Bluetti B230 Expansion Battery and how to use it with the AC200P with B230 unboxing at the end

[@borandell9915]

This is actually very useful information for those that bought the AC200P before the expansion battery systems became the new standard. I waitied and started with the AC500/B300s system but I could probably have gotten by just fine with the AC200 system with an expansion capability, which I did not realize was possible at the time. Thanks for sharing that.

[@anonamouse]

I remember buying my AC200P and it explicitly being labeled as "not expandable". I happened to check out their site in the past few days and see the AC200P + B230 expansion and was super confused so I went searching and found this video. Great video, thanks for explaining things. I think I'm still going to go with a larger, natively expandable, unit (AC500?) for my next upgrade but at least now I know how things changed.

[@PrecisionGroupYT]

I am glad you found my video so informative! I made this video specifically for what you talked about as prior I could not find a video that property (at least for me) explained how the B230 or B300 Bluetti Expansion Batteries interfaced with the AC200P! You might also look at the AC200Max which I now also own as the B230 and B300 batteries do interface with it and the AC200Max can also charge these expansion batteries when hooked together, I Often can charge my AC200Max with my 2 x B230 batteries ( 6,144 watt hours total when hooked together ) with my 9 x 195w Eco-Worthy panels and the D050S Bluetti DC charging ENHANCER at up to 1,400 watts, although the AC500 looks like a great choice as well, thank you for comment and for watching all the best!

[@aodukha]

great video but I bought D050s + 12v battery for my ac200p. Price for original battery is huge and really ac200p cannot charge external battery and really just use it to recharge internal battery(and mix power to ac ouuttput if there is AC load).

[@urik7793]

Do you think for $100 more it would be better to just buy a second AC200P? I mean I looked at the expansion but thought the price was too close to the actual unit itself.

[@PrecisionGroupYT]

When I was looking at purchasing our second B230 Expansion battery we decided to purchase the AC200Max instead (at that time it was on sale and was an extra $300 over another B230) as we would still get the extra 2,048wh but we would also have a second unit to use and operate more things if necessary ( plus a backup unit) Which is similar to your thinking but I wouldn’t recommended purchasing another AC200P as the gains of having the AC200Max over the AC200P are pretty big! With the AC200Max you get the Bluetooth App ( Monitor and control ) , 2,200 watts of inverter power plus it is expandable ( you can add two B230 batteries to it making it a 6,144wh capacity unit with 2 x B230 batteries). But not only can you add the 2 x B230 batteries to it but the AC220Max can communicate with them and also charge them. So our AC200Max charges both of our B230 batteries (so we no longer need to charge the B230’s separately and because the Max can take up to 1,400 watts of Solar input (900w solar plus 500w with D050S DC charging enhancer) which cuts down on recharging time! But with all that said if it boils down to you only having enough money to either buy another B230 expansion battery or the AC200P then I would say “Yes” but if you can handle the cost Gap I would highly recommend getting the AC200Max before purchasing another B230 or AC200P! I hope this helps! And one final comment we gained allot by now having the AC200Max connected to 2 x B230 expansion batteries and having our Original AC200P!! We use both each day……we now cook all our meals using our induction cooktops with these units as well as watching TV and running our small 6,000BTU window AC unit daily. Best of luck to you!

[@flobartholomew8031]

Solar power.. yay 😁🤩🤩👍🏼🌅

[@mikestout5585]

So I'm new to this, so from what I'm understanding if my main unit is 100% charged I can connect the expansion and it will automatically charge as needed?

[@PrecisionGroupYT]

Yes! Your main Bluetti unit will only take the charging from the B230 expansion battery when it’s battery falls below 100%

[@mikestout5585]

@PrecisionGroupYT so I bought my ac200p used and it's only got the wall charger. Do you know the chords I'll need that came with it originally? Thanks for any help.

[@PrecisionGroupYT]

@@mikestout5585 I would download the AC200P’s owners manual from Bluetti as it tells you what comes with the unit! For Solar input you will need the aviation plug to XT90 adaptor which may be difficult to acquire and the MC4 to XT90 adaptor! I would try contacting Bluetti first and then look elsewhere if needed! Hope this helps!

[@lesopad]

thank you

[@pavelh5715]

Thanks for the review! I’ve got a question. I do hope you will help me. I wanna to buy B230 for my AC200P to use it in such a way. I connect the battery to my station. Then I use AC200P station's battery power first, and when it is depleted, the station draws battery B230 power? Is ot possible? Because as I see the B230 battery cannot be used to expand the capacity of the AC200R power station. Said otherwise, this battery can only recharge the station if it is connected to it. And is it possible to use the station (for example, connect a refrigerator to it) and synchronically charge it from this battery? Thank you!

