Save up to $4,334 with early bird discounts before Black Friday. Click ankerfast.club/vreo76 to get discounts on Anker SOLIX F3800 and its bundles. Spend more, get more!
Guys, if you are considering going off-grid, I suggest looking into the Jackery 5000 Plus. The F3800 is great for a quick solution during an outage but not for long-term use.
I looked up solar back up and found these units. Now I can't watch a TH-cam video without an Ankor AD. Gotta love Google with AD suggestions. I have propane back up generator and am looking to add this in. I talked to my local solar (not ankor) company and they made it sound so complicated that this unit is looking even better. Local codes seemed to be a big obstacle. As always, I enjoy the videos. Thank you for your honest review. 👍👍
We have a couple of F2000 units. These will work well as we will only use one at a time to provide power in case of power loss for the refrig and maybe a radio or two and water heater (gas). Also have 5 200 W solar panels to recharge the unused F2000. Retired electrician here too...
I have had mine for nine months now. I have used it to run my detached garage/shop power. With normal usage it will power everything for over 8 hrs of total use. Only surprise was the amps that the shopvac uses. It does recharge fully in 2hrs but I don't let it get below 10% before recharge. Be careful of the 120v circuit you plug it into to recharge. A 15 amp circuit with loads on it may trip breaker. Because of it's portability, I have used it to power essentials (frig, freezer, router, lights and TV) at night during power outages at main house. I even loaned it to a friend that was affected by hurricane Helene in NC. He used it at night to power essentials instead of gas generator so he could get some sleep. He has bought his own now for that use. Only con I have with it right now is specific for my application. Anker does not have a filter option for the intake and exhaust, this is for the fine saw dust that is in my shop and not picked up by the vac system. I asked Anker and at present they have no plans for one. I have had to build a filter box around it and it's a bit of a pain if you move it around.
For anyone considering buying the sale (I was and still am considering), do check out competitor companies. There is a price war going on, so the best option may be with another offering.
No. EMT is required to be supported 36 inches from a box. The nipples are all between 28 and 32 inches so no additional support is required. Nice try though.
So I have basically the same setup you have(minus the addl' battery) and I noticed you said something that may or may not be an accurate statement. You said you could charge up your F3800 with your Champion generator. I recently reached out to Anker to confirm something that I did not know when I purchased my package and that is that you can't charge the F3800 with a regular generator. You need to use an inverter generator because the power going into it needs to have a clean sine wave. Now I have a Firman Dual Fuel 7500W generator and I've been hesitant to test it to charge my F3800 because I don't want to take a chance on damaging it or my Home Power Panel. Have you tested to see if you feed your main panel with your Champion that it does in fact charge up the F3800. Anker would never clarify if using my generator would damage anything. They just said that Total Harmonic Distortion can only be + or - 5%. I tested my generator with an Oscillator and the sine wave is not clean at all. Let me know how things went for you. Thanks.
I am planning to get an inverter generator which I should have mentioned in the video. I believe you can charge it with a standard generator but I don't but it's not a good idea. Another option would be to power a converter from a standard generator and charge the F3800 through the solar connections.
Thanks for the F3800 videos... awesome info! I'm curious if you're using the non-inverter type Champion generator to charge the F3800. You're not running into any issues? Simply asking as I thought it would need an inverter generator to charge. Any additional info is truly appreciated as I'm looking into a similar setup as yours.
The manufacturer recommends not using a standard generator to charge the unit. I am planning on purchasing an inverter generator for this and other reason.
Just normal operation. The fridge and freezer were always on and run when needed. We use the microwave to heat up food several times. A pot of coffee in the morning. The pump and boiler run intermittently when using hot water in the sink or for taking showers. Maybe a few hours of tv and pc combined. Lights when and where they are needed.
@@kennethcollins148 Its silent normally but when its running loads or charging, the cooling fans run which you can hear. It's still extremely quiet though. Not nearly as loud as a refrigerator.
I often wondered about connecting a modified sine wave generator up to charge such a smart device. I also was thinking of running a old coleman 2K modified sine wave generator to my all in one solar/inverter/MPPT solar charge controller. I was concerned of damage.
