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  • Post in thread: DC Circuit Breaker Fires!!

    Most Blue Seas breakers are manufactured by Carlingswitch MidNite MNDC breakers are manufactured by Carlingswitch MidNite MNPV breakers are manufactured by Circuit Breaker International and restesed, listed to a higher voltage by U.L. Boeing Aircraft uses Carlingswitch.....
  • Post in thread: Solark owners - how did you succeed to get a permit without grid-tie agreement?

    I live in California and have a grandfathered house which was built long before the county had a building department. To keep my “occupancy” I must purchase power from my utility, They charge me a meter reading fee of $5.00 per month if i use no power so i use $5.00 or so a month to power yard...
  • Post in thread: Generator pops it's GFCI when I plug the rv into it after inverter install.

    The GFCI in the generator is tripping because there is a neutral to ground bond in the inverter. This is a real common problem. There does need for there to be a neutral to ground bond but at one place and one place only. Here is where the problem arises....when running on batteries and...
  • Post in thread: NEWS: New Midnite Solar DIY Series - SCC's & Inverters (great $ too)

    I have called MidNite for support and robin answered the phone and said “ robin can i help you” , I was suprised and the only thing that came to mind to say was “the robin” , he said “yes, i was just down here and i grabbed the phone“ just like it was an everyday thing.......Now do you know...
  • Post in thread: Do I(we) need UL1741?

    To be clear UL 1741SA is required for grid connected UL1741 is required in any building regulated by the building code (off grid or grid assisted) UL 458 is required for a boat, RV, (not connected to the grid), airplane, train, etc. It is totally acceptable to use a UL1741 listed inverter...
  • Post in thread: Do NOT discard a Dead Victron MPPT 100/30 or its kind

    Not made in USA.....enough for me. No seriously Victron was a world class company years ago, their marine gear was respected worldwide but their modern solar stuff is pretty substandard. I have trouble programming them to set values for the intended use.The Bluetooth programming thing is...
  • Post in thread: DC Circuit Breaker Fires!!

    I write from expereince, by the time of the Alaska Earthquake I had my FCC ticket as well as a FAA special electrics and avionics as well as PIC of the J2, J3, PA18 Cessna 180, what is your experience there. I retired from one of the worlds largest electrical companies both in communications and...
  • Post in thread: NEWS: New Midnite Solar DIY Series - SCC's & Inverters (great $ too)

    ETL listing is accepted by building authorities Many electronic devices are listed by numerous listing agencies. ETL, UL, T.U.V., Intertek are all approved by U.S. OSHA as NRTL’s (Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories ) Testing labs must be certified by OSHA through their NRTL program...
  • Post in thread: Idle 'no load' Consumption: Specs vs Your Personal Observation

    All inverters 24 volt, published specs listed......<as tested in use here> MagnaSine MS4024AE 4kw 120/240 low frequency iron core transformer 20 watts idle <32 watts...fans locked on> Exeltech XP 1100-124 1100 watts 120 v high frequency ultra clean sine wave very low EMI/RFI 20 watts...
  • Post in thread: UL listing and/or other certifications

    Different countries have different standards. In the U.S. It is UL ( Underwriters Laboritory) For a inverter powering a dwelling the standard is U.L.1741 My Magnasine is “listed by“ ETL TO UL 1741 My Midnight Solar Classic is “listed by“ ETL TO UL 1741 Please note the...
  • Post in thread: DC Circuit Breaker Fires!!

    Personally I would much rather trust an well established American company verses any chinese manufacturing shop. But then I did a whole career doing high end electrics but.......I retired from GE....not really proud of their “dirty steam nuclear reactors” BWR’s if you know what I am speaking...
  • Post in thread: My Dometic RV fridge is sucking my batteries dry and I can't determine why?!

    Most Dometic adsorbtion refrigerators do need 12 volts dc to power the gas solenoid and logic circuits. The logic board is powered by 12 volts dc no matter what the source of cooling. Even if you are powering from AC to run the heater elements, the logic board and gas solenoid are powered by...
  • Post in thread: Why is mppt better than pwm?

