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I did something of the sort. Used a A-B-BOTH-OFF perko switch as a disconnect. I set the resistor up across A to B, B goes to the batter bank. when I rotate it from OFF to A the resistor charges the circuit, then after 10 seconds I rotate one further to B and it’s on. Now my disconnect and...

I had exactly this happening on one cell, shut it all down to swap it with my spare, turned out it was a single loose bus bar nut. It is a 24v 8s2p, and my number 8 pair was not so much connected well with its partner. Just fixed it today and everything is slowly balancing back to normal. I had...

The first time I built an engine as an apprentice, I wanted to Do all the hot mods to it. Bigger cylinders, cams, high volume oil pump, compression bump… my mentor wouldn’t let me, even though I was more than able to execute it correctly. He said ”frost you learn to play by the rules, then...

Hi, there are many variables that will change the output. total load on the panels, temp, wiring configuration, type of hardware a d batteries, etc.. could you post some pics, list of equipment, and a drawing showing how it’s all connected? That would help a lot into diagnosing your situation.

I hammer punch my lugs, up to 4/0. Twist cable, slide in , beat it with a mini sledge as if it assaulted your daughter in the night, then flood with electric solder warming with propane torch, then heat shrink. I sold my fancy hex hydraulic crimper yers ago. Side by side torture tests showed...

This reminds me of a trip to Alaska I did. MEt some crazy and crazy smart people Out there. One designed passive homes using a monolithic stone in the center. He carefully calculated the stone mass, heat loss, seasonal variation. Sun angles through windows…. Honestly it was beyond my skill...

Some have gone to TEG set ups while they run a wood stove 24-7, attached to a wood stove with a fresh cold air dump on the side of them they do pretty good. as somewhere it doesn’t Snow, I miss it at times.

Human conductivity varies significantly As does nerve sensitivity. Old army friends use to talk about how some guys just grabbed live wires with ease, noting mild shocks. Others felt very electrocuted and stopped doing that, and they said that led to some dropping out of that line of work While...

Personally I would not use their products. A company I went to work at used them, the failure rate was high, customer service abysmal, and certain design characteristics maddenning. They left a few customers who had massive failures due to bad product out in the wind, refused to honor a...

from my seat, compressing the cells after swelling likely caused an internal short. Cells are not flat, run a dial Indica over them and they are a topographical map, some even slightly trapezoidal. Compressing non flat shapes results in incredible localized pressure point Or points. there is...

The movement or growth of each cell individually is tiny, but added together in series would mean each cell closer to the springs needs to move further and the last cell moves most. With bus bars rigid then you have tension on top amd a fanning at the bottom. I went with foam (eBay mouse pads)...

Oh noes, did you just assume everyone here isn’t stupid? the “oh crap my battery caught fire“ threads are entertaining. in particular, I would be careful about using threaded rods and nuts for compression and “gently snugging” them down. The force multiplier of nuts on threads can put a...

If you mobile, and have propane on board, the rv water heaters are good. Heat fast, reliable, generally problem free. I used to have a suburban 6g propane with electric 120v element. I could run either method to heat, or both for faster recovery. depending on your set up, you may not be...

explosion welding I believe can Create a good weld, I don’t have one. I tested the best (and silly expensive) crimped side by side with a low tech method, and it failed. there may be no air initially in the contact area, but they are not one metal, just a close fit. Heating and cooling...

It also aids in heat removal from the condenser coil. I designed a very large system years ago to cool liquid cooled power supplies, and the final answer was a series of heavily finned radiators with a squirrel cage blowing through them as a constant heat dump, and if the temp exceeded 80deg it...

I would ask why, and then see if that condition was applicable to me too. In the industry I was in, the ‘experts ‘ insisted a hydraulic 6 side crimp on a big lug was correct and better. I let them do one, I did the opposite connection with a hammer and punch and solder. A week later I invited...

That’s what I built, works great. Just one 100w (integrated heat sink )15ohm? resistor on position one wired to position 2. In position one it loads up the inverter over about 8 seconds, law of diminishing returns, it’s most the way there in 3 seconds and slowly finishes off. it’s a no...

