Recent content by Dhowman

Controlled, side-by-side MPPT vs DSSR updated test results under poor solar conditions from Bused_As. Bottom line? No difference between his EPEver MPPT and the DSSRs (except, of course, price, size, longevity, etc) though it was interesting (and perhaps not surprising) that DSSRs start...

Yeah, I think he (John Muir) might have been high when he wrote it, so it helped if you were too. ;-) It's a classic though and I used it to cut my teeth on auto-repair when I got my first car - a 1970 Bus, so it's kinda near and dear. Things were much simpler then. The bus had only two...

I mulled over battery placement options for my slide in camper for a couple months. Wanted to go with CALB for their solid design and beefy terminals, but was having a hell of a time trying to figure out were to put 'em and how best to secure them. They're heavy and not particularly compact...

Thanks @Airtime @mapguy525 @KohalaJim ... see my "lessons learned" reply to Dacian on this topic. Live and learn. ;)

Update: Still trying to get just enough of my build done to begin capacity testing but feel like I'm getting close now. Having never built something like this before, I'm discovering things take wayyyyy longer than I thought and, of course, life interruptions haven't helped. Perfect example...

Ahhh. Ok, that explains it. Do you have the new DSSRs that can divert? If you do, then yes, you need to add resistor if you're not using his new DEXT16 to connect DSSRs to battery. Need to dig into that new manual a bit to ID exactly how that all works now, but he's omitted the wires from...

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your question, but if you're wondering where to stick the +/- ends of those EXTIOs, you can see where I have 'em in my diagram (click the pic in this link).

OK, skimmed about every post on this thread and have this to say based on my recent experience: 1. It's critical when top balancing to make sure you have good connections at every terminal. Easy to check resistance before you start charging and fix anything that looks off. Anything that...

I used Visio for the 2D (& SketchUp for CAD).

In your search for an MPPT, look for ones with a built in remote ON/OFF and just wire EXTIO4 into it. No need for a relay. I'm probably not the best one to recommend an MPPT alternative to Victron, but their SmartSolar MPPT 150/45 and higher all have remote On/Off capability and are reasonably...

Yeah, that looks better (& cheaper) than the one I got and actually like the orientation of the display on yours better too.

Hah! I've had that one for years and it hasn't failed me yet. Also seems pretty accurate. Just picked up the one next to it for amp readings, and measurements using both are identical to each other (and my Phillips/Fluke power supply), so I think I'm getting the accuracy I need and have a...

OK, last night when I went to bed, bank V was about 3.38-3.39 and getting 10A CC. This a.m. I was a little surprised to see that, overnight, they'd made it all the way up to 3.5V CV and amps were down to .16A so I shut it all down, removed the charging and sense leads. Couple hours later...

Here's another discussion related to the one above when it comes to Victron vs ED vs some kinda hybrid solution (including observations of a Victron reseller). Regarding Victron displays, I agree with above save for this. As for inverters and EXTIO3 (or EXTIO5 or 6 which are also options for...

Probably worth noting, too, since it's not documented above that NEG charging lead and V sense are on NEG of cell-8 and POS charging lead and V sense on POS of cell-9 so POS & NEG charging and V sense wires are at opposite ends of the bank from each other.