Recent content by jimf909

Likewise.

I was clearly not talking about you and your vast stable of non-shitty generators. I was talking about a generic user and his pal Lefty who may need to get through a troublesome time some day when they don't want to run down a list of settings to charge their batteries because the Blue & Orange...

Exactly. Dirty generators happen. Why worry? Run that dirty old cheap generator through a battery charger and enjoy crystal clean Blue & Orange AC power from the inverter. What happens when that $400 crummy open frame Harbor Freight generator pukes? Maybe the user has three backups or maybe...

My experience is that Victron inverters can get grumpy with dirty power from an open frame generator. I had to deploy software settings Victron describes in their generator FAQs which resulted in slower charging and potentially passing through power that's not ideal for sensitive electronics...

Onan has an AGS system that may be what you need. https://www.cummins.com/generators/rv-generators/wireless-rv-auto-generator-start-system Let us know what you learn and I'll add it to the AGS Information thread.

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned, but there can't be sources of ignition w/in 10' of a permanent propane tank. It seems the same might apply to a gas meter? Does anyone know if that's true?

This may not be a direct answer to your question. After years connecting generators to inverter/chargers to charge the batteries and supply the house with power I changed my setup to connect the generator to a dedicated battery charger (EG4 100 amp charger) to charge the batteries and bypass...

That's correct. This is easily solves the problem of broken pipe, etc. which is my biggest concern. I'll continue looking at other monitoring solutions suggested for lesser leaks.

Thanks. I'm not concerned about the pump. My issue is that if the pump runs continuously it will drain the batteries creating a low voltage condition that will shut off power to the fridge, freezer, wifi network, etc. The loss of food is the biggest issue. Loss of communication is a moderate...

That's what I need. If something breaks there needs to be manual intervention to start the pump and fix the problem.

BAM! It finally clicked for me. I already have a 30/50 switch like this in my system and all I need to do is replace it with one with the low pressure cutoff. My brain was trying to think of how I'd add the switch to the system. $30 and a proven decades old tech. Win-win. Thanks...

This crossed my mind while noodling this and is a simple solution. In my case, it would need to open the switch when pressure dropped below 5 - 10 psi. The system normally operates between 30 - 50 psi but if a pipe breaks the pressure tanks will empty and the pump will run continuously but the...

Does your 4 AWG fit w/out a ferrule? I know this can become an endless internet argument but I don't use ferrules with Victron connectors and I believe Victron supports both methods.

The forum software just pushed this thread to me as another possible solution. Thanks, forum software. https://diysolarforum.com/threads/water-pump-run-time-limiter.74322/

Thanks for the example of a solution. I have no functional knowledge of the Rasp Pi but it's interesting to me and something that I could get my arms around. I imagine that it could also log pump run time for general water consumption and also to flag increases that might indicate a slow leak or...