Interesting experiences. Mine was in a metal plating facility, a giant steaming pile of corrosive everything imaginable. A textbook hydraulic hex crimp on a big low volt power supply to say a steel cleaner tank (6 volt 400 amp) would be hot to the touch with crimp alone in 12 hours. I did...

dont laugh. a 250w panel mounts readily to a child trailer tow behind thingy once you remove the child seat. makes a nice rain cover for your bags of stuff and even tent and sleeping bag. you can cross the country without pedaling if you wanted too...

Depending on the model, maybe. One town in Oregon has two trailer factories ( makes several brands each) , next to the state pen. They hire right outta the prison gate, min wage, treat them badly, bust their ass to hurry and only worry about the specific things that get inspected. Significant...

https://www.dal.ca/news/2023/01/16/dalhousie-battery-discovery-self-discharge.html

I will second the Fluke endorsement. Have one from decades past that is my daily driver, and it has never failed me, unlike nearly every other brand or off brand meter. Some of those failed in strange intermittent and sneaky ways, sometimes not showing voltage even when it’s there and nearly...

I was asked to post a pic, finally dug enough junk out to get to the battery. I built it nearly a year and a half ago and haven’t seen it since, it’s been working flawlessly the resistor is wired from position 1 to output, battery is position 2 to output. turning from off to 1 allows a 10/sec...

Nothing I saw was 240. honestly, I think you are over estimating usage. Two units is a huge thing to fit in a Skoolie( I used to design and build skoolies) and I never had more than 5k. I did add a soft start to the AC on the main cabin and left the bedroom ac on shore or gen power only...

I got 18, 16 with two spares in case of shipping damage or a runner that limited the pack capacity. FedEx did have a damage incident, did not deliver the last box and trued to return it for damage, I called and insistEd they deliver, turned out the good foam packing Basen uses (custom resiliant...

I think the description of “best” voltage is problematic. Best for what? battery longevity? Best for capacity? Best for fast recovery? Best for safety? I think @toms is right here, it’s application specific for what is best. In my pack I want to err on the side of longevity, but if it was...

If you do the wood stove, be sure your insurance company doesnot have that as a named disqualification. Most do. also, driving with a wood stove is a pain, you have to make sure you close the flue well. Then there is the issue of venting intake air for it, which it will suck around your...

So, where you are sounds hot and dry, and while it may nearly simultaneously evaporate, you could get corrosion which is a world of issues. swamp coolers need constant air from outside, in a sealed room they swamp it up amd stop working so make surre it’s ventilated. here’s an option, point...

To be clear, I use dc to the water heater elements, I do not use the temp switch that comes on a AC element, but a digital temp controller and a SSR to shut it off when it reaches temp. I also use low voltage ( parallel panels at 20-32vdc typically). I found the 36v elements were just a...

Wow, so they are trying to cut losses from the tidal wave of returned merch. reputable manufacturers don’t have that return rate issue. when there is a problem, they handle it. I had to return a Midnite classic 150 once, ended up talking with the owner and engineers. In the end it wasn’t...

Soo much to do here, haven’t even looked at the internet in days... too many projects and deadlines! like this one, except mine were 7mm, slightly bigger too. https://www.ebay.com/itm/174744960800?ViewItem=&item=174744960800

Yes, but then multiply that. The mult factor is unknown, but two swollen cells are like two spheres at the contact, the surface area of contact is small. Potentially a 1000 times till it squishes a bit, then 100 times as the surfaces are mashed together. I would love to see inside a swollen...

I wired some industrial heaters once, ran out of good ring terminals half way through. 2 months later the cheap Chinese ones from Amazon burned off, metal was thinner and had more resistance under full load, eventually created enough heat to melt. Replaced with crimps at 3x the price, no more...

http://electrodacus.com/ I could, but my crayon skills would leave more questions than answers. His site has good info, the user manuals listed off the home page go into more detail and user Oberon has created a second manual/guide to it as well that has some clarifications. the short answer...

