New EVE 280 in New Mexico/Oklahoma/Texas

[JustinS]

Road trip, man.....don't you watch movies, lol.

Sure! You fly here and we'll drive!! But you've got to drive me back and fly back as I get lost easy ?

 

[Piper]

Justin, are these batteries still available? I'm in Abq. I bought two cases of the Navitas 25A batteries but realize that for my purpose, fewer large capacity cells will be better. So I'll be selling the Navitas...

 

[JustinS]

Justin, are these batteries still available? I'm in Abq. I bought two cases of the Navitas 25A batteries but realize that for my purpose, fewer large capacity cells will be better. So I'll be selling the Navitas...

Hi Piper. They sold on Monday.

 

[Piper]

Okay, thanks. Also nice to see someone else in 'Burque. This is my first venture into building my own pack for my sailboat and although the Navitas' I bought seem amazing, as in every battery but one in the pack tested at exactly the same voltage and resistance, my efforts at making bus bars have been a bit of a bust and rather than pour more money/effort into it, I'm thinking fewer big cells might be better. But we'll see. What are you up to?

 

[JustinS]

I live off grid in the east mountains. My lead acids are going out after 6 years (8s3p) so I'm building a LFP pack. My dad bought 16 of the first order from me for his rv so I sold the other 16. I have a second order of the CALB 300's on their way (not selling these). I built my dad's pack with a batrium wm7 - which turned out great!!!!

 

[snoobler]

I live off grid in the east mountains. My lead acids are going out after 6 years (8s3p) so I'm building a LFP pack. My dad bought 16 of the first order from me for his rv so I sold the other 16. I have a second order of the CALB 300's on their way (not selling these). I built my dad's pack with a batrium wm7 - which turned out great!!!!

I'll be taking it in the shorts. Will have 2X 14-15S NMC batteries running a Batrium. Last time I checked the carts, all the goodies were going to run about $1300.

 

[JustinS]

I'll be taking it in the shorts. Will have 2X 14-15S NMC batteries running a Batrium. Last time I checked the carts, all the goodies were going to run about $1300.

That seems like a really good price point! How many ah will those out out?

 

[snoobler]

That seems like a really good price point! How many ah will those out out?

That was just for the Batrium. I have much more invested in the actual cells.

 

[JustinS]

That was just for the Batrium. I have much more invested in the actual cells.

Yeah! I hear you. Batrium claims to be a good balance between function and price... Highly Debatable.. Mine ran ~1600 after shipping with 32 cell mins. ?. I went with it because of reputation and they actually respond to email.. the wm7+ I used on my dads bank was ~600 with shunt and after shipping if memory serves.. It was cool to see it start balancing immediately after config and powering on.

 

[snoobler]

Out of curiosity (failing memory), I went back and checked. Since I'm limiting to 14-15S, I should be able to use the WM5 for the first 14-15S battery and the MM8 for the second.

Embarrassingly, I believe I did not convert from AUD. I can see now that it's AUD$1200. Only about $935 including shipping. That takes a little of the sting out.

As it stands, I have about 39kWh that I purchased for $4500 - about $115/kWh. I will be investing at least another $1200 for more. Had I realized how much work the 630 cell pack would be, I would have gone LFP, but these were bought well before I joined here.

 

[JustinS]

Out of curiosity (failing memory), I went back and checked. Since I'm limiting to 14-15S, I should be able to use the WM5 for the first 14-15S battery and the MM8 for the second.

Embarrassingly, I believe I did not convert from AUD. I can see now that it's AUD$1200. Only about $935 including shipping. That takes a little of the sting out.

As it stands, I have about 39kWh that I purchased for $4500 - about $115/kWh. I will be investing at least another $1200 for more. Had I realized how much work the 630 cell pack would be, I would have gone LFP, but these were bought well before I joined here.

Nice! That price is pretty amazing for that amount of power! I'll be a little over that at ~30kWh with LFP. I almost pulled the trigger on building a small cell pack but changed my mind after looking at my growing inventory of unfinished projects. You have my respect .

