diy solar

diy solar

few questions about solar power....

corporal_Canada said:
the umm "smart" charger has a 10A option according to the photo that i put up for you...

just looked, i even see 18A
Click to expand...

Won't know until you get it I guess. It needs to have a SLA setting to be useful. Your batteries have a max charge current of 11 amps each. But, charging at less than that will make them last longer. A current of 10 amps across both should be split to about 5 amps each and work best.

The reason for the SLA setting is so the batteries are not over current or over voltage at any point during the charge. SLA batteries are particularly sensitive to either of those compared to other lead acid batteries. What happens if you exceed either is the acid boils and the plates get a hard coating that makes them loose capacity.

A regular setting for a car battery would be bad.

Watch for the sides to bulge as a sign of troubles.
 
IMG_20240512_143833_292.jpg




1 cable (being used for neg to neg) is 2 inches longer, I hope that isn't an issue

And yes my bedcover is pink.. Jesus, it is not a "thing"
 
rumble.com

Latest update

rumble.com rumble.com

366dec1b-b6a7-4c21-8689-ee822326d52d.jpg

i did buy 2 copper ring terminals to hook up to another cable that is identical in length to the bottom right cable.. i just dont have the strength to crimp it... nor the pliers...

and please ignore the pink bedcover
 
corporal_Canada said:
rumble.com

Latest update

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View attachment 214871

i did buy 2 copper ring terminals to hook up to another cable that is identical in length to the bottom right cable.. i just dont have the strength to crimp it... nor the pliers...

and please ignore the pink bedcover
Click to expand...

I see a lot of stray copper strands sticking out and no crimper marks. A poor crimp is as bad as to small a cable. You may need take them to a place that does does car battery cable crimps to get it right.
 
robbob2112 said:
I see a lot of stray copper strands sticking out and no crimper marks. A poor crimp is as bad as to small a cable. You may need take them to a place that does does car battery cable crimps to get it right.
Click to expand...
Good eyes, I didn't think a connection like that had to be perfect, thank you...
 
corporal_Canada said:
okay.. so here is what i am planning to do.. so bear (bare?) with me.. i ordered a "smart" charger.. i will plug this into my 2 batteries(power bank) at night.. pump it full of happy watts.. unplug when i wake up.. and connect that to the mppt to the same 2 batteries.. so i will my use 3 electronics (pc monitor, modem) on the same power bank.. .. and whatever the solar panels actually get.. i kinda use..kinda made my own UPS... this way.. the power bank wont have 2 separate power sources at the same time... AND.. i built in a cut of switch on negative side from mppt to power bank to break the solar charging circuit to safely plug in the smart charger...im no elon musk or Stephen Hawking.. but i SHOULD get 10 hours of use out of this during the daytime... and yes i used billionaire genius Elon Musk first, he is after all half Cannuck...

quick question though.. for my occasional insomnia nights.. can i use my crappy inverter with the power bank while the "smart" charger is charging the power bank ?

AND additional percaution, i ordered a table fan.. with dc clamps to blow on anything that gets too hot.. like the inverter for example.. i did mention that my inverter that has 1000 watts on it and mandarin written on it gets super hot when ONLY the computer tower is plugged in...

by the way.. i did get a clamp meter to masure the flow of watts from mppt to battery, i simply dont know how to use it... o have 2A on top.. and 20A.. but when i switch to that the screen says AC.. which i think means alternating current.. i tried putting any cable inside the circle of the clamp.. but no reading... am i doing something wrong ???View attachment 214329
Click to expand...


@MisterSandals - You know a ton about conventional batteries and charging - the settings seem to have a repair function which I assume is a 'pulse' to break up any surface coating.

He has SLA AGM batteries - Will it hurt to charge them with something that seems to be for automotive?
 
robbob2112 said:
@MisterSandals - You know a ton about conventional batteries and charging - the settings seem to have a repair function which I assume is a 'pulse' to break up any surface coating.

He has SLA AGM batteries - Will it hurt to charge them with something that seems to be for automotive?
Click to expand...
Gosh, I am not really good with restoring lead acid. I understand the concepts but my attempts to repair dead batteries have not been fruitful.

I’ve charged AGM batteries with automotive charges and it seems just fine. The AGM prefers a little higher but I have not had any problems charging like that.

