New to Forum... looking for advice.

[Rednecktek]

Just want enough power in the winter to run heaters and

no electric heat

The general consensus with heating is "Anything But Solar!" because the power draw kills batteries right quick! That battery you're looking at is good for 48v * 90Ah = 4Kwh best case. A bog standard heater wants 1500w, so 4000Wh / 1500w heater = 2.6 hours of heater and a dead battery the rest of the night.

A propane based heater will be a much better option, or if you're willing get a diesel heater mounted in there which is very solar friendly AND heats the place up right quick!

Oh one more thing is the ampertime server rack 48v 90amphr ok just sitting in my garage over the winter not being used??

As long as you're not trying to charge it when it's frozen, it'll sit there just fine for however long you want it to.

Keep an eye on the weight when you're looking at mounting panels. The weight of the panels is usually available online so you can always run a test by putting some gallon jugs of water (~8lb ea) or 5 gallon jugs (~40lb each) and do some test runs. If the panels weigh so much that you can't get the pop-top up, you'll have bigger issues.

 

[DangerDarrell]

The general consensus with heating is "Anything But Solar!" because the power draw kills batteries right quick! That battery you're looking at is good for 48v * 90Ah = 4Kwh best case. A bog standard heater wants 1500w, so 4000Wh / 1500w heater = 2.6 hours of heater and a dead battery the rest of the night.

A propane based heater will be a much better option, or if you're willing get a diesel heater mounted in there which is very solar friendly AND heats the place up right quick!


As long as you're not trying to charge it when it's frozen, it'll sit there just fine for however long you want it to.

Keep an eye on the weight when you're looking at mounting panels. The weight of the panels is usually available online so you can always run a test by putting some gallon jugs of water (~8lb ea) or 5 gallon jugs (~40lb each) and do some test runs. If the panels weigh so much that you can't get the pop-top up, you'll have bigger issues.

I'm not running a pop top? This is a Fleetwood Southwind RV. But thanks

 

[DangerDarrell]

**UPDATE**
So I ended up purchasing a SunGold LV6548 type thing. Pretty cool other than the fans are really loud. I was testing in my garage and hooking up the Battery and also line power.
I had been regularly checking voltage on the AmperTime battery and it was showing 51volts most the time sitting. Also I was checking for no voltage with the breaker of.
So I have my power cables ready, I've read thru all the literature from SunGold and AmperTime. I hook up positive and negativehit the breaker and the charger does nothing. Then i check voltage on the battery with a multimeter and the battery has 12v, WtF!
Turn the breaker off then on and voltage increases to 20v again I flick the breaker more voltage I do this a few more times til I'm back to 51.8 volts. Weird

 

[Supervstech]

Check all your connections.

 

[RandyP]

Learn first. Buy second.

 

[MisterSandals]

I hook up positive and negativehit the breaker and the charger does nothing. Then i check voltage on the battery with a multimeter and the battery has 12v, WtF!

Is the inrush current for the inverter capacitors causing the BMS to <partially> shut down?

 

[42OhmsPA]

**UPDATE**
So I ended up purchasing a SunGold LV6548 type thing. Pretty cool other than the fans are really loud. I was testing in my garage and hooking up the Battery and also line power.
I had been regularly checking voltage on the AmperTime battery and it was showing 51volts most the time sitting. Also I was checking for no voltage with the breaker of.
So I have my power cables ready, I've read thru all the literature from SunGold and AmperTime. I hook up positive and negativehit the breaker and the charger does nothing. Then i check voltage on the battery with a multimeter and the battery has 12v, WtF!
Turn the breaker off then on and voltage increases to 20v again I flick the breaker more voltage I do this a few more times til I'm back to 51.8 volts. Weird

I was just reading this thread and was going to recommend this exact inverter or the MPP equivalent, I've been running a sungold 6048 for a few months and am very happy.
You should use a precharge resistor before allowing power to flow between the batteries and inverter, as @MisterSandals already questioned the inrush, this was my thought as well. The inrush current is likely tripping the BMS.
Please share a photo of your wiring / connections.