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An old country preacher had a teenage son, and it was getting time the boy should give some thought to choosing a profession. Like many young men his age, the boy didn’t really know what he wanted to do, and he didn’t seem too concerned about it. One day, while the boy was away at school, his...

Almost ready to put the end caps on, here is my off grid pole barndominuim built it myself with a 54 year old backhoe, water level, grain bins and drill stem pipe. would of went with the shipping container stacking and such idea, but too expensive to get them here even if I did it myself. Grain...

I'm going to add my advice, mount between the rear axle and the front axle. Anything behind the rear axle is going to bounce a lot more and harder than the rest of the rig

I got the unit back online. Anything below -4°F even if you just turn the unit off and turn it back on will put it in safe mode and not power back up. Don't know where it senses the temperature, but when it does that is it if you turn it off. Soon as it hits the 30's I'm putting this unit...

That's called a post framed barn since it was built with posts not poles, folks get them mixed up all the time or don't know there is a difference. This is my pole barn and is more complicated to build due to more complicated mathematics to make the cuts line up with the poles such as the saddles.

Got the beta version, haven't hooked it up yet I need to get my pole barn enclosed first which is in next 30 days. First look, well built, packaged perfectly and loaded with goodies no other MPPT I have seen have. Figure to let the community get a look at it the way it's never been seen, all...

Makes perfect sense in longevity of a product not just in solar but in vehicles tools and anything in that nature. Yeah I drive a semi for a personal vehicle to haul stuff a pickup could possibly haul but if I don't load it up to max 80,000 lbs it will last me for decades. Before one gets on the...

No infestation here and if you ever lived out in the country not in a community actual country land you will find mice are natural rodents of said areas. Pick your wires up all you want but they will climb anywhere, nest anywhere and if they can squeeze their head through the rest will follow.

I bet you more carbon emissions were put out than that cow farts making such device, shipping it to destination, installing such contraption, then the emissions put out by the person who maintains it, the rancher who moves it from one cow to another and then the disposal of it.

Your farts will be taxed soon as money will fix the climate, just ask the cows!

I do love the fact there is a wood stove right next to the battery pack. That can be a contributing factor if it was in use.

Yes it is still pushing 31V at 45 amps, about 45% full according to battery monitor. I put some flex pipe on generator then that exhausted onto propane tank.

IT"S ALIVE!!!! :eek: Only 10 panels on this trial, will try a 11th one later though needs to be monitored for low temperatures to not exceed 600V and then will put another 11 on in parallel, bringing the total to 22 panels.

Seems pretty basic once one writes it out, I understand it now.

You have the exact problem I have except on a 40A version. If it's under 2 years old call up Renogy and get it replaced and tell them what all you have done, they will ask for pictures of the battery voltage, solar panel voltage than the unit itself showing the problem. If you get a response...

Strong enough cylinder to bear the for and hold the thumb at any angle instead of getting off and locking for each angle you want to grab from. They do have those that are just of mechanical locking in certain position and that's it. Believe me, I got plenty of stuff to weld naked on, this...

Here gets down to 40 below or so in the winter, I put a car battery on mine to get it going sometimes with little bit of either with a backfire sometimes if not careful with the choke. Takes a minute but I get her running each time I move the choke more open till it fires up. Notice my problems...

I have two Ford 4500 backhoes, one for parts and that's where I got my cylinder from. Just had Discount Hydraulic custom make the lines, I bought a Prince valve from Surplus Center and will make a custom pedal control to run it.

https://commercialsolarguy.com/2020/08/10/a-lithium-ion-battery-burnt-four-firefighters-were-knocked-unconscious-a-timeline-and-recommendations/

Still de-sulfating 28 hrs later... 78% @ 80 amps, pushing the limits now of the inverter/charger.

Cons of going off grid, I got a good one for those really far out off grid. You end up with trailer trash living near you running generators all the time, trashing the place, uncontrolled animals running around and abandoned travel trailers. So bad the city folks who do contracting work won't...

Nope we sure don't, not even for septic :poop:

Will need about 3 miles of lines to put power in here, so I know it's cheaper for solar than grid tie. If the power goes out here, utility company won't be back out here in dead of the winter to fix it in 2 feet of snow for a few days maybe weeks. Power has went out less times than grid power...