 

[snoobler]

These are NMC/LMO cells from a PHEV. I have a relatively inexpensive, though very unpredictable source. By the time I have 53kWh, I'll be about $6K into it.

 

[JustinS]

These are NMC/LMO cells from a PHEV. I have a relatively inexpensive, though very unpredictable source. By the time I have 53kWh, I'll be about $6K into it.

Nice!!! I'd like to see pics when you are done. - if you don't mind sharing.

 

[snoobler]

You can see pictures of the modules in this thread. Not worth reading, but scrolling through to see the pictures might be worth the time:

Off-grid "Compound"

UPDATE: Done: Un-winterized and fully re-winterized the 5th wheel. Consumed about 15# of propane in about 24 hours Woke up to 8°F WTF battery DoD moment Installed a high altitude jet kit for the Predator in hopes of smoothing out its output frequency. Things to do: Setup remote control of...

diysolarforum.com

My hope is I will have 30 of those 21P modules in a 15S2P config.

 

[JustinS]

Outstanding! Great work! Nice to see others fighting the same problems... Aka trying to create a system where the wife forgets she's off grid and fighting a never ending rodent battle. Thanks for the write up!

 

[snoobler]

Outstanding! Great work! Nice to see others fighting the same problems... Aka trying to create a system where the wife forgets she's off grid and fighting a never ending rodent battle. Thanks for the write up!

Heh. Thanks. I'm confident that we've won the war vs. the rodents. We haven't had any sign of an intrusion for at least two months. We might see an increase with a change of seasons, but we'll be ready.

This is my winning formula:

1. 4W LED lights on 24/7 when we're not there - this is key. They just won't stay exposed to the light for very long, and they definitely won't nest.
2. Rat-X inside and outside (non-toxic to predators) to thin out the population.
3. Sticky/snap/bucket traps as the final line of defense.

Wife is pretty much driving the schedule at this point. She wants to go at least as often as I do. She can live with the RV interior at 40°F overnight if she gets to use her heated throw, so we're not burning 10# of propane a night. The throw takes a little less power than the furnace blower when cycled on, and if it's insulated by the comforter, it cycles on infrequently.

 

[JustinS]

Thanks for the rodent tips!! I'll have to try the lights.

Another way: Early on we had rats that were about 8 inches (not including tail). I had a tarp on the roof and could hear them chewing on it early in the morning. So I'd get a flat head shovel and play whack a mole. My wife would wake up to banging on the roof. When I would get them they'd roll out and land on the ground.... ?

 

[snoobler]

Thanks for the rodent tips!! I'll have to try the lights.

Another way: Early on we had rats that were about 8 inches (not including tail). I had a tarp on the roof and could hear them chewing on it early in the morning. So I'd get a flat head shovel and play whack a mole. My wife would wake up to banging on the roof. When I would get them they'd roll out and land on the ground.... ?

Holy crap. We had some decent sized pack rats that were pretty close to that size.

My wife would have had issue with that solution...

 

[NMNeil]

Thanks for the rodent tips!! I'll have to try the lights.

Another way: Early on we had rats that were about 8 inches (not including tail). I had a tarp on the roof and could hear them chewing on it early in the morning. So I'd get a flat head shovel and play whack a mole. My wife would wake up to banging on the roof. When I would get them they'd roll out and land on the ground.... ?

No rats here; we have these instead at this time of year.

Only been stung twice so far.

 

[snoobler]

No rats here; we have these instead at this time of year.
View attachment 47250
Only been stung twice so far.

We've been incredibly lucky. In AZ since 1996, but I've never even seen a scorpion. Friends and coworkers complain of them all the time. The closer one gets to hills at the edge of civilization, the worse it gets. We're in a 30 year old house far from any hills, so I'm guessing that's the reason we've been fortunate.

Haven't seen any at HBR, but we're only there 1-2 weekends a month...

Had to check with my neighbor... been there for 25 years. Never seen a scorpion, though there is the occasional tarantula... They tend to move pretty slow.