Recent content by VagueDirector

I recently noticed the cell voltages of my 2.3kWh LiFePO4 system were unexpectedly deviating. After running my computer setup with it (~25A@12V) for a few hours, one of the cells was much lower than the others. This is odd as I know they have closely matched capacity. So I opened the case and...

The mains earth conductor from the AC input is connected to the AC charger, the solar charge controller and the inverter (green/yellow wire). The AC output is an I.T. earthing system with a floating neutral. I thought about adding a N-E link on the inverter along with an RCD, but read that it...

The main conductors from the battery to inverter are all 25mm^2 copper. I've marked wire sizes on the electrical diagram.

Yes I have noticed that. It isn't from the cables though, the hotspot there is from having the main fuse and switch very close together (both of which get warm under high load). The switch is supposed to be 100A or 200A rated (depending on where you look), but I'm keeping an eye on it as I...

The aim of developing this was to make an ultimate system to power my electronics under all situations. The system is able to make use of any solar input that is available, with the remaining power requirements made up from the AC input. The AC charger is set to 13.2V, which keeps the battery...

I highly doubt an mppt charger would be damaged by connecting panels only. All they are is a buck converter with some extra control logic for mppt and extra components to prevent the battery backfeeding the panels.

I have 8 of those 90Ah Varicore LiFePO4 cells. With my calibrated discharge tester I pulled 94Ah, 308Wh at C/20 rate. As for your test, it is likely a power factor issue. In AC systems V*A = apparent power, which is always >=real power. To know the real power you can't just measure current and...

@OutdoorAcorn I'm interested in this too, there seems to be a few people adamant that cell compression is required. I remember reading that cell compression increases the service life of the cells. The Fortune cells (from which my 3D printed deign is copied) are quite popular and have 1-2mm air...

I also bought a bunch of 90Ah cells from "GlobalPower Co., LT No.2 Store." 8 of them was $651AUD total including shipping and GST. Shipped in 21 days to Australia. Cells tested as 94Ah, 308Wh at C/20. I've made a 3D printable shroud/cap design for them (copied the Fortune design), which covers...

Posting this here as I'm sure there is someone who will find it useful. I didn't want to pull out my phone every time to check the battery's status. If you have worked with an Arduino before then this display shouldn't be hard to make. See the github repo for code, detailed descriptions...