Be nice to see comparison of CIGS to bi-facial panels. I would surmise bi-facial would come out on top due to ability to produced in all climates though not great the closer one gets to equator same as CIGS since they don't like heat.

Yes they will go for donuts for food but they need somewhere nice and warm to nest after that snack. Now to build that nest these batteries look nice warm and dark, first I need some supplies, little bit of wires some insulation from your walls or clothes in a closet.

I would run it on lower viscosity but they don't offer it in town have to order it online. Ran a souped up Geo Metro on 0W 20 before moving out here so I know it exists. Off course that inline six will run almost half million miles, as will most well designed inline engines if not pushed past...

Working on it right now. Seems to be bit convoluted based on this is new. Will get pictures up hopefully today of my progress. My suggestion is if you go this route get the back plates, they make life so much easier and it's more cleaner.

They come here together and leave together as the cheap price for land entices them with the promise of low monthly financing and they get here and realize, no electricity, no cell phone service, no water, no services, zilch then long distance to get in town through dead of winter to work as the...

This is what is keeping the lights on and ability to reach out for help. Without it cell phone signal doesn't exist, internet lines don't exist and town is 49.2 miles away down a rock/dirt road covered in snow/ice. Dirtiest hack I have done in a long time, you can see the light blink on above...

I'm surprised the breakers didn't flip either.

yawn...stretch... Round 3 lets see what we can do... Won't be any SG readings till Friday for this round so I will beat them and feed them water for 3 days as I wait for temperatures to get above 0 degrees.

Let me guess you guys are the crowd that deflate tires when doing tire change to make them lighter to move around :rolleyes:

Schneiders can't be stacked unless you get the hybrid one which cost twice as much, Victron and Outback are more expensive per a watt they put out, lastly Magnum is American made also besides being able to be stacked 4 high.

That's a bit far with a semi in fuel, would be $2000 for the fuel alone round trip.

If you want a piece of lumber you can get it from there, if you want something like that good luck. I learned long ago box stores mostly don’t and won’t carry anything more than the basics and that is subjective too on quality. I wouldn’t even trust the bricks at Lowe’s or Home Depot to build a...

Convert it to a gas engine or diesel engine from electric motor and save few thousand dollars then mount the compressor outside the shipping container. Some things aren't worth trying to run on solar, i.e. welding machines, air compressors, plasma cutters etc... Sell the electric motor to recoup...

About 5 gallons, I don't run the de-sulphate program unless I got two on hand.

I looked it up and it averages 5 hrs a day here so after mathematics that's 50 kWh a day anywho here is the panels we offloaded here... Alright hun that's one, twenty-three more to go...

I put a multi meter on mine and it showed 12.7 on the battery, 0 volts coming in from charge controller and 40 plus volts from the panel coming in, so I know it ain't my end. Thankfully it's just to maintain batteries I have around here for equipment, I have a Midnite 150SL running my home.

More north you are the better bi-facials work due to angle of the sun also. A flat to almost flat bi-facial panel isn't getting the reflecting light from the backside as much. Got bi-facials myself and won't go back.

Being it's a forklift battery means it's in a metal case 1/4 inch thick that with these temperatures out here you aren't going to feel anything. Has a watering system on it so don't have to worry about losing too much water unlike regular battery caps (got some water miser caps on the way), but...

Found lugs for them just as for any other sizes, you got the long barrel and short barrel sizes ones with multiple size bolt holes with two bolt hole ones too. Found a 200' plus roll of 262 MCM for $3 a foot that I will buy for my forklift battery to power up my solar system.

Don't know yet haven't had time to check since you need to let the battery settle some with no heavy loads pulling and provided I need AC for the freezer to keep up haven't checked. Will check later when fall hits, not like I can do anything with it anyways if it isn't working and if it is it's...

Yes, showing 1.24 SG

Next up will be pairing up a ß Rosie inverter/charger from Midnite and spanking it like a redheaded stepchild.

I have yet to fill it up all the way after a charge, just enough to keep it about half inch to quarter inch above the plates so when I hit them I want to get them warm as possible in these temperatures.

What thickness are you welding? I can pull up to 50 amps on my welder and it has inverter technology which I mostly pull around 30 amps AC which according to my calculations 6600 watts and up. Not wanting to turn all the lights out and appliances in the house or RV to weld. No I don't live in...

