diy solar

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  • Post in thread: Dielectric grease on cable lugs? Lets test!

    The worst nightmare is fire on board afloat, and electrical connections are a serious culprit (especially if one is a bit slapdash about all that stuff - come on own up). PVC sheathed cable gets hard to handle as it ages (with heat) especially around machinery. Silicone cable is a much better...
  • Post in thread: ABYC standards

    Worth noting that the boaty crowd must have their craft signed off by ABYC inspector to get insurance. You dont get to dock without insurance, so all your electricals must be to the "CODE". Electrical fires/explosions are a common hazard - given marine setting and sea mist everywhere. I my...
  • Post in thread: Why there such huge Price difference between EVE cells and CALB cells

    many thanx I didnt know about LYP cells, nor appreciate the merits of the Winston cell - bit over budget for my app but certainly a must have for a serious long term off grid installation - imagine a 20 year fit and forget (well nearly - at least not worry about Mickey Mouse kit. I am following...
  • Post in thread: JK BMS GPS Connector

    Wow guys, this JST NSH https://www.jst-mfg.com/product/pdf/eng/eNSH.pdf is a nightmare. the whole 1.0mm pitch x6 is smaller than my pinkie and I would need special crimp tool to assemble a male wired plug. This is a serious issue against JK BMS cos any loss of connector cables means your BMS...
  • Post in thread: Battery fire safety

    WOW I am so glad the OP raised this topic. It seems that a lot of DIY constructors are unaware of the consequences of a LiB going ape. Ive just seen an astonishing vid made from a conference of Fire safety professionals and presented by a a leading expert Professor of 20 + years studying the...
  • Post in thread: Sorotec REVO II 5,5Kw / EASUN( AXPERT/POWLAND) IGRID VE II 5,5KW

    What was the disaster you had that trashed your $6000 EVE batteries? is there a link please. OBTW this is the AMY link https://szluyuan.en.alibaba.com/contactinfo.html?spm=a2700.shop_index.88.25
  • Post in thread: Inrush protection ac side

    Yes they do - 150C even, but then so do power resi I bought one of these 500W sine wave PRC jobs £60 in panic at the thought of being isolated by grid power cut during Covid. I only intended it to keep my router powered and run my laptop to stay on line ca 40W max. I tested the system but...
  • Post in thread: LiFePO4 prismatic cell short circuit current and main circuit protection

    @MattiFin sadly you have shown that you are under-informed on the matter. DC systems have used blade switches since 1920+. You can see evidence of this in railway electric traction switchboards (600Vdc 1000A), Electroplating, early telephone exchanges, UPS etc. However, and this is where your...
  • Post in thread: Solar panel microinverters for island array

    Hi Guys Hope this is not a dumb question but AFAIK all the microinverters are of the grid-tie type and require connection to grid/main voltage so they can synchronize. Indeed if the mains trips then sync volts lost and the system shuts down (seems odd cant be right pls advise). My planned...
  • Post in thread: Dielectric grease on cable lugs? Lets test!

    Yes, one either side of the ring terminal, whats not to like?
  • Post in thread: How to make a fixed solar cable crimped straight joint (not using MC4)

    If only it were that simple Buddy, I wouldnt have made a heretical post. For a start Cheap Charlie floods market with counterfeit items that are thinner and inadequate to maintain grip force let alone perform cold welding, also many of the ordinary crimp pliers have poor quality anvils and...
  • Post in thread: Mixing Lead and LiFePO4

    yes you are quite right. These arm chair speculators dont know Jack Schwepps. 14.4v is good for a Lifpo4 - 4s you dont lose much Ah<5% and its less stress on the cells = longer cycle life. You can take Lifepo down to 2.5V/cell = 10 V for 4S but thats a little low for AGM (only likes >50%DOD...
  • Post in thread: DIY Coulomb counter for LiFePO4

    Hi Guys - indeed a reliable coulomb counter is desperately needed. Whats on the market is $$ and very clumsy and hard to set up. IMHO you guys may be over thinking this requirement. Its going to be different for solar static requirements vs a mobile golf cart type of app - this is my problem...
  • Post in thread: DIY Coulomb counter for LiFePO4

