Recent content by PHoganDive

For the shunt to monitor the battery properly, ALL current, in and out, must go through the shunt. One end of the shunt connects to the battery negative terminal, the other end of the shunt is where ALL the other drains and charging connections get connected...use a busbar here if needed.

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The generator just supplies electricity, same as solar or utility power, it's the charge controller that controls the battery state of charge...if the battery is being overcharged, that's where the issue will lie.

Start pulling fuses, one by one while monitoring current draw, When you get to the fuse that kills the current draw, find what it powers. Also be aware that many vehicle systems take a while to 'go to sleep', and may draw more current for up to an hour or so, until they go into sleep mode.

As Zil said, ALL charging and discharging must go through the shunt so it can be measured. The only thing connected to the battery end of the shunt should be the battery (and the measurement wire to the meter, which is high impedance to measure voltage across the shunt). All other connections...

FYI, thermoelectric cooler are TERRIBLE for cooling vs the power they use. A normal phase-change refrigeration cooler is typically 3-600% more energy efficient. You should REALLY change the fridge away from a thermoelectric one.

That wouldn't work too well, power transformers are designed for 60 cycle power. The AC frequency of the alternator power depends on the speed it is turning, but will be MUCH higher than 60 cycles at any normal operating RPM.

This video gives a good comparison of AC vs DC arcing issues.

I'm using this to dim 12 volt LED light strings, works fine. https://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-24V-48V-2000W-10-50V-40A-DC-Brush-Motor-Speed-Control-PWM-HHO-RC-Controller/111851538617

I think you'll find the defrost heaters use the lions share of that for the brief time they're on. When it does a defrost cycle, it wants to QUICKLY heat the cold surfaces to melt any frost that has formed on them, but not thaw food in the freezer, so it typically has a high powered heaters to...

Another thing to consider is the insulation used. I had a cheap set of jumper cables that had plastic insulation on the wires. They seemed fine in the store, but when you're likely to need them is when the temperature is below zero, and vehicles won't start, and the insulation was ROCK hard and...

If you are combining 3 or more panels (or strings of panels) in parallel, you should have each string fused (or CB) separately in a combiner box. The reason is if there is a fault in one panel (or string), it can be back-fed current by all the other panels (or strings), potentially leading to an...

Measure current draw going down vs going up. I suspect the motor is drawing much more current going up, either just due to increased load, or maybe the mechanism binding due to misalignment, or lack of lube. This may be causing the motors overload protection to kick in.

I've used an old style Honeywell thermostat before, they use a bimetal coil and mercury switch so they use zero power for opeartion, and you can adjust the on/off temp with a twist of the dial. The mercury switch will handle a computer fan just fine.

80 watts at 24 volts is 3.33 amp charge rate.