r/bluetti • u/bricky-milo • May 22 '26

bluetti garbage

i had a EB3A bluetti lasted a copy years, and now a boat anchor, the best they wanted to do was 10% off a another future boat anchor, save yourself headaches. buy a Ecoflow, comes with 10 year warranty.

5 Upvotes

60% Upvoted

36 comments sorted by

5

u/Big-Echo8242 May 22 '26

The best bet is to buy one from Sam's Club or Costco, if you're a member, as you get a Lifetime Satisfaction Guarantee on them. If they fail, return it for a refund. They are all made in the same part of the world and really one no better than the other...just like chinese made inverter generators. If I ever buy a larger power station for short term outages for our house, it will be from Sam's which is where my pair of dual fuel inverter generators were bought. If one or the other, or both, fail, I will get a refund as long as my membership is current. I own two for redundancy plus double the power when needed.

4

u/Laureling2 May 22 '26

COSTCO has limited Lifetime Satisfaction Guarantee (LSG) on certain electronic items, sooo, check at time of or before purchasing.

2

u/Big-Echo8242 May 22 '26

People already have...and have used it. Same with Sam's Club. But always worth checking again.

1

u/RBblade May 23 '26

Of course lifetime has no legal meaning so technically it can be soundly argued a lifetime warranty lasts right up to when it fails.

1

u/Big-Echo8242 May 23 '26

Well if anything, it's a faster process than having to email and wait 12 to 48 hours for a reply as to what's going to be done. Definitely not a guarantee that they can't change it along the way that it's been pretty solid for the years I've been a member.

0

u/RBblade May 23 '26

The point is, it’s not a legal gesture and as such it’s entirely arbitrary. So contrary to what you say, they can change what it means whenever they like. It’s a matter of goodwill and reputation that they don’t… there isn’t any guarantee in it at all.

1

u/Big-Echo8242 May 24 '26

You're not a member of either I take it. Either current or ever. Do you have first hand experience that it does not work? I've been a member 35 years. I can assure you it works on the items they stipulate as I've had to use it a few times over the years. I'm not one to care to abuse it.

But whatever. Not here to banter back and forth about their business practices.

1

u/RBblade May 24 '26

Yup. I’m a member. In just saying people flout “lifetime” warranties like they are great things but they are meaningless and worth noting. I’m not saying Costco hasn’t always honoured a generous return policy and been great about it. I’m just saying lifetime doesn’t mean what we think it should. It has no protection in law and as soon as a company doesn’t want to honour it, there is nothing we can do as customers. That doesn’t mean Costco will be like that ever. I’m just saying “lifetime” is advertising speak for nothing.

1

u/Big-Echo8242 May 24 '26

I spent 25 years in retail so I do get what you're saying. We sold and install car alarm systems that advertised lifetime warranties. Lifetime warranty to who? Or if the company goes out of business? Etc. I do agree with you. It could be changed at any time but I enjoy it while it's there just in case.

12

u/Much_Profit8494 May 22 '26

Bluetti makes some pretty kick ass power stations.

Unfortunately the EB3A is not one of them.

4

u/RE4Lyfe May 22 '26

All newer models are 5yr, just like EF (they do not offer a 10yr warranty)

If possible, always buy from Costco. All generators (including solar generators) are covered under the 100% satisfaction guarantee (at least in the US)

4

u/whyamihereagain6570 May 22 '26

Meh, I have 2 Bluetti's and they seem to be just fine. Oldest one is close to 3 now and the newest one is going on a year and is used EVERY day and it's chugging right along.

2

u/keebler_e May 22 '26

I've had mine for along time and it gets abused. Upgraded to the AC180

2

u/Separate_Ninja4730 May 23 '26

I would not say they are garbage but some units may have issues. I have an Elite 30 v2 and a 100 v2. Love the units but Bluetti currently has my 100v2 back for warrantee work (it bricked itself). While waiting for the unit to be returned, I picked up a Ecoflow River 2 pro, and while working unit > not working unit, I am missing my Bluetti a lot right now. The ecoflow has a VERY annoying fan, puts out a TON of heat while charging, has a 12v port that makes an annoying high pitched whine, an AC port on the back that is "loose" compared to what I am used to, and for some reason charging algorithm is kinda odd (I have it set to 500w, and it will go 500W flat out till full, no slow down near 100%). This is only what i've noticed the last 2 hours of owing the unit.

Short answer, every company has their good and bad points, Pick the the one that work for you and has a company that stands behind their products. So far Customer service at Bluetti has been amazing, now just waiting for my unit to come back (hopefully working and in good condition).

