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Don't assume that Solar is the best way to go. It's installed on the trailer so they can sell you the upgrade, not because it's particularly useful. It's much easier to sell you "additional" panels if there is already one there than it is to talk you into installing solar that doesn't yet exist...

I repair inverters for a living and I would say that's repairable but the key is whether the signals are OK. When we repair this kind of board we remove all of the FETs and then check all of the gates for proper signal. Use a Scope and make sure there is no DC component. If it's all OK then map...

It wouldn't matter if everything was 100% efficient but since it's not this arrangement will eventually drain your batteries

Read what the easement actually says. Mine says something along the lines of "I will not build a permanent structure on, over or under the easment a structure that may interfere with or endanger the distribution line". If that's what yours says then you can build anywhere because there are no...

Do you know what Power Factor is? Maybe your unit is recognizing bad power factor as the compressor starts and it's refusing to run. Wattage is based on a power factor of 1. As soon as you power a heavy motor like a compressor the power factor goes off and you start to draw inductive power...

You see, this is what I'm trying to dispel. What if it was built on a Monday and something wasn't right? What if it had a defective leaky transistor that kept blowing your coffee maker but could have been fixed? You've blamed the MSW technology for what could very easily have been a one-off...

I've still got a Sunbeam toaster on my kitchen counter. Anyone born before 1980 may remember these, no levers you just dropped bread into the slots and they slowley lowered themselves down and when toasted they slowly rose back up for you. Incredible design based on the fact that the tungsten...

It's also possible that the MSW inverters that have given people problems were cheap Chinese trash and now all MSW inverters are getting tarred with the same brush. The trouble may not be the MSW it may be the cheap Chinese design and manufacturing. I owned a brown Ford Pinto hatchback once...

In the last year I, with the help of youtube and some manuals, taught myself how to rebuild automatic transmissions. One of the only things on a car I hadn't done, I've rebuilt engines, brakes, steering etc. I started with the GM 4L60E transmission which is common as all get out. Used in all...

Yes. In actual life the chances of two of them starting at the very same instant are ridiculously long odds. Even so, if they have soft start caps it shouldn't be a problem. I don't know where this idea that the compressors continue to run came from. I've been servicing my own AC systems for...

Look at the diagram again. Two can run at the same time. If any two are running the third will not start. If two are running and third calls for action nothing happens until one of the others stops. Eg, If the livingroom and the kitchen are both running and the bedroom gets warm the bedroom...

Just use relays on the signal lines from the thermostats to the compressors. You will need Qty:3, three pole, double throw relays. Each relay will require at least one other relay to be off before it can close and start it's respective compressor. If 2 and 3 are on 1 can't start. If 1 and 3...

My mind goes to my trailer and it's gas appliances... Ammonia refrigerators - think RVs - nothing but a small pilot flame and a mechanical thermostat. Hot water tanks - flame and mechanical thermostat. Gas stove.

That's an important fact. Modern electronics power supplies use a three stage process to make the low voltage DC required by the TV/computer. The first stage is just a bridge rectifier. In order to save money all power supplies are now built to work anywhere in the world so this first input...

Consider also that the amount you earn per hour is nowhere near the amount of money the company has to pay to keep you employed. An employee paid $40 per hour could easily be costing the company $80-$100/hour. With that in mind do as the boss says, if you waste several hours hauling batteries...

One other note I thought of. If you want to replace the individual fuses with a single 250A then you'll need a thick wire gauge capable of handling that and it will be difficult to solder that large a diameter of wire onto the circuit board. One solution is to use 10 sets of small gauge wire...

Personally I think you are over engineering this and that is part of why it is getting complicated. Once that remote battery unit contacts you'll be in a loop that will just quickly run the battery down. Sort of like a snake eating it's own tail. I'm coming from the RV world but Marine is very...

That's not how electronics work. If the fuses are all in parallel and they are all the same rating then they all, nominally, blow together. If you want them to cascade they need to be different values, eg: .8A, .9A, 1A, 1.1A etc. Remember that the fuses are not there to protect the inverter...

