Something I wish Will would test to see if viable long term

[ed6269]

Hello
Yesterday my off grid inverter craped out on me and I immediately went online and purchased another one but it won't be here for a week or so.
Until then I have a Montek 1000 solar generator that I use for camping and I hooked the EG4 batteries into the solar input of the Montek which only has a small battery that would not run the critical loads in my house for vary long by itself, but with the rack mount batteries inputting 300 watts constantly it hasn't gone below 98%! And it runs freezer, fridge ,TV, lights, no problem even a small microwave if nothing else is on when heating something up. All with only 1000 watt inverter.
With the 4 Eg4 batteries and the battery in the Montek I have over 21000 watt hours of emergency power that makes all these small solar generators much more valuable and usful in a pinch.
Will is always complaining that he has no new subjects to cover in videos and I think this would be a excellent long term experiment to find out any problems that might pop up.
Right now the EG4 batteries are recharged by the charge controller and setup that was used with the old fried inverter but if you had a solar generator with 2 solar inputs like the Titan , you could plug a solar array into one SCC input and a rack mount battery set up like mine with its own SCC into the Titan's second SCC input which would keep the Titan topped off all night long or for them long winter days.
I'm sure that there are many different ways to expand these smaller solar generators usefulness with these less expensive rack mount batteries instead of the vary expensive expansion batteries.
Come on Will show us how and what not to do.

 

[Mattb4]

....
I'm sure that there are many different ways to expand these smaller solar generators usefulness with these less expensive rack mount batteries instead of the vary expensive expansion batteries.
...

Undoubtedly as long as you can feed it the correct DC it will output AC. But long term viability will depend entirely on the quality of the unit and how heavy you load it. Most if not all of the battery/inverter power packs are not suitable for continuous duty usage. They are built to appeal to people that want a portable easy supply of AC for camping and the occasional grid loss at home.

One thing to note about power pack batteries. They may not be standard voltages (12,24,48v). Therefore you need to match with the correct auxiliary battery. Which is where the more expensive expansion batteries being sold comes into play.

 

[ed6269]

Undoubtedly as long as you can feed it the correct DC it will output AC. But long term viability will depend entirely on the quality of the unit and how heavy you load it. Most if not all of the battery/inverter power packs are not suitable for continuous duty usage. They are built to appeal to people that want a portable easy supply of AC for camping and the occasional grid loss at home.
One thing to note about power pack batteries. They may not be standard voltages (12,24,48v). Therefore you need to match with the correct auxiliary battery. Which is where the more expensive expansion batteries being sold comes into play.

Yes I understand but I'm not using the expansion port of the solar generator I'm using the solar input. As long as the voltage does not exceed the 66 max volts of the Montek solar input I'm fine . I'm just inputting 28 volts max from my rack mount batteries and that's producing over 300 watts of charge on the Montek, I think 360 watts is the maximum it can produce. I could wire the batteries in 2S2P for 48 volts but this is just temporary till my new inverter shows up .
And I understand that they weren't designed for long term use but Will does not mind burning stuff up to find out what the breaking point is , it would be good content and he's always looking for new stuff to do instead of repeating old content.

 

[Mattb4]

...
And I understand that they weren't designed for long term use but Will does not mind burning stuff up to find out what the breaking point is , it would be good content and he's always looking for new stuff to do instead of repeating old content.

As I understand it Will gets paid to make his videos. So it would require the items manufacturer to agree to have Will do a video review.

 

[740GLE]

As I understand it Will gets paid to make his videos. So it would require the items manufacturer to agree to have Will do a video review.

I think he only gets cash from his affiliate links, and views from lubetube. He always states he doesn’t get paid by the manufacturers for his reviews.

You maybe confusing him with the Renolgy van life people.

