Testing and hacking the BLuetti AC200P

[hertfordnc]

I just got a Bluetti AC200P - this is 1700 watts, not expandable. I was going to build a 2000 watt system for my van but this was $1150 refurbished so i took a chance.


Testing: theoretically, an 800 watt heater should run for about 2 hours on a full charge, right? Leaving about 7% to spare ? Any caveats?


Hacking: This model is not expandable but I need more capacity and solar will not help (it's about running the AC at night in Florida in August) So, i connected a 12V battery to a cheap 500 watt PS inverter and I was able to put 400 watts back into the Bluetti. So, what if i had 36 volts worth, could i put it to the solar input and return 700 watts? volts is volts, right?

 

[DarrylG]

As far as running your 800 watt heater for two hours, there are two factors to consider on the negative side, the Bluetti consumes some power itself for being on and in conversion loss. On the positive side, your 800 watt heater will most likely not always be drawing 800 watts. Heaters and air conditioners tend to turn off and on with their thermostat. Yes, you can connect external power directly to the Bluetti either by its DC or AC port, just stay within the specs.

 

[hertfordnc]

As far as running your 800 watt heater for two hours, there are two factors to consider on the negative side, the Bluetti consumes some power itself for being on and in conversion loss. On the positive side, your 800 watt heater will most likely not always be drawing 800 watts. Heaters and air conditioners tend to turn off and on with their thermostat. Yes, you can connect external power directly to the Bluetti either by its DC or AC port, just stay within the specs.

Ok, but the figure i used was what the Bluetti said it was pulling, not what the heater says on the label. I just want to make sure this $1100 box works as advertised. Trying to figure out what the conversion loss should be.

 

[DarrylG]

I am not familiar with the Bluetti as I do not own one, but I would count on a 10-20% loss to be safe. On my Ecoflow, I can see it varies by the amount of the load I am pulling. It pulls about 23watts just to have the AC ON with no load. Sometimes that loss is less, for instance powering 26-40 watt load it only has a 13 watt loss. However sometimes it can have a much greater loss like 100 watts.

I would doubt the Bluetti shows the complete amount it is pulling on the screen. Ecoflow does not show it either. One has to get into much more advanced features to find out all sorts of technical details not available on the app or screen.

 

[Bud Martin]

Do you have Kill-A-Watt meter to see how many Watt you are pulling from the AC outlet of the Bluetti?
If it shows 800W on the Kill-A-Watt meter and also on the Bluetti, that means it will pull more than that from the batteries due to inverter conversion loss and it also means the Bluetti display is not showing the true power draw from the batteries, most solar generators do not show power draw from the battery, you can tell it does not because when you turn the inverter and without any AC load connected, the meter still show 0W of power draw, the true display should show the power draw when the inverter is turned on, inverter can easily draw 10 ~ 15W when it is on without load connected.
I have Bluetti EB70 and the inverter draws about 12W when it is on, I had to take it apart to check the battery current draw when the inverter is on, I ask Bluetti how much power the inverter draws when it is on but they never answer my question.

 

[hertfordnc]

Do you have Kill-A-Watt meter to see how many Watt you are pulling from the AC outlet of the Bluetti?

i don't have one (it's on the list) but the load indicated is consistent with the heaters label- 700, 950, & 1500.

I'm just trying to figure the inverter loss and what's normal. Internally the Bluetti is a 48V system.

 

[Bud Martin]

i don't have one (it's on the list) but the load indicated is consistent with the heaters label- 700, 950, & 1500.

I'm just trying to figure the inverter loss and what's normal. Internally the Bluetti is a 48V system.

The Bluetti is showing the power draw on the load side, it does not show the power draw from the battery side and since typical inverter has about 85 ~ 90% efficiency, that means if you draw 800W from the AC outlet, the battery has to supply 800W/0.85 = 941W, that is the number you will use to find out the run time of your AC load, not 800W load figure.
So 2000Wh battery with 941W power draw, the run time will be about 2000Wh/941W = 2.13 hours instead of 2.5 hours using 800W figure.

 

[hertfordnc]

inverter has about 85 ~ 90% efficiency,

Cool, that's the number i was looking for.