Sorry did not read from the top. Currently traveling in Spain.
My question would be about the smart charger and the charge profile.
 
MisterSandals said:
Gosh, I am not really good with restoring lead acid. I understand the concepts but my attempts to repair dead batteries have not been fruitful.

I’ve charged AGM batteries with automotive charges and it seems just fine. The AGM prefers a little higher but I have not had any problems charging like that.

Sorry did not read from the top. Currently traveling in Spain.
My question would be about the smart charger and the charge profile.
Click to expand...
enjoy your stay in Spain.. the "smart" charger has been connected to my 12v 100ah battery for nearly 3 days.. i tried connecting 1 inverter and it refused to power on...i am convinced the big black 100ah battery has gone to a better place...
 
MisterSandals said:
What is the battery resting voltage after charging and sitting for an hour or so?
Does the battery voltage plummet below 11V or your inverters cutoff voltage before the inverter powers on?
Click to expand...

He killed it by hooking panels directly to it then when it was flat took the caps off the cells and added regular water and some kind of salt to it... not sure exactly.
 
robbob2112 said:
He killed it by hooking panels directly to it then when it was flat took the caps off the cells and added regular water and some kind of salt to it... not sure exactly.
Click to expand...
first time i poured "battery acid"

and 2nd time i poured distilled water..

i have this 12v 100ah battery connected to a "smart" charger... past umm.. 3 days.. i am convinced that ive sulfated the anode and cathode of this battery... i was hoping the smart charger would bring it back.. and multimeter reads 12.7V

now my only power bank is 2x 12v 50ah.. healthy .. id like to think.. connected to solar... there is a cutoff switch built into the negative from mppt to battery to break the circuit.. am i go for replacing the ups battery with this ??? and during daylight hours i will unplug the ups from wall outlet and flip the cutoff switch...
 
went ahead and hooked everything up, however if the ups isnt hooked up to the wall outlet the pc will not turn on... so i think i need to find a wire inside the ups to install a switch into the ups....to not send power to the power bank from 2 sources simoutaneously...

and PS nothing warm except my body temperature, that was nerve wrecking...
 
corporal_Canada said:
first time i poured "battery acid"

and 2nd time i poured distilled water..

i have this 12v 100ah battery connected to a "smart" charger... past umm.. 3 days.. i am convinced that ive sulfated the anode and cathode of this battery... i was hoping the smart charger would bring it back.. and multimeter reads 12.7V

now my only power bank is 2x 12v 50ah.. healthy .. id like to think.. connected to solar... there is a cutoff switch built into the negative from mppt to battery to break the circuit.. am i go for replacing the ups battery with this ??? and during daylight hours i will unplug the ups from wall outlet and flip the cutoff switch...
Click to expand...

I don't think you can ever replace the UPS battery with the 50ah pair. The charge voltage from the PWM will damage the UPS charge circuit.

To do what you are after you just need to get a larger inverter that can handle your load. A real 1000w version would do it, but that will cost a bit.
 
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robbob2112 said:
I don't think you can ever replace the UPS battery with the 50ah pair. The charge voltage from the PWM will damage the UPS charge circuit.

To do what you are after you just need to get a larger inverter that can handle your load. A real 1000w version would do it, but that will cost a bit.
Click to expand...
Understood, however, why does everything powered by the ups die as soon as I remove the plug from the wall outlet ? Logically a relay should kick in and it should use battery power, or am I missing something???
 
Everything hooked to the UPS dies because the UPS battery is flat. You probably already fried/kaput the UPS charge circuit when you had it hooked up to the PWM.

You can try charging that battery with your wall charger if you can set it to under 2 amp charge rate. Anything above that and the battery will swell and boil off the acid gel inside and the vent corossive gases.
 
robbob2112 said:
Everything hooked to the UPS dies because the UPS battery is flat. You probably already fried/kaput the UPS charge circuit when you had it hooked up to the PWM.

You can try charging that battery with your wall charger if you can set it to under 2 amp charge rate. Anything above that and the battery will swell and boil off the acid gel inside and the vent corossive gases.
Click to expand...
the ups has been charging the 2 batteries (battery bank) since noon...
and at this point you can disregard the black 12v 100ah battery.. i accept that it is dead..
 
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