Hey John, great video. Fellow Mainer here! I have a couple of questions. If you did two F3800s with the smart panel would you have just done a back feed of the 100amp into your main panel? Second when you use your generator to charge are you just running that through your old portable generator cirtcut using your interlock? I was thinking I would have to have an alternate connection to recharge but you just made me realize that if I just backfeed with my current generator connection the F3800s should recharge through that. Thanks!
Well never mind my first question after looking at the installation for the Smart Panel you have a grid input and backup terminals so obviously you must have a sub-panel. Sorry should have realized that. I am still curious about the charging function coming from the main panel generator interlock connection.
I haven't actually charged the system with the generator yet since we only had a short outage. I did shut off the power to do a test to see how long the system would last running the loads we normally run during an outage. But yes, I was planning on running my generator through my 30A backfeed breaker and plugging the F3800 into a receptacle under the electrical panel. I am little concerned about charging the unit with my existing generator since it's a modified sign wave and worry that may become an issue for the electronics on the power station. I planning to buy an inverter generator to solve this concern but I have picked one up yet. Another option would be to run a standard generator into a converter and charge the F3800 through the solar inputs. I do have a sub panel for my critical loads but with a second F3800 you would double the 6000w output capacity and the home power panel is designed for that as well so you could potentially feed your whole panel with that setup.
You're a electrician, so I wanna ask you A question that I argue with people all the time, is leaving that at 100%. Okay, or should you go by the 80/20 rule?
These systems are designed to be charged to 100%. They will actually do that automatically when connected through the home power panel. I would not let the battery get below 20% because lithium iron phosphate batteries will not last as long if you do. I’m pretty sure EV car batteries do recommend the 80/20 rule for extended life time of the battery. For a backup system that gets used infrequently and needs lots of power for extended outages, I make sure to charge to 100%.
@BackyardMaine I have been looking to get a power station. And I forgot which one it was, but 1 of the brands out there in the app. It lets you choose the 80/20 rule. So there might still be something to that If all you care about is longevity of the battery at the expense of not having enough power When the lights go out.
I was looking at this unit to purchase but thought that charging via 120V would disconnect the 240V output? Can you confirm that? You said that you can charge and output simultaneously? If that's true, that would push me to purchase it. Thanks! Great video.
You are correct, when AC charging you are limited to 120v and 1440 watts of passive through charging. Many including myself using an EG4 Chargeverter with a generator to charge through the DC ports (solar) and maintain full 240v power.
Prices vary so much in different areas and even between different contractors in the same area. It’s probably about six hours labor maybe eight depending on the skill of the individual. I can really tell you a price.
I just bought a Genmax 10500 inverter generator and love it. It's tri-fuel so runs on gasoline, propane, and natural gas. It's about the cost of the F3800.
have you found a way to limit the charge when the Smart panel is charging the F3800's I have a Disconnect and when running my Gen the smart panel seems to want to put 2400 watts into each F3800's
It does auto adjust based on the current level of charge but I don't think that feature is adjustable. You can adjust the charging wattage of the for the cord connected charger on the App but I didn't see anything adjustable through the home power panel.
6000 w or some where around 45--50A for a house to draw. Lets see what it takes. Refer 10A so that is 1100 04 1200w freezer same dyer same if 110 if 220 and 10 A it will pull twice. Now if u have an electric stove that is the biggie 220 30A or wait for it 6600 Looks like that stove wont be run But we have so many things to us electric with but these are the really big ones we have in our homes. Light bulbs 15W u need 80 of them to = a refer. Computer not much same phone and all ur portables. Kids if ur house if pulling more then 2000 w without a major on u got a lot of thing running. My house runs me on average about $100/mo. Summer it has gone as low as $23. I have a 2nd meter on my barn and greenhouse. When Greenhouse working between $100 and $400. Headed with a 220 set on 20A heater. Last ur was warm coldest mo Feb was just $350. Barn has some lights in it and I have my work shop there. I figure maybe 1/20 of bill goes to it. U can only run one thing at a time and some dont take much in a work shop.
