Recent content by JBertok

Sounds like the batteries are paralleled as a bank, and the bank connects to the bus bars rather than each battery having it own cables. Cable sizing is more than X amount of current requires X gauge. There is a relationship between the conductor gauge, its length, the material it's made of...

I am not sure connecting the chassis alternator and battery to the LiPO4 batteries without some sort of regulation would be adequate. Victron makes a DC-DC charge controller just for that purpose that would help. Victron is obviously not inexpensive, but it's on a completely different level of...

Depending on where your main service panel is, it might be most practical to install a load center next to it, pull all your branch circuits out of the main panel, and move them all to the load center. Inverter documentation will refer to that second braker panel as a "critical loads" panel...

Edit: thinking about this more, you might run into a problem with MPPT, assuming the MPPT function can be disabled in favor of a hard-set voltage, where the "PV" input voltage from the DC converter might not adequate at 48V. I saw you mention the 32-95V input spec of the MPPT, but generally the...

I can give you some background on the mode of operation of an MPPT. Maximum Power Point Trackers utilize the voltage vs. current output curve characteristics of the PV array to regulate their output to the battery. A PV specification label provides details from which a power output curve can be...

If those are the same ones I am thinking of, I am pretty sure they need high voltage input. The last C7000 chassis I saw running was on a 208V UPS and PDU. They will run on 240V too.

First, for your observed 12.9V after sitting for a bit: All battery chemistries at rest have a relationship between "voltage" and "state of charge". Given your AGM chemistry and nominal voltage of 12, you can Google a Volts vs SoC chart. Next, recharging batteries of any chemistry is most...

It's good practice to leave at least a 10% margin when factoring both voltage and amperage limits of the MPPT to accommodate the potential of higher than rated PV output when they are cold and/or exposed to partly cloudy skies. 2S or 3S are both be fine as long as the combined rated...

Since mentioning powering a Starlink with 48V, that would be accomplished with Power over Ethernet, and presumably a DC PoE power injector. I posted a solution to powering a Starlink, or any Passive or active PoE device, safely from a 12V DC power source...

For 12V DC PoE ethernet switches, check out Netonix. They make industrial and DIN mount DC-powered networking gear that has the DC-DC voltage converting built-in for both active PoE+ and 24V passive PoE. Been using their gear for many years, it's all very robust.

A few factors to consider related to outages: - Outages are more likely during bad weather where PV isn't productive. - In an emergency, your power consumption metrics won't look like the daily usual because you'll be in an emergency conservation mindset and only powering just the essentials -...

Most solar hot water systems have a differential temperature controller that operates a small low-wattage recirculation pump, typically a Grundfos or similar. The differential controller's only job is to run the pump when the collectors are hotter than the tank(s), circulating water through the...

First off, I'm sorry for your loss; this looks obviously expensive. A few points: - A few people brought up the breakers. Although not the root cause here, AC breakers don't work in DC environments. It's not a matter of over-current protection, an AC breaker will trip if overloaded with DC...

Natural gas prices are rising parabolically here. I have a late 90's set of Maytag Dependable Care washer and natural gas dryer. A few months back on a whim I looked at FB Marketplace to see if I could find a matching vintage electric version of the dryer and found the exact model 10 minutes...