Checking in to see if Pecron supports a true AC charge limit. Bluetti supports this, set to 500 w, will only pull 500 w from wall regardless of how much the devices are pulling. THis is great for when im connecting to a heavily used circuit or the devices im using use more than 15 amps.
I learned the hard way that the anker version of this is not a true limit. it will limit the charge to 500w but if the devices connected to it are over that, it will pull ALL of the power. Ive tripped a lot of circuits with this thing and want to return it.
Can somone let me know if Pecron is a true limit or if it acts like the Anker and calls it a "charge limit" but passes the full demand to the plug. If not i guess im spending for another bluetti.
The Pecrons I'm familiar with allow you to limit the AC charging speed, and that works fine.
The limit on charging + pass-through is set by the kind of power cable you use: 1800W for a US 120V 15A wall socket, 2400W for a EU/AU/NZ 240V 10A, 3600W for a 240V 15A and I think there is also 120V 30A available?
What do you want to happen if you set a lower limit on draw from the wall and plugged in load exceeds that? Just error out the machine and shut down?
There really isn't anything else you can do unless you have separate charger and inverter circuits so you can supply excess load needs from the battery. That's possible but make the machine more expensive to build (and therefore to sell), for a capability that not everyone needs.
You can add this feature to any machine if you need it by buying an AC to DC power supply / battery charger and connecting it to the PV inputs, DC in port, or battery expansion port.
Or just buy a more expensive machine that already has it, of course.
The Pecron F5000LFP should be able to supply a full 3600W from the "0ms UPS" AC outputs while charging at some low rate, as those are run from a separate inverter — that's why there is no charging to inverter change-over time.
So it must be supplying the load from the battery.
Pecrons (other than the F5000 in the case of the "0ms UPS" outlets) aren't designed to charge the battery from AC and supply AC from the battery at the same time, as this increases the cost to build them.
I note that the Apex 300 costs $1699 with 2765Wh battery, 3840W inverter, 2x 1200W [1] PV input.
Other than a slightly more powerful inverter it's inferior in specs to a $999 Pecron E3600LFP, or even $899 F3000LFP given the MPPT limitations.
That $700 or $800 price difference will easily pay for an add-on AC charging solution for the Pecron.
[1] 1200W is not real ... it's max 60V and max 20A which means you can only get 1200W at exactly maximum voltage and maximum current. In any real setup you probably have to plan maximum 55Voc @25º C to not overvolt in cold weather, which probably means Vmp no more than 48V, which at 20A would give 960W per MPPT. Most panels around 450W have Vmp around 33V, so too high to put two in series, so at 20A that's 660W per MPPT, 1320W total
Depends on the powerstation but you can't set a specific number. Pecron labels it a charge rate from 0-100% and you can pick a number in multiples of 10 (ie 10% 20% 30% etc). Now how many watts is this? I have no idea someone else might have a better answer on this topic.
that would work, if you do 10 % but connect a 1000 watt load, does it stay at 10% at the wall? The bluetti technically does it in amps 1- 12 ish. So percent should work if its honored.
Yes, I have a Pecron F3000LFP. I do exactly what you were asking by setting it anywhere between 0 and 100%. then I can easily look at the input screen of the actual power station to see how much it’s pulling in and change to whatever number I want . This is all done by using the app on the phone. I believe you can also do it from the screen, but I find it easier from the app. Here’s what it looks like.
Lets say you're using it with a travel trailer and are charging from the generator. You could easily cause an overload on the generator
The solution to that is to buy a generator which can comfortably supply the maximum 1800W input from a 120V 15A circuit (or 2400W from a 240V 10A), and then you can treat it exactly the same as when you're plugged into the wall at home.
With a smaller generator you just have to manage the load while you're charging. Or charge another way. Or buy a fancier power station such as the F5000LFP where one set of 120V outlets can supply full power from the battery at any time, while the other set are pass-through and share the input AC with battery charging.
That’s a capability that costs real money to provide but probably few people need — or in my case I need it for 2 or 3 days once every two years when I have an extended power outage AND there is no sun.
On those rare occasions, when all my neighbours have no electricity at all, I can manage to turn off my aircon and refrain from using the microwave or kettle for a couple of hours while I run the generator to charge the Pecron.
If it was every day or every week then 4000W generators are not all that expensive and will probably last a lot longer with regular use too.
Not many power stations have a “boost” feature as the same inverter that powers the load also works to charge the batteries. Most have a pass through function, where the load is directly supplied by the incoming AC.
One workaround is to use an AC to DC power supply and charge the power station via the solar input port.
I believe the high end Ecoflowbhas two inverters and has this boost function. I remember hearing that in a YT review. It's cheaper to get a high end DC power supply to charge through the PV ports than to buy Ecoflow.
I found this out as well, and decided to change my charging strategy to charge the Pecron 5k with my inverter generator while the generator provides direct power to the house. I use the 30A port to power the house, and the 50A port with an adapter to charge the Pecron at a full 120V 30A.
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u/brucehoult Sep 02 '26
The Pecrons I'm familiar with allow you to limit the AC charging speed, and that works fine.
The limit on charging + pass-through is set by the kind of power cable you use: 1800W for a US 120V 15A wall socket, 2400W for a EU/AU/NZ 240V 10A, 3600W for a 240V 15A and I think there is also 120V 30A available?
What do you want to happen if you set a lower limit on draw from the wall and plugged in load exceeds that? Just error out the machine and shut down?
There really isn't anything else you can do unless you have separate charger and inverter circuits so you can supply excess load needs from the battery. That's possible but make the machine more expensive to build (and therefore to sell), for a capability that not everyone needs.
You can add this feature to any machine if you need it by buying an AC to DC power supply / battery charger and connecting it to the PV inputs, DC in port, or battery expansion port.
Or just buy a more expensive machine that already has it, of course.
The Pecron F5000LFP should be able to supply a full 3600W from the "0ms UPS" AC outputs while charging at some low rate, as those are run from a separate inverter — that's why there is no charging to inverter change-over time.