@@everythingpony They move around easy on floors and flat ground. I bit heavy for stairs but they have handles on top and bottom so they can be carried easily by two people or one very strong person.. lol
I run my electronics of a battery for cleaner sign wave right along with all the other tings that go with it. I have 2 of them. One will run all my stuff for 3 days. have solar panels to charge. Rest of house is run off another brand of battery of only 3000W. Have 4 of them solar charged. All my batteries will charge in less then a day in total cloud b/c of # of panels. Hell i run my house on them sometimes I use that little. Ex: right now I have 4 lights on computer 75"tv and pellet stove. This is all I have on most of the timer. BTY my water is all gravity fed from a spring. Hell spring is so far above house i need a flow inhibitor in line to keep it down to 45 psi. This is why i for got water pump for some of u but most r one water systems so no pump needed. Ya I got me a big desal gen that puts out 13,000W. Got 2 heater in there for when it goes below 0. Most of the time just run the one. That 8x16 greenhouse is my food and that of a few others. I do a 2 ac garden and give away to those in need what i dont use which is about 90% of what I grow. I grow 50 plants/ 10"x20" flat. I have 2 shaves to grow on 16' long bottom one just 24" top one 42". 16'=184" this means i can fit 54 flats at a time or about 27,000 plants. Very few get hole hand dug and hand planted. Got me a machine that makes the hole the person setting n it put plant in hole and then cover seedling. Three ppl can put in 20,000 plants with this in three days. Ya it is a 12 hr day but then were farming and that is what we do most every day of the yr.
Save up to $4,334 with early bird discounts before Black Friday.
Click ankerfast.club/vreo76 to get discounts on Anker SOLIX F3800 and its bundles. Spend more, get more!
Thanks for the review. A con worth mentioning is their bulky cables connections - no 90 degrees like other competitor.
Guys, if you are considering going off-grid, I suggest looking into the Jackery 5000 Plus. The F3800 is great for a quick solution during an outage but not for long-term use.
I looked up solar back up and found these units. Now I can't watch a TH-cam video without an Ankor AD. Gotta love Google with AD suggestions. I have propane back up generator and am looking to add this in. I talked to my local solar (not ankor) company and they made it sound so complicated that this unit is looking even better. Local codes seemed to be a big obstacle. As always, I enjoy the videos. Thank you for your honest review. 👍👍
Yup. Since making this video I get an Anker ad every hour as well.
We have a couple of F2000 units. These will work well as we will only use one at a time to provide power in case of power loss for the refrig and maybe a radio or two and water heater (gas). Also have 5 200 W solar panels to recharge the unused F2000. Retired electrician here too...
Sounds like a good plan. Retirement is underrated👍
I have had mine for nine months now. I have used it to run my detached garage/shop power. With normal usage it will power everything for over 8 hrs of total use. Only surprise was the amps that the shopvac uses. It does recharge fully in 2hrs but I don't let it get below 10% before recharge. Be careful of the 120v circuit you plug it into to recharge. A 15 amp circuit with loads on it may trip breaker. Because of it's portability, I have used it to power essentials (frig, freezer, router, lights and TV) at night during power outages at main house. I even loaned it to a friend that was affected by hurricane Helene in NC. He used it at night to power essentials instead of gas generator so he could get some sleep. He has bought his own now for that use.
Only con I have with it right now is specific for my application. Anker does not have a filter option for the intake and exhaust, this is for the fine saw dust that is in my shop and not picked up by the vac system. I asked Anker and at present they have no plans for one. I have had to build a filter box around it and it's a bit of a pain if you move it around.
Great info. Thank you for adding it. They are very capable units.
As a suggestion... There's a company that makes cloth filter material with magnets to attch to standalone upright fans as well as computers.
For anyone considering buying the sale (I was and still am considering), do check out competitor companies. There is a price war going on, so the best option may be with another offering.
Are you going to put half inch EMT straps on your work shop plugs you said you do electrical work
No. EMT is required to be supported 36 inches from a box. The nipples are all between 28 and 32 inches so no additional support is required. Nice try though.
Battery, solar and a gas generator together is the way to go.
