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I think I’m probably pretty far over the limits of what my system is capable of unfortunately. My bigger inverter is only a 6,000 watt 18,000 watt surge (supposedly).

Yeah 😞. I’ve definitely heard some mixed opinions on them… some seem to really get along good with them but some absolutely hate them. I do have a quick attach and hydraulic top link on my 3 point so it’s only a 5-10 minute operation to swap implements, inevitably the implement I need is never...

That’s definitely a good thing to keep in mind! I’ll look into it. If nothing else it might help the inrush current more manageable for the tractor. I posted on a tractor sub over on Reddit looking for people with experience doing what I’m looking to do and one member had done basically the same...

Oh good grief!! $150,000!!! That’s insanity. I was talking to one of the local business owners here who has a small engine shop and was adding on another building and looking at adding an additional 400 amp service. I assumed 3 phase as he’s in the middle of the industrial part of town but he...

I would think so haha. I was surprised one 5hp motor can draw over 100amps on startup 😳.

Ahahahaha oh I’m sure the wife would be thrilled with half the house filled with solar equipment 🙃 not to mention the million plus I’d have to spend lol. Geez that’s a sweet setup though!

Yeah? 3phase is something I have 0 experience with lol. It runs right overhead my shop in town but my experience has been getting a transformer and pole set to go 3 phase and the included electric bill (shop is currently not hooked to the grid at all) are astronomically expensive $10-20,000. The...

I’ve definitely looked into them, the worst part is I’m not sure the negatives outweigh the positives in my use case. First off another engine to maintain (battery, coolant, oil, keeping stupid mice out etc) and in the used market I’m looking at $5,000+ for a machine that’s got 5-15,000 hours on...

I think 3 phase would require different motors wouldn’t it? The little bit of research I did (as these machines are often 3phase and 3 phase models are cheaper as it isn’t a common grid connection around here) was that you would have to swap the motors to go that route.

I’m thinking a dual powered shop will serve me best. A small 240v sub panel from my house for the everyday loads, lights, battery chargers and outlets for my metal working tools. (I’ve got a small grizzly mill/drill 1.5hp I believe and a small lathe that’s around the same size) and then a...

I have never gotten to deal with any electric motors in this size and in the past looking at the name plate got me good enough to not have any issues. But even my gas generator that’s 8kw 13.5kw starting watts just made the magnetic starter go crazy on the main motor and even with the belts off...

Do you have any advice on those? I’m reading a bit online and it looks like I need a little over 100 amps to start each 5hp motor. But reading I’m even pushing my tractor to get to a 25kw pto powered generator. Is it even going to be possible to start one motor, then once it’s online bring the...

Yeah… I’m thinking it’s past the realm of what I want to build in a solar system. Our system is currently great for what we need 95% of the time and I’m just not sure it’s a smart move to oversize so massively for such an infrequent load…

Yeah lol. That’s kinda what I’m thinking. That or going full on Amish paradise and converting it to gasoline powered. We have some Amish communities around here and if you have never seen a gasoline powered well pump they have them 😂. No electricity involved, just a gas motor and and air compressor.

Haha it’s a bit convoluted. It has 5 plugs lol. Here are the name plates and I believe the plugs on the two 5hp motors are nema 6-30 I believe. 3 prongs 2- flat and a ground. The first nameplate on the large farm duty motor is faded but i believe it says FLA 23 if the picture isn’t clear enough.

Good evening everyone! I’m back with a new project lol. So in my never ending quest to be as self sufficient as possible I am working towards building a wood shop to process wood from my little sawmill. Here’s where my problem lies. This shop isn’t going to be an everyday use shop, at least not...

I sent them an email. Stupid me I should’ve bought an extra panel just to be safe. Now getting a replacement shipped will probably cost what 3 panels would ??‍♂️

Well that was pretty fast! Panels arrived and I’m very pleased with everything except one panel. All the other panels have 2 or 3 snail trails, and otherwise look very good. But one panel has some discoloration like from water intrusion and looks like the white backing has some pretty severe...

I did order them, ended up just getting them shipped as much as I hated to pay the shipping. I will be completely disassembling the shipment before that truck leaves or I sign anything. Learned my lesson on freight shipments. Pretty sure they don’t use forklifts anymore only angry gorillas ?

Good to hear about the snail trails! I ended up going that route instead of the cracked vinyl backs. As realistically I can only fit 10 more panels on my roof in the best sun areas anyway so the 20 panel deal wasn’t optimal. My two wood stove chimneys are both on the south side of the roof too...

Dang! That works out to almost exactly what I made per panel yesterday too! I had 6.9kwh with 6 panels on a south facing roof but it’s a 34 degree roof and I get partial shading till about noon. I’m in Missouri. So the snail trails must not be affecting the output too much!

I just put in an order for 10 of the 250 watt Canadian solar snail trails. Reading some conflicting information on the snail trails but I’m willing to roll the dice on them. Crazy to think I paid $264 per panel for the exact same panels probably 7 years ago lol.

Thank you! I had actually looked at them before but the 14 hour drive to Georgia was a bummer. But I just remembered my family will be down there for a rodeo next week! So I’m currently working to fill a stall in the horse trailer with panels ?. Any advice on the panels with cracks in the vinyl...

Good afternoon everyone! Hope everyone is staying cool out there! It’s a hot one here. I’m trying to track down some more panels to add to the 6 I have now. Anybody got any used 225-300 watt 24v panels for sale? I’m going to eventually upgrade to the higher output panels but just can’t quite...

Your credit card company should have no problem dealing with this. I ordered a chainsaw “parts kit” that includes everything to assemble the saw of course it’s a knockoff from China but I needed a very large saw and couldn’t stomach the $2000 price tag for the real deal (powerhead only). Long...

Oh I totally understand, it may as well be to me though. The static water level in my well is 11’. Too close for comfort to bring anything like that around. And to be honest I was just excited if they were nickel iorn batteries. They interest me just for the long life span and their ability to...

I guess I have experience with ni-cad as well but I just didn’t even realize I was looking at the same beast here. I used to have to deal with ni-cad drill batteries that left a sour taste in my mouth from improper charging. But those I thought didn’t have liquid in them. These have...

Oh I remember those old ni-cad batteries very well lol. We had a shop guy that loved to leave our drill batteries on the charger overnight. They wouldn’t hold a charge for anything! I’ll have to read through that paper, thank you! I guess that’s what threw me off about these batteries, I...

Good evening everyone! Just thought I’d post an interesting thing I ran across today. We were dropping off some leftover metal roof scraps at a local scrapper and he mentioned some batteries he had tried to scrap but nobody would take them. I was curious as I had researched nickel iorn (iorn...

Caveman terms?? ?

And actually! I think I have an idea. I have remote cameras that if plugged in can record constantly. So I could set a camera to watch the screen and then just review the footage. Kinda a redneck back door data logger right??

Here’s what the interface looks like on the charge controller I have. I believe it has a shunt or two in it to measure amps coming in with solar and wind. I think…

To be honest Robby I’m not great with a computer lol. Mine died several years back and with a smart phone I ended up using it instead. I need to get one just for projects like this. The charge controller I have does at least show kWh produced to date so I will not be completely shooting in the...

That’s true, I can just put the batteries up there and let it rip for awhile and see what kinda power it’s producing. And maybe I’ll get some high wind days where I can actually monitor the voltage it’s putting out

Thank you guys, the more I think about it the more I like putting the batteries up at the tower and getting a small 24v inverter to send ac 120v to the house. For a multitude of reasons. #1 is then I can disconnect my charger from the wind turbine completely in the house for when we have storms...