circuit breaker spark

[Robert Ibe]

Don't text from phone late at night, point taken This is a bullet breaker with a Trim breaker panel. Hard core DC. Double hole lugs, never seen one fail, get warm, or any issues.
View attachment 215189View attachment 215188

Ok so they call those bullet breakers , I have seen those in my parts searching .

I am using something similar but a little bigger for disconnects on my DIY battery builds , 2 pole F series Carling Technologies DC breakers rated at 50,000 AIC DC along with A6T fuses rated at 100,000 AIC DC .

 

[Hedges]

How well has it held up over time? Is the case solid? i.e. if you drop it from working height would it break? Is it accurate when checking against another meter?

I've had Harbor Freight Ames 1000A for a couple years now. So far so good. Haven't dropped from height.

I think Filter Guy was the member who bought one on my recommendation. Flaky readings until he touched up solder on banana jacks.

I love my Fluke, but it isn't clamp, and their clamp didn't do 10 mA resolution.

HA HA, I thought I was the only one that did things like that

The blinding flash and the smell

"Electromagnet", paper clip coiled a couple times. Slipped my finger through to to grip and shoved into extension cord.

DC will burn the crap out of you.

Been there, done that.

⚡Shock⚡ through the heart,

Speaking of idjit moves...I upgraded a while back from 2 inverters to 3, the main Pos Class-T remained a 300A. while I waited for a bigger fuse to come in. (ie now undersized). Then recently after witnessing the OST (official solar tester) aka the spouse pushing the system near to it's limits I...

diysolarforum.com

AC will kill you.

Been there, done that.

⚡Shock⚡ through the heart,

And you're to blame, You give solar a bad name! Meant to be safer than a cheater cord, power cord with shrouded banana plugs + Similar wire and banana connected to equipment under test. Now it's easy to stack banana plugs and plug in HV scope probe. It's just as easy to mix up Line and...

diysolarforum.com

Zero shame in asking for help. Everyone had to learn. Electricty needs utmost respect you and I - everyone needs to do our best to learn.

Here's another clamp:

Amazon.com

 

[robbob2112]

Inrush ac and dc They behave differently Going from locomotive dc traction motors to ac traction motors and inverters was significant change. Huge.

The “max” plus the “hold button” on my cheap clamp amp meter is basically the same as inrush button. It measures Peak = Hold locked at max. 4000 count trms

View attachment 215208

They do this on purpose…for the bs…. marketing and ignorance …. Scales are important and counts 4000 above. Speeds… ms Cat 3 rating above. Union label - under writer laboratory is requirement for some. CE listing was good for my “current” pun needs now.

G.E. Locomotive + RailroadS replaced 2 each 1000 amp fuses….with new buss bars and used the CT in place to monitor and cut excitation of main alternator with predicted spike inrush - peak hold monitoring but it was digitized vs real time…. Readings based on flash spiking. 1ms 10ms 100ms. Digital is not actual real time . We have improved big time though.
Edit added: Total 18 fuses removed based on ct monitoring software ala a replacement for the fuses. Cheap Fuse elimination mod = 1/4 million $$$ main alternator sales.

needless to say a lot of $250,000 main alternators plus additional itemS like full bridge rectifier modules - 6 or so cables of 1600 per phase would go up in smoke. TIMING. Perfect world. Fly by wire is amazing too… no?

Video from Klein inrush

The old “amp probe” clamp use to come in 2 separate units years ago 1 for ac and 1 for dc. They came out with module like amp probes later. Then digital.

The garden bender volt - multi- meters they sell advertise trms but they are not … china junk Harbor freight free meter is better.

Hold with voltage

New ppl need to educate themselves before use tools. OP had dc and not ac. Lucky. Ac will kill you dc will burn you. I’ve been shocked several times - shock therapy. = 1 Flew over cuck coo nest …Nurse Ratched Was a hero but cast as a villain.

Oh yeah in old days with analog amp probes they would not read backwards on dc reading Notice negative symbol had to flip them. That is my inverter power up. No major drama no load other then raspberry pi 4 pulling from ac side of inverter. Not changed over to dc converter yet.

View attachment 215206

In military - commercial …. aviation and locomotive required all meter and torque wrenches be certified ….the certifications…..put a lot of other wise good meters out of service. Some meters degrade over time.

Having worked in a type III Navy calibration lab for several years I probably calibrated and repaired at least a few thousand meters. Of those most were Simpson 260 or Fluke 77an. Ninty percent of the time the Simpson had to be tweaked or repaired by lifting a resistor, cleaning contacts, lifting the current shunt, replace broken or cracked parts of the case. The 77an, once in a blue moon had to take the cover off to clean the switch contacts. Even less often maybe one out of a few hundred tweak the single internal adjustment and recheck it.
The only ones we ever had to red tag were the ones that came in melted or run over by an airplane.

 

[BarracudaBob]

Ok so they call those bullet breakers , I have seen those in my parts searching .

I am using something similar but a little bigger for disconnects on my DIY battery builds , 2 pole F series Carling Technologies DC breakers rated at 50,000 AIC DC along with A6T fuses rated at 100,000 AIC DC .