So I have basically the same setup you have(minus the addl' battery) and I noticed you said something that may or may not be an accurate statement. You said you could charge up your F3800 with your Champion generator. I recently reached out to Anker to confirm something that I did not know when I purchased my package and that is that you can't charge the F3800 with a regular generator. You need to use an inverter generator because the power going into it needs to have a clean sine wave. Now I have a Firman Dual Fuel 7500W generator and I've been hesitant to test it to charge my F3800 because I don't want to take a chance on damaging it or my Home Power Panel. Have you tested to see if you feed your main panel with your Champion that it does in fact charge up the F3800. Anker would never clarify if using my generator would damage anything. They just said that Total Harmonic Distortion can only be + or - 5%. I tested my generator with an Oscillator and the sine wave is not clean at all. Let me know how things went for you. Thanks.
I am planning to get an inverter generator which I should have mentioned in the video. I believe you can charge it with a standard generator but I don't but it's not a good idea. Another option would be to power a converter from a standard generator and charge the F3800 through the solar connections.
Thanks for the F3800 videos... awesome info! I'm curious if you're using the non-inverter type Champion generator to charge the F3800. You're not running into any issues? Simply asking as I thought it would need an inverter generator to charge. Any additional info is truly appreciated as I'm looking into a similar setup as yours.
The manufacturer recommends not using a standard generator to charge the unit. I am planning on purchasing an inverter generator for this and other reason.
how many of the applieances were running for the 7 hr period. or how long did each one run intermittantly?
Just normal operation. The fridge and freezer were always on and run when needed. We use the microwave to heat up food several times. A pot of coffee in the morning. The pump and boiler run intermittently when using hot water in the sink or for taking showers. Maybe a few hours of tv and pc combined. Lights when and where they are needed.
Thank you so much. How loud is it may I ask?
@@kennethcollins148 Its silent normally but when its running loads or charging, the cooling fans run which you can hear. It's still extremely quiet though. Not nearly as loud as a refrigerator.
I often wondered about connecting a modified sine wave generator up to charge such a smart device. I also was thinking of running a old coleman 2K modified sine wave generator to my all in one solar/inverter/MPPT solar charge controller. I was concerned of damage.
Probably not the best idea. I going to get an inverter generator before the next out season.
Hey John, great video. Fellow Mainer here! I have a couple of questions. If you did two F3800s with the smart panel would you have just done a back feed of the 100amp into your main panel? Second when you use your generator to charge are you just running that through your old portable generator cirtcut using your interlock? I was thinking I would have to have an alternate connection to recharge but you just made me realize that if I just backfeed with my current generator connection the F3800s should recharge through that. Thanks!
Well never mind my first question after looking at the installation for the Smart Panel you have a grid input and backup terminals so obviously you must have a sub-panel. Sorry should have realized that. I am still curious about the charging function coming from the main panel generator interlock connection.
I haven't actually charged the system with the generator yet since we only had a short outage. I did shut off the power to do a test to see how long the system would last running the loads we normally run during an outage. But yes, I was planning on running my generator through my 30A backfeed breaker and plugging the F3800 into a receptacle under the electrical panel. I am little concerned about charging the unit with my existing generator since it's a modified sign wave and worry that may become an issue for the electronics on the power station. I planning to buy an inverter generator to solve this concern but I have picked one up yet. Another option would be to run a standard generator into a converter and charge the F3800 through the solar inputs. I do have a sub panel for my critical loads but with a second F3800 you would double the 6000w output capacity and the home power panel is designed for that as well so you could potentially feed your whole panel with that setup.
You're a electrician, so I wanna ask you A question that I argue with people all the time, is leaving that at 100%. Okay, or should you go by the 80/20 rule?
These systems are designed to be charged to 100%. They will actually do that automatically when connected through the home power panel. I would not let the battery get below 20% because lithium iron phosphate batteries will not last as long if you do. I’m pretty sure EV car batteries do recommend the 80/20 rule for extended life time of the battery. For a backup system that gets used infrequently and needs lots of power for extended outages, I make sure to charge to 100%.
@BackyardMaine I have been looking to get a power station.
And I forgot which one it was, but 1 of the brands out there in the app. It lets you choose the 80/20 rule. So there might still be something to that If all you care about is longevity of the battery at the expense of not having enough power
When the lights go out.
I was looking at this unit to purchase but thought that charging via 120V would disconnect the 240V output? Can you confirm that? You said that you can charge and output simultaneously? If that's true, that would push me to purchase it. Thanks! Great video.
