He was on the forum last night. No responses. I had even private messages him with no response. I'm starting to think the whole thing was a "Rick Roll Or dare I say Randerson Roll
Video explaining my problem with my install
- Thread starter randerson
- Start date
Bob142
Build more, learn more.
I wish he would make one slow and deliberate full pass through the thread with an open mind. The real-time barrage of posts can be overwhelming and difficult to follow.
VincentRapide
New Member
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- Jun 23, 2020
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meanwhile . . .
>
So the current theory is the inrush demands from the capacitor are causing the battery to fault, which is why cycling it with the power switch works.
From what Craig said above, it sounds like a defective battery (e.g., inrush is 60 Amps, battery can supply 130 amps) since the MPP works fine once it has started.
If this is the case, easy way to fix it is to put a resistor (e.g., high wattage DC light bulb) in the path temporarily while the caps charge up. When the light goes out you can release the switch (e.g., no current flow as the caps are charged). It's a gentler way to charge those caps too, so perhaps not so temporary?
> [svetz] [diagram omitted]
You posted all this without once using the term "pre-charge" or "pre-charge resistor". Why is that? The unwashed masses *need* simple terms for complex/critical/important procedures that is why we give it an easy to remember name so they can remember it. Jargon is King. Our OP clearly resides in this population. I doubt his ploy of rapidly switching on-off-on-off ad infinitum indicates he has been doing this pre-charge dance since childhood with his first 100w inverter. But maybe I'm being too skeptical. With luck his unhappy distributor will be moved to gin up a proper User Manual.
--
>
So the current theory is the inrush demands from the capacitor are causing the battery to fault, which is why cycling it with the power switch works.
From what Craig said above, it sounds like a defective battery (e.g., inrush is 60 Amps, battery can supply 130 amps) since the MPP works fine once it has started.
If this is the case, easy way to fix it is to put a resistor (e.g., high wattage DC light bulb) in the path temporarily while the caps charge up. When the light goes out you can release the switch (e.g., no current flow as the caps are charged). It's a gentler way to charge those caps too, so perhaps not so temporary?
> [svetz] [diagram omitted]
You posted all this without once using the term "pre-charge" or "pre-charge resistor". Why is that? The unwashed masses *need* simple terms for complex/critical/important procedures that is why we give it an easy to remember name so they can remember it. Jargon is King. Our OP clearly resides in this population. I doubt his ploy of rapidly switching on-off-on-off ad infinitum indicates he has been doing this pre-charge dance since childhood with his first 100w inverter. But maybe I'm being too skeptical. With luck his unhappy distributor will be moved to gin up a proper User Manual.
--
I don't "pre charage" resistors. I like caring sparks fly. Actually with SSR's there are no sparks.
Last edited:
gnubie
Solar Wizard
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2019
- Messages
- 3,844
You aren't trying hard enough.
Well if i had them in my "garage" i may pre charge them lol I hate typing on phones!
I am confused.
svetz
Works in theory! Practice? That's something else
"Resistor" is more generic term and it eliminates the need for specialized jargon. After all, anyone that knew what a "pre-charge resistor" was wouldn't have a need to have the process explained to them.
One explanation for the behavior in the video is that when the OP flips the switch on the battery, the battery resets as the initial draw by the capacitors in the MPP is too high for it. By adding a resistor temporarily into the circuit (see the omitted diagram) the current flow can be reduced via Ohm's law. No need for the resistor once the capacitors have charged up, so it can be removed from the circuit. A light-bulb was suggested as the resistor since it'll give a visual indication as to when there was current flow. Craig had posted the caps drew 60 amps and the battery was supposed to supply 130 amps; so that would indicate a flaw is in the battery.
mandrews44
Solar Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2020
- Messages
- 247
Resisters used to precharge the capaciters.. Simplified 'Precharge Resisters' LOL
I get it. My point really is the term pre-charge resistors could confuse someone that doesn't know any better and was directed at VincentRapide who was complaining svetz explanation for pre-charging wasn't clear....lol. I looked at the diagram and the explanation and understood everything perfectly.
