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I need to strip a largish number (40) of #4AWG and #2AWG welding cables I'm using on busbars. I would like to find a tool like all the slick ones for 8AWG and smaller, but I'm not having success. I just want to take about 1/2" off ends so I can crimp on ring terminals. I've done it before...

Going homebrew, as you will discover if you do build your own, has a ton of advantages. Mine are all Anderson Power Pole and MC4 cabled. They don't have a single designated set of charging panels or controller/charger because they plug into pretty much anything. If not... an Absolutely Perfect...

I suspect there are a few thousand, certainly hundreds, of homebrew "Solar Generators" that have been designed by subscribers to this forum. My flavor starts with a Minn-Kota trolling motor battery box, gets transmogified, up to and including 100A circuit breakers, fuse holders, custom made...

A note of possible interest: I am using Victron Blue Solar 100-30 controllers. For whatever reason, Victron does not seem to hold Volts constant/vary Amps. It does the opposite: Amp stay pretty constant, tightly correlated to Watts, Volts on the Solar side bounce around a lot. If I watch...

I dutifully took the advice here and connected my panels in a 2S2P x 3 arrangement. Because of the nature of my placement (a curved roof on a small trailer facing true E-W with an open S exposure) I have: 1 ea 2S2P pair facing due E, 1 ea 2S2P pair facing straight up, 1 ea 2S2P pair facing...

I can't find my specific question asked of AGMs, tho it is an active question on LFP. I have two 12V AGMs of mature age (years old) who live outside in or under a travel trailer. They both have always been BatteryTendered, and still show a resting charge of +12.7V. One is 12V100Ah, the other...

I am watching a normal power generation cycle and wondering why things are. I use BlueTooth Victron MPPT and their controller app, and am watching the "Trend". Right now, on the panel/Solar side, Watts produced per minute doesn't vary much, and Watts variation seems tightly correlated to Amps...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TQ5H6M7/ref=twister_B07TLXSLZS?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 And, I stopped trying to use a crimper from MC4. I found I could do far better and faster with just a simple pair of needle nose pliers. I have had zero failures doing it that way.

I found 50A 8AWG MC4 connectors on Azon, but they're $3 a pair.

Excellent. Right now I am running a training grid built with scratch and dent discount panels where I test racks, controllers, busbars, everything. It took two pairs of pigtails, and a set of Y connectors, and it was live. And, I sprang for Blue Tooth on my MPPTs, so I could watch myself on...

It further dawns on me I probably have that answer. What I will get is the lowest common denominator from either 2S or 2P. I will get the 20V of the 2P, and the 5.7A of the 2S. So, a bit short of optimum for 400W of panel. Or, I run another cable, and use an additional controller (?).

Also, just so it's clear (I am a noob), I connect 2 x 100W in series, and get (20V x 2) = (40V & 5.7A) on my 2S. I then connect 2 x 100W in parallel, and get (5.7A x 2) = (11A & 20V) on my 2P. I then pigtail it into a 3 way union, feed it down 1 8AWG cable to my Victron which sees 40V11A? I am...

Interesting. I'm using Victron MPPT 100-30. Is it possible for one of those to get stressed? I can make my own cables, so some simple storebought 2x unions and a few short pigtails is no biggy. But I just would expect the micro electronics to be more durable than that.

Thanks. Got most of the winter, they just have to be ready by April or May.

Yeah, I'm reading about bandgaps now. Confused at a higher level. Simple solution is to drop to 3 panels when it drops to 0F. It takes idiocy to boondock at <= 0F, but I've done it.

Renogy has a sort of good discussion on this on their education pages, but there are gaps...

So, next question is whether a panel can ever exceed its maximum Open Circuit Voltage (22.5 for the Renogy)?

Actually, thinking about it, it has to be I moved by V, so forget the Watts thing.

Okay, again my ignorance is at work, but I thought my cables just carry Watts. Weather temps here 'bouts will drop to -20F. Not often, but -10F a least once a winter (Colo Rockies). My system is to support RV boondocking, and I try not to be out in -10F.

I did not know that... so how much?. I fuse the line from the panels to the controller with an inline 30A fuse. I could easily drop the fuse threshold.

I added this, deleted this, am re-adding it because I didn't delete it fast enough. Was going to start a separate thread. Continuity gets a little wonky. I would like to highjack this thread for a minute: If I have 4 Renogy 100W independent panels, all with the same Voltage and Amps ratings...

Much thanks. I think I am safe either way, because: Series I limit the panels to 4 x 100 (21V max each), so 84V x 5.7A on a 100V controller. Parallel I limit the panels to 4 x 100 (5.7A max each), so 21V x 22.8A on a 30A controller. I get confused somewhat on the Ohms. I have the belief...

I have 5 x 12V100Ah LFP batteries connected in parallel via a 300A busbar. I want to charge the whole bank by connecting a Victron IP65 12V 15A charger to the busbar. The LFPs are in their winter home in the crawlspace where the temp is a fairly constant 64F, and this would be done probably...

This type of question happens a lot, especially over on reddit. Simply, heating and air conditioning are stoppers to all-solar solutions right now. Cooking is basically heating, as are showers. Maybe several iterations in technology from now fossil including LPG will be gone, but not today...

I see this has a history, but I will ask again anyway. Chinese LFPs from both Chins and Amperetime are now well below $400USD on Azon. At that price it's really hard to think Battleborn. I have 4 Amptime, seem to be doing the job, but only months old. They will never see an unheated...

I suggest you stop speculating and go empirical. Get something like a KillaWatt meter, put it in front of the microwave. It will tell you the actual draw. Step back from there, and measure at each boundary. What are you even getting out of the inverter. Mine all have multiple on-board...

The scope kept creeping. What I ended up doing is buying a cheap non-tech battery box (~ $8) from Amazon. The [Victron MPPT] controller lives in a Dewalt stackable toolbox for storage and transport. Field deployed it moves to its cheap, vented, battery box with sculpted cable channels for the...

As it turns out, a 6" x 6" × 1/4" piece of Aluminum worked just peachy.

Watts are sort of a universal energy currency. Get them and you can derive the rest. (W or P) = (V × (A or I)). Since you know your Watts are 2,880, dividing W by V = I (or A). Dividing W by I (or A) = V. So: 72 × 40 = 2,880 2,880 ÷ 12 = 240 240 × 12 = 2,880 Probably...

Why not aluminum?

My target environment is in the dirt outside a tent, shed, or RV. A steel rack would be nice, but I would have portability issues. A 1/2" thick cement slab, say 12" × 12" with a waterproof PWM, +- busbars, fuse block, all screwed on will fit nicely. Maybe even screw on little rubber footie...

My LFP battery boxes are modular and mobile, a 60A breaker on the default in/out, a fuse box designated for out-only for special purpose. A very tough baggy rides along with 50A, 80A, 100A ANL fuses. I reconfig on the fly by swapping ANL fuses, depending on downstream cables, whatnot...

If you connect the panels to the controller via MC4 simply throw an in-line 10A fuse on the positive cable from the panel.

Had not thought of that... I'm a newb, but really beginning to love this forum.

As my design is progressing to fully operating production I am accumulating things like busbars, fuse blocks, controllers, etc. While all the parts operate as planned, they are accumulating, especially since I am building duplicate 400W arrays (think very lite, very mobile, boondock arrays)...