[@PrecisionGroupYT]

@@pavelh5715 ok I will try to answer your questions. First the B230 is like a battery backup for the AC200P and has to be activated as I showed in my video (hold power button down until power button on B230 is flashing) The AC200P does not communicate with the B230; the AC200P only sees the B230 when the B230 is properly activated as an external power source! Ounce the AC200P falls below 100% charge it will start taking the charging from the B230 battery! With that said the AC200P does have pass through charging so you can run a load off of the AC200P while charging it with Solar, AC to DC charging Brick or B230 battery! I hope this helps to answer your questions!

[@pavelh5715]

@@PrecisionGroupYT, thank you so much. You really helped me.

[@PrecisionGroupYT]

@@pavelh5715 your quite welcome thank you!

[@cscs237]

Any power transfer loss from the expansion pack to the ac200p?

[@PrecisionGroupYT]

As the DC output from the B230 goes into the AC200P’s MPPT charger I am sure there is some loss but unfortunately I couldn’t tell you how much without doing an in-depth analysis! Now you are going DC to DC which should not be as much of a loss as going DC to AC or AC to DC!

[@flawlesskrush2145]

Wow, excellent video! Gives me something to aspire to. I'm new to this, I have a AC200Max and had an electrician over and they installed a Nema 14-50R. I can't find any resources on how to connect my generator to the 50amp Nema outlet. I plan to add additional batteries, but want to figure out how to connect to the house first? They don't make a male TT30 to a male Nema 14-50R cable lol Thanks!

[@PrecisionGroupYT]

Thank you! I know there are some other KZbin videos out there of people hooking up their AC200Max to their homes AC panel and what plugs they had to use!

[@JourneysOfJeff]

Hey there - I’m trying to connect the B230 to the AC200P exactly how you’re doing it but it’s popping up a fault (001. PV/Car Over Voltage). Have you ever run into the issue?

[@PrecisionGroupYT]

No I have not run into this issue and if you are using the P090D-XT90 cable to connect the B230 battery to your AC200/P just like have shown you shouldn’t be seeing this issue! I am assuming that you have charged your unit with solar in the past! I would reach out to Bluetti Tech support either by phone or email sorry I could not be of more assistance! Good Luck I hope you can get your issue resolved and please let us know if you do and how it was fixed thank you!

[@wraith8117]

Can u charge the B230 on solar while it is charging the 200p?

[@PrecisionGroupYT]

Unfortunately no as the AC200 and AC200P came out prior to Bluetti releasing the Expansion Batteries but if you have a newer model like the AC200 Max then I believe you can! Unfortunately I have to use the one I have (AC200P) and charge the B230 with Solar using the D050S DC charging enhancer. Thank you for your question!

[@wraith8117]

@@PrecisionGroupYT trying to think if the b230 is even worth it. I'm charging off grid . Iv had a 200p since it first came out . So is the maximum solar input to the B230 around 500w from solar to brick to B230? Thinking if it is worth buying a separate 400w panel just for the b230 to charge. plug the b230 into the 200p. So my 200p will charge off its own solar and also charge off the B230 while the b230 is charging off its own solar panel. If this can be done I would consider buying one It should be able to work this way ? Have you tried this ?

[@PrecisionGroupYT]

@@wraith8117 while the B230 Manual does say that it can be charged and discharged at the same time the problem is in order to connect the B230 to the AC200P it goes into the same port ( the aviation plug ) as the solar input would go in. You could have up to 700w of Solar coming into your AC200P and if you had the D050S DC charging Enhancer then you could put up to an additional 500w into the AC200P giving you a max Solar input of 1,200w into your AC200P! Now Bluetti does make a P090D-7909 adapter cable that might hook up the B230 battery into the DC barrel plug on the AC200P (where you would plug in the AC/DC charging brick for the AC200P). But Bluetti does not show the P090D-7909 being used for this (Not sure if the DC Barrel plug the 7909 is the correct size to plug in and do what you would like to do? I hope the answer is helpful and to to confusing!

[@wraith8117]

@@PrecisionGroupYT thanx mate appreciate it 👌

[@FlatEric-c3k]

So the B230 comes with the wrong cable (if you have AC200P) and it also ships without it's own power charger, forcing you to use the existing one off the AC200P? Pretty inconsiderate customer attention from Bluetti, if thats the case.

[@PrecisionGroupYT]

Unfortunately yes as it ships with the cable to attach it to the AC200Max so you will have to get the proper cable and for the AC200P or AC200 you will need the P090D to XT90 cable. In the past they have offered the cable for free with the B230 but when I checked today (10-19-23) unfortunately not but they do have sales from time to time so I would sign up for Bluetti’s emails. Also Bluetti does sell on their EBay store and sometimes their items are cheaper on EBay! On one Halloween sale if you bought a B230 battery you got a D050S DC charging enhancer for free (Normally $199). And yes no charger comes with the B230 but as you said you can just use the AC charger that came with your AC200P! Thanks for your comment and for watching! Best of luck on your Solar ☀️ adventures!

