EGO 56V Inverter and related 56V Batteries (Lithium ARC / 18650 cells) 7.5 AH BA4200T

[cwoods400]

Hello,

I recently posted a Super Question on the Morning Livestream on YouTube (3 April 2021). My question is: Will and others, what are your thoughts about the EGO 56V Inverters and batteries? I have several 56V BA4200T batteries with EGO 56V Pure Sine Wave inverter? I believe the battery chemistry is NMC in 18650 cells. Their engineers claims a special ARC placement of the batteries allow for proper cooling. I have quite a lot of money already invested in this technology. Thus far, after many hours of testing, this setup for running larger appliances has not let me down. The EGO 56V batteries are also supposedly UL listed, so I'm quite happy about that.

I am using 400 watts of Dokio flexible folding solar panels to charge this via two Eco Flow River 600 generators. What are your thoughts about this setup. I am also using a MidNite Solar KID 30A charge controller. I have a related question about over paneling in the Charge Controller section.

Thanks.

Kind Regards,

Colin

 

[Jimmynik1]

So you're using solar to charge your eco flow 600s then using the 600s to charge the nexus as a whole?

 

[cwoods400]

Yes. That's correct. Basically, what I do is connect a CH220 slow battery charger to each River 600. Thus, I am able to successfully charge each 56V battery in anywhere from 1.5 to 3 hours (depending on the battery size). Most of the time, even after roughly an hour of charging, the battery is usable enough to provide power to the Nexus for at least a couple of hours. So, my intent with this setup is to be extremely portable, yet theoretically never run out of power. Since the Eco Flow units provide pass-thru charging, I can have roughly 150-200 watts input and about the same going out to the charger. So, even with 288wh of battery power in the River 600's, I can still easily get the batteries fully charged if there is good sunlight. If not, then the River 600 will slowly deplete, and eventually I have to wait for decent sun again.

I feel that this is a pretty good setup for most emergency power / standby power needs. Obviously, the drawback is that the little River 600's don't offer a lot of reserve power capacity. However, for the cost and weight, I'm willing to deal with that inconvenience.

 

[Jimmynik1]

I understand the appeal of this.
I was looking at a Nexus myself for quite some time before I opted to make my own system, the grab and go style of it is appealing and the fact that you can hot swap batteries is pretty cool as well.

Going off your original post you mentioned 400 watts of panels and a charge controller, does the Eco flow not have its own built-in charge controller? I've never seen one without, I've only seen them with some type of proprietary barrel plug to charge the battery which is regulated internally.

In any case I think it's a good idea but the going up and down and voltages so many times causes efficiency loss. Your panels likely produce 20 or so volts which is then stepped down to 14 or so by your charge controller to charge the Eco flow, then the power is brought back up from 12 volts to 120 volts to charge the Nexus, then through the Nexus charge adapter bringing it down to 56 volts and then from 56 volts back up to 120 volts again to run your stuff you plugged into the Nexus.
While slow and still doesn't allow pass through charging as far as I'm aware but the ego makes its own little solar adapter now.
Tech made easy on YouTube did some pretty good tests going direct from a solar panel to the Nexus.
Unless you really like the Eco flow Rivers I would consider cutting them out as they're just extra at this point.

 

[cwoods400]

I guess there are pros and cons to any portable setup like this.

In my view, here are the pros:

-- Portable
-- Easy to setup / deploy
-- Batteries are "hot swappable"
-- All parts in the system can be replaced individually if one of them were to fail vs a total failure of "an all-in-one" unit
-- Relatively lightweight (it's broken up into solar panels, River 600's, EGO battery chargers, EGO batteries, and the EGO Nexus
-- Similar benefit of individual components vs an all-in-one "solar generator" like a Jackery or Goal Zero, etc
-- EGO Nexus battery chargers are UL listed. I think batteries are as well

Here are the cons:

-- Bulky (with all the parts needed to make the system work)
-- Individual 56V batteries are very expensive
-- Possible parts to lose (if one component is missing, eventually the setup will fail)
-- Inverter (Nexus) is very well built but very heavy (35+ lbs)
-- Possible battery failure issues over time (some EGO customers are reporting this after 1-2 years of daily use)

So, as you can see, there are many benefits as well as caveats. This system works for me, but it may not work for everyone. I do think it is a better "off the shelf solution" than, say, a Jackery 1500 or a Goal Zero Yeti 3000. That's just my thoughts.

 

[Jimmynik1]

Yeah agreed, I really like the ego line of stuff. Think I may get a nexus and the newer snowblower as a kit.
From what I found that's the cheapest way to amass for batteries with two really practical tools.