Victron. Want to hire an expert. Around SE.

[Tecnodave]

Lol. My first car was a 67 B I bought in 1974. I rebuilt it all and drove it until it broke in half. Ontario winter driving meant scraping the inide of the windshield while driving and wearing heavy winter clothing. I'd have been warmer on a motorcycle

My first car was a 53 Henry J (Kaiser) factory equipped with no heater or radio, America’s first economy car, It was sold as the Allstate in the Sears catalog...$1488.00......Anchorage, Alaska....that was a cold winter.....

 

[Barryga]

Lol. My first car was a 67 B I bought in 1974. I rebuilt it all and drove it until it broke in half. Ontario winter driving meant scraping the inide of the windshield while driving and wearing heavy winter clothing. I'd have been warmer on a motorcycle

I'm sure Justin will get you all squared away.

The only smart thing I did was buy the Austin about two years before I got my license to drive,
so I had plenty of time to work on it.
I had it three months and came home from school, and mom said some guy wants to buy your Austin, lol, sold.?
I took the money and bought a 51 Pontiac straight eight. I wish I still had the Pontiac
That was when a car was a car!

 

[HRTKD]

Lol. My first car was a 67 B I bought in 1974. I rebuilt it all and drove it until it broke in half. Ontario winter driving meant scraping the inide of the windshield while driving and wearing heavy winter clothing. I'd have been warmer on a motorcycle

I'm sure Justin will get you all squared away.

I too had a '67 B. I swear that if it was lower than 60° F the car wouldn't start. I carried starter fluid all year.

Why do the British drink warm beer? Their refrigerators were designed by Lucas.

 

[John Frum]

Thanks, Steve and the rest of you, for bringing up concerns.
I have an appointment with Justin at Panels Up Solar in Gulfport, MS, on the 28th of this month for Justin to do whatever he wants.

Any update?

 

[Barryga]

Im in Gulfport now; Justin has been working on it and may not be done until Saturday, but that's fine.
He gets people from around the country that bring their RVs to him, and they fly home until it's ready to pick up.
This guy knows his chit!!
All he does is Victron; I cant to tell you how wrong this system was set up.
When he's done, even my oan generator will start automatically if batteries get low or inverters reach a certain temp.

 

[John Frum]

All he does is Victron; I cant to tell you how wrong this system was set up.

Pretty sure most of us could plainly see that it was a dumpster fire of an install.
Glad you are getting it fixed.
Look forward to seeing the before and after pics.

 

[Barryga]

Pretty sure most of us could plainly see that it was a dumpster fire of an install.
Glad you are getting it fixed.
Look forward to seeing the before and after pics.

That is something I won't do is post pictures for a couple of reasons.
First, he asked if he could relocate the whole system as he wanted the batteries and inverters as close as possible.
I said, you do what you think is best.
Now, I know he holds training classes on weekends for pros and people learning but
I dont want to give away trade secrets if it is a concern to him.
However, I know Justin has been on here, and if he wants to post pictures, thats fine with me.
My guess is he would not care, but that is his call.
Barry

 

[12VoltInstalls]

dont want to give away trade secrets if it is a concern to him

It’s improbable that a properly installed system has any trade secrets within it. There is no magic involved with solar installation.

 

[Barryga]

It’s improbable that a properly installed system has any trade secrets within it. There is no magic involved with solar installation.

I understand that, but dont feel it's my place to show his work.
What I thought would be a one-day job, and he said maybe two days was a five-day job.
He tore out ALL the wiring and started over.
Went from 2ga to 4 ot, moved the inverters closer to the batteries, installed four extra boxes. And all kinds of lighted fuse busbars along with shut-off switches and an extensive panel screen, so I dont need to look at my phone.
Set the generator so it kicks on if the inverters receive excess volts, so dont overheat, and it kicks on if batteries get down to 20% and off at 80%.
Cummings engine. The generator is set at 30 amps, so does 28 to 35 max.
At 3.30 am, I said the test is if everything shuts down for 60 seconds when the microwave or curling iron is turned on.
He said turn both airs on fridge, light, then hit the microwave.
I did, and no blinking of anything, and he said with amp generator will kick on and then off in about 30 seconds, and it did to prevent overheating.
Also, said batteries were wired wrong, and the wire to the fuse box for the AC power was too small, and that is why everything would shut down until the current could catch up.
What a job they did, one day they worked from 7 is to 11 pm, next day Saturday they started at 7 am, and I left about 4.30 am.
See the picture of my souvenir.

In short best money I have ever spent, and I have learned a lesson f dealerships.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

understand that, but dont feel it's my place to show his work

Unless you were dissatisfied why not give him a promo? If I were installing at that level I would appreciate the good review.

 

[Barryga]

Unless you were dissatisfied why not give him a promo? If I were installing at that level I would appreciate the good review.

Www.panelsupsolar.com
Justin Ford
228-363-9121
Gulfport, ms.

 

[John Frum]

Unless you were dissatisfied why not give him a promo? If I were installing at that level I would appreciate the good review.

By his own logic OP should not have shown us the dealership's fine craftsmanship.

 

[HRTKD]

What I thought would be a one-day job, and he said maybe two days was a five-day job.

That sounds like all my projects on my RV! Redoing someone else's work takes more time than starting from scratch.

 

[Barryga]

By his own logic ,OP should not have shown us the dealership's fine craftsmanship.

The reason for my post, to begin with, as I was told I did not need the transfer switch, so I took a picture of the whole setup and never mentioned the dealer's name.
Like I said before, everything worked, and I ass-u-med the 30 seconds shut down was normal.
I do want to thank you guys for pointing out the flaws and seeing the picture I posted; I was not far from burning down.

 

[HRTKD]

It is in the best interest of this community to know who NOT to go to for an install. You may save someone's RV from burning down by posting the name of the original installer. Shoddy work shouldn't be allowed to hide in the dark.

A picture of the new install would be helpful for someone new to the thread and new to PV/LiFePO4 so they can see the difference between shoddy and professional work. You don't need to list components or super high resolution images.

 

[Barryga]

I agree. I will take a few pictures tonight.
Never let a dealer touch your solar system; that was my stupidity.
The only intelligent thing I did was buy the Victron and not let them pick out the cheap crap they would use.
Here is how I look at it; I told the deal to install like the RV was yours, and no estimate is needed.
I told my wife I sent them about 15,000 in items, including the tankless water heater, and a good rule of thumb labor will be about 15,000, give or take.
My bill was around 5500. (Got what I paid for!!) Nothing.
New items and labor I just paid 8800 approx, so that makes it easier to forget the 5500 as about where the first bill should have been if added together.

When I ordered the RV, I ordered it through Michigan, and due to what I had for them to install, he said canton, oh would be most qualified, so he will have the manufacturer send there.

General RV, I have not called them or bitched at them, and I won't.

 

[Barryga]

Here is some pictures of the right way!!

 

[CamoGreg]

Much better. Added a lynx distributor, Cerbo GX and Autotransformer in addition to improved wiring.

I wondered if he would install an Autotransformer. Makes sense since your generator figures large into your system.

After all that, there's still the same ATS installed.

 

[Barryga]

Much better. Added a lynx distributor, Cerbo GX and Autotransformer in addition to improved wiring.

I wondered if he would install an Autotransformer. Makes sense since your generator figures large into your system.

After all that, there's still the same ATS installