Man Cave

Dacrockett001 · Jul 23, 2020

This is what I have so far for my man cave.

snoobler · Jul 23, 2020

Are those the giant group 8D batteries that they put in school buses and farm equipment?

If so, they are typically a very poor choice for solar. I've never seen one that is designed for deep cycle, i.e., they are starter batteries to crank the crap out of the big engines. If you can manage to absolutely minimize their use, i.e., don't run them down much below 80-90%, you might get a couple years out of them. If they were super cheap or free, absolutely no harm in using them, but start planning their replacement.

Also, you need to feed those beasts. Charging them at much below 0.1C, and you will get sulfation on the plates, which will continually erode your capacity. Based on weight alone, those likely have around 130-150Ah in them meaning you need to be able to provide 26-30A of reliable charge current to the parallel pair to fully charge them. If they're in series, you only need 13-15A. 750W has that covered as long as the panels are in full sun.

DASH · Jul 23, 2020

Are You in Phoenix? What do You plan to power once You have your system up and running?

nwillitts · Jul 23, 2020

it is a start.you need more bricks...................

Dacrockett001 · Jul 23, 2020

snoobler said:
Are those the giant group 8D batteries that they put in school buses and farm equipment?

If so, they are typically a very poor choice for solar. I've never seen one that is designed for deep cycle, i.e., they are starter batteries to crank the crap out of the big engines. If you can manage to absolutely minimize their use, i.e., don't run them down much below 80-90%, you might get a couple years out of them. If they were super cheap or free, absolutely no harm in using them, but start planning their replacement.

Also, you need to feed those beasts. Charging them at much below 0.1C, and you will get sulfation on the plates, which will continually erode your capacity. Based on weight alone, those likely have around 130-150Ah in them meaning you need to be able to provide 26-30A of reliable charge current to the parallel pair to fully charge them. If they're in series, you only need 13-15A. 750W has that covered as long as the panels are in full sun.

Yes, these are 210aH CAT batteries, I do get them for free, where I work we have 4 or 5 big CAT generators with 2 batteries each, and every 3 years part of the maintenance is replacing the batteries, for years they have just sent them out to be recycled, but no more, LOL

snoobler · Jul 23, 2020

In that case, they are AWESOME!

And to DASH's point, are you in the Phoenix area? I'm in Mesa.

Dacrockett001 · Jul 23, 2020

DASH said:
Are You in Phoenix? What do You plan to power once You have your system up and running?

I live in Laughlin Nevada, right now I have some land scape lights that I have converted to run off my solar power. I I will be adding more land scape lights and DC power to the Man Cave, next year I am going to get a 48 volt split system air conditioner, I will have lights out there, maybe even a fridge if I can find one that is DC, I really don't want to have a converter for 120 volt AC appliances.

Dacrockett001 · Jul 23, 2020

nwillitts said:
it is a start.you need more bricks...................

Yes, I will be anchoring it down some more.

Dacrockett001 · Jul 23, 2020

snoobler said:
In that case, they are AWESOME!

And to DASH's point, are you in the Phoenix area? I'm in Mesa.

I am in Laughlin Nevada.

snoobler · Jul 23, 2020

Cool. Consider that a good low cost inverter will likely save you bank or at least break even on 110VAC vs. DC appliances and give you much more flexibility. It's worth doing the math.

Dacrockett001 · Jul 24, 2020

snoobler said:
Cool. Consider that a good low cost inverter will likely save you bank or at least break even on 110VAC vs. DC appliances and give you much more flexibility. It's worth doing the math.

I will look in to it further, thank you.

Dacrockett001 · Jul 24, 2020

Here are some more pictures of the Man Cave and some lights I have on my solar power now.

Dacrockett001 · Jul 24, 2020

This is a side of the Man Cave.

DASH · Jul 24, 2020

Dacrockett001 said:
I live in Laughlin Nevada, right now I have some land scape lights that I have converted to run off my solar power. I I will be adding more land scape lights and DC power to the Man Cave, next year I am going to get a 48 volt split system air conditioner, I will have lights out there, maybe even a fridge if I can find one that is DC, I really don't want to have a converter for 120 volt AC appliances.

There are several smaller fridges that run on 12 or 24 volts DC. The smaller window A/C units can run as low as 400 watts (with compressor running) but do require 120volts. These put out about 5,000 BTU; probably not enough unless you have a small, very well insulated man cave.

Dacrockett001 · Jul 25, 2020

DASH said:
There are several smaller fridges that run on 12 or 24 volts DC. The smaller window A/C units can run as low as 400 watts (with compressor running) but do require 120volts. These put out about 5,000 BTU; probably not enough unless you have a small, very well insulated man cave.

I have almost 400 square foot of floor space, and the short wall is almost 11’ and the tall wall is almost 13’ tall, I have 2X6 walls insulated with R-19 and 2X8 roof with R-19 also. I used the solar shield roof sheathing and corrugated metal with a reflective shield. I just want the AC as a novelty mostly, but I also don’t want my stuff melting during the hotter than hell summers here, lol

DASH · Jul 25, 2020

Dacrockett001 said:
I have almost 400 square foot of floor space, and the short wall is almost 11’ and the tall wall is almost 13’ tall, I have 2X6 walls insulated with R-19 and 2X8 roof with R-19 also. I used the solar shield roof sheathing and corrugated metal with a reflective shield. I just want the AC as a novelty mostly, but I also don’t want my stuff melting during the hotter than hell summers here, lol

Well a small window unit, wouldn't work, keeping You even remotely comfortable during the hot days, but it might be able to keep the temperature down far enough to protect your batteries and electronics.

Prefersdirt · Jul 28, 2020

Wish I could get some of those batteries! I have electric fencers that run off tractor batteries and the batteries we use are getting old.

Cool that you get them for free!

Dacrockett001 · Jul 29, 2020

Well, I broke down and bought the all in one PIP LV2424 MSD for the man cave, I really wanted to stay all DC, but... LOL, I can't wait to get it hooked up, it's supposed to be here Friday 31st.

snoobler · Jul 29, 2020

You just got upgraded to a luxury cavern my friend!

Deleted member 165 · Jul 29, 2020

I use a 6,000 btu window unit for my cabin, 375 square feet but only r15 in the walls, r19 ceiling. 12 foot ceilings. My unit does really well up to about 105 Fahrenheit. Beyond that, it will definitely keep your stuff from melting at least. It pulls 450 watts max.

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