Recent content by Plecoptera

I need to strip a largish number (40) of #4AWG and #2AWG welding cables I'm using on busbars. I would like to find a tool like all the slick ones for 8AWG and smaller, but I'm not having success. I just want to take about 1/2" off ends so I can crimp on ring terminals. I've done it before...

Going homebrew, as you will discover if you do build your own, has a ton of advantages. Mine are all Anderson Power Pole and MC4 cabled. They don't have a single designated set of charging panels or controller/charger because they plug into pretty much anything. If not... an Absolutely Perfect...

I suspect there are a few thousand, certainly hundreds, of homebrew "Solar Generators" that have been designed by subscribers to this forum. My flavor starts with a Minn-Kota trolling motor battery box, gets transmogified, up to and including 100A circuit breakers, fuse holders, custom made...

A note of possible interest: I am using Victron Blue Solar 100-30 controllers. For whatever reason, Victron does not seem to hold Volts constant/vary Amps. It does the opposite: Amp stay pretty constant, tightly correlated to Watts, Volts on the Solar side bounce around a lot. If I watch...

I dutifully took the advice here and connected my panels in a 2S2P x 3 arrangement. Because of the nature of my placement (a curved roof on a small trailer facing true E-W with an open S exposure) I have: 1 ea 2S2P pair facing due E, 1 ea 2S2P pair facing straight up, 1 ea 2S2P pair facing...

I can't find my specific question asked of AGMs, tho it is an active question on LFP. I have two 12V AGMs of mature age (years old) who live outside in or under a travel trailer. They both have always been BatteryTendered, and still show a resting charge of +12.7V. One is 12V100Ah, the other...

I am watching a normal power generation cycle and wondering why things are. I use BlueTooth Victron MPPT and their controller app, and am watching the "Trend". Right now, on the panel/Solar side, Watts produced per minute doesn't vary much, and Watts variation seems tightly correlated to Amps...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TQ5H6M7/ref=twister_B07TLXSLZS?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 And, I stopped trying to use a crimper from MC4. I found I could do far better and faster with just a simple pair of needle nose pliers. I have had zero failures doing it that way.

I found 50A 8AWG MC4 connectors on Azon, but they're $3 a pair.

Excellent. Right now I am running a training grid built with scratch and dent discount panels where I test racks, controllers, busbars, everything. It took two pairs of pigtails, and a set of Y connectors, and it was live. And, I sprang for Blue Tooth on my MPPTs, so I could watch myself on...

It further dawns on me I probably have that answer. What I will get is the lowest common denominator from either 2S or 2P. I will get the 20V of the 2P, and the 5.7A of the 2S. So, a bit short of optimum for 400W of panel. Or, I run another cable, and use an additional controller (?).

Also, just so it's clear (I am a noob), I connect 2 x 100W in series, and get (20V x 2) = (40V & 5.7A) on my 2S. I then connect 2 x 100W in parallel, and get (5.7A x 2) = (11A & 20V) on my 2P. I then pigtail it into a 3 way union, feed it down 1 8AWG cable to my Victron which sees 40V11A? I am...

Interesting. I'm using Victron MPPT 100-30. Is it possible for one of those to get stressed? I can make my own cables, so some simple storebought 2x unions and a few short pigtails is no biggy. But I just would expect the micro electronics to be more durable than that.

Thanks. Got most of the winter, they just have to be ready by April or May.

Yeah, I'm reading about bandgaps now. Confused at a higher level. Simple solution is to drop to 3 panels when it drops to 0F. It takes idiocy to boondock at <= 0F, but I've done it.