If I was made of money I could buy another panel and usb-c cable and charge the second usb-c port but that might be overkill. I'm starting to see where you have to draw a line between performance and cost.

 

[danborn]

Hey @bassplayer - i'm in a very similar situation - I have an EcoFlow River 370 and I'm wandering which solar panel(other then the overpriced original one) to get - and how powerful one.

How is the setup with your 180W solar panel working for you? And does it make sense to have a 180W panel if the maximal input to River is 60W? Maybe it's a completely different kind of Watts so it's not comparable, but I don't understand solar panels at all - thus my confusion :D

And I'm assuming that you have your panel which has MC4 connectors and then you got the original EcoFlow MD4 cable, right? Is there any "box"/converter included in your setup or is it just a solar panel going directly to River via the original cable?

Cheers,
Dan

 

[Bojanngles]

Hey @bassplayer - i'm in a very similar situation - I have an EcoFlow River 370 and I'm wandering which solar panel(other then the overpriced original one) to get - and how powerful one.

How is the setup with your 180W solar panel working for you? And does it make sense to have a 180W panel if the maximal input to River is 60W? Maybe it's a completely different kind of Watts so it's not comparable, but I don't understand solar panels at all - thus my confusion :D

And I'm assuming that you have your panel which has MC4 connectors and then you got the original EcoFlow MD4 cable, right? Is there any "box"/converter included in your setup or is it just a solar panel going directly to River via the original cable?

Cheers,
Dan

It’s overkill using a 180watt panel on the River 370. You can use a 60 watt panel for each usb c port.

 

[Bojanngles]

Hey @bassplayer - i'm in a very similar situation - I have an EcoFlow River 370 and I'm wandering which solar panel(other then the overpriced original one) to get - and how powerful one.

How is the setup with your 180W solar panel working for you? And does it make sense to have a 180W panel if the maximal input to River is 60W? Maybe it's a completely different kind of Watts so it's not comparable, but I don't understand solar panels at all - thus my confusion :D

And I'm assuming that you have your panel which has MC4 connectors and then you got the original EcoFlow MD4 cable, right? Is there any "box"/converter included in your setup or is it just a solar panel going directly to River via the original cable?

Cheers,
Dan

Now his 180watt panel would work fine on a River 600 or something larger. I use two renogy 100watt panels on my River 600.

 

[Browneye]

The charge port is an XT60. It should have come with a cable with XT60 with mc4's on the other end. Just make sure the panels you connect meet the spec for the River.
You cannot charge a River thru the cigar lighter port- that is a 12V output.
The other cable that comes with it is the XT60 with cigar lighter plug for your car or truck. In any case, it's either XT60 or 120VAC for charging.