Recent content by BlindBadger

For mobile stuff, Victron has really done a lot with boating and RV and is why they're so trusted. They're not flawless by far, but they've definitely withstood a lot of testing in the mobile and boating community and come out on top for a reason. Needing more than 3kva ongoing is going to...

That's a good point...I'll have to add that into the future plans if I find I need extra power (though finding space for it might be the hardest part) I...don't know why I didn't think of this! I knew about the capability but didn't think to apply it to the gen/"12v buffer" battery. My...

Lots of folks use a small mppt as a trickle charger for their starting battery. I don’t think you’d have any problems there. Just make sure your load output doesn’t exceed the 15A rating of the controller.

True...I find the larger MPPTs often cost more than a couple of smaller ones is why I looked at that. Maybe it's worth the simplified wiring to just have one large one though. :) Hm, you have a good point. It's not far to run a quick wire over to the stud I have everything connected to on the...

An example of how tight the space is...the inverter *just* fits (just a small gap on either side...might stuff some foam in there later if it ends up rattling but it's mounted pretty solidly). I have a vent to install on the rear of the dinette to exhaust heat and a pair of quiet fans to mount...

Documenting partly for myself and partly in case someone tells me I missed something crucial... Some changes to the earlier plan (much thanks to the suggestions here for a lot of this): Accidentally ended up with an Orion Smart 24/12-30a Isolated Charger for $55 (I think I got confused when I...

Isn't the 15k only 200A pass through? With that, I'd assume you'd need two at that point (one for each of the 200A panels) or else only have it protecting one panel.

Does anyone make a combo water heater tank unit that can switch between natural gas and electricity via heat pump? I’d love something where I could switch modes based on how much power I have left in my batteries but I can’t really find anything that combines the two fuels into a single unit.

Only way to go more dense is the little standoffs for stacking the batteries (no enclosure then). There’s also a limit to how many power pros you can connect together for closed comms. If you don’t run into any of that as an issue, the power pros are really cool!

I mean…their enclosures are usually only 3-4 batteries which sort of puts them in that range, no? (Or could be argued potentially)

You’ll run into it sometimes with generators or campgrounds with poor quality connectors, where voltage may not be consistent or not be consistent. It can happen with a faulty alternator on DC as well but I don’t think it’s super common.

I believe it has to do with whether or not you have a common ground connection between the two battery systems (which I believe acts as a sort of common negative terminal of sorts...a path back to the batteries). Examples: For a Truck camper and it's truck (or a truck and trailer), they are...

Definitely “as soon as you can afford to”. My wife is all in on doing whatever it takes to reduce or remove reliance on the grid (“fight the power”) so we’re starting our first small install this year and going heavier in batteries than solar due to the TOU rates coming to our utility. Won’t...

If your state/county/AHJ is particularly strict, they may require UL9540 (full, not the UL9540A version that only covers batteries). That means the inverter and battery combo has to be an approved combo to get your permit and inspection passed.

This is where folks got it working I believe. https://github.com/emporia-vue-local/esphome There’s a link on there that goes to the page showing what to solder and it seems simple enough but my soldering skills are…barely good enough for an electric guitar cavity, much less tiny circuitry.