Now there is a good positive contact screw down breaker. I bet it bolts to a heavy plate or terminal to dissipate the heat. I really liked the ez din rail breakers when I first got into solar, they came with the inverter. I use commercial bullet breakers at work and didn't think it was possible to come across the breaker panel under $1K. They seem rare until I found some surplus on flea-bay and had to buy it. There is so much mass on the terminals to dissipate heat and everything is double lug for the wires. Breakers are ez to come by but not the panels. 30 years in dc plants and never saw one fail. Good enough for me.

 

[Brett V]

Have you tried both a "Real" (resistive) load with 1.0 power factor, and a low PF load like LED lamps or VFD?

I’m not ashamed to eat a little crow when it’s served up. Checked both meters today and the $40 Chinese clamp on is reading about 5% lower than the Fluke 374 with a ~50 amp load. They’re closer at a smaller load so the error multiplies as current increases.

 

[Brett V]

Don't text from phone late at night, point taken This is a bullet breaker with a Trim breaker panel. Hard core DC. Double hole lugs, never seen one fail, get warm, or any issues.
View attachment 215189View attachment 215188

Alcatel uses the same breaker in a slightly different configuration for their microwave radios. I’ve literally touched thousands of them over the years and they just sit there and work.

 

[Hedges]

But is it True RMS?
or does poor PF trip up the cheap meter?

 

[Brett V]

But is it True RMS?
or does poor PF trip up the cheap meter?

The cheap meter? It claims to be, but how does TRMS apply to DC measurements?

 

[Ottox]

Hioki makes some good ac/dc clamp meters that do dc amps through the clamp. Check various models on Amazon. I found a “used” one for $180, which was really just a damaged box but brand new and unused cm4373

 

[Ottox]

Otherwise check out offer up for “cheap” fluke clamp meters (probably stolen)

 

[Brucey]

Ok so they call those bullet breakers , I have seen those in my parts searching .

I am using something similar but a little bigger for disconnects on my DIY battery builds , 2 pole F series Carling Technologies DC breakers rated at 50,000 AIC DC along with A6T fuses rated at 100,000 AIC DC .

How do you place the class Ts versus the 200A breakers? There's not many who use the MNEDCs presumably due to the costs, @SilverbackMP is using the 250As along with the 2000A midnite combiner box which can handle six of the breakers on each end.

I started with one mnedc250 but picked up another five when they were on sale for $47 each. Currently just have one between a distributor and a power in, but will add one to each seperate battery. Work in progress not a permanent config.

 

[Robert Ibe]

How do you place the class Ts versus the 200A breakers? There's not many who use the MNEDCs presumably due to the costs, @SilverbackMP is using the 250As along with the 2000A midnite combiner box which can handle six of the breakers on each end.

I started with one mnedc250 but picked up another five when they were on sale for $47 each. Currently just have one between a distributor and a power in, but will add one to each seperate battery. Work in progress not a permanent config.

View attachment 215255
View attachment 215258

I'm making up 5 - 16 cell eve lf280k v3 batteries and will be putting the A6T fuses as close to the + side of each bank as I can and a JK-B2A20S20P BMS off the - side , then the + from the fuse and - from the BMS on each bank will be going to a 2 pole 200A breaker(for shutdown and isolation of each bank as needed) , from there they will be wired to bus bars and then on to 2 lv6548's set up in split phase with 1 A6T fuse and 1 2 pole breaker from the bus bars to each lv6548.

The 200A DC carling tech breakers I am using have a street price of $500+or- each but I have been finding them NOS surplus for $35-$50 each , If I had to pay full price I would go with the MNEDC 1 pole breakers but just on the + side as they are about $100 each now that the alte store shut down.

 

[Brucey]

I'm making up 5 - 16 cell eve lf280k v3 batteries and will be putting the A6T fuses as close to the + side of each bank as I can and a JK-B2A20S20P BMS off the - side , then the + from the fuse and - from the BMS on each bank will be going to a 2 pole 200A breaker(for shutdown and isolation of each bank as needed) , from there they will be wired to bus bars and then on to 2 lv6548's set up in split phase with 1 A6T fuse and 1 2 pole breaker from the bus bars to each lv6548.

The 200A DC carling tech breakers I am using have a street price of $500+or- each but I have been finding them NOS surplus for $35-$50 each , If I had to pay full price I would go with the MNEDC 1 pole breakers but just on the + side as they are about $100 each now that the alte store shut down.

I'm not sure what country you are in but I think suggested retail for the Midnite mnedc175 and 250A is $142. Cheapest now altE is gone is Stellavolta which can use Amazon payment (usually ends up cheaper with shipping that Stellavolta via Amazon).

Edit, oh I see they are double pole versions. You could pair a couple of singles just connect the handles together.

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

I am leaning toward the $100-ish range. It would be easier to get approved.

My man if you are still asking for kitchen passes while playing with solar you better get more practice in on your bedroom game... Just saying.

 

[Robert Ibe]

I'm not sure what country you are in but I think suggested retail for the Midnite mnedc175 and 250A is $142. Cheapest now altE is gone is Stellavolta which can use Amazon payment (usually ends up cheaper with shipping that Stellavolta via Amazon).

Edit, oh I see they are double pole versions. You could pair a couple of singles just connect the handles together.

Ya I was going to go with the mnedc 250A at altE but they closed before I could order so in my searching I found the 2 pole carling breakers for cheap and snapped them up.
I have found that for some reason that eludes me electric switches make a big jump in price at certain levels , Like the IMO PV disconnect switches if you go from SI32 to SI40 the price jumps 3x or more.