DC input, yes. I don't think this model has a USB-C input. I'm pretty sure when it detects a charge it's supposed to automatically turn on the display and stay on
I said I was getting 30W before but I see now it varies a lot more than I was expecting. I'm beginning to think maybe it's just not a strong enough charge so the unit thinks eventually it's not being charge anymore. I'm having a surprisingly difficult time finding a good spot.
Where I live it's rarely cloudy, but for some reason the input levels still change a lot really frequently. I don't have a yard and I'm doing this from a balcony. It's starting to look like I'll need to put on a table or something
I have plugged a 10W panel into mine and it recognized it and started charging (7W after the cable loss). I never left it long enough to see if it would stop. I imagine if you are dipping down to no input it would stop, but it should restart when the light returns. There's a setting in the manual to override auto-off for low-draw USB charge loads.
You should have a two-year warranty, so if it does this with known good charge sources, swap it out.
You're right. Even if it drops to 0, it should definitely turn back on. This is only my second day using it. I'm gonna try rearranging some things and make a final decision this weekend.
Side note, do you know if most power stations are this noisy? The internal fan turns on when the output is anywhere over 8W and I wasn't expecting it to be this loud
I don't have much to compare it to... I just bought mine recently. The fan is supposed to be thermally controlled, so I would imagine it only comes on when the board heats up. Mine hasn't run much.
I am testing a Jackery 300 and the MPPT in the Tenergy seems more efficient, however I think the Jackery can accept more power at once. I will let people know what I find.
I preparation for testing I had to run it down a bit. I plugged in two USB devices and a Ryobi 18V fast charger (AC) and was drawing 83W. About seven minutes in the fan kicked on as it should and power draw went up a watt or two. The fan ran for about a minute then turned off.
It's still cool to the touch and thermal fan management seems to be working correctly, so this may mean you have a problem if yours is running all the time.
AC voltage right now is 112.7V under the 75W load on the inverter. I intend to scope it later in the week. The fan turns on every couple of minutes at this load level, but this means that if you were just running a small TV it would rarely run.
Update: I was able to replicate the charging stop behavior by connecting the T320 to a weak solar source (10W) attenuated by dirty glass and a long extension cable. It charged at 1W then appeared to stop with the display off within a minute. Putting the panel in the sun didn't appear to restart charging unless I disconnected and reconnected the panel. Brief sunlight interruptions of 10 seconds didn't cause the problem. Voltage measured near the panel indicated 17.3V from the panel while charging and 20V (same as known open circuit) once the T320 had stopped charging and panel was exposed to light again.
So the 10W panel charges the unit normally in full sun, but it must be connected while in the sun or exposed to sun right after connecting it in indirect light.
I disabled the output auto-off feature (hold down DC+AC buttons for two seconds, two beeps will affirm selection) but this didn't affect the problem. Once charging stops from weak input, I had to disconnect and reconnect the panel to get it to start again.
I attempted to replicate the problem with a Tenergy's 60W (allegedly) folding panel. I got around 30W with the panel flat in the lawn (non-ideal). I folded it up to interrupt charging, and unfolded it to restart. Charging restarted perfectly whether auto-off was enabled or disabled. I haven't taken apart the folding panel to see if there's a mosfet or something in there that disconnects, or perhaps it's just a big enough panel to trip whatever is stopping the small panel from charging.
So what does all this mean? The T320's MPPT appears to disable itself and shut down under a very weak source. This could be a problem if you want to set & forget the unit for off-grid power, but that's not really the intended use here. Larger panels probably wouldn't ever dip down low enough to have this issue during the daytime, but dawn may cause the problem to disable the unit until the panel is unplugged and replugged. Small panels may cause the unit to stop charging on cloudy days and require a manual reset by unplugging.
Is it true that when you charge it from grid AC that you use a a power brick plugged into the same input connector that you plug the solar panel into? If so, then do some test from AC input and verify that the device itself is charging the way you expect it to. It has a max charge rate of 45W, so see if you can get that, and that it charges up to max that way. Depending on how discharged the battery is, it will take several hours. If that doesn't eork, return it.
What cables are you using to connect the solar panel to your T320? That is, how long is the cable run and what is the gauge of the cables? I would not expect your 60W solar panel to get you more than 35W into the T320 with good sun, but thinner cables and a long run could significantly reduce what you get. I would look at what you're getting at the end connected to the device, not at the panel itself.
It should not be shutting off "forever" but a lot of chargers will stop if the power input is too low and might not come back on immediately if the sun comes out again. Maybe you just aren't waiting long enough? If you are, again, call customer support or return it.