You are correct, when AC charging you are limited to 120v and 1440 watts of passive through charging. Many including myself using an EG4 Chargeverter with a generator to charge through the DC ports (solar) and maintain full 240v power.
According to the information I have you can. I test it and get back to you over the weekend
How Much More Or Less Does This Cost To Install By Electrician ?
Prices vary so much in different areas and even between different contractors in the same area. It’s probably about six hours labor maybe eight depending on the skill of the individual. I can really tell you a price.
It would seem that the generator you are using does not supply true sine wave power. Is it OK to charge the battery with that sort of generator?
Probably not ideal but I haven’t had any issues. I’m planning on getting an inverter generator soon. Hopefully before our next outage.
I just bought a Genmax 10500 inverter generator and love it. It's tri-fuel so runs on gasoline, propane, and natural gas. It's about the cost of the F3800.
have you found a way to limit the charge when the Smart panel is charging the F3800's I have a Disconnect and when running my Gen the smart panel seems to want to put 2400 watts into each F3800's
It does auto adjust based on the current level of charge but I don't think that feature is adjustable. You can adjust the charging wattage of the for the cord connected charger on the App but I didn't see anything adjustable through the home power panel.
6000 w or some where around 45--50A for a house to draw. Lets see what it takes. Refer 10A so that is 1100 04 1200w freezer same dyer same if 110 if 220 and 10 A it will pull twice. Now if u have an electric stove that is the biggie 220 30A or wait for it 6600 Looks like that stove wont be run
But we have so many things to us electric with but these are the really big ones we have in our homes. Light bulbs 15W u need 80 of them to = a refer. Computer not much same phone and all ur portables.
Kids if ur house if pulling more then 2000 w without a major on u got a lot of thing running.
My house runs me on average about $100/mo. Summer it has gone as low as $23. I have a 2nd meter on my barn and greenhouse. When Greenhouse working between $100 and $400. Headed with a 220 set on 20A heater. Last ur was warm coldest mo Feb was just $350. Barn has some lights in it and I have my work shop there. I figure maybe 1/20 of bill goes to it. U can only run one thing at a time and some dont take much in a work shop.
Yes about 50A of 120v loads and 25A of 240v loads.
Do they have authorized techs to install the system? Thanks.
Any licensed electrician will be able to install the setup in less than a day.
Pretty sure most people can roll it into a garage and set it up?
@@everythingpony They move around easy on floors and flat ground. I bit heavy for stairs but they have handles on top and bottom so they can be carried easily by two people or one very strong person.. lol
I run my electronics of a battery for cleaner sign wave right along with all the other tings that go with it. I have 2 of them. One will run all my stuff for 3 days. have solar panels to charge. Rest of house is run off another brand of battery of only 3000W. Have 4 of them solar charged. All my batteries will charge in less then a day in total cloud b/c of # of panels. Hell i run my house on them sometimes I use that little. Ex: right now I have 4 lights on computer 75"tv and pellet stove. This is all I have on most of the timer.
BTY my water is all gravity fed from a spring. Hell spring is so far above house i need a flow inhibitor in line to keep it down to 45 psi. This is why i for got water pump for some of u but most r one water systems so no pump needed.
Ya I got me a big desal gen that puts out 13,000W. Got 2 heater in there for when it goes below 0. Most of the time just run the one. That 8x16 greenhouse is my food and that of a few others. I do a 2 ac garden and give away to those in need what i dont use which is about 90% of what I grow. I grow 50 plants/ 10"x20" flat. I have 2 shaves to grow on 16' long bottom one just 24" top one 42". 16'=184" this means i can fit 54 flats at a time or about 27,000 plants. Very few get hole hand dug and hand planted. Got me a machine that makes the hole the person setting n it put plant in hole and then cover seedling. Three ppl can put in 20,000 plants with this in three days. Ya it is a 12 hr day but then were farming and that is what we do most every day of the yr.
Wow. Great info. Thanks
I’ve had mine for about a month and have called five electricians in the area each one of them won’t touch it
Where do you live? I worked with my guy and we learned how to install it together. He’s got it down now.
Surprising.. It was an easy install.
Call companies in your area that do solar installations. They certainly have electricians that know how to do this type of installation