How does my portable power station detect whether it's a solar panel or car charger?

[Strat]

I have a variable power supply that outputs 600 watts. On my power station the cigarette plug charger and the solar panel cable both plug into the same xt60 port.

When I try to charge from the power supply, it will only output around 8 amps. The specs for the xt60 port for solar is 12-60V DC input, 25A max current. For the car charger it is 8 amps. Am I right to assume that the power station sees it as the car charger?

Anyone know why this might be or how to solve this?

Herre is the power supply I'm using.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9FVDZNH?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

Thanks

 

[Supervstech]

What voltage should your supply set for?

 

[Strat]

I can set it for

0-24V 0-25A 600W​

When I try to turn up the amps with the power supply, it simply does nothing but remain at around 8.4 amps.

I'm assuming the power station is limiting the amps. How does it know it's not a solar panel?

 

[timselectric]

It doesn't care what the power source is.
It only sees the voltage and draws the correct amperage.

 

[Supervstech]

I can set it for

0-24V 0-25A 600W​

When I try to turn up the amps with the power supply, it simply does nothing but remain at around 8.4 amps.

I'm assuming the power station is limiting the amps. How does it know it's not a solar panel?

I will ask again.
What voltage do you have the supply set for?

 

[Strat]

I will ask again.
What voltage do you have the supply set for?

Sorry I have set it for different voltages. The power supply I have is 0 to 24 volts. It's strange but when I set it to 12 volts, it draws 8.4 amps. As I increase it to around 15 or 16 volts the amp draw is 11ish amps. As I increase more to 24 volts, the amp draw comes back down to 8.4.

Maybe I should get a 60 volt 10 amp power supply?

If you care to look at the manual for the power station

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0632/0468/8128/files/DBS2300_Power_Station_User_Manual.pdf?v=1679587040

 

[Supervstech]

Sorry I have set it for different voltages. The power supply I have is 0 to 24 volts. It's strange but when I set it to 12 volts, it draws 8.4 amps. As I increase it to around 15 or 16 volts the amp draw is 11ish amps. As I increase more to 24 volts, the amp draw comes back down to 8.4.

Maybe I should get a 60 volt 10 amp power supply?

The higher the voltage, the less amps the supply needs to output for the max wattage the controller gets pulled by the battery.

 

[Supervstech]

8.4A at 24V is 201W

At 12V it is only 100W

What state of charge is the battery?
It might not need much more...

 

[Strat]

8.4A at 24V is 201W

At 12V it is only 100W

What state of charge is the battery?
It might not need much more...

The state of the battery was below 50 percent so it should take a max charge

 

[Strat]

If you look at the manual from above maybe it will tell you what I need?

I'm going outside to test again. Will report back soon.

 

[Strat]

Same results. My limit is 8.4 amps. The power supply is suppose to be 0-24 volts but will actually go up to 29 volts. 240 watts is about what I see being charged to the power station.

 

[efficientPV]

Have you tried using the app to change input power limit?

 

[Strat]

Have you tried using the app to change input power limit?

The app only allows you to change the power limit for ac charging

 

[Strat]

Maybe I should get a 60 volt 10 amp power supply? I wouldn't get the full 600 watts, but if I retain the 8.4 I'd get a little over 500.

 

[DIYrich]

Details on the battery you are trying to charge.
Chemistry
Voltage (nominal)
Amp hours
Current voltage before charging.
Voltage setting on power supply.

 

[timselectric]

Details on the battery you are trying to charge.
Chemistry
Voltage (nominal)
Amp hours
Current voltage before charging.
Voltage setting on power supply.

See post #6

 

[Strat]

I have very little knowledge about all this. May the only way you can get close to 600 watts is to have the solar panel array at 60 volts... and maybe the power station from the xt60 port will only do 8.4 amps?

 

[DIYrich]

See post #6

Can't charge a 12v battery with 12v. Hence, what voltage is the actual charge setting, and what is the battery voltage before charging. I would expect something like battery at 13.0v and charging at 14.0v. Then you should get a lot of amps. Also, if a 50 amp LiFePO4 battery, I wouldn't try to push 25 amps into it.

 

[Strat]

I wouldn't know how to measure since it's an internal battery of a power station, but the specs show this.... 2330Wh (44.8V 52Ah)

I ordered this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CBM28YSH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It will do 48v 12.5 amps. If the power station draws 8.4 amps like I think it will, I will get around 400 input watts. It would be around a 70% load for the power supply. Hopefully it can sustain it without crapping out

 

[DIYrich]

Never mind... I see you posted a link to the manual in your first post.

24v seems to provide max number of watts. Verify if your powersupply can actually deliver 600 watts. Make sure the wire and connectors can support 25 amps.

Btw: why are you trying to charge with a powersupply? Why not plug it in to ac?

Back to your original question: it probably finds the voltage that draws the most watts. Maybe under 15v it limits the amps to 8 (assumes it is a car).