So if I bought two of the SOK server racks at 25kWh each I could run my house for a day and a half. Price is $24700Cdn. 50kWh would be plenty of storage for my needs for a day or so. Surrette will sell me 12 of their 371Ah batteries for $18312 configured in three strings of 4 I'll also get...

Hmmm. Maybe I had better take another look. If Hedges numbers are real without buying no name batteries off Amazon. Any brand suggestions anyone? Keep in mind I'll be using about 35kWh per day and I'll have a genny to run each day if needed. I only plan on enough battery for one day.

I am going to kick myself even more if I pay a premium price for lithium batteries and they only last ten years and the company is gone in the wind. I can't afford Battle Born or Trojan in a lithium just now, still too expensive. Are there other lithium battery manufacturers that actually own...

I want to stick with FLA. Reasons explained earlier in thread. I would like Schneider inverters if I can afford them, I'm very familiar with repairing Trace and Xantrex so Schneider seems like the natural choice. I could get away with a smaller Genny and I'll buy that used from Craigslist or...

I've got other amounts for the inverters, I want the charge controllers separate so they charge the batteries directly. Here are my rough numbers for now: I'm building this house new from scratch so I've got every opportunity to run the wires at the rough in stage rather than trying to...

Hi Ampster That is the budget just for the panels, I have $2000 for hardware, $2500 for charge controllers and $5000 for installation. Total budget would be $0.65 per Watt installed. Am I dreaming?

It's sort of based on $15000 budget for panels and covering the whole 2600 sqft roof. It's a very rough estimate based on used panels. When I looked at new the prices soared for the amount of KW I need in the array. I'd prefer to climb my roof twice a year to having a huge solar panel array on...

If I cover the entire roof I've got room for 150 panels. (2600 sq Ft) At 250W/panel (what I can afford) Thats 37.5kW optimum. Using numbers from the PVWatt site I calculate that I am still short in Nov/Dec/Jan and will need to run the genny and spend $460/year on diesel. It also shows that I...

I've replaced the firewall and the PBX with small boxes and shaved 600W off my consumption. Next up is to replace two servers running 8 SCSi drives down to one server running four SSDs. New Question: Are there roof mount racking/brackets that allow the angle of the panels to be adjusted for...

I've wondered if summer excess could be dumped into small scale carbon capture facilities and the credits could be sold to the energy companies.

That's the thing, there is no way to properly do the bonding. Bonding occurs at the source, not the load. Your house, for example, had the neutral and ground bonded at the main fuse box and then subsequent sub panels are not bonded (by code). Outlet boxes do not bond N and G and...

Good UL listed inverter/chargers switch the ground when they change from utility power to inverter power. There is an extra set of contacts in the relay to do this. When on utility power the ground for the load is connected to the ground wire of the utility feed and not internally to the...

I wouldn't bond it to the case of the inverter but you may be able to bond it to the ground of the furnace. This would be at your risk and if it blows the circuit board in your furnace the "deal" you got on from the Chinese may not look so good. A couple of questions need answering. Will the...

This has been in the back of my mind for a couple of days. Does this mean I get around this by scheduling my generator? If I ran my generator in the morning, say around 9:00AM and I charged the batteries up to 70% or 80% and then shut if off and let the PV top them up? That way the genny isn't...

Has anyone on this forum ever taken a panel apart and repaired it? Is it possible or is it not worth the time/effort? For example: Santan currently has 250W panels at $45 with "blemishes" They state that water intrusion has caused discoloration. A: Should I just accept that I'll lose a few %...

Holy Crap! - There's a club! Can I join?

That's an interesting idea. I want the big generator up the hill at the utility building so we don't have to look at it or hear it. A small generac running off propane just beside the house could be a good answer for the absorbtion cycle in the darker months. Edit: Nov, Dec, Jan could be good...