 

[Will Prowse]

Hello
Yesterday my off grid inverter craped out on me and I immediately went online and purchased another one but it won't be here for a week or so.
Until then I have a Montek 1000 solar generator that I use for camping and I hooked the EG4 batteries into the solar input of the Montek which only has a small battery that would not run the critical loads in my house for vary long by itself, but with the rack mount batteries inputting 300 watts constantly it hasn't gone below 98%! And it runs freezer, fridge ,TV, lights, no problem even a small microwave if nothing else is on when heating something up. All with only 1000 watt inverter.
With the 4 Eg4 batteries and the battery in the Montek I have over 21000 watt hours of emergency power that makes all these small solar generators much more valuable and usful in a pinch.
Will is always complaining that he has no new subjects to cover in videos and I think this would be a excellent long term experiment to find out any problems that might pop up.
Right now the EG4 batteries are recharged by the charge controller and setup that was used with the old fried inverter but if you had a solar generator with 2 solar inputs like the Titan , you could plug a solar array into one SCC input and a rack mount battery set up like mine with its own SCC into the Titan's second SCC input which would keep the Titan topped off all night long or for them long winter days.
I'm sure that there are many different ways to expand these smaller solar generators usefulness with these less expensive rack mount batteries instead of the vary expensive expansion batteries.
Come on Will show us how and what not to do.

Yeah that sounds like a massive waste of time for everyone. Could just hook up an AIO in five minutes and you will get better performance for less money.

 

[Will Prowse]

As I understand it Will gets paid to make his videos. So it would require the items manufacturer to agree to have Will do a video review.

No, that is not true. I only require payment if it is garbage product. Like solar generators for example. I make over 90% of my income from affiliate commission. That is why I get so pissed off in the videos when a product fails. It means I do not make any money either and the company wasted my time and my viewers time.

If these companies did a good job, I wouldn't have a job. But unfortunately, many companies like to make low quality solar products.

 

[Will Prowse]

I think he only gets cash from his affiliate links, and views from lubetube. He always states he doesn’t get paid by the manufacturers for his reviews.

You maybe confusing him with the Renolgy van life people.

Youtube is less than 5% of my income.

And in the last few months I've been charging direct fees for making videos because these companies are wasting my time. Bad software, bad quality device etc. I will spend weeks working on a product and get $0. It drives me absolutely insane.

The lower quality the product looks, the more I charge because I am probably wasting my time.

 

[Will Prowse]

But what makes me different from the other youtubers is I do not have sponsorships or contracts, so I can say whatever I wish. Many other channels cannot. And because most of these solar products these days are utter garbage, I get a lot of awesome content out of it and I show people why they should buy higher quality components.

 

[Will Prowse]

Hello
Yesterday my off grid inverter craped out on me and I immediately went online and purchased another one but it won't be here for a week or so.
Until then I have a Montek 1000 solar generator that I use for camping and I hooked the EG4 batteries into the solar input of the Montek which only has a small battery that would not run the critical loads in my house for vary long by itself, but with the rack mount batteries inputting 300 watts constantly it hasn't gone below 98%! And it runs freezer, fridge ,TV, lights, no problem even a small microwave if nothing else is on when heating something up. All with only 1000 watt inverter.
With the 4 Eg4 batteries and the battery in the Montek I have over 21000 watt hours of emergency power that makes all these small solar generators much more valuable and usful in a pinch.
Will is always complaining that he has no new subjects to cover in videos and I think this would be a excellent long term experiment to find out any problems that might pop up.
Right now the EG4 batteries are recharged by the charge controller and setup that was used with the old fried inverter but if you had a solar generator with 2 solar inputs like the Titan , you could plug a solar array into one SCC input and a rack mount battery set up like mine with its own SCC into the Titan's second SCC input which would keep the Titan topped off all night long or for them long winter days.
I'm sure that there are many different ways to expand these smaller solar generators usefulness with these less expensive rack mount batteries instead of the vary expensive expansion batteries.
Come on Will show us how and what not to do.

What you should do is dump that montek in the trash can and get an actual all in one that will last for years.

 

[Mattb4]

I see nothing wrong with charging for your services Will. I was not implying that you accepted sponsorships or was anyway altering your content to please a company.

A workman is worthy of his hire.