I redesigned mine with drain lines all sloped towards a drain, added low point drains for fresh tanks, pressure tanks, etc. open 4 Valves and it ddrained dry. Close again in 5 min and ignore till I fill it all up again And kick the pumps on. air is problematic from a health standpoint, you Can...

it is advantageous to me in two ways, one it leaves the inverter not under constant full load every day, 2 even with an inverter failure i still have pressurized hot water and lights and such (24vdc pumps)

perhaps i didn’t properly describe what I am picturing, and I lack the ability currently to articulate it in pictures. In the standard design I’m seeing used, the forces are applied on the outside of the battery, the corner of the battery being the strong resisting structural member, which...

The induction stove is great, we call it science stove. Just have a compatible pan and pot handy. It will boil water faster than some gas stoves, gets all the energy into the food and is temp controllable. We used one with a human feedback loop holding a coffee thermometer and once you get it...

Seems right, it’s just how I did mine. It’s an easy fix, though many have rube goldberged the heck out of it. just have to use a voltage meter on the output the first time and see how many seconds you need to get it up close to batt voltage. Even 1 second gets you half Way, 5 seconds maybe 18...

Same here. I used black, new tube on some RV window frames. Ended up waiting weeks as the clean up and removal was nightmarish. did not cure one bit. Parts in the sun started sagging and dripping. Mine wasn’t even to its expiration date. Had to spend a whole day doing a nasty clean and re...

Our very large wood kitchen table has been a work and project bench many times for us.

Everything has its application And trade offs... sometimes older tech has its benefits and The trade offs make sense. With FLA yes, I would have gone mppt again, but with Lifepo4 I don’t have to, just match components up to natively work correctly together. For my case I feel it’s better...

Problem is slow cookers are limiting culinary wise. The single burner induction at 1600 watts (ours) can fry, boil, sous vide, grill, etc. a typical one burner meal for us is sous vide the steaks, set aside, cook a pot of rice and set aside, fry up some vegetables in some sort of tangy sauce...

Interesting, looks just like a mppt with temp controller but sorted out so no tinkering involved. Here’s what I used if you just want the element...

I’m just curious, I read through the whole thread and noticed everyone seems to be using the springs on the outside of the batteries over the rods and dealing with flex of the end plate, or building heavier to mitigate. My my first question is why not make the fixture rigid with compression...

some have tried compression after using the pack awhile, some resulted in internal shorts and fire. i squeezed mine gently between neoprene sheets because they aren’t flat surfaces and I didn’t want pressure hot spots. at some point I imagine the burst relief will pop and make a bad day out...

i used a battery A-B-both-off switch (typical marine kind) and wired a 20ohm 100watt resister from A to B terminals. batteries are connected on B. so when i rotate from off to A i get the resister and watch the voltage come up. its fast to 12v , then a few seconds to 18, then twice that time...

many interesting techniques to solving the triggering issue, but no one addresses why does the generator “gum up” and need run weekly? This isn’t normal, a generator should be able to sit long periods and then start. is it sitting in a sunny hot location and the fuel evaporates in the carb...

Oh jeez . That song nearly led to My demise. In a pool hall in a questionable part of town as a teen with a friend. He decides it would be funny to put 5 dollars in and pick that song over and over. First time it’s funny, second time less so, local gangbangers look annoyed and look...

Yes, that would work nicely. Thanks for painting the picture better, sounds like a lovely setup. The small forced fan radiators work very well, probably good for 30k btu per sq ft of radiator at a 100 degree delta as a guess. Burying pex in the floor Is also nice, warm but not stuffy. We are...

Diversion is why I went with an electrodacus setup. My loads are going to be 2 hot water tanks with replaced elements. Mostly I think our power usage will be much smaller than capacity, and by that most of the collected solar energy (and hydro I’m developing) will go towards water heating...

Oh. Well thats Not encouraging. How did it fail?

It’s amazing how uncommon this knowledge is. I used to explain it to people, who had headaches from their gas water heater fumes because they sealed the house and air would rush down the water heater flue. the twin pipe system is great, but a hole or duct for intake air is critical At a minimum.

I suppose I could, next time I dig in there I’ll get pics. Battery is sort of buried at the moment, glad it’s working without intervention.

Some are rated gallons per cycle and some just don’t…. if It doesn’t say you’ll have to run it and let it dump to a trash can and measure it.