Still haven't made it over 1.24 and until I get something more powerful to push more amperage to warm the battery up I doubt it will, or it gets warmer outside.

That sure cranked some amps up, going to need to switch to gasoline on it to handle the load. I only took it up to mid 30 amps with room to crank the amps up, cause anymore than that and the genset is throwing a fit, either propane is too low, too cold for any power from propane.

https://www.hubbell.com/burndy/en/search2?text=262&CSRFToken=e209cbee-7738-4640-8101-b25bfc48e63d&searchQuery=262#search-item-30

Yes they are frozen as I figured out and I couldn't fill up through that small rinky dink water line they have installed if it wasn't frozen unless I put their special refill thingy on it. I got water miser caps on the way and I do have a blinky basic LED light on it that warns me when that one...

WAIT!!! I had an epiphany... besides the 11S2P I can take one of the 2 spare solar panels and put in a DC fence charger (electric fence). Won't need many batteries as there will be a timer it runs on it. Had horses break my fence that I use to keep horses out (ironic) with and destroyed some of...

It was DC, the AC ones are old school and cause ventricular fibrillation.

Redneck you say :p

One mouse chew away from a dangerous fire that the fumes alone if burning will either kill you or be long term health problem if one puts them in their house. Rather put my power station outdoors in its own structure, got enough deadly chemicals in a house or stuff that can burn to kill one.

Montana in the southeast quadrant.

Yep mine would start the audible alarm at 32V, max amps is 85 for it but will work in conjunction with CC. My CC is on max smoke settings for current battery and will do same when I get this one online. Read the part fill after full charge on the watering system which in itself won't let you...

Mixing dissimilar metals aluminum and steel creates electrolysis which causes the corrosion of the aluminum frames on the solar panels which is sped up by moisture. If you are going to do this use aluminum for framing with stainless steel hardware or find a way to isolate the two metals from...

At this rate sounds like I can also power up a gate opener too! Will feel bad if I went that luxurious out here, one neighbor 3 miles out burns her house to ground every few years other ones live in campers/RV's on gensets (me and wife placing bets before they burn out) and another has dirt...

Made 105 degrees today and for the first time the battery seems to have opened up taking in 113A, would of taken more if I had it. Yeah I'm still hammering on it after all this time :ROFLMAO:

Only goes down to 185V to wake it up and you can either use their power curve for wind or build one yourself per say of the manual I'm looking at. It does 200A not 130A, doesn't have Hyper VOC as that second picture. Your first list of bulletins is correct.

Here's the party! I'm going to need to bring out my bigger welder to push it harder.

I'm using a AIMS 6KW 24V 120/240V inverter/charger since 2019, I turn it on every morning and cut it off at night, ran flawless through -40 temperatures to 115 degrees. Had to use a fan on it when I was using the charging at 110 degrees cause it would cut off but that's understandable. My next...

Before anyone decides to do this in lets say Texas or Minnesota you might want to look at these charts. First one is frost depth unlike most frost depth maps this is what most building codes go off of, second one is ground temperatures after certain depth and coolest you can get underground at...

Went into -40° temperatures sending the VOC way past the 600VDC threshold on the charge controller which sent it into rest mode. Remedy the problem by taking two panels offline and restarted the unit which I also restarted the inverter. Now I got solar coming in and inverter is down, will not be...

I have same one, going on two years and counting with temperatures of 110 degrees Fahrenheit to 33 degrees below zero Fahrenheit it has still ran each morning I flip the switch to turn it on or the times I had to recharge or equalized the batteries.

Going to hit 74 degrees tomorrow for first time since this thread that it has hit 70 plus. Time to cook a battery :devilish:

It gets up to 115 here and down to -40, if I can make it work on lead acid then it can be done anywhere in the continental US. Your system goes down in the winter here and you might not live through the experience. Glad you made it work, not many are wiling to make the plunge.

MYLR Model Y Long Range SENC Southeast North Carolina

Don't feel bad, I tried to jump start my truck with a defibrillator.

46.05 Latitude -106.14 Longitude If you try to follow the power lines to my house you will never find me, cause there isn't any :ROFLMAO: BTW we have hit -40 degrees here with -60 wind chill of 20 mph.

Yes it does and is installed, very easy RJ11 port to plug in. I think at this point insulation in itself and everything I have won't warm the battery to de-sulphate this battery till it warms up.