    Can i point out a few facts.... Solar panels were in common use in the communications industry a good 20 years before we had the technology to design PWM controllers. Solar was popularized by the communications industry, the monocrystalline cell was patented by Bell Labs in 1952 or so. Bell...
  • Post in thread: Battery disconnect for nominal 48v systems?

    In the USA, under 50 volts is low voltage so falls under a different set of rules, so a 48 volt system (which will have voltages over 50 volts) legally must be in conduit, batteries must be in a steel box with wiring to the inverters, charge controllers “must be “ in conduit where as a 24 volt...
  • Post in thread: NEWS: New Midnite Solar DIY Series - SCC's & Inverters (great $ too)

    I would not sell my MidNite Classic 150,s (2) or MidNite Kid (2) (beta test units) for 3X the price i paid for them I had one small issue with my first Classic, I was moving it to a new location and bumped it too hard and the insulator block on the solar input/ battery output fell into the fan...
  • Post in thread: Safe Grid Use of the 5000ES and transformer

    Has anyone considered what happens with a lightening strike on the grid..... Do you really think that the grid stays at 120/240 volts....Have you really measured that. Clue a digital or analog voltmeter will NOT measure that spike! Not if and or butt.....Even my Fluke 87V (>$400.00) does not...
  • Post in thread: Why did my SIX marine batteries (27DC2) die in less than one year?

    Your installer does not have a clue, your batteries died due to LOM......Lack of maintaince and the wrong batteries for the application. Any battery such as an RV or Marine battery is not truly a deep cycle and as such is not a good battery for cycling use such as solar. If the battery has a CCA...
  • Post in thread: Safety hazard w/ Growatt 5000ES (European version) when connected to American grid

    There is no such thing as UL certified....period....that is an advertising scam. U.S. NEC states very clearly that the device must be “ listed by a US OSHA NRTL to the applicable U.L. standard” By listing that means the Nationally Recognized Testing Laboritory had tested all functions and...
  • Post in thread: Some ways to run a fridge on solar energy

    Was a very early adopter of DC compressor referigeration, I have two Grape Solar branded refrigerators that I bought from Home Depot. I bought the first for $800. with a 1 year warranty. It failed at 11 1/2 months and was replaced under warranty. The failure was the breaking of the freezer...
  • Post in thread: My Dometic RV fridge is sucking my batteries dry and I can't determine why?!

    As a test I ran one Grape Solar dc compressor referigerator on one 50 watt solar panel and one very used Honda 50-60 amp hour battery on a hot sunny california day....did just fine, they do recommend one 100 watt panel and one 100 a.h. 12 volt battery at a minimum. I now have three dc...
  • Post in thread: 12/1200 Phoenix Inverter Confusion

    Please note....VICTRON does not rate their inverter in WATTS......the rating is VA.....Volt Amps. For AC Volt Amps includes reactive amps which is NOT POWER.....THAT IS REFLECTED POWER..A direct result of VOLTS and AMPS NOT IN PHASE Read the specs....very clearly it is RATED 1000 watts for a...
  • Post in thread: Resettable Circuit Breaker - Voltage Drop

    On code sets..... The big standard for buildings in the US there is the NEC.....National Electric Code.. this is written by the NFPA, the National Fire Prevention Association, this is not a government agency ....thus isolated from politics. It goes into many details of the safe way to wire...
  • Post in thread: Battery disconnect for nominal 48v systems?

