Submit your Question for the SOLIX F3800 Team

#1

Got a question about the SOLIX F3800? Curious how that home panel works? What you’ll need beyond a transfer switch? How to set up your whole house backup power system?

Submit your question in the comments, and then tune in at 5 p.m. PST on Feb. 20 for a live chat in the Facebook Group dedicated to this product.

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Usually, we play it fast and loose with the live chat scenarios. But this time, we want to make sure we make the most of the time with the product manager, so I’ll be organizing questions for him.

If you can’t make the live chat, don’t worry. We’d love to have you, but we’ll do what we always do – create a transcript and post it here so you won’t miss a thing, including the answer to your question.

So do it. Ask your question about the SOLIX F3800.

#2

What was the development process like for the F3800? What requirements did you set out early on and what tradeoffs did you have to make as time went on? What inspired the F3800 and where are you hoping to go with it next?

What do you see as the key differentiators between the F3800 and the X1, especially since both systems are extendable and can run off solar? Where do you see the home energy and backup power market going in the next two years? Five?

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#3

How do the XT60 solar inputs work? Tried to use a battery charger at 48v25a into each input (from same source) and with one XT60 port used it charged well at 1150w. With both inputs being used the F3800 would not charge at all. Some have speculated it is a grounding issue using one source. Can you elaborate? Thanks.

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#4

Hi! I like this question, but won’t be including it. I sense we wouldn’t be comfortable sharing details about our process (competition is fierce), but still … as a former print reporter, I do love the investigative, hyper-curious nature of this question.

The X1 system will be whole home. That’s its only function. As for the F3800, it’s capable of powering a whole house, but will require more accessories and some thoughtful planning. It is, ultimately, a portable unit … so it’s great IMO as a backup source for the home and as a power source for the camper.

Thanks @Zac8 – appreciate the thoughtful questions. Let me know if I can offer more info on the F3800. (I will, of course, be posting a transcript of the upcoming chat, so you’ll definitely get more info there.)

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#5

I’ll include this question for sure, @Alan38. I recall the ask in the FB group, too … just don’t want you to feel like I’m ignoring you. I just don’t have the answer.

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#6

I think we have to differentiate between 2 issues here:

  1. Many battery chargers must be able to sense an appropriate voltage on the battery it’s intended to charge before it will apply the charge. The DC input of the XT60 port does not have a 48V at the port (it’s probably floating, waiting for the source voltage to be applied), and therefore the charger may decide not to initiate a charge after all for safety reasons, because it interpret a floating input as an unhealthy battery to begin with.

  2. If you actually were able to apply and charge 1 XT60 port but not both, then it’s probably a common grounding issue from 1 source like you suspect. The same with applying 1 48V battery source (not battery charger source) to both ports -> the same common ground prevents the charging to take place.

Now instead of using a battery charger, you might have better luck using an AC to DC power supply instead. The power supply is not solely intended to charge batteries like the battery chargers are, and therefore, might not have the safety check to make sure there’s an appropriate voltage on the load to begin with. I’ve tried using 2 AC to DC switching power supply units rated at 60V, 25A and 1500W, and I’m able to deliver 1150W into each of the XT60 port just fine.

#7

I have a question about the ability to set the SOC limits. I just read some tips on how to optimize the life of LFP batteries by Anker in another thread on here, stating that it’s best to keep the operating SOC between 20% to 80%, meaning not to discharge below 20% and not to charge above 80% for optimal battery health.

If that’s the case, then why doesn’t Anker provide an option in the Anker app for users to set the 2 SOC upper charging and lower discharging limit. Right now, unless you manually intervene, the F3800 will charge to 100%, and will not stop discharging until the battery gets down to 1%.

#8

AC charging repurposes the bidirectional inverter that powers the left bank 120V outlets as AC to DC converters and UPS for charging and passthrough, which is fine, I guess, for cost saving. The trade-off for this is that the 240V outlets cannot be reused with just 1 leg energized, so it’s understandable that 240V outlets must be disabled.

But why not also repurpose the inverter that powers the right 120V bank the same way as the one driving the left back? That way, you can have dual AC charging ports and dual UPS/passthrough banks instead of just 1 AC charging ports. Is it because the inverter driving the right bank is not a bidirectional inverter like the left one, so that it can’t be repurposed the same as the left bidirectional inverters? Is that due to cost saving, to decide to just have 1 bidirectional inverters instead of 2?

#9

Can I install both Solix F3800 and x1 systems in the same house?

#10

We recently got Anker Solix F3800, extra battery and the smart panel connected to our home. We live in California and have time of use plan. Given the large difference in the peak vs off peak charges (as much as 30 cents per kwh), we were hoping to program our smart panel and batteries to work in the following way:

  • 30% of the battery is reserve for outages etc.
  • The rest of the 70% should get charged from the grid/solar during off peak hours.
  • The battery should be preferred over grid during the peak hours until the battery reaches 30% and then grid can be used.

We tried setting that up with Anker app. The first part was easy, we set the 30% as reserve in the app. Once I set the peak, off peak and part peak hours and charges, the panel seems to prefer the battery during peak usage (great!!). However, it doesn’t seem to want to recharge the battery at off peak hours instead it seems to wait until the solar comes on during the day. Given that we are on net metering I would rather have solar be returned to the grid during the peak hours :(. Is there a way to configure the app or use any of the apis to achieve what we would like? If not can I please submit a feature request? I suspect it would be a scenario that plenty of households in states like CA will run into.

Thanks,
Snehal

#11

Hi. I have a nat-gas powered generator, with an Asco Automatic Transfer Switch (which is only a few years old). I already have an electrician-installed and inspected secondary junction box for the circuits that can run off the generator, and they are wired to the ATS.

The ATS outputs a 12VDC run signal (from the generator’s battery) when power fails. Is there a remote signal on the F3800 to turn on / off so that I can use my existing ATS with it?

#12

So I’m an old guy down here in the hurricane State of Florida. I have the Anker f3800 and 2 expansion batteries. I also have 3 PS400 Anker panels. I also have the f3800 connected to a 240 plug on an essential load subpanel. I also have a 6350 Ford gas generator. Dilemma: I live in Florida and have experienced so far over the years up to 10 days or more of no grid and overcast days during that time. I do have 11.6kw of QCell solar and Enphase microinverters, but unless I want to spend over $25K for Enphase batteries I have no roof top solar when the grid goes down. So I’m trying my best to survive through storms. I’ve tested how long my f3800 will last on essential loads and it is about 16 hours. My three Anker PS400 with 10 gauge wires (50 feet) seem to top out at 850 watts (900+ if a cloud goes by). It may be due to extreme heat here in Florida that I can’t get past 900 watts. So I need more DC input. Could I use a EG4 “chargeverter” to connect to the 240 on the generator (with dirty power) and then use some kind of adapter to connect it to the OTHER DC 1200 watt port of the F3800 so I can get a way to charge when there are cloudy skies and continue to AC power the house through the 240 output (to the subpanel) of the F3800? One gentleman on YouTube (Rustyspoon) said his f3800 was stuck at only 700 watts charge using the chargeverter, and his AC charge was also limited to 700 watts (instead of up to 1800). I don’t know if he damaged his inverter using the chargeverter or didn’t upgrade his firmware. He said he was reaching out to Anker for help (6 months ago). He didn’t leave an answer to his problem. So I don’t want to do something that might harm the f3800 inverter, but I need to be able to charge the F3800 when stuck in days or weeks of no grid. Thanks