Test Report: EG4 Chargeverter Works Well

[Garrik]

I have no financial connection to, and receive no benefit of any kind from, the products mentioned below.

I recently leased a 2024 Flash with the intention of using it as an additional backup battery for my off-grid solar system. After reading the horror stories about HIS, I have avoided going in that direction. Instead, I am working on using the Pro Power bed outlets to charge my solar system main batteries when needed, and a separate charger to recharge the truck when excess solar capacity is available. I use Home Assistant to automate everything that I do.

My first attempt involved wiring the truck up to the AC charging port on my inverter, with a contactor to make and break the connection controlled by HA. That worked, but only if I did not connect Ground or Neutral - I could only connect the two hot leads. Connecting Ground or Neutral caused a ground fault in the truck because my inverter has Ground bonded to Neutral. That didn't seem like an ideal solution to me.

Yesterday, I tried using the truck to power an EG4 Chargeverter - a ~$500 device which is intended to allow generators with potentially dirty power output to charge solar batteries. It worked perfectly. I am just reporting this for the benefit of others who might be doing the same kind of experiments. The Chargeverter even has the L14-30 plug as shipped from the factory, making the install very easy. It should be possible to use a second Chargeverter connected to two of the the 120v bed outlets to add another 3,000 watts or so of charge capacity (in addition to the 6,000 watts available on the 240v outlet [which is limited to around 5,000 watts by the Chargeverter's capacity, unless you use two of them]), I will experiment with that next.

I continue to have problems with the software on the truck. The "Keep On When Vehicle is Off" option on the ProPower Onboard screen does not seem to work. Perhaps the truck is going into deep sleep or something - but unless some power is drawn continuously from the outlets it eventually (hours) stops working. Need to try to figure that out next too.

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[tnugentfl]

Sounds like you might be BKXC. I'm m a big fan!

 

[Adventureboy]

It should be possible to use a second Chargeverter connected to two of the the 120v bed outlets to add another 3,000 watts or so of charge capacity (in addition to the 6,000 watts available on the 240v outlet [which is limited to around 5,000 watts by the Chargeverter's capacity, unless you use two of them]), I will experiment with that next.

Power from the bed is limited to 7200 watts (3600 watts for each 120v leg) regardless of how it is connected to the bed outlets.

 

[Garrik]

Power from the bed is limited to 7200 watts (3600 watts for each 120v leg) regardless of how it is connected to the bed outlets.

My understanding, which may be incorrect, is that two of the bed outlets are driven by the front inverter, and thus can be powered in addition to the 240v bed outlet which is driven by the rear inverter. Is that wrong?

 

[Adventureboy]

My understanding, which may be incorrect, is that two of the bed outlets are driven by the front inverter, and thus can be powered in addition to the 240v bed outlet which is driven by the rear inverter. Is that wrong?

If you have Pro Power Onboard 9600 watt version, there are two inverters. The 7200 watt inverter for the bed is 240v centre tapped and runs both the 240v and 120v outlets in the bed. A separate 2400 watt 120v inverter runs the frunk and cab outlets. You can only pull 240v from the bed inverter and at a maximum of 7200 watts.

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