diy solar

diy solar

Paying $'s for my Education...again/still

mytoolman

New Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2020
Messages
36
A little back story. Also this is involved so if your not the patient type you should move on to another post. I am who I am and seek the help I need they way I can benefit from it. In my mind I need to present information to get that done. I know there may be a less wordy way to accomplish this but I dont know how to do that.

Im still working to keep the showroom area of my mobile tool store (tool truck) functioning.
I have killed my second set of SIX 6volt 220 amp/hr lead acid batteries in 6 years due to the abuse I gave them by not having shore power charging readily available. Basically short of freezing weather I have abused these batteries in probably every way possible. If it got cold here in San Diego, I would have abused them in everyway possible but alas we hover around 65 degrees maybe 330 days per year and the evenings are in the 40 degree range. We did have 4 nights where the temperature was 29 degrees so maybe I have actually abused them by exposing them to too cold a situation also at least for those 3 or 4 hours of that type of cold....

About 90 days ago I asked this forum for help for like the third time...I have needed this redo of my power supply handled for going on two years now so Ive asked before but no one really stepped up until this last time some 90 days ago. I am grateful for the time those who responded then put in. Those folks actually responded in a manner that had meaning for me. Previously I was just as lost as if I had not asked because I needed a level of hand holding that I was not getting.

Anyway Ive moved forward a few steps from a suggestion someone made and am realizing I might be retreating some of those gained steps actually. Retreating some is not surprising for me, I have always had to pay for my education so I would not be surprised if I had with my recent purchase paid again to redo something aka pay to learn...

I bought a Bluetti 200MAX Pro. I wanted it because its portable enough. I still have no shore power to plug the truck into. I was thrilled that this 200 Max right out of its shipping box powers my work station in my store. The workstation includes my laptop, Star receipt printer, 17 inch remote monitor ,Bluetooth keyboard/mouse and a usb credit card reader. Until I add solar panels, I can pull the truck up to my house each night, unload the Bluetti and charge it up so I can bring the truck back to my home in the morning and put it back on the truck. Obviously it would be great if the truck could stay where my home is but that isnt going to happen.

I still had the lead acid batteries working somewhat so I did not deal with what it would take to hook the stores TEN 1.32amp hour 12 volt 1100 lumen LED over head Maxxima Brand ceiling light Fixtures up to the 200 MAX yet. .
Between my injured back taking forever to heal and then my wife dealing with an accident that caused me to become her caretaker, I wasnt working the truck for really all of last year so I had not dealt with that lights stuff. My wife has mostly recovered now and my back is ready so I want to get back to work. So I need to handle the rest of my electric needs to get my store to function

Basically the Bluetti fixed anything I needed 120 volts to operate right out of the box. The 12 volt stuff needed me to figure out how all that was wired into the current control panel/battery bank system that was built by the now defunct manufacturer that produced the showroom from this box. Its my intention to learn how to instead of the previously used lead acid battery bank to use the 12 Volt Bluetti Function to have the lights work using the Bluetti.

Yesterday I took a good look at the wiring in the control panel and saw how everything was connected from the battery bank and my onboard diesel generator. I disconnected the battery bank by removing the positive from the control panel circuit breaker that connects to the battery bank. I also removed the onboard Progressive Dynamics battery charger/converter Positive wire from that same circuit breaker so it also wouldnt be part of the equation now. Just to make sure there was not a complication, I also removed the power wire from the battery that starts the generator. That generator wire supplies 12 volts to the system also when the switch is thrown that directs power from the generator instead of having it come from shore power to activate the Progressive Dynamics charger/converter. That wire was attached in to a relay mounted in the control box. There is a captioned picture of that wire and where it was attached before I removed it. These positive wires were easy to disconnect because they were just bolted together to what I believe is a circuit breaker and in the case of the generator to a relay. There is also a captioned picture of that Positive battery bank and the Positive battery charger/converter cables that I disconnected

I connected red colored 6 gauge wire to that same circuit breaker lug post and connected the other end to a cigarette type plug that could connect to the 12volt/10 amp outlet. I used 6 gauge black to connect to the ground and also connected its other end to that cigarette type plug. I plugged this into the Bluetti. Powering up the Bluetti, I made sure to turn on the DC function. Then I turned on the rocker switch that powers up the lights and they came on BRIGHT!!!! ....for just a moment before the Bluetti threw an alarm and shut down. Im guessing I ran too many amps through that cigarette lighter style 12volt 10 amp port.