 

[Will Prowse]

I see nothing wrong with charging for your services Will. I was not implying that you accepted sponsorships or was anyway altering your content to please a company.

A workman is worthy of his hire.

Thank you Matt. My breaking point was when I worked like crazy testing the hysolis, and then I got a nasty shock by the case, and the product was taken off the market to be redesigned for safety. I made 0$ and worked like crazy. Never going to happen again.

It does frustrate me when people think that the affiliate links or fees I charge will influence my opinion on these products. It never has, never will. My entire channel is only around because I find every flaw I can in every product I can. It drives me crazy when people think that these companies will influence me.

 

[Rocketman]

Wil,
We love you finding the flaws! And pointing out things you don’t like. Just wish that paid better for you?.

 

[ed6269]

What you should do is dump that montek in the trash can and get an actual all in one that will last for years.

Will , I have a system that I built years ago before the all in one's were really out or proven , the Montek I use for camping but now that the inverter for my old system craped out I'm just using the Montek as a patch till the new inverter gets here .
I realize that you prefer AIOs but I only have 700 watts of solar in my driveway and no more room for panels, I would love a AIO but the power consumption at night and cloudy days in the Pacific northwest in winter is a deal breaker for me , I don't even like the 14 watt standby of my old inverter (and no I'm not moving) so I always see you complaining for not being able to develop new content and I thought this might be something to do now I see that only 5% of your income is from your utube videos and you don't like to waist your time and I understand. I thought utube was more income than that and you just need content ideas and that's all.

 

[ejfluhr]

IMO ed6269 has identified a valid market use-case and I would second his call for someone to create more content on that topic.

What if a person has or needs a portable solution and cannot justify or afford to also buy a home AIO? Or maybe they live somewhere that does not allow hard-mounting equipment (e.g. apartment)? And they want sufficient battery capacity to survive a significant power outage?

It happened to me this winter. We lost power for 5 days, and I had batteries connected to my Bluetti solar input keeping us going with coffee, computers, and cellphones. Power outages are rare and I don't see value in buying and hard mounting an AIO.

Also some of these portable options have decent warranties, would be great to see how durable the electronics are.

Maybe this isn't worth Will's time but there are perhaps other people who have the time and interest...

 

[Will Prowse]

Anker 767 would fit the bill for that application.

 

[Will Prowse]

And if someone cannot afford that, They can strap some chins batteries to a 3kW all in one. It's small and easily made portable.

And if someone cannot afford that, they need to get a better job or work more hours. This equipment is so cheap at this point it's crazy to me. Considering what it was 13 years ago when I started.

 

[ejfluhr]

Yes, it's been fun to watch the rapid progress of this industry. Also been fun watching you evolve from your early camper videos along with those industry changes. I have very little time to spend on this topic so live vicariously thru all the videos. ?

As for AOI-strapped-to-batts, while that is preferred for us technical folk, it is out of the league for my wife and family. These portable units are extremely approachable and usable by non-technical peeps.

Anker 767 indeed is an attractive option with 5-year warranty and realistic portability, along with good input and output capacities. I've been looking at it for my 75y/o parents who live in FL (hurricane country). In that situation, ease of use is more important than affordability. Add a 48v 100Ah battery and they could survive a week.

 

[Hedges]

now I see that only 5% of your income is from your utube videos and you don't like to waist your time and I understand. I thought utube was more income than that

I don't think you realize what 5% of Will's income is
(or was? )

 

[ed6269]

And if someone cannot afford that, They can strap some chins batteries to a 3kW all in one. It's small and easily made portable.

And if someone cannot afford that, they need to get a better job or work more hours. This equipment is so cheap at this point it's crazy to me. Considering what it was 13 years ago when I started.

Yes that's all fine and dandy with the all in one till you put it on my boat to go to my off grid cabin on Stuart Island with no ferry service then my water resistant Montek looks pretty darn good not thrown in the trash. No better job required or extra hours.
Just more battery to supply the solar input over night till the sun comes up.