Recent content by wrybread

I needed to power a pump at a remote pond for a few minutes an hour and was surprised to find that the load switch on Renogy charge controllers didn't have any auto modes that could be used in the day. Here's a screenshot from the manual showing the available modes of the load switch: I needed...

Here in America I've had great luck with Craigslist. Also try calling around to the various solar installers in your area, they often have panels they pulled from old jobs or replaced for one reason or another. They need to use all the same panel for a given job, so they often have odd panels...

Are you married to those panels? If not, I've had much better luck with house style (~300 watt panels) than those little guys, especially flexible ones. For one thing they're higher voltage, more like 36 volts instead of 19 volts. They're also dirt cheap if you get older ones. I just picked up a...

I always go flat, especially if tilted requires me to do anything. Flat mounted panels are about 15% less efficient than those mounted at the right angle for your lattitude (or so I've been told, maybe someone here can correct), but I'm way more than 15% more likely to have them in place, ha. I...

Thank you! And @Northernchateau, that 8ga wire and is temporary, we ran out of wire lugs so couldn't trim that or make another. There will be two 8ga wires in final form that are a bit shorter than that. I hope 8ga is beefy enough. As far as fuses, he made that box (the 2x4's) without leaving...

Just a quick followup: I bought these cells: https://www.gobelpower.com/eve-32v-280ah-rechargeable-lifepo4-battery-cell_p6.html They delivered them quickly, packaged well. Great cells. Couldn't have been a better experience. And I got this BMS...

I'm helping a friend wire up some LFP batteries, I"m really loving these 280ah cells. (Coming soon: lots of tidying of the wires, ha. And he insisted on mounting the batteries there above the water tank, I hope it's ok longterm. He says he's never had any moisture there.) I donated my old...

Thanks for that! Reading about Giandel, there's some great reviews. I can't decide between the 1200 watt and the 2000 watt. I gather the standby load of the 2000 watt is 6 or 7 watts, which is about double the standby load of the 1200 watt. I guess it is nice to have a bit of extra power in...

I'm looking for a 1000-ish watt 12v inverter for a friend's installation. I've always used Xantrex inverters, but I havnt looked for alternatives in probably 5 years and guessing a lot has changed. The most complicated thing he's planning to use it for is a TV, which I *think* is 400 watts...

I'm working on a project that uses the load pins on a cheapie Renogy 10 amp PWM charge controller to power a bilge pump for a minute an hour whenever the battery has sufficient power, but I can't find the rating of those load pins anywhere. I'm using this charge controller if it matters (Renogy...

Would be nice if they'd drop ship them to SFO or wherever. I don't need them delivered the final 10 miles, glad to pick it up to save $100 or so.

I put 4 of the 280ah cells into my cart yesterday and had their site calculate shipping to San Franisico. The cells are $420, slow shipping to San Francisco was $127 and fast shipping, which I think was 10 days, was $295.

Thanks for that, super good recommendation. I think he already ordered (from Docan) but I have some old Trojan T105s that need replacing and I think I'm going to go with globalpower.com. I really like how they explain the battery issues/politics/shinanigans.

Is that what typically happens with grade b cells, they have less load potential? Guessing there's also a chance of lower capacity? If so does anyone have any theories about how great the risk is to capacity? My friend is trying to keep things as cheap as possible, but on the other hand if he...

Interesting. How has your experience been with the B cells? Any issues? And do you know off hand how much they cost? And thanks everyone for the tips.