Yeti 500X - Charge Behavior
I purchased a new Yeti 500X on December 31, 2023 from Goalzero.com. I have the Yeti plugged into an AC outlet using the provided AC power adapter; it shows 100% charged. I used the battery for the first time with my laptop while also leaving the AC adapter plugged into it. The Yeti registered that power was going out (roughly anywhere from 30-52 watts). The battery percentage eventually hit 99% after about 30 minutes or so of use. At no time did I see the battery state any power was coming in to charge it as I was using it to power my laptop. To get it to start charging itself, I had to pull out the AC adapter power plug from the front of the Yeti and plug it back in again to start the battery charging. This does not seem normal to me. If the battery is being used, shouldn't the charge controller allow power to come in to charge the battery automatically regardless if it is via the AC power adapter or solar panel?
Comments
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Hi @Jeffrey,
Typically the Yeti will not start taking a charge until the percentage hits 89%. This is to help maintain the internal battery. If you want input to start up while it is being used, you do need to disconnect and reconnect the power supply as this will reset the charge controller to allow power through.
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Awesome, thank you for that information! I would have not known that otherwise; good to know my battery's charge controller is not malfunctioning. I wish Goal Zero would put this in the Yeti's instruction manuals, as a FAQ or something similar.
Can you move this post please to the appropriate section? I should have created it under the "YETI PORTABLE POWER STATIONS" category.
Thank you for the help!
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Out of curiosity, did you have the AC charger plugged into the rear of your Yeti 500X or the front?
When I first bought mine I attempted to charge it from the rear port it took much longer to charge than when I finally plugged the charger into the front power input.
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I have tried both and did not necessarily notice a difference when I manually plugged in the power plug and forced it to start charging itself. I know when I emailed Goal Zero's support, they mentioned that the Yeti should start recharging itself automatically around 95% or so. Above in this conversation it was mentioned 89% was the point in which it should start charging itself. I honestly have not had the time to verify either of these notices. I have not ran down the battery far enough yet (only got it to 97% running my laptop) to check.
If you happen to get your battery to either 95% or 89%, I would be curious to see if either the AC or solar power input would start to automatically charge it.