    Im surprised, Is that in your Sunny boy inverters. They use QO plug on buss breakers? I don't really touch grid tie solar, Living out on the edges it does not make any sense to me to grid tie. Most of my commercial electrical work is Agriculture or Industrial, with a smattering of remodels...
  • Post in thread: must replace turbines after storm need help with good choice please

    extremely low output....high wind speed needed to get usable power...alternator type not suitable for low r.p.m. use my vw generator wind machine with a 6 foot carved sitka spruce blade outpreformed the MWS turbine at any windspeed
  • Post in thread: Chassis is shocking us when connected to ungrounded shore

    Serious advice..... Run a 3 wire 10 guage service to a dedicated outlet for the R.V. Use a NEMA TT-30 socket and connector to plug in your bus to shore power. This TT-30 connector is very specifically designed for travel trailers and RV’s This is exactly how all marketable R.V.’s are wired...
  • Post in thread: Midnight classic150 & Schneider 4024 good combo?

    The maximum rating does depend on the “voltage transform ratio” That is the ratio between the battery voltage and the input voltage from the array. For those folks who just must use the highest voltage possible for the P.V. input voltage will have lower current rating directly due to the fact...
  • Post in thread: Dump all excess PV to air heater?

    This has been done for many years, its called load diversion. I have been doing this for years, when my large format flooded lead acid batteries are nearing full charge i use a diversion controller that diverts excess power from the batteries to a dump load. Everything is direct DC as resistive...
  • Post in thread: Unique Portable Solar Power Idea?

    Unfortunately my local jurisdiction is very against anything except super expensive housing as you will plunk down $70,000 permit application fees before you can turn a shovel of dirt. We are one of the smallest counties in population but have a very overreaching building authority. We have the...
  • Post in thread: EG4-LL missing breaker

    Well.......seeing that a AC breaker cannot extinguish a DC arc this is a fatal flaw of the designers and they would be absolutely responsible for any damages that occurs due to opening a breaker not designed or rated for the load. Even if they said it was a disconnect only An AC rated breaker...
  • Post in thread: Dumb Question Regarding the Growatt 12kW 48V 250VDC 120A Off-Grid Inverter

    Schism, That may be true or not.....some inverters can run in 2 wire input and via their output transformer provide a neutral from there to provide 120/240 split phase, The neutral output of the inverter is in relation to the inverters output....not the input of the inverter. Keep in mind when...
  • Post in thread: My solar panels dont have bypass diodes!

    Originally installed on a Radio repeater site in Southern California on Blue Mountain near San Bernado by myself and crew for the communications giant that I was employed with at the time, Removed and replaced in ‘72 by myself. Obtained directly from Arco Solar by GE communications, not through...
  • Post in thread: Do I(we) need UL1741?

    I have never had that issue, as a child my family suffered a burn down to the ground, in the dead of winter, in Alaska We had to kick the chickens out of the coop and survive in that through the winter. Lessons learnt.....My electrics and heatings at least were code or as near as possible...
  • Post in thread: Unique Portable Solar Power Idea?

    Its gotta be pre ‘40’s as there is no main, no “cutoff switch” only one 30 amp screw in fuse in a very antique box. All cotton covered wire and PG&E has installed a warning plaque “Warning Meter readers DO NOT TOUCH SERVICE” read from 3 feet, If i touch it I need a permit, I have to pay...
  • Post in thread: Bonding / Grounding, Will's 13kW System, and my Youtube Community Ban

    Metal chains are no longer used, There are grounding straps that hang from the chassis but they cannot emit sparks and do very well ground the tankers. This is standard in the industry. I had the expereince of being front and center at tanker and crop duster helicopter refueling incident that...
  • Post in thread: Sol-Ark needs a serious Change!

    Unless you buy a product from MidNite Solar, if you have a problem they will put you in touch with an engineer familiar with the issue even up to boB Gudgel , the chief mechanical engineer and the cheif technical officer or Robin Gudgel , the cheif electrical engineer and the founder and...
  • Post in thread: Resettable Circuit Breaker - Voltage Drop

    The one thing that i worry about with Lithium batteries is the available short circuit capacity. The amps are huge at dead short circuit. Really good breakers have a A.I.C. rating....That is not the trip amps, the A.I.C. rating is the Amp Interrupt capability. When that massive dead short...
  • Post in thread: Unattended, frozen environment battery recommendations

    In very low temperatures it is also very important to keep your batteries fully charged as the higher the specific gravity of a lead acid battery, the lower the temperature it will freeze at. A fully charged battery at 1.280 s.g. will not freeze at 70 below zero but a battery at 1.100 will be...
  • Post in thread: How good of an electrician are you?