[@FlatEric-c3k]

Thanks for the informative reply. I have a AC200P, I was going to get a B230, as in my location, they are knocking $200 off today, however, when I do the math, its better value to get another AC200P, sure its 48KW less, but it means I can shift power to different locations in the house, no need for expensive cables, plus I get a second AC charger for dual charging x 2 units. The B230 is really only charging the AC200P in use, for a combined output. AFAICS, the only real advantage of that combination is the small footprint. I value extra flexibility, over the 48KW, which varies in extra time added, depending on lots of known unknowns. I can always add a B230 down the line. If they gave you the right cables, it might help sway the argument. Probably more cut and dry, if you have the AC200Max/maybe get the extra features with a B230 attached. Thanks again. @@PrecisionGroupYT

[@PrecisionGroupYT]

@@FlatEric-c3k thank you and your welcome! I would highly recommend that you spend the extra $200 above the current price of the AC200P (currently $1,199) and get the AC200Max (currently $1,399) for several reasons! First if you want to add more battery storage in the future like a B230 or B300 expansion batteries they will work seamlessly with the AC200Max, plus I learned that when you have a B230 running into the AC200P you are putting extra wear and tear on the AC200P’s battery as all the power of the B230 goes through the AC200P’s battery (charging & discharging) reducing the AC200P’s battery’s cycle life where as when you connect the B230 or B300 to the AC200Max the Max will often times pull from the B230’s or B300’s batteries first so all that extra battery Watt Hours ( charging & discharging ) are not going the AC200Max’s battery which would reduce the Max’s battery’s cycle life! I see many times where our two B230 batteries will be at say 78% while the AC200Max battery is still 100% meaning the whole time the loads we were running were being pulled from the B230 batteries and not charging and discharging the AC200Max battery which is adding to the cycle life and over all life of the AC200Max’s primary battery! Plus I do find the Bluetooth App on the Max to be quite useful…..and one more thing the AC200Max’s battery percentage meter seems to be far more accurate especially when fast charging as compared to the AC200P’s Battery percentage meter! ( see my recent video “Fast Charging our Bluetti’s and the issue with the AC200P for an explanation of this issue link: Fast Charging our Bluetti’s and the issue with the AC200P kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZOqZ6CfYrx3bMU). I know this comment was long but I hope it helps you!

[@FlatEric-c3k]

Wow, food for thought, I will definitely be taking this on board. In future, I will probably max up on Bluetti back up and get a Max + B300 for primary/keeping AC200P's as satellite backup's in different rooms. Many thanks for the fab advice.@@PrecisionGroupYT

[@PrecisionGroupYT]

@@FlatEric-c3k your very welcome I am glad that I could help! Best Regards!

[@bphillips06]

I have learned after installing this combo Into my RV that you cannot run the Ac100p AC Power function while you have the B230 plugged in and charging the Ac200p via the PV Port. That to me is "not great"considering I need to run AC powered components while I top off the AC200 on rain days when Solar power is non existent.it also stops charging after 5 to 10 mins. No rhyme or reason . I have yet to be able to put a full charge Into the Ac200p from the b230 with the supplies cable. The DO50S enhancer I had stopped working .

[@PrecisionGroupYT]

That is very unfortunate to hear! I have not had a scenario where I had to do what you have tried to do! Great information to be aware of! I hope you are able to figure something out to get around your particular issue! I wonder why your D050S stopped working? Did it get to much voltage (over 60v) or did it just over heat? Thanks again!

[@Kharizmah]

You think that’s bad. I purchased the b300 which was 100 lbs by itself. Ugh

[@ttrevino167]

I did this but I'm getting an over voltage warning

[@PrecisionGroupYT]

With out seeing exactly what is going on I would contact Bluetti for assistance!

[@ntsu82]

You need to switch your DC1 Input Source from CAR to PV in your settings.

[@daleknoel]

Cheaper just to buy another AC200P.

[@PrecisionGroupYT]

