Bluetti AC 180 on sale

iveofione

iveofione

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Those of you looking for a power station might want to take a look at this deal on Amazon right now. The widely acclaimed AC 180 is being sold at 47% off for $479. I won't bore you with the specifications, you can look them up, but that is a helluva buy for an 1800W powerplant. Too good to pass up, I ordered one myself and it will play nice with the new Bluetti DC to DC charger that I just installed in the Casa. It is about the same physical size as my original Jackery Explorer 1000 but almost twice as powerful and charges in a fraction of the time needed for the old Jackery.

The progress these power stations are making is just amazing. A few years ago when I bought my 1000 it cost $1000 and took hours to recharge. Now I am buying one that cost less than half as much, is almost twice as powerful and charges in less than an hour. I'm sure they will get even better
 
I really appreciate the tips you share about this kind of gear! I just received the hand held spotlight I bought after reading one of your recommendations and it's great. So light and bright!
 
Zak said:
I really appreciate the tips you share about this kind of gear! I just received the hand held spotlight I bought after reading one of your recommendations and it's great. So light and bright!
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Zak, one of the problems with posting gear reviews is the rapidly changing landscape. Everything is evolving so rapidly that a review written 3 years ago might be laughable by now. Three years ago Jackery was flying high and was the leading seller of power stations. My own experience with them has been both good and bad but I sense that they are resting too much on their laurels and placing profit ahead of innovation. Hence my change over to Bluetti at this point. Recent difficulties with a new model Jackery and their customer service exposed them as not working in good faith with established customers. I knew when I bought the new 1000 several years ago that it would be out of date soon so I am not surprised that it is. But now it has been superseded by much improved models and although it still works the same as ever I'll give it to someone whose needs aren't as demanding as mine.

Reviews of anything electric or electronic could be out of date as early as....tomorrow! So take them with a grain of salt.

I'll take this opportunity to vent on Jackery a little. Most power stations advertise that their units can be charged at least 3 ways-with solar, with household 110 current or 12V vehicle charging-and include the cables for all three. My new Jackery came with a 110 power cord and that's it. And if you are camping somewhere a 110 power cord is probably the last one you would need. They force you to buy either their proprietary or aftermarket cables and theirs are enormously overpriced. The Bluetti comes with all three with nothing else to buy and they are the same ones they have used for years. When I got my new Jackery I found that they had changed cable terminals on the new model and the old ones wouldn't work. I had to buy new cables before I could even use it. Frickin' cheapskates! GRRRRR!!😠
 
No mention of Bluetti would be complete without including the relatively new Bluetti Charger 1 DC to DC charger. It too is on sale now for 50% off and includes the cable. It is a simple hookup, one end to the battery and the other to a power station. The standard 12v outlet in your vehicle will charge at less than 100w as you drive but the Charger 1 can boost that to as much as 560w.

Simply put that means an hours drive will charge your power station as much as it took 5 or 6 hours of driving time before. This is a huge improvement and results in far less dependence on solar panels than before.

I started "camping out" in 1947 at age 9 and have been doing it ever since. I have had overhead campers, travel trailers and 5th wheels and could buy a motor home now if I wanted but the Casa is just more fun. Having all of the electrical stuff in such a small space is a kick and the advancement in electrical gear just makes it better. I should really get a van for the easier ingress/egress and more room as I approach 90 but really don't want to break up the Casa, it is really an old friend.
 
Love at first sight! The new Bluetti AC180 arrived today and I'm impressed. The packaging was just superb, a great way to make a good first impression. The unit itself is sleek and well designed and more intuitive to use than the Jackery 1000V2 I bought last fall. Just the buttons are an improvement. The Jackery has buttons that have to be pushed sub flush and held for 5 seconds and are very narrow and oblong instead of round. No human has a finger the shape of those buttons and to make it even more aggravating they are black against a black background. At night a light is needed to locate them. An ergonomic failure. I welcome round buttons again with a tactile feel, proper illumination and intuitive location.

Cables. The Jackery came with just one-the typical 110v power cord found on just about everything electric and the one that is most useless when camping. The Bluetti came with 4 power cords and has all of my bases covered for charging options. And they are fine looking cables too, they look robust and should last. The new unit has a wireless charger on top that can keep a phone charged up.

Weight. The new model with 1800w weighs in at almost 10# more than the 1500w Jackery and is several inches taller. However the length and width are exactly the same so it will fit in the same ball bearing slide drawer and charge with solar cables that are already in place. It is just a nicer unit and better thought out than the Jackery.

You might recall that I bought the new model Jackery last fall after owning the old Explorer 1000 for over 3 years during which it was just excellent. When the new model came out with 500 more watts, hundreds of dollars cheaper and vastly improved charge time I jumped on it. But it arrived with no cords other than the 110v and I had to buy aftermarket stuff to make it work. In addition the cable ends had been changed for the new model and I had to buy adapters to make the solar work. Then to add insult to injury, during a 14 day road trip to Glacier, Yellowstone and the Tetons, the DC output died on the 4th day. They weren't done with me yet as I tried to get a refund and they wouldn't do it, blaming my new Iceco refrigerator for the problem. The back and forth went on for over 4 weeks and in the end the only option they would give me is a new replacement unit. So far it is behaving well but I wanted the cash to buy the new Bluetti instead.

So you never know when you give a product endorsement if you are going to look like an idiot later. I thought the new more powerful Jackery was a huge improvement over the old one. Until it wasn't.
 
Thanks Josh. With that 34% discount the price should be about $462, a damned good deal and less than I paid 2 weeks ago. At the time Bluetti was selling it for $459 and Amazon for $479. I bought from Amazon because of the free shipping and ease of return in case something goes wrong. Amazon returns have been seamless for me with notification of return credit within the hour and deposit to my account just a few days later. Returns from manufacturers or companies have been fraught with peril and I have been burned by lots of losses over the years.

I know, I know, I am supporting Bezos and his sleazy mistress but here in the wilderness......
 
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