BLUETTI EB3A Portable Power Station 268Wh LiFePO4 600W Solar Generator Camping
Nov 28, 2022
Fan too loud while using as UPS
Loud fan noise in UPS mode -
I was hoping to use UPS mode to power a few small devices such as my internet router, wifi, and network switch. These combined use about 30 watts. I have these devices in my home office which I use for work. Sadly, while in UPS mode to run these devices, every ~30 minutes the battery power goes down to 99% (I'm guessing from internal power draw, not the actual load being passed through the UPS), the fan makes a strange electronic noise, something like a motor that doesn't have enough power get started. It makes this noise for about 10 seconds, then the fan moving air noise can be heard. No matter what charging mode it is set to (turbo, standard, or silent) the fan then ramps up to full speed to recharge this last one percent of battery. The fan runs for 2-3 minutes before shutting off. Even though it is on the other side of the room this is loud enough to disrupt my work or zoom calls.
No bi-directional usb charge port or cable included to charge from a cigarette lighter. It would be great to be able to charge this in the car. I bought a 3rd party usbc to dc 7.9x5.5 cable and a 100w usbc car charger to be able to charge this from the car, these together cost about $30 and with them I'm able to charge the EB3A with 87 watts. I also thought I should be able to plug this usbc to dc input cable into a 100w AC to DC converter (i.e. apple 20.2 volt 87w usbc adapter), but sadly even when the needed 12-28v is supplied in the usbc there is some glitch with the MPPT controller that won't allow it to charge.
The 600 watt AC output is awesome, it will start and run my full size refrigerator (although it won't start my medium chest freezer), although not for very long. The charge speed is great, although when charging the fan turns on and ramps up to full speed no matter the charge mode, or whether charging from DC/Solar/AC.