While I can’t argue your point as the Ac200P is currently $100 less than the B230 expansion battery I will say that while you could have 2 x AC200P just remember they won’t be as easily expandable and if you want to run a heavy load for longer having 2 x AC200P’s could be a hindrance as you would have to disconnect your item from 1 x AC200P to then plug it into the 2nd AC200P. There are advantages to having a B230 as it can take up to 500w of solar input through it’s AC input port with the D050S DC Charging enhancer and it’s fairly easy to add extra power into the AC200P when connected. Now recently Bluetti had a sale on the AC200 Max for $1,600 so while I had thought of purchasing another B230 battery I didn’t like that the AC200P could not interface with it so for $300 more I still got an extra 2,048wh of battery back up but also the extra 2,200w of AC output plus it interfaces with the B230 and B300 expansion batteries so with our B230 it’s like having a 4,096wh unit (with my one B230 battery) as it knows it now has extra capacity. Plus the AC200 Max with it’s extra solar input over the AC200P ( 1,400w vs 1,200w with AC200P ) this allows me to recharge the AC200 Max and B230 battery quicker plus with up to 1,400w of solar input on the AC200 Max I can also input another 500w into the B230 battery so I can recharge the AC200 Max and B230 battery with up to 1,900 watts of total solar input. So instead of having our AC200P and one B230 battery we now have 1 x AC200P, 1 x AC200 Max, and 1 x B230 expansion battery so we have a total of 6,096wh plus we can run more things off of Solar with two units capable AC output to save more $$ on our Electric Bill ( which you could to your point do with two AC200P’s ) and while you could do that somewhat with 2 x AC200P’s I like that I now have one unit that has the Bluetti App so I can more easily keep tabs on things I also like that with the AC200 Max and with the one B230 battery we have one unit that has 4096wh of capacity ( as I stated earlier in my reply ) so we can run a load much longer off of this combination if needed like a small Air Conditioner ( we live in Florida ) Thank you for your comment!

[@theboston3386]

@@PrecisionGroupYTYou can always charge one unit using the ac port of another. Yes, less efficient but it works.

[@Kharizmah]

Late to the conversation but you will also run into less problems doing it this way. I have experienced far more problems with the stand alone batteries. I never managed to get them to work efficiently with my unit. It killed my AC200 which thankfully was under warranty. They replaced it with the 200P. I finally just traded in the battery which wouldn’t hold a charge.

[@myfpv6813]

Not really worth it, as it won’t charge b230 when solar hit ac 200p. For that U need go 200max. If U just need extra capacity - for price of b230 You can get 48v 100ah lifepo4 pack = 5kwh extra power, whichnalso need to be charged independent but is over twice capacity of bluetti battery

[@PrecisionGroupYT]

Thank you for your comment! While I wish I had the AC200 Max I have to utilize the AC200P which I currently own. I also know there are allot of people that have the 2 prior models to the AC200 Max the AC200 & AC200P which can use the Bluetti Expansion Batteries although these older models do not interface with these batteries! I also agree that a 48V 100ah battery would have more storage but you will also need a 48v Inverter to pull power out of it for AC use. I am planning on building an off grid solar system utilizing the 48V 100ah rack batteries with a Solar Charge Controller/Inverter like a Growatt or EG4 in the future! Take care!

[@myfpv6813]

@@PrecisionGroupYT no, You can connect it to ac200p and charge ac200p from it set as „solar”. Only unit to buy is mppt controller to charge that 48v pack fromsolarpanels. There should be also possible to use ac charger of ac200p to charge that 48v battery thru ac200p inverter, but then quite big efficiency loss need to be calculated ;) I also have 200p and try find best use for it

[@PrecisionGroupYT]

@@myfpv6813 ok great thank you for that information but my question would be when you connect the LiFeP04 48v rack battery to the Bluetti is there any issue with how many Amps that battery puts out when connected to the Bluetti through Solar? I wouldn’t want to put to have to much Amperage coming into the Bluetti and possibly damage it! When you connect yours how many watts and amps are you seeing being put into the Bluetti? Thanks!

[@myfpv6813]

@@PrecisionGroupYT it wont eat more amps then it’s capable of. Check term overpanel a solar charger. you can go way way higher with A of solar setup, they just won’t be used when there is full sun, but when it’s cloudy and panels only have 50% production You still hit sogen max charging raito. What is deadly is going over max unit voltage (some panels in cold temp. Can go over their declared parameters, so open voltage can then spike over unit limit). Let say You have 4x35V, then You at 140V in series. If they hit 38 each You will be over 150v ac200p limit and can damage it. Also always possible to use a fuse to be extra safe ;)

[@Ethan.s..]

@@myfpv6813how many watts does your 48v expansion battery charge your ac200p at?

[@Jack_Sparrow_1]

@PrecisionGroupYT What do you think about this wrong info accompanying the HQST (High Quality Solar Technology) LiFePO4 100ah batteries on Amazon? "HQST 12V 100Ah lithium battery supports series and parallel connections. You can create a 12V, 24V, 36V, or 48V lithium battery bank via series wiring, a 12V 200Ah, 300Ah, or 400Ah power system via parallel connections, or even connect up to 16 batteries in series and parallel, building a powerful home backup power system with a 20.48 kWh capacity." Creating 4 banks of 4 batteries connected in series, and then connecting those 4 banks in parallel, gives a 51.2V bank with a 5.12kWh capacity. Not a capacity of 20.48 kWh, as they say. Right?