Yeah I know OP was determined to blame everything except the battery. I got heartburn from eating too much popcorn while watching this thread and his click and grind videos...lol. But I did learn how to properly pre-charge inverter CAPACITORS
svetz
Works in theory! Practice? That's something else
What a kind compliment! Thank you!
Don't be to hard on V though, like a lot of us in this thread I suspect he's slightly bored and was trying to add to the humor rather than being serious. My reply to him was meant more as being the "straight" man (e.g., help explain the joke). Covid has crimped a lot of life-styles and while no one wants a pity party humor is much needed.
Also, a very special thanks to the OP who was kind enough to put themselves out there in a video and ask for help. It's not easy to do that sort of thing and even harder when people criticize you (like I did to him not having a DMM in the first video and lack of karaoke in the 2nd). He has provided us with a thread that has 9 pages of serious and semi-serious posts ... both education and entertainment for all.
Like all good K-dramas, our hero is currently in a tight spot. If he doesn't say it's the cable he'll be hurting the feelings (or rather drinking habits) of a goddess divine and he does then Craig will be crushed (or rather out a six pack). I hope he posts more videos (with the DMM in every frame and of course a Karaoke segment...possibly using the DMM to measure dB) and finds a way out of his dilemma. I for one want to cheer the hero on to victory, see him get the
What a kind compliment! Thank you!
Don't be to hard on V though, like a lot of us in this thread I suspect he's slightly bored and was trying to add to the humor rather than being serious. My reply to him was meant more as being the "straight" man (e.g., help explain the joke). Covid has crimped a lot of life-styles and while no one wants a pity party humor is much needed.
Also, a very special thanks to the OP who was kind enough to put themselves out there in a video and ask for help. It's not easy to do that sort of thing and even harder when people criticize you (like I did to him not having a DMM in the first video and lack of karaoke in the 2nd). He has provided us with a thread that has 9 pages of serious and semi-serious posts ... both education and entertainment for all.
Like all good K-dramas, our hero is currently in a tight spot. If he doesn't say it's the cable he'll be hurting the feelings (or rather drinking habits) of a goddess divine and he does then Craig will be crushed (or rather out a six pack). I hope he posts more videos (with the DMM in every frame and of course a Karaoke segment...possibly using the DMM to measure dB) and finds a way out of his dilemma. I for one want to cheer the hero on to victory, see him get thegirlamps, and keep the magic smoke bottled up. Or at least get a refund on that battery!
Thank you for your well thought out post. At the end of all this I too am hoping we get an update from the OP. A quick post explaining what went wrong would not only be helpful to everyone but also be prudent. I have really enjoyed this thread with the humor and all and I do thank our hero for starting it. Covid has been a pain in my butt too as I fall unto the vulnerable category due to my age.....mid 60's. So I sit here mostly isolated but thanks to this forum we have something to keep us entertained other than Netflix and whatever else.
To the OP, our hero, please give us an update. It it turns out the MPP was bad I will eat my underwear....lol. Thanks.
Lol I think the forum solved the problem and will made a great video explaining it.
It's a shame he didn't try turning the MPP on before pre-charging the capacitors. That's what I really wanted to see but as he explained there would be a risk of damaging the BMS. Anyways....good stuff @Will Prowse. Thanks!
Yes, I believe You and several others mentioned about charging the capacitor. I should have renamed the title to something like, here's the proof.
I'm afraid someone is definitely not going to get her beer. Yes, Will did an excellent job at explaining things, which will probably save some people allot of time and effort.
yup.. half of you told me the mpp was bad and half told me the battery was not powerful enough to run the unit...
. I was so confused as a noob . I want to thank you all for your help and time. I also want to thank Will for doing a video showing my exact problem and a solution... very valuable video. That bridge to charge from the grid on his video saved me another post in the future i am sure. Gotta say I like my unit now. The only problem i have is with bigbattery not answering emails. That is kind of crappy. I emailed them before I purchased it to ask if i could run 2 of the 24v batteries in parallel and how it would work long term. A week went by and no email back so i just ordered the 48v one instead to be safe. I was worried that if i didn't get the battery and the charger at the same time that i may have problems with warranty if one or the other did not work.
