Bronco Off Grid Power Setup with Bluetti Charger 2 (w/ Bidirectional Charging)

[RustysBronco]

Replies embedded below.

Thanks for posting this!

I recently bought a Charger 2 and Elite 100v2 and was just getting ready to install it.

A few questions on your install:

How long does it take the charger 2 to fully turn off when the vehicle is stopped? It will stop drawing power from your car's battery 3-6 seconds after the engine is shut off. It also has reverse polarity protection, overcurrent protection, short circuit protection, overvoltage protection and undervoltage protection - so your truck battery doesn't get jacked up.

I was thinking about running a D+ signal cable on the Charger 2 to an aux switch to have control of when it’s off and on. I had a problem with the Charger 1 never turning off and draining my battery while in standby on my truck. I haven’t read up on this enough to fully understand how it works, but my understanding its for interfacing with "smart alternators." Any special use beyond that - please share that all here may benefit.

Did you use 4 or 6 awg wire For the battery run? I used the 6awg that came with the unit.

How did you run it? Passenger side channel, driver side, or under? Driver side, through the firewall grommet, and down the main wire chase.

What shelf and Molle panels do you have? They're all Mountains2Metal - code RUSTYSBRONCO saves you 5%

• Cargo Shelf
• Upper Molle Panels
• Lower Molle Panels

I’m ready to do the same install, but have been debating where to mount the charger 2. Some people mount the Charger 1 inside the driver cargo panel, but I don’t think the charger 2 will fit. it fits in the rear cargo pocket or under the floor, but limits access. Big issue I had with choosing a location was the length of the proprietary cable for the battery provided by Bluetti. I reached out to customer service to find out if they sold a longer bidirectional cable, and they were as reliable as an outsourced 3rd party company as you would expect (hint - they weren't at all). Told me to go search Amazon for a proprietary cable that they manufacture.

My wife and I like to take the top off the Bronco, and I’m trying to avoid any molle panels above the cargo area. It seems like there are limited shelf options. There's a bunch of options. Mountains2Metal, Broaddict, Bison Gear all make them - just to name a few.

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[JoHo]

Thankfully, I haven't run my starter battery dead while camping. I am deep into the all electric camping thing at this point with a 2900 W-hr aux battery in the back for everything I want to run while the engine is off and a 50A charger to top it off when the engine is on. I even converted the phone pocket to be a wireless charger that runs from the aux battery so it charges regardless of the car being on or off. keeping the starter battery set aside for just driving is absolutly the right idea!

 

[RustysBronco]

Thankfully, I haven't run my starter battery dead while camping. I am deep into the all electric camping thing at this point with a 2900 W-hr aux battery in the back for everything I want to run while the engine is off and a 50A charger to top it off when the engine is on. I even converted the phone pocket to be a wireless charger that runs from the aux battery so it charges regardless of the car being on or off. keeping the starter battery set aside for just driving is absolutly the right idea!

Awesome setup! I really like how compact yours is and how well it tucks away.

Since my Bluetti backup is so large, it does compromise a lot of cargo space. Add that and a fridge, and I'm immediately forced to stack gear in the back seat, roof rack, and above the shelf/fridge. Getting creative with storage is definitely my current challenge.

I do run a Pura Vida cargo shelf (not seen in my pics) which does a good job tucking little items up & out of the way.

 

[dejones64]

Thankfully, I haven't run my starter battery dead while camping. I am deep into the all electric camping thing at this point with a 2900 W-hr aux battery in the back for everything I want to run while the engine is off and a 50A charger to top it off when the engine is on. I even converted the phone pocket to be a wireless charger that runs from the aux battery so it charges regardless of the car being on or off. keeping the starter battery set aside for just driving is absolutly the right idea!

Love the air fryer! Say, what RTT is that? Looks unique, sits high, how is it mounted? Thanks.

 

[RustysBronco]

Had a chance to really put the system to the test over the weekend, and overall it worked great while traveling across Florida. A few tweaks are definitely in order though.

The AC2A is a solid little unit, but it was just a touch small for running the fridge through the entire night. It powered the diesel heater for over 8 hours though, which was a big plus. By morning, there wasn’t much capacity left for anything else. At 204Wh, the AC2A was perfect for day trips and lighter loads — it just gets a little tight once you start stacking gear to power overnight. At the $130 price point I probably should level set my expectations.

I’ll probably move the fridge over to the AC200L and let the AC2A handle lighter loads like Starlink, cell phone chargine, etc and then shut those down overnight. Ideally, I want to wake up with all units still showing a healthy buffer — enough capacity for solar to take over once the sun’s up or for me to fire up the truck and recharge without the fridge flirting with shutdown.That change will probably make things run a little smoother next time.

Another route I’m considering is stepping up from the AC2A to something like an Elite 30 or Elite 100 to fill that middle gap, while keeping the smaller unit as a backup.

 

[michelle227]

With all these chargers, you'd have a good argument to use the HOV lane as an Electric Vehicle (lol). Great write-up.

