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  1. byteharmony

    Snow-Free solar

    Firing up the 240V pipe heaters under the frosty panels this morning showed that my AC wiring to the roof worked great! However, my wire nut job to the solar heater in the sola-deck only connected 1 of the 3 heating strips successfully. It still gave me enough information to make a conclusion...
  2. byteharmony

    Protect existing wires / ground wires that can not be inserted into wireway

    That should work for keeping it after the fact in pvc! I knew Tim would have an answer!
  3. byteharmony

    Protect existing wires / ground wires that can not be inserted into wireway

    If Tim doesn't have an answer I'm in trouble. Maybe the pvc ripped like a 2x4 to make a channel to fit it, then pipe clamps at the top and bottom. Likely schedule 40 to be able to squeeze it closed and pry It open to insert. If it gets wrecked I can replace it easy.
  4. byteharmony

    Protect existing wires / ground wires that can not be inserted into wireway

    Pvc can not be added in the middle of a long ground run (easily), I'd have to rip up Trenching or pull down solar panels. Tape would be an option, but I'd like something more weather proof and to protect the wires from say a weed wacker.
  5. byteharmony

    Protect existing wires / ground wires that can not be inserted into wireway

    I have some ground wires that are bare that will likely pass inspection due to no code issue, but hind site I think I should have put them in schedule 80 PVC down low and schedule 40 up high. Oooops. So how to protect them now, any ideas? My only guess right now is a Plastic strip that hides...
  6. byteharmony

    High voltages damaged old multimeters

    What a great ending, all our Nerd stuff and then bang, great humor! Thx guys, meters been working great!
  7. byteharmony

    Adding EMT / Conduit to an existing panel and trough install sol ark

    Yep, now this makes sense to me. The rigid Coupling makes the emt female threaded to be able to screw in from the inside of a panel / trough. Also a great idea if you're holding the rigid pipe and have a threader. Nice and clean. You all are full of wonderful ideas. I have learned so much...
  8. byteharmony

    High voltages damaged old multimeters

    I laugh largely at the humor: Wash a circuit board in beer, is that what you meant by IPA Melt the items on the board with a heat gun Re reading this, I'm wondering if I actually just don't know what IPA is and that you're actually being serious that the heat gun melted some solder connection...
  9. byteharmony

    Using clustered bare copper ground wire for neutral on service feed

    I'm 30 feet short on my service wire so THHN from the store is what it's going to be! Thanks so much for your help guys! What about grid tie microinverters? I thought they made up the majority of solar installs. My utility requires those to be on a separate meter that is connected to the grid...
  10. byteharmony

    Using clustered bare copper ground wire for neutral on service feed

    I was informed you only bond at the main panel, is it also at the meter? No Junctions, solid wire (copper stranded 4 awg in my case) Ahhh, the individual elements to be paralleled can not be less than 1/0 not the resulting conductor from being paralleled. Got it.
  11. byteharmony

    Using clustered bare copper ground wire for neutral on service feed

    Interesting, but if the connection fails it's going to be at a connection point, which then disconnects the neutral. If it failed in the middle something serious happened to my 2" rigid conduit... at which point it's likely power to the neighboor hood is down via my utility shutting it down. In...
  12. byteharmony

    High voltages damaged old multimeters

    OMG!!! old batteries: 70V New batteries: 60.2V BMS: 59.9 V Same result with both meters. Even went back to the old batteries wondering if just a meter reset was needed, nope, voltages went back up to the crazy values. I used to just wait until the LED display went dead to swap the batteries...
  13. byteharmony

    Using clustered bare copper ground wire for neutral on service feed

    This doesn't make sense, I have to pay for the meter box, the offset, the clamps, the rigid conduit, etc. It would seem to me to be the utility ends at the mast clamp, the service wires strung to the mast and the crimping they do to YOUR wires that come out of YOUR mast head. Makes sense that...
  14. byteharmony

    Using clustered bare copper ground wire for neutral on service feed

    Where is the line that separates the customer's side and the utilities side? Does this "Okay to use bare copper" include stranding your own stranded wire? I get that in my house, no go on the bare wire for neutral, it has to be that way as the only bond allowed for ground is at the main panel...
  15. byteharmony

    High voltages damaged old multimeters

    I recently was testing high voltages 200 - 360V to debug a string issue (turned out to be an MC4 connector issue) using an OLD set of multimeters that had always worked just fine. rotating switch to scale voltage: 20V, 200V, 600V Another went up to 1000V I love having extra meters around the...
  16. byteharmony

    Bare ground wire

    Fascinating!! I also did a quick google search and the NEC derating info I found doesn't seem to indicate any type of medium for the raceway. Thanks for helping me understand the correct generic word for different types of material carrying wires...
  17. byteharmony

