Tellu-Bill
New Member
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2021
- Messages
- 3
I manage grooming of Nordic skiing trails for a non profit organization. We have two Pisten Bully grooming cats with Mercedes diesel engines. New for the coming season, one of the grooming cats will be staged at a trailhead with no electric service. The diesel engine has a block heater that draws 960 watts which has to run for 30 to 60 minutes before the engine can be started. Preheating is essential when overnight temperatures drop below 20 deg. Fahrenheit - which is the majority of the grooming season. The colder the engine, the longer the block heater needs to run.
Use of a battery inverter is appealing for a number of reasons. Primarily, it should be possible to set a timer to automatically start the engine heater an hour before the scheduled start of grooming each morning. The battery inverter will need to have enough capacity to also power a small battery heater (+/- 75W) to keep the LiFePo4 battery at working temperature. I've looked at the EcoFlow Delta Max and Delta Pro units as well as the Bluetti AC200 and AC300 Max units. One problem with those units is they will turn off completely if there is no current draw for a relatively short period of time. I am hoping a 120V timer will draw enough current to keep a packaged unit (like an EcoFlow or Bluetti) turned on.
Alternatively, I could build a system with separate components (battery, inverter, charge controller, etc.) that would allow more flexibility but there is an appeal to the simplicity of a package unit like the EcoFlow or Bluetti.
I am posting to this forum in the home someone else has already navigated these waters and can share some insights. I believe a 2000Wh+ battery should have sufficient capacity for the loads involved. Pisten Bully grooming cats have a 24V electrical system. An area I have not researched is whether the PB's charging system will have adequate capacity to recharge the LiFePo4 battery during a normal 3 - 6 hour grooming session each day and the best way to connect to the charging system. There is room on the roof of the grooming cat to mount +/- 250 watts of PV. but that clearly is not enough by itself.
I know many operators of diesel powered heavy equipment use gas generators to preheat diesel engines. Again, the downside to that (traditional) method is that someone has to show up an hour prior to use to start the gas generator. This seems like such a perfect application for a battery inverter I have believe I am not the first person to attempt it. Hopefully, there are some helpful folks out there willing to share their experience!
Use of a battery inverter is appealing for a number of reasons. Primarily, it should be possible to set a timer to automatically start the engine heater an hour before the scheduled start of grooming each morning. The battery inverter will need to have enough capacity to also power a small battery heater (+/- 75W) to keep the LiFePo4 battery at working temperature. I've looked at the EcoFlow Delta Max and Delta Pro units as well as the Bluetti AC200 and AC300 Max units. One problem with those units is they will turn off completely if there is no current draw for a relatively short period of time. I am hoping a 120V timer will draw enough current to keep a packaged unit (like an EcoFlow or Bluetti) turned on.
Alternatively, I could build a system with separate components (battery, inverter, charge controller, etc.) that would allow more flexibility but there is an appeal to the simplicity of a package unit like the EcoFlow or Bluetti.
I am posting to this forum in the home someone else has already navigated these waters and can share some insights. I believe a 2000Wh+ battery should have sufficient capacity for the loads involved. Pisten Bully grooming cats have a 24V electrical system. An area I have not researched is whether the PB's charging system will have adequate capacity to recharge the LiFePo4 battery during a normal 3 - 6 hour grooming session each day and the best way to connect to the charging system. There is room on the roof of the grooming cat to mount +/- 250 watts of PV. but that clearly is not enough by itself.
I know many operators of diesel powered heavy equipment use gas generators to preheat diesel engines. Again, the downside to that (traditional) method is that someone has to show up an hour prior to use to start the gas generator. This seems like such a perfect application for a battery inverter I have believe I am not the first person to attempt it. Hopefully, there are some helpful folks out there willing to share their experience!