Most reacted threads

Disclaimer: No insult to the Small DIY guy, or anyone that doesn't have an education in electricity, EVERYONE'S education lies in different areas, Some of us are 'Nerds', head full of factoids we don't put into practice, Others are 'Geeks' that actually get *Something* wired up, usefulness is...

An entire semi truck load of panels that are nearly 6 feet tall, 250-350W An entire semi truck load of inverters, meters, combiner boxes, etc. So much I can't even inventory most of it. This most definitely is NOT the 'Hobby' stuff, all high end panels, high end, but older inverters, all...

This is something I did for vehicle wiring diagrams. An Electrical Schematic is a very precise technical drawing of electrical circuits. A Diagram, or Pictogram, shows representations of the components you will be using, and showing the wiring in between. 'CIRCUIT', BY DEFINITION, MAKES A...

Having rebuilt Alternators for a living, I would like to pass along something that fits the needs of DIY types quite well in my experience. This is a Leece-Neville alternator... And it has some interesting features that DIY types will find interesting, and they are in salvage yards everywhere...

So, at 7:00AM, The owner said he 'Smelled Smoke' and wanted someone to have a look, he's about 2 miles down the road... We have a 'Handy Man/Jack Of All Trades' type in the area, and I just want to smack this guy sometimes... Not the first time I've had to clean up after him, This morning, an...

An atom sits down on a bar stool, orders a double, Bartender asks, "Rough day?" Atom says, "I lost an electron." Bartenders says, "Are you sure?" Atom says, "I'm Positive."

I started 30 years ago off grid, everything was lead/acid, and you fall into the mindset of getting batteries at 100% SOC and keeping them there... That ment I was forever on the hunt for MORE PANELS. Get the Watts, get them in the batteries at all costs. So about 10 years ago I started with...

My first book on electronics, 1st grade, I learned to read on this book... Morgan wrote a series of these and they are very interesting. I was constantly saving money, scrounging pop bottles to afford something from these guys in the late 60s- all through the 70s. I always got cloths for...

I had a heated discussion with a guy planning a solar system about how much, and WHEN he was going to use power, Should he put more money in panels/batteries because he used the power at night, or panels/charge controllers because he planned to use power in the daytime when panels were...

Since this isn't a political forum we won't talk about what literally everyone with a medical degree is telling you, mask, disinfectant, minimize contact, etc. Then there is drinking or injecting bleach (Gene Pool Cleaner). So, on subject... When I tried to explain that a generator hookup to...

So, locally the city has banned off grid. Some states are limiting the time/use of batteries to offset peak usage. This is an attempt to keep everyone paying fees to maintain the grid, and to keep profits coming in during winter when demand is lower. Generally, I stay as far away from...

While I bang on heavy duty components, I pick my battles and conserve on words/pictures on a forum that in a week no one will be able to find it... ---------- However! This guy has a page dedicate to crimping/tools/terminals that *Should* be mandatory for any beginner & old hand alike...

IT'S CALLED AC COUPLING, This is a video that somewhat explains the wiring, allowing you to use common Grid Intertie Inverters either grid intertie or off grid, and saving money on big panel string to battery charger inverters, and allow for infinite expansion. If your were wondering, AC...

It's insurance time again at my house, and since I overhauled most of my solar system with components that will be costly to replace, I had a look at my farm policy, compared it with home policies and found out some things... Unless your home owners policy SPECIFICALLY covers solar install...

1. Undersize Wiring. While I use the turn of the 20th century Brown & Sharp scale, when they built a crap load of DC stuff (subways & electric trains, entire local DC power grids, etc) and I've found that sizing scale to be a LOT more efficient, when I started with long DC Buss lines, then...

If you build your own stuff, this might help. Some charger designs... http://educypedia.karadimov.info/electronics/circuitsbattery.htm

Mine would be starting the homestead, Other than hand tools, a 1973 Jeep CJ was pretty much what I owned. So I started building... I found out that battery powered tools from 25 years ago had Ni-Cad batteries, so we all know how that went. Batteries being more expensive than the took kit when...

Cold, raining lazy Sunday afternoon, 557 channels and nothing on, Just spent a little time at the work bench... 10 Amp, 1,000 Volt Doides for blocking position in an upcoming rebuild. 48 Volt System this time, so low amps. I'll probably bridge over a 3rd Diode to make it bullet proof on a 20...

*About* everyone has a charge controller on these systems, and there *Should* be something about efficiency in the paperwork... Anyone care to list their specs (and batteries) so we can make an informal chart of losses of the different brands/types/models of charge controllers? We all know they...

A former customer sent me this link (and others) and wants some idea of how this could be adapted to small cargo delivery throughout smaller islands. I don't know crap about hydrogen electrolysis or fuel cells, but if this is correct they are way more efficient than fossil fuel engines. Any...

This Started As Fire Alarm/System Shut Down The idea was to disconnect batteries from everything but the fire alarm and fire extinguisher, And hold everything 'Open Circuit' until the system was manually reset. Since then it has taken on a life of it's own, It now protects panels and charge...

Deleted.

Very few seem to get the idea of 'Tapping' (or Taps) in battery strings. A 'Tap' is pulling a specific voltage from a higher voltage battery, or Series wired string of batteries. You CAN both charge and discharge a 24 or 48 volt battery string as 12 volt batteries, And you can do that from...

"What If The Power Grid Went Down?" Not the 'SHTF' or 'EMP' that all the end of the world types want to jump to, But the recent rolling blackouts in California, a major transformer or substation gives out like in Minneapolis, several days or weeks without grid power... Collective collaboration...

What size are the main connection studs in the back, it looks to be around 5/16", is this correct? Are the threads metric or USS thread, And if metric, what size?

60 year old river rat from So.W Indiana that's been off grid for 20+ years. Built my system through trial & error (a LOT of error!) and continually updating as new technology comes available. I own and operate a machine shop that's also off grid.

What I'm looking for, For 48V, with S16 arrangement battery. 1. Monitor display for each cell. The cells are the big expense, i need to track what they are doing. 2, REASONABLE balancing wattage. A few 250 mW isn't reasonabl balancing capacity for 5 mW battery. 3, EASILY programmable upper...

I found this interesting... https://spectrum.ieee.org/amp/silicon-anode-battery-2659927950

So, being rural/farm country, I see stupid people... Not like the cities, more people, more stupid people, but we see our share... The last few years the state/feds require authorized worker cards or resident status proof for migrant workers, so when you see migrant workers in the fields you...