9 days later i got an email back saying it would work fine. My order had already shipped and was half way to my house by this time
I emailed them back telling them i was kind of pissed because i could have had 2 of the in stock 3kwh 24v batteries hooked together and got 6kwh for 400 bucks more than my 3.7kwh. I got no response back.after my last post a few days ago I emailed the company again and said i was done with fooling around with it and wanted instructions to ship it back so i could get my money back.... I have yet to get a response. I am going to keep the battery now but the company needs to do a better job with communication in the future.
Good to see you. However I disagree that half of us thought the MPP was bad. The majority of us thought there was nothing wrong with the MPP and I am happy I don't have to eat my underwear. I will admit there were varying opinions on what might be wrong, battery cables, BMS, circuit breaker and whatever. However the problem was solved before Will posted his video with the pre-charge capacitor instructions. Those posts made the most sense to me. I am still happy Will posted the video and yup, the bridge to charge I found interesting. Anyways glad you got it working and thank you for the update. And thank you for being our hero. Sorry bigbattery is giving you trouble.
After re watching the video I am kind of at a loss. Running this battery means i can only use 3,000 watts of power from my inverter. That is not going to fly. In order to get 5,000 watts usage i must buy another battery. That means $1,400 more bucks out of my pocket. That means i put $2,800 bucks into a battery system that may (low end) have a cycle life of 500 cycles. That does not sound good to me.
The 24v batteries are out of stock so shipping this one back and getting 2 of the 24v ones are not an option. This leaves me with dumping $1,400 more bucks in or going with the stone age lead acid as an option.
I still could send this battery back and use the money to get 8 of the old school 6v trojan t-105's. Yeah i know 50 percent drain rate and peukert effect...... but still 225 amp hours x 8 is 1800 amp hours. If you cut that in half you get 900 amp hours and add 10 percent for peukert effect you get about 800 usable amps in a system that could last easy 500 cycles while giving me all the stand by power i need.
I mean why not do this? It would cost me 4 grand to get 4 battleborns to get 400 long term amp hours or i could get basically 800 usable amp hours of lead acid now for $1,300 shipped in the t-105's. I could get 2 or 3 of these sets over time to equal the cost of the battleborns. Effectively making them cost about the same with less out of pocket now and double the amp hours.
let me tell you my story. I own 3.5 acres in Land of the lakes Missouri. The whole reason I got a solar system was to power my off grid house on my property in the future. Amp hours are everything to me. I want to be able to run TVs, lights, laptops, and a 9,000 btu split ac unit with my solar system. sounds like i may dump $1,400 more into this and still not achieve my goal of 3 day stand by power with the $2,800 bigbattery option.
thoughts?
The 24v batteries are out of stock so shipping this one back and getting 2 of the 24v ones are not an option. This leaves me with dumping $1,400 more bucks in or going with the stone age lead acid as an option.
I still could send this battery back and use the money to get 8 of the old school 6v trojan t-105's. Yeah i know 50 percent drain rate and peukert effect...... but still 225 amp hours x 8 is 1800 amp hours. If you cut that in half you get 900 amp hours and add 10 percent for peukert effect you get about 800 usable amps in a system that could last easy 500 cycles while giving me all the stand by power i need.
I mean why not do this? It would cost me 4 grand to get 4 battleborns to get 400 long term amp hours or i could get basically 800 usable amp hours of lead acid now for $1,300 shipped in the t-105's. I could get 2 or 3 of these sets over time to equal the cost of the battleborns. Effectively making them cost about the same with less out of pocket now and double the amp hours.
let me tell you my story. I own 3.5 acres in Land of the lakes Missouri. The whole reason I got a solar system was to power my off grid house on my property in the future. Amp hours are everything to me. I want to be able to run TVs, lights, laptops, and a 9,000 btu split ac unit with my solar system. sounds like i may dump $1,400 more into this and still not achieve my goal of 3 day stand by power with the $2,800 bigbattery option.
thoughts?
16 of the EVE cells cost $2800.00 plus a BMS for $200.00 so for $3k you could have 13kw of storage at 48 volts.
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