    FWIW herewith my graph of a 24v 50Ah 8s lifepo bank on discharge at 0.5C, provides an interesting perspective on the problem of a golf cart fuel gauge. At the beginning of a trip looking at your Volt meter ca 25.8v you could be anywhere between 5% to 30% discharged already, no way to tell...
  • Post in thread: LiFePO4 prismatic cell short circuit current and main circuit protection

    right on buddy, I think too many people are carrying over their lifelong experience with AGM and autos, who has done a short messing with cars, mostly its small wiring/screwdriver etc bit of a flash but never a sustained arc AFAIK. But a bank of Lions well , whole different scene, and they look...
  • Post in thread: Issues balancing with Batrium BMS

    This ( very important task) all seems to come across as smoke and mirrors - all a bit magical and secretive ? Can I trust the BMS to do its job by itself or have I got to keep hovering over my bank (like a new mother over a cot with sleeping babe) Worse still can I delegate this responsibility...
  • Post in thread: Inrush protection ac side

    Was it an LF inverter (big transformer type) or like my HF kit from PRC
  • Post in thread: LiFePO4 prismatic cell short circuit current and main circuit protection

    FWIW I investigated this Cabal of fuse making. It is after all a piece of wire and its there to protect the installation wiring. Over current surges of 5x can be tolerated in slo-blo cases (motor starters etc). Just consult the graphs showing I^2t values.. Much of the cost of a fuse is in...
  • Post in thread: LiFePO4 prismatic cell short circuit current and main circuit protection

    Indeed I have been banging on about this very concern. Such trivial attention is given to the design of the dc distribution system . Most have little idea of whats needed to break a full load current from an array of panels on a full sunny day. I got the collective yawn when I proposed old...
  • Post in thread: Class T vs ANL fuse

    you didnt try your test in open air, dropped in a bucket (for safety i guess)
  • Post in thread: micro inverter off grid system buying guide

    Not sure if this is the right Topic area, but here goes, if Im in the wrong place pls advise. My beef is about panel mounted micro inverters. But here seems to be hung up on connecting to the grid - not my concern. I am looking at the solar farm prospect where I have seen Flir aerial...
  • Post in thread: How to make a fixed solar cable crimped straight joint (not using MC4)

    I want to make custom long tails in place of the factory supplied MC4 (ie cut it off and joint a suitable length of cable down to my junction/marshalling cabinet). I am looking at 4mm and 6mm solar cables. Can anyone suggest a legitimate ferrule crimper system to make this straight joint. I...
  • Post in thread: [solved]WARNING. here be dragons. Stress testing a single cell with a DIY transformer

    Be easier for the OP to take up brain surgery as a hobby as he is playing with fire
  • Post in thread: Who is still building DIY batteries

    You sound like a healthy skeptic given all the marketing bull shine out there pushing high value OTT solutions and really confusing the important issues around energy storage. pls keep in touch, wlt share my info/trials
  • Post in thread: Dielectric grease on cable lugs? Lets test!

    indeed contact resistance is the issue in high current apps. however age and creeping corrosion is the real bad news. After all this starts the process of micro arcing within joints which then grows into potential hot spots and fires. Thats why we have a new fashion for AFDs arc fault...
  • Post in thread: Battery bank temperature logging

    Most reputable BMSs have at least one thermistor input for display (you might put it on your battery string somewhere). However a string can be physically large so one end might be hot , the other cool. There is a commercial device for ca $20 that is a temperature logger. Ive got some of...
  • Post in thread: How to make a fixed solar cable crimped straight joint (not using MC4)

    Indeed I found these eventually. WOW they are an expensive solution as you need the $$$$ kit to crimp properly and the ferrules are $$$$, all special. I appreciate that a lot of engineering has gone into what seems at fist like a simple system.
  • Post in thread: MC4 connectors a massive scandal

    Sorry its mind-crumble
  • Post in thread: Issues balancing with Batrium BMS

    @sunshine_eggo , 2 great nations divided by a common language. I found this when I worked in Tx - they thought I was from Boston. My observations on BMS were derived from other members' comments and Vids and the sometimes unreliable behaviour of BMS's and interfacing with the demands of the...
  • Post in thread: Testing: Lead and lithium (LFP) battery banks in parallel

    Btw @wattmatters great test work good science here. FWIW IIRR AGMs do not like large charging currents dumped into them > 0.1 C for 100 Ah - its a chemistry thing, also volts abov 14.4V gassing? So putting AGM//Lifepo you need to regulate charging to limit inflow to the AGM Also AGMs need...
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