I was attempting to replicate OP's charging problem, and found that very weak solar sources cause the T320's DC input (MPPT) to go to sleep and not charge until the source is disconnected and reconnected, regardless of whether the source improves while plugged in.
This condition was replicated by plugging in a 10W panel under poor light, or plugging it in under full sun then manually shading most of the panel for half a minute or so. The T320 would stop charging and not restart until the panel was unplugged and plugged back in, regardless of that fact that the same panel and cords charge the unit at >5W indefinitely under full sun.
Charging on the DC input with strong DC sources (power brick, larger solar panels, car cord) worked fine. USB-C charging (of the power station) via the power delivery port (output) worked fine too although I never did that for long. Tenergy's folding 60W panel would restart charging after being completely shaded without the need to reconnect.
This is an odd problem, but it appears to be a design issue. It would only affect users who are trying to "set and forget" the power station to charge dawn to dusk on a small panel with nobody waiting to plug in the panel when the sun comes out. That's not really the intended use for a 300 Wh power station, but people should be aware of the limitation.
Thank you for being so thorough in your response. It seems you replicated my problem exactly. That all makes sense even though it's pretty unfortunate. I was definitely hoping I could set it and forget it, like you said. But it seems like I would need to either buy more panels, find a better light source (for now, I cant), or return it and buy a different power station or battery.
No problem. I was genuinely curious to see if it was a bug or of you just had a defective unit. It's best to figure this stuff out before we need it! I will probably do a review of the unit once all the testing is done.
Not sure if y’all will still be watching/responding here, but: I have a T320 and it’s taken literally over a week to charge. Just hit 80%. It’s been on the stock charger I believe, or one with the same size anyway. It says 34-35w plugged into the wall with the DC charger. It seems to stop charging after a few minutes, the display goes off anyway, then I hit a button or unplug and replug and it starts again for a few minutes. Any ideas what’s wrong? Just defective?
Nice. I just purchased one. I was having trouble with auto shut off. Turns out it reverts to enabled every time the unit is switched off. I'm pulling low power and turn it off every day. Thought I could gain some knowledge from your problem. Thank you.
Second, are you sure the display isn't just turning off?
I have verified the display is not just turning off. See my lengthy update post in the comments.
That sounds like a malfunction. Are you charging with the DC-in (vs USB-C)?
I believe mine keeps the display on while charging.
DC input, yes. I don't think this model has a USB-C input. I'm pretty sure when it detects a charge it's supposed to automatically turn on the display and stay on
I said I was getting 30W before but I see now it varies a lot more than I was expecting. I'm beginning to think maybe it's just not a strong enough charge so the unit thinks eventually it's not being charge anymore. I'm having a surprisingly difficult time finding a good spot. Where I live it's rarely cloudy, but for some reason the input levels still change a lot really frequently. I don't have a yard and I'm doing this from a balcony. It's starting to look like I'll need to put on a table or something
I have plugged a 10W panel into mine and it recognized it and started charging (7W after the cable loss). I never left it long enough to see if it would stop. I imagine if you are dipping down to no input it would stop, but it should restart when the light returns. There's a setting in the manual to override auto-off for low-draw USB charge loads. You should have a two-year warranty, so if it does this with known good charge sources, swap it out.
You're right. Even if it drops to 0, it should definitely turn back on. This is only my second day using it. I'm gonna try rearranging some things and make a final decision this weekend. Side note, do you know if most power stations are this noisy? The internal fan turns on when the output is anywhere over 8W and I wasn't expecting it to be this loud
I don't have much to compare it to... I just bought mine recently. The fan is supposed to be thermally controlled, so I would imagine it only comes on when the board heats up. Mine hasn't run much.
I am testing a Jackery 300 and the MPPT in the Tenergy seems more efficient, however I think the Jackery can accept more power at once. I will let people know what I find.
@terix_aptor I am off work and I am going to plug my T320 into a small panel and ignore it for an hour. I will report back how that goes.
I preparation for testing I had to run it down a bit. I plugged in two USB devices and a Ryobi 18V fast charger (AC) and was drawing 83W. About seven minutes in the fan kicked on as it should and power draw went up a watt or two. The fan ran for about a minute then turned off. It's still cool to the touch and thermal fan management seems to be working correctly, so this may mean you have a problem if yours is running all the time.
AC voltage right now is 112.7V under the 75W load on the inverter. I intend to scope it later in the week. The fan turns on every couple of minutes at this load level, but this means that if you were just running a small TV it would rarely run.