    Using clustered bare copper ground wire for neutral on service feed

    I noticed the old electric service I'm replacing uses bare copper instead of insulated wire for the neutral. This service is using 4 AWG wire, not sure if it's THHN, can't read the sides of it yet. I'm upgrading to a 200 AMP service. I planned to use 3/0 THHN to comply with NEC code. A local...
  18. byteharmony

    Bare ground wire

    There are rules for different types of wire inside of different types of conduit? I understand there are rules for # of electrified conductors in a conduit called derating - that is a heat dissipation thing. It would make sense for this rule to be dependent on the type of conduit carrying the...
  19. byteharmony

    Adding EMT / Conduit to an existing panel and trough install sol ark

    Would this require rigid pipe or could you use these kinds of fittings with EMT? These are great ideas!
  20. byteharmony

    JK BMS Discharge/Charge issue related to discharge MOSFET?

    Just got the same error on my JKBMS System turned off charging. These are brand new, anyone have experience with their warranty?
  21. byteharmony

    Adding EMT / Conduit to an existing panel and trough install sol ark

    I don't have the problem yet. I'm going to install a 2" to run power from Sol Ark to the panel. The actual problem is a year or two from now when I want to run 2 or 3 sub panels and I have to add more conduit between the trough and the panel. Indoor
  22. byteharmony

    Sol Ark 15k conduit and gutter trough

    At the point of install of the trough, sol ark and panels. In the end I went in-between a 6 and 12, I got a 10. Now I wonder how people do EMT for an add on to the panel in the future. Here is a post on that as it's getting off this topic...
  23. byteharmony

    Adding EMT / Conduit to an existing panel and trough install sol ark

    How do people add additional EMT paths from a panel to a trough after the install and mounting are all finished? Is it as simple as cutting the EMT short and leaving the top and bottom of the set screw connector void of EMT? Put the EMT in the connectors all the way first then expand those...
  24. byteharmony

    Two NEC 2017 code questions for Sol-Ark 15K: Wireways and conduit sizes

    Q1: Watched many videos and not a single one had separate wireways. The sol ark device itself has all the different types of power wires in the same air space, why should an air space 2 feet further away be a problem. I get your read of the code. For me it's like having ground only bonded at the...
  25. byteharmony

    Bushing / water seal between two meters

    I need two meters right next to each other. Do I need a rubber seal between them and then a nipple pipe that squeezes both panels together? (Like below)
  26. byteharmony

    single phase critical load panel vs 240v split phase panel

    Right on!!! The more I think about this approach the more I like this! My buddy can start anywhere the pain is the greatest: 1. Power bill: Solar 2. Backup: Critical load panel and generator 3. Mobile / Camping: All in one solar w/ camper panels and battery. The vision to assemble allows for...
  27. byteharmony

    single phase critical load panel vs 240v split phase panel

    So yes? Just use a Power Distribution Block or Polaris or ? to be able to wire the hot to both of the 120 legs on the load center? side note @pvgirl love your profile stuff :). another side note: Was struggling with googling a "Power Distribution Block" for 4/0 dual meter (revenue and export)...
  28. byteharmony

    single phase critical load panel vs 240v split phase panel

    I have a friend who only has 120v critical loads. I'm looking at the EG4 single phase hybrid inverter For the loads would I just get a normal split phase panel at a hardware store and wire the hot to both busbars? Is that a code issue / would that pass code inspection? If not, how would you do...
  29. byteharmony

    Tuya / Smart Life / WIFI battery voltage monitor

    I've got a lot of stuff using the Tuya / Smart life systems. I'd like to turn it on and off using battery voltage on my 48 v battery system as the control source. I can remote monitor the battery with my sol ark app or my bluetooth from the jk-bms but no smart life access I understand there...
  30. byteharmony

    Circuit Breaker AND Fuse?

    I wonder the same thing myself.
  31. byteharmony

    over head service mast to revenue meter to PV meter to fused knife, IMC vs EMT

    Wow, thanks so much for all your contributions. This is really helping! One more question: Should the copper wire that bonds the house water system to the main panel be a continuous chunk of copper? I saw a friends panel today that was not done by a licensed electrician. It just had a copper...
  32. byteharmony

    Buying grid power to store in battery and sell back during peak with imbalanced loads sol ark

    Agreed, I see the loss on my charge and discharge efficiency. Given that the rates more than double it makes sense even with degradation of the battery cells.
  33. byteharmony

    Buying grid power to store in battery and sell back during peak with imbalanced loads sol ark

    Off peak - $0.09 Peak $0.24 I haven't finished my system yet so no inspection or net meter yet. Is it the norm that the power company will pay you the rate during the time you export? I couldn't get good answers from my utility yet nor do I have a bill yet to address with them.
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