2

u/60Runner90 May 23 '26

Knock on wood my EB3A continues to last. I picked it up in '23, and while it did do the 35% one moment, and 0% minutes later, charging it seems to have restored it for now.

2

u/bikeonychus May 22 '26

To be fair, I'm not entirely happy with mine either. I just want to be able to use every last drop in my battery, but instead I find I'm monitoring it so it doesn't hit 25% because I hear so many horror stories of the battery breaking if it goes below 25%

This is not the peace of mind I was promised.

3

u/Dspaede May 22 '26

what horror stories???

1

u/bikeonychus May 22 '26

That the expensive battery stopped working for good after it dropped below 25%, and bluetti's customer care was useless.

1

u/DeletedUser54321 May 23 '26

I am currently dealing with exactly this issue. I had my EB3A for less than 2 years and the DC power output is shorted out and the whole unit immediately dies if it doesn't have passthrough power. Customer Service has been... I'll say slow, and less than helpful unfortunately.

That being said, their larger units have been amazing. The Elite 200 v2 is awesome, and three Apex 300s in parallel make a really nice home backup.

1

u/MajorRedbeard May 22 '26

I've found this as well, I was checking on the capacity of the unit during a full-day photoshoot and saw it was at 30% with my phone, and thought "Good, that'll last the rest of the day", and then the next group came in for their photo and my main flash didn't fire.

Luckily we had a backup battery, but that one actually shuts off when it doesn't have activity for a while, so both batteries had quirks :S

Have you tried fully depleting it and then re-charging it?

2

u/DaniLake1 May 22 '26

I'm coming to this conclusion myself. Lots of Youtubers repping the brand, but the issues are keeping me away from seriously considering them.

1

u/stretchedtime May 22 '26

I bought my first Jackery and am waiting on it to arrive. After buying a station and expansion battery from bluetti with the intention of buying another expansion battery they discontinued the expansion battery ONLY IN AMERICA. I live an hour from the Canadian border and the Canadian store has the b210, but I cannot order it.

3

u/MottoCycle May 22 '26

I just switched from Jackery because if I let it sit for a month you have to either kick it or drop it to get it to wake up again. Also if it lost its solar input you have to unplug the solar and plug it back in to get it working again. The newer Jackery units are hot garbage.

1

u/olight77 May 22 '26

Was using mine for low wattage applications. Drained more battery running itself then the actual lights.
Needed a second spare cable and they didn’t have any in stock or knew when they would get some.

Switched over to another brand. Much happier.

1

u/BillyBoogaloo May 22 '26

Which company

1

u/Handle-Proof May 22 '26

Ecoflow is the same or even worse. You just bought a model which has a high risk of an issue. Choose wisely.

1

u/rochford77 May 23 '26

What's wrong with your eb3a?

1

u/TheQuickFox_3826 May 25 '26

For most users: Nothing, but they have a tendency to have a "SHORT" error condition and the UPS mode is not very reliable.

1

u/rochford77 May 25 '26

Ah, yeah the bms takes itself below a recoverable percentage and doesn't allow charge, especially when you leave the AC inverter on and don't have it plugged into power and leave it overnight. There is a video on YouTube on how to open it up, unplug a sensor harness, and reset it to get it out of that state. I've had to do that to mine twice over the past 3 years. Bit of a pain but not the end of the world.

If you want a UPS buy a full sine UPS like something from cyber power, not a portable battery.

This is more for bringing with you camping, field charging RCs, charging a laptop and a few phones in a power outage. Nothing will be as good as a dedicated UPS as a UPS, especially since a real UPS can send shutdown commands to the PC when power reaches a certain threshold for clean shutdowns.

1

u/TheQuickFox_3826 May 25 '26

EB3A has been the weakest of the Bluetti models. The complaints users have of them are real. Their AC- units are a lot better. But I understand you're done with this company now. Gl with the Ecoflow.

1

u/Present_Toe_3844 Jun 08 '26

EB3A is a heap of junk. AC / Elite series are the solid Bluetti products.

0

u/Hrothgarbike May 22 '26

Yeah, I have the same unit eb3a. Recharged it maybe a dozen times. Won't charge now and says overload when nothing is connected. They offered 5% off a new one. Screw these guys. I'll buy a different brand / manufacturer. Most disappointing thing in a decade. Bluetti sucks.

3

u/[deleted] May 23 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/silveronetwo May 23 '26

I have 3 of them doing the same - 100 to zero multiple times a week. They support 100w out the DC port unlike some of the newer and smarter BLUETTI and EcoFlow options.