I now understand that I have amp requirements for these lights of 13.20 amps. Ten lights x 1.32 amps each = 13.2 amps. I also see there is another port, a very nice Bluetti 12volt/30 amp port that sits right under the 10 amp cigarette lighter type one I used in this test on the face of the Bluetti. Bluetti sells an OPTIONAL two prong male AVIATION plug for "bigger RV needs" that plugs into that 12v 30amp port. I have ordered this plug set up and am anxiously awaiting it to see how this does when I connect it to that 30 amp port.

It still looks like my Bluetti is going to power my overhead lights. I need 13.20 outgoing amps and the Bluetti max is 30 amps at that ports of the front of the unit. My interior lighting is borderline too bright but I like that, bright is very clean looking. I have spent a bunch of money on those lights and the very bright white pvc type grocery store grade peg board roof that is laced with bungi cords to hold a couple hundred pounds worth of hand tools so they can be viewed, touched, retrieved for sale easily etc.

Besides the ten overhead LED light fixtures already mentioned, There are also an amp draw that I havent mentioned prior. I do have six of the 12v florescent lights still positioned in the shelf areas that operate on their own switch. If I really want to show off my inventory, I used to be able to flip the toggle switch on the control panel that powers those lights and the tools on the shelves would really have a nice presentation. With the batteries in such poor condition for really over two years now, I seldom turn on those lights....


I dont know anything more about how the 12v or really even the 120 volt stuff are wired into this control panel on my truck. There is NO schematic. The company that built the inside of this tool store and this control panel is out of business years ago now.

Also as a point: As the lights were shut down, just as power stopped, I heard a relay click in the control box. Since there are several relays, and the Progressive Dynamics battery charger/converter is in that exact area the click came from I am not sure what clicked when the Bluetti stopped suppling power. Honestly even though I disconnected the large 4 gauge power wire to the Progressive Dynamics battery charger/converter from that circuit breaker lug , the click I heard seemed to come from it..

It sure would be helpful to know how this control box is wired. I would like to keep the control box in its original functionality as much as possible since I eventually will want to again use a battery bank when my finances allow for that to happen. I would love to have a bank of LifePO4 batteries to work instead of this Bluetti. Maybe between the limited shore power charging I have access to, the on board generator and some solar panels on the roof of the truck there can be enough options to keep a battery bank maintained properly so I can have it produce power for a good long time.
 

Attachments

  • ETTT electric control panel prior to Bluetti add.jpg
    ETTT electric control panel prior to Bluetti add.jpg
    294.8 KB · Views: 21
  • Battery bank & charger converter cables disconnected.jpg
    Battery bank & charger converter cables disconnected.jpg
    389.6 KB · Views: 17
  • ETTT generator power wire to its battery removed .jpg
    ETTT generator power wire to its battery removed .jpg
    252.1 KB · Views: 16
  • new 12v Bluetti cable instead of Battery bank cable.jpg
    new 12v Bluetti cable instead of Battery bank cable.jpg
    317.1 KB · Views: 16
  • ETTT Bluetti 12v30amp 2prong Aviation style female port.jpg
    ETTT Bluetti 12v30amp 2prong Aviation style female port.jpg
    215 KB · Views: 17
  • ETTT face view of Bluetti to show connection choices.jpg
    ETTT face view of Bluetti to show connection choices.jpg
    239.5 KB · Views: 19
  • Ethyl & me passenger side (Medium).jpg
    Ethyl & me passenger side (Medium).jpg
    210.5 KB · Views: 22
Last edited:
Yeah, verbose, really verbose. Within your 66 lines of text I gleaned that you charge the batteries via a diesel generator, and the Bluetti gets toted inside at night. Is that correct? Do you have panels on the roof? How many watts? You appear to have a 12V system with the batteries wired 2S3P, is that correct?

