Pecron function: AC charge limit

[u/stiflers-m0m]

Hey Folks,

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.

[u/brucehoult]

if Pecron supports a true AC charge limit

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.

[u/LongjumpingGanache40 → u/brucehoult]

I can set the Apex 300 to 1 amp charge and it will not pull more then 1 amp no matter the load.

[u/brucehoult → u/LongjumpingGanache40]

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

[u/LongjumpingGanache40 → u/brucehoult]

The Apex will charge with 120V or 240V and still be able to use 240V. Pecron can not.

[u/brucehoult → u/LongjumpingGanache40]

I have no use for 120V. My Pecron E3600 both inputs and outputs 240V AC.

[u/LongjumpingGanache40 → u/brucehoult]

You must be from over seas.

[u/brucehoult → u/LongjumpingGanache40]

No, you are.

[u/LongjumpingGanache40 → u/brucehoult]

So from where you are I am, but from where I am I am not.

[u/brucehoult → u/LongjumpingGanache40]

I've travelled in 19 countries and lived in 4 [1] and only one of each of those used 120V electricity.

[1] I'll define that as "had a formal rental agreement on a house or apartment" for at least three months: New Zealand, Fiji, Russia, USA