SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Battery failure

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20240503-D76CB-2147339395. Severity: No Incident, No Injury. Product: Bluetti AC70 (Portable Power Station. Color is dark gray. Battery Type. LiFePO4 3000+ Cycles; Dimensions. 12.4x8.2x10.1 in ; Weight. 22.5 lbs.). Incident: Purchased a brand new Bluetti AC70 Portable Power Station (1000W pure sine wave inverter, 768mAH battery) on 4/22/2024. Delivered on 4/25/2024. Upon testing an APC UPS threw a bad wiring alarm. Upon testing, the AC70 has reversed hot and neutral only when plugged into grid power. When on battery only open ground is shown (as expected). Here is the kicker, Bluetti made me aware that they are aware of this issue and were not able to send me a replacement. Suggested I return and buy next unit up (AC180 for an additional $200) as it does not have this problem. In writing, it became clear that they were fully aware of the defective units and are selling them even today. Again, I purchased directly from them on 4/22/2024 and they are still selling them on their website today. I wanted to file with the CPSC as the severity wiring issue needs further review. Regardless, beyond the obvious that it is wrong and dangerous, what is the impact of charging the cells in this configuration? To be clear, upon identification and testing of the issue, the unit was pulled from a working environment.