I have a small tankless propane unit, works great. Smaller than a briefcase Only needs 2 D batteries That last 6 months. problem is only the function of temperature relating to usage. Only the very fancy ones have controlled output temps, every other one has a gas valve, so a shower head using...

Why does no one mention the wonderful use of killing grass/weeds without herbicide? I did this too, just a few hour test of some panels. Absolutely dead under it for a month, then realized I could use this to start new garden beds. Works better than anything else, and if you’ve ever had to dig...

A good way to do it for a single item draw. I have two breaker/ fuse panels for my system, one is standard 120 vac, other is 12 vdc and 24 vdc for equipment that runs on that. Because it’s a buss bar with multiple outputs I can’t really Switch it off.

Looks really clean, very nice work.

He made a mppt thermal controller, but the newer DSSR20 with diversion largely replaces it which is what I bought a bunch of. While some argue an mppt controller is more efficient (other show proof it isn’t), for me that extra few percent is moot since it would be batteries full by 11am with...

it was a fun ride.But the real idea That came from that never got built. picture more like a tie fighter, pod sat between two giant wheels that were also suspension. Roof of pod was solar panels countoured to the roof, pod sat about a foot off the ground, had foot pedals for emergency...

i See what ya did there. It’s nice, I’ve done nearly that same treatment in the past and even went with conducting silver paste for corrosion resistance and perfect contacts. my Current pack I decided to go way easier and simpler. The little crimps were a pain to source, and crimp and ring...

That’s my thought. I have great faith In midnite as a company, have dealt with them before and they are as good as it gets about support and quality. im looking at having to deploy a decent quantity of complete systems for a small efficient household, and the nightmare of support from the...

I would add to inspect for out of plane contact between the two termiNails. If one was slightly higher it would cause the other to not make full contact. Conductivity tests don’t work well as they aren’t at high amp load, just yes, it’s contacted. Bob b has it right, slight bad contacts get...

I used old 60 cell 250 watt panels I bought cheap (40$ ea) and they will wire directly to a 36 v water heating element with the right resistance. There is a voltage drop with 1 , less with 2, and minimal with 4. I got 400 watts reliably from 2 parallel panels directly wired panel to heater...

people do live in them, some places it’s normal, others don’t mind if you are a good neighbor. There’s tricks too, like buy land with a crappy mobile home. It legally has no value but counts as a primary dwelling. That officially you live in 51% of the time. Also, it gives you easy to connect...

Or there is the Electrodacus system, which I decided worked for me. Dead short the matched panels (I bought for $50 each used and the still test with really good output) to the 460Ah LIFEPO4 directly through ideal diodes with 3 charging levels. Mine is L0-off, L1 - 8 panels , L2 - 16 panels ...

Absolutely true, I just threw it in so others reading knew that such a setup even existed or might even be optimal For them. each Should be designed for where it is and what is expected of it. though I’m now working on adding pico hydro to the system for true redundancy, and many have asked that...

Sure. It means I cut the wires and crimped on ring terminals to the solar wires to attach to the shunt and the water heater terminals. It’s the simplest method of connecting panels to shunt (to measure current) and directly to water heater element. In the future version there will also be a...

Still in the states Or did you make the jump?

seeing Robin on this forum increased my respect above what was already top notch for a company, now seeing someone with firsthand knowledge of said failures chime in a show of transparency is really nice. I may be looking for a larger quantity of these units in the future for a project, and...

I added a WEG brand 1/4 hp motor to my grain mill, which goes from 1750 rpm through two belt gear reducing pullys to 60 rpm For the mill. tag says 5.78 to 6.78 Amps at 110-127 volts ac. hooked it up though my kill-a-watt for a load check to make sure it wasn’t overeloading grinding flour...

https://electricvehicleweb.in/byd-blade-shaped-battery-breakthrough-battery-safety/

https://flyheight.com/videos/t47vb5?hr=1 battery explodes while charging. Anyone guess the type?

Usually welding supply houses will carry it as it’s also used for welding cables. They need replaced periodically. Fine strand copper with a good rubber coating is the best I found. I then crimp, flood solder, and heat shrink every connection.