If you were in Houston, just jump on at 1960 and get off at Quitman slip ramp...the reader has been broken for years. I10 reader works. I freerolled that bad boy for about eight years...

 

[JoHo]

Love the air fryer! Say, what RTT is that? Looks unique, sits high, how is it mounted? Thanks.

It is pretty unique, unfortunately it was only available in the US for a couple years as far as I can tell. It is a Tentbox Go mounted on a factory rack. This tent weighs only 70lbs and sold for about $1100. It has a floor made of fabric stretched on a tubular frame like a big cot. I've spent around 30 nights up there, lots more pictures throughout by build log.

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/sydney-the-oxford-white-2024-2dr-badlands-7mt.101020/

 

[JoHo]

Awesome setup! I really like how compact yours is and how well it tucks away.

Since my Bluetti backup is so large, it does compromise a lot of cargo space. Add that and a fridge, and I'm immediately forced to stack gear in the back seat, roof rack, and above the shelf/fridge. Getting creative with storage is definitely my current challenge.

I do run a Pura Vida cargo shelf (not seen in my pics) which does a good job tucking little items up & out of the way.

Having a 2 door to force me to make everything super compact and efficient has done great things for my camping experience. Instead of tossing money and junk in there until I have way too much crap and still can't figure out why I'm still not comfortable; I have been looking for the most optimized version of every function and take note of what I really miss when I'm feeling the compromises. I don't think of my battery itself as compact since it takes up a substantial amount of my cargo space but I deemed it worth it's space because it eliminates my need for both propane and diesel yet I can still cook and have heat in the tent. The electric faucet was also a thing that went way against trying to keep it simple but I decided the technical complexity was outweighed by operational simplicity in not having to move stuff to access water.

 

[dejones64]

It is pretty unique, unfortunately it was only available in the US for a couple years as far as I can tell. It is a Tentbox Go mounted on a factory rack. This tent weighs only 70lbs and sold for about $1100. It has a floor made of fabric stretched on a tubular frame like a big cot. I've spent around 3 nights up there, lots more pictures throughout by build log.

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/sydney-the-oxford-white-2024-2dr-badlands-7mt.101020/

That's a pretty awesome 2-door setup. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Shrek27]

Thanks for posting this!

I recently bought a Charger 2 and Elite 100v2 and was just getting ready to install it.

A few questions on your install:

How long does it take the charger 2 to fully turn off when the vehicle is stopped?
I was thinking about running a D+ signal cable on the Charger 2 to an aux switch to have control of when it’s off and on. I had a problem with the Charger 1 never turning off and draining my battery while in standby on my truck.

Did you use 4 or 6 awg wire For the battery run?

How did you run it? Passenger side channel, driver side, or under?

What shelf and Molle panels do you have?

I’m ready to do the same install, but have been debating where to mount the charger 2. Some people mount the Charger 1 inside the driver cargo panel, but I don’t think the charger 2 will fit. it fits in the rear cargo pocket or under the floor, but limits access.

My wife and I like to take the top off the Bronco, and I’m trying to avoid any molle panels above the cargo area. It seems like there are limited shelf options.

I have Charger 1 mounted under dash on Mountains 2 Metal clutch mount plate and flip the provided breaker between trips as recommended by Bluetti.
Clutch mount:
https://mountains2metal.com/under-dash-clutch-mount-for-amp-radio-bronco-6g-2021/

 

[ICUGAZN]

Thankfully, I haven't run my starter battery dead while camping. I am deep into the all electric camping thing at this point with a 2900 W-hr aux battery in the back for everything I want to run while the engine is off and a 50A charger to top it off when the engine is on. I even converted the phone pocket to be a wireless charger that runs from the aux battery so it charges regardless of the car being on or off. keeping the starter battery set aside for just driving is absolutly the right idea!

Is that red bag your bottle jace? Nice setup!

 

[murrman]

I made a separate post earlier today asking for the input of people who had an EcoFlow based system with their 800W alternator charger. I didn't realize Bluetti had a system with bi-directional charging as well. Is there anything the Bluetti Charger 2 offers over the EcoFlow alternator charger other than the ability to connect solar to it? I'm not invested in either ecosystem yet, so I'm trying to figure out which would be a better fit for me.

 

[RustysBronco]

I made a separate post earlier today asking for the input of people who had an EcoFlow based system with their 800W alternator charger. I didn't realize Bluetti had a system with bi-directional charging as well. Is there anything the Bluetti Charger 2 offers over the EcoFlow alternator charger other than the ability to connect solar to it? I'm not invested in either ecosystem yet, so I'm trying to figure out which would be a better fit for me.

I'm lazy & had GPT break down the differences (plus my EcoFlow knowledge is non-existent). Hope this helps.

 

[murrman]

I'm lazy & had GPT break down the differences (plus my EcoFlow knowledge is non-existent). Hope this helps.

Thanks! I did a little searching, and it looks like EcoFlow has some new models coming out soon that sound more like the Bluetti (solar plus battery charging).

 

[RustysBronco]

@Dustythebronco how did you make out with your Bluetti install?

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