    I have seen many shops where some unqualified person has gone into the panel and used the only space available and installed a breaker to feed a 120 volt item...on the “stinger leg” ....the magic smoke is released from the unsuspecting device. I always attach a custom label which clearly points...
  • Post in thread: AC side MPP LV6548 connections, critical load panel, wiring

    Copied from a post above...... <START COPY> Scott, I'm never a fan of switching N at all in any circumstance. It not switched anywhere on even industrial applications. It is dangerous. You are adding one more point of failure. Im assuming you are wanting to automatically bypass the inverter in...
  • Post in thread: Not to happy with Magnum.

    Samlex is very impressive, rock solid unit as far as I have seen, they too are low frequency iron core transformers. I have never used their inverters but I do have Samlex DC-DC Converters , both the SDC-30 non-isolated and the IDC-30 fully isolated converters and have never had a bit of trouble...
  • Post in thread: Beware @Michael B Caro

    UPDATE......from Steve Lehto’s YouTube page.... UPDATE: I HAVE SPOKEN WITH THE WOMAN IN THIS STORY AND BoA HAS AGREED TO TAKE THE MATTER UP IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT IS NO LONGER HER CONCERN With big banks you need STEVE LEHTO on your side
  • Post in thread: My generator battery froze

    Good way to totally destroy battery..... NEVER.....attempt to charge frozen battery.....it will be totally destroyed....not if and or butt... Correct method to attempt to recover frozen battery 1) bring battery to warmer space 2) let battery warm up to room temp, at least 50 degrees F so...
  • Post in thread: Going to mount 8 410w bifacial solar panels vertically

    way too spendy for grid tie use....I was doing radio communications back then , those 50 watters were $950.00 ea. but I think that was an inside deal. I was working for a communications giant and we engineered Arco Solar’s Communications Sites, both for the ARCO refineries as well as Arco...
  • Post in thread: My Dometic RV fridge is sucking my batteries dry and I can't determine why?!

    Adsorption referigeration is incredibly inefficient. Steady state draw on AC or DC is about 300 watts. It is not compressor driven, it has electrical heating elements to evaporate the ammonia. I am using Grape Solar referigerators that fit in the space of the original adsorption referigeration...
  • Post in thread: Midnight polarized breaker direction

    The + symbol indicates the source capable of the maximum power, not the maximum voltage. Take the case of a Midnight Solar Classic 150 solar controller with a 5000 watt array connected to a 826 a.h. battery bank and the controller massively short circuits.... maximum power from controller to...
  • Post in thread: Perfect Battery Rachet?

    Just found this on Amazon, looks promising , steel core with high impact plastic wrapping most of tool, I ordered it for safery. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A50N9V2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1
  • Post in thread: Giandel NO Ground-Neutral Bonding

    Under the NEC in the USA the mobile home should not have a neutral/ground in its main panel as it is really a sub-panel fed by the meter/main which is located outside the mobile home. In the NEC and all other code sets that i have seen you can bond neutral to ground at one point and one point...
  • Post in thread: Is this Blue Sea Systems 6007 battery selector / disconnect a no go for a 48V LiFePO4 pack?

    Most modern (larger) marine applications are 24 volts, 32 and 36 volt systems were used in the 1930’s thru the 1950’s but that is history. The Jacobs wind generators of the 1930’s thru the 1950’s were 32 or 36 volts DC. Nobody uses 32 & 36 volt systems anymore and there are no marine...
  • Post in thread: Additional hydraulic crimper dies?

    @Just John I have used mine for several years now and its the best that i have found. Its die sizes are very accurate but you do need to do a test crimp. But unlike several others, like the yellow harbor freight one above these dies are made correctly. not undersized to the point of uselessness.

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