I had better luck in certain cases with old school dumb generators than my fancy Honda inverter ones. The old ones would lug down for a second when a fridge turned on or the shop vac started. The higher output Honda would kick in the overload protection and disconnect the load. The $80 harbor...

I think the blue seas version is the same, any 2 battery bank switch should be fine.

Is there a way to identify it by sight?

It’s the hills that get you. Looong Downhill grades fry rubber brakes fast. Then it gets scary.

i found bulk packs of 7mm neoprene mouse pads on ebay, $1 each, nearly perfect size. im going to calibrate the squish and clamp them into a wooden box, same ish idea. it is near 1100lbs of pressure though for a 2p8s pack... thats a lot of tape. hope you dont have to adjust it or replace a cell.

This. the shipping is the same up to 25 panels as it is one. Also, panels like to be matched so if you are going to future add some capacity, buy them all at once. A panel and a cheap down voltage regulator is a great combo to sell off for electric gates and animal water pumps and heaters...

i would say the same. “Has to be black…” for how long? To what standard? Will look great for a year, ok for a few more. If they don’t get touched much, maybe years. or just requisition 10 cases of black wide tip sharpies and start handing them out.

Thi this was exactly what I would experience in industrial applications. The presence of corrosive vapors hastened the degradation of the joint and increase the heat which in turn increased the corrosion and the terrible circle of doom continues.

Neat, I’ll look it up. Thanks!

They’re pretty good, I have one. Does better than the smaller Hondas I’ve had. It will start my miter and table saw, the electronics seem to let it lug down for a second. Haven’t thouroughly tested it though. Some complain the CO minder will shut it down at times and will need replaced every...

it does, it does indeed. there are several good threads on it in the lifepo4 diy section, with graphs provided by one of the manufacturers. some gains were had at even a few psi, loss of cycling capacity was shown in the higher teens psi. 12psi at 90%SOC is the prime number they shoot for...

You Might consider listing the ad and seller for others benefit. I had good luck with Basen , your results may vary…

You could buy yourself a kill-a-watt and simply plug things into it for a day and it will record how much is used. as a rule, anything that deals with heat is a big one. Heat food, heat water, heat air, cooling…

If you feel the need, I can honestly say I have never been more impressed by a product. Yes it is a simple device, but spectacularly executed in purpose and finish. I will always find something to critique in a product (or nearly all of it), but from the way the box was assembled, taped...

I have some 250w santan panels, 36v nominal. I wanted to give one to a friend who is very remote and has zero access to any panel whatsoever. His charge controller is only for 12v, (Chinese pwm, no brand). has Anyone tried opening the back panel and gotten different voltages out of it?

I have a 24v pack, but needed to run some 12v loads. I used a dc-dc voltage converter off the main output to do this so I don’t off balance the cells. If the load was some LEDs or something and the bms could compensate I might be tempted, but the converters are cheap and then no worries about...

I’ve used (...

My last Airbnb had this exact setup. Hot 240 to the head, bare wires dangling, no grounded anything to the showerhead or box. Also did a crapp job at heating water, had to slow it down to the low flow cut off to get hot enough, which was a hair trigger to off.

I used to have packages I sent USPS to friends of home dried fruit and such stabbed with an ice pick. Thought it was an occurrence till it happened several times. Finally found a usps worker who said they “accidently” stab it with the ice pick and sniff it for weed. If they smell weed it they...

Here’s a great page, I really just originally went for the graph of the compression curve, but the whole page is a good read. https://www.tapesolutions.saint-gobain.com/resources/technical-articles/innovative-compression-pads-maximum-ev-battery-cell-performance My take on it is to stay away from...

Is your water running through galvanized conduit? if so, you may end up soaking in a metals enriched spa. Potential health hazards could exist.

I did nearly the same thing, used oak because I had some random pieces of it. I also used 5mm neoprene between the cells because they are not what a machinist would call flat, making for uneven pressure. do be aware, one member had a fire right after compressing slightly swollen cells. Not...

I remember reading a post recently by Robin of midnite solar talking about problems like this and he mentioned that a common question he asked was about the generator, and that the biggest problems they have seen with inverters is actually generators….