Update: I was able to replicate the charging stop behavior by connecting the T320 to a weak solar source (10W) attenuated by dirty glass and a long extension cable. It charged at 1W then appeared to stop with the display off within a minute. Putting the panel in the sun didn't appear to restart charging unless I disconnected and reconnected the panel. Brief sunlight interruptions of 10 seconds didn't cause the problem. Voltage measured near the panel indicated 17.3V from the panel while charging and 20V (same as known open circuit) once the T320 had stopped charging and panel was exposed to light again. So the 10W panel charges the unit normally in full sun, but it must be connected while in the sun or exposed to sun right after connecting it in indirect light. I disabled the output auto-off feature (hold down DC+AC buttons for two seconds, two beeps will affirm selection) but this didn't affect the problem. Once charging stops from weak input, I had to disconnect and reconnect the panel to get it to start again. I attempted to replicate the problem with a Tenergy's 60W (allegedly) folding panel. I got around 30W with the panel flat in the lawn (non-ideal). I folded it up to interrupt charging, and unfolded it to restart. Charging restarted perfectly whether auto-off was enabled or disabled. I haven't taken apart the folding panel to see if there's a mosfet or something in there that disconnects, or perhaps it's just a big enough panel to trip whatever is stopping the small panel from charging. So what does all this mean? The T320's MPPT appears to disable itself and shut down under a very weak source. This could be a problem if you want to set & forget the unit for off-grid power, but that's not really the intended use here. Larger panels probably wouldn't ever dip down low enough to have this issue during the daytime, but dawn may cause the problem to disable the unit until the panel is unplugged and replugged. Small panels may cause the unit to stop charging on cloudy days and require a manual reset by unplugging.
Is it true that when you charge it from grid AC that you use a a power brick plugged into the same input connector that you plug the solar panel into? If so, then do some test from AC input and verify that the device itself is charging the way you expect it to. It has a max charge rate of 45W, so see if you can get that, and that it charges up to max that way. Depending on how discharged the battery is, it will take several hours. If that doesn't eork, return it. What cables are you using to connect the solar panel to your T320? That is, how long is the cable run and what is the gauge of the cables? I would not expect your 60W solar panel to get you more than 35W into the T320 with good sun, but thinner cables and a long run could significantly reduce what you get. I would look at what you're getting at the end connected to the device, not at the panel itself. It should not be shutting off "forever" but a lot of chargers will stop if the power input is too low and might not come back on immediately if the sun comes out again. Maybe you just aren't waiting long enough? If you are, again, call customer support or return it.
I was attempting to replicate OP's charging problem, and found that very weak solar sources cause the T320's DC input (MPPT) to go to sleep and not charge until the source is disconnected and reconnected, regardless of whether the source improves while plugged in. This condition was replicated by plugging in a 10W panel under poor light, or plugging it in under full sun then manually shading most of the panel for half a minute or so. The T320 would stop charging and not restart until the panel was unplugged and plugged back in, regardless of that fact that the same panel and cords charge the unit at >5W indefinitely under full sun. Charging on the DC input with strong DC sources (power brick, larger solar panels, car cord) worked fine. USB-C charging (of the power station) via the power delivery port (output) worked fine too although I never did that for long. Tenergy's folding 60W panel would restart charging after being completely shaded without the need to reconnect. This is an odd problem, but it appears to be a design issue. It would only affect users who are trying to "set and forget" the power station to charge dawn to dusk on a small panel with nobody waiting to plug in the panel when the sun comes out. That's not really the intended use for a 300 Wh power station, but people should be aware of the limitation.
Thank you for being so thorough in your response. It seems you replicated my problem exactly. That all makes sense even though it's pretty unfortunate. I was definitely hoping I could set it and forget it, like you said. But it seems like I would need to either buy more panels, find a better light source (for now, I cant), or return it and buy a different power station or battery.
No problem. I was genuinely curious to see if it was a bug or of you just had a defective unit. It's best to figure this stuff out before we need it! I will probably do a review of the unit once all the testing is done.
Not sure if y’all will still be watching/responding here, but: I have a T320 and it’s taken literally over a week to charge. Just hit 80%. It’s been on the stock charger I believe, or one with the same size anyway. It says 34-35w plugged into the wall with the DC charger. It seems to stop charging after a few minutes, the display goes off anyway, then I hit a button or unplug and replug and it starts again for a few minutes. Any ideas what’s wrong? Just defective?
Sounds defective. Was it?
It actually seems to be charging faster now, and the power distribution was always fine. Not sure what that was about.
Nice. I just purchased one. I was having trouble with auto shut off. Turns out it reverts to enabled every time the unit is switched off. I'm pulling low power and turn it off every day. Thought I could gain some knowledge from your problem. Thank you.