I can feed it directly from solar array, though it would suck if a cloud passed over while welding and the voltage drops below 500V to shut everything down or can't run tools on cloudy day.

All dressed up and ready for the party

Solar on west side of Washington state is like sunglasses for a blind man. I lived in Port Angeles for a bit, thankfully I left. Welcome to the madness!

Welp I made it to the end of 100%, don't ask me on SG it's 20 below zero Fahrenheit. ?

You want solar to run the security system? Sounds like by the time the security system alert the authorities they are long gone. Check with local laws and I'm not legally responsible if you use these but, here put some of these in the door ways, windows etc etc etc... Perimeter alarms with game...

That cradlepoint LTE modem wouldn't work out here either, and I am in mid west/west though we travel and the wife works online also so I speak from experience. It's so desolate here nearest neighbor is 2.5 miles away mail runs 3 days a week on a good week which is 2.75 miles away to mailbox...

The max number of panels I see in a row together with bi-facial is two and they are turned sideways as in two 40" x 80" panels with the 80" side going horizontal and 40" side vertical.

How far are your poles spaced apart holding the top railing?

Take it no one bought the special bit for drilling these connecting straps out? https://powrparts.com/collections/industrial-tools-for-battery-rooms/products/post-saver-drill-bit https://powrparts.com/collections/industrial-tools-for-battery-rooms/products/lead-head-post-mold I wish my cells...

I got about 24 of these bi-facials that I haven't put all up yet, but putting them as carport will go against the way they are designed to work at max efficiency.

From my experience, there is off grid as in you pull the plug from utilities company and you still can walk to local 7-11 then there is off grid as in nothing exists there and nothing within a hour drive. I live latter of the two and love it even with it's cons.

Yes I have but to have that many panels in a temp set up is asking for trouble here, i.e. right now winds are gusting to 65 mph and to have few instead of all panels is not enough for the stuff I do. I am trying to get enough power for running power tools and welding without running genset. Max...

Can someone point in the direction for a 3 phase inverter for up to 480V feeding off 48V battery. I got plenty of solar to feed it, reason is I noticed most 3 phase tools are cheaper to get i.e. welders, compressors etc, more efficient of course and can handle larger projects.

Will I have to take it off of de-sulfate to do it...or keep it there?

I was thinking same thing given the lack of current going in too to warm them up to be tickled. Like trying to debark a tree in winter time, better do that in spring summer.

For future references if anyone embarks down this path of going bigger than 4/0 cable size, the 262.6MCM is barely too big for 4/0 lugs you will need 250MCM for a lug. Tried it and I'm sure if I heated up the lug I would fit it but would of melted the tin off.

Got a 12 85 31 forklift battery originally was 18 85 31 which is about 2010 AH and was wondering how many amps it needs to keep it happy when charging to prevent sulfation also what the max is. I know lead acid is around .5C but since this has bigger plates I assume it can take/needs more than that.

I will rip the AC input side wires off tomorrow as according to manual that could be a problem too and I believe where it's at since it has horrible mechanical lugs that are subpar. I just got it online yesterday and so far ran generator 7 hours yesterday, let charge controller take over today...

Some of us like to do things with our lives and not trapped on a boat confined by the square footage our boat is. Yeah you can hop on land time to time wherever walk around and that's it. Which that in itself is limitation of how far you go if you can't get transportation. You must not be in the...

Welcome to my world of going down the rabbit hole. I spend more hours researching from solar to anything to do with engines and list goes on than most spend watching TV. Speaking of which I haven't watched TV in in decades! Here is something to thinking about, what if your property has steep...

This what I see in what is needed in wire size or smaller, and how much it will cost for 4 wires at said length. Does this look right?

It followed the Barcelona down to -40°, but when I restarted it is when it had problems. Got to be a way to get the unit to operate without Barcelona and I'm not seeing it. I have welded with inverter welder up to quarter inch thick steel with it. I wouldn't look down on this moment, seems its...

If I can recall anything from what I felt it's a little fuzzy for some reason but yeah that's what it felt like to me.

Yes it's regular out here in January/February. I've cycled multiple times different ways, bypass on/inverter off vice versus, AC In off/off, turn one unit one before the other and vice versus. Yeah I tried it.