You appear to have lots a space on your truck roof, so I don't see why it isn't possible to maximize the solar input. Because they are going to be flat, don't expect them to put out more than 60% of rated output. With a 660Ah lead-acid battery, you need about 660Ah/8 = 83A of charging current. Does the DC from panels feed into that converter? It's hard to make out details with everything upside down.

To get 83A of current, you'd need (83A X 13Vcharging)/60% = 1798W of solar, call that 1800W. Assuming a 300W panel is 39" wide and 72" long can you fit that many panels on your roof? That would require 6.5' X 18' of roof space. With a 1/10th charge rate that could be dropped to 1400-1500W of panels.
 
Thank you Sir....Yeah, verbose, really verbose. Within your 66 lines of text I gleaned that you charge the batteries via a diesel generator, and the Bluetti gets toted inside at night. Is that correct? YES. And Yes againThe Bluetti will be toted Do you have panels on the roof? NOT YET How many watts? You appear to have a 12V system with the batteries wired 2S3P, is that correct? YES ITS A 12V SYSTEM. YES 880AH in SIX 6 VOLT (NOW DEAD) BATTERIES that ARE WIRED IN SERIES and PARALLEL.

You appear to have lots a space on your truck roof, YES 18 FEET LONG X 9 FEET WIDE FOR ROOF SPACE so I don't see why it isn't possible to maximize the solar input. Because they are going to be flat, don't expect them to put out more than 60% of rated output. With a 660Ah lead-acid battery, you need about 660Ah/8 = 83A of charging current. Does the DC from panels feed into that converter? can solar panels feed into the Progressive Dynamics (9200 series) charger/converter??? It converts 120v to 12v......It's hard to make out details with everything upside down.

To get 83A of current, you'd need (83A X 13Vcharging)/60% = 1798W of solar, call that 1800W. Assuming a 300W panel is 39" wide and 72" long can you fit that many panels on your roof? That would require 6.5' X 18' of roof space. With a 1/10th charge rate that could be dropped to 1400-1500W of panels.
 
Last edited:
Mr Michael K....please see my short direct answers imbedded in your post next to your questions.
I sure would like to know how I can/should use the Progressive Dynamics series 9200 charger/converter if I were to replace my lead acid batteries with LifePO4 batteries. I bet this Progressive Dynamics is unusable for the LifePO4.
 
Last edited:
Although Li batteries tolerate further discharge than lead-acid, if fully discharged, the life appears to be shortened as much or even more than lead-acid. Five fold reduction in life is what I am seeing. So, I am not sure that switching battery types is going to do you any good if you continue to abuse your batteries the way you do.

The first thing I would do is shop online locally, and see what economical panels you can purchase with local pickup. Shop with the goal of getting 2-4W/dollar. Local pickup is the key to getting good deals.

With that much roof-space, I think you could easily fit at least 6 full-size grid-tie panels, which should give you 80+amps of charging current, even laying flat. If you can get that many amps, then you will be able to keep those batteries very happy. You will however need to get a high voltage MPPT controller that can handle that many amps. Take a look at Epever's 10420AN Tracer model.
 
Although Li batteries tolerate further discharge than lead-acid, if fully discharged, the life appears to be shortened as much or even more than lead-acid. Five fold reduction in life is what I am seeing. So, I am not sure that switching battery types is going to do you any good if you continue to abuse your batteries the way you do.

The first thing I would do is shop online locally, and see what economical panels you can purchase with local pickup. Shop with the goal of getting 2-4W/dollar. Local pickup is the key to getting good deals.

With that much roof-space, I think you could easily fit at least 6 full-size grid-tie panels, which should give you 80+amps of charging current, even laying flat. If you can get that many amps, then you will be able to keep those batteries very happy. You will however need to get a high voltage MPPT controller that can handle that many amps. Take a look at Epever's 10420AN Tracer model.
Michael K thank you for suppling this information and in doing so in a clear understandiable way. This will help me know how to proceed easily. With you Providing links to products, clues on costs I should try to get, and suggestions to have local pickup, my exposure to making costly mistakes by not knowing what I dont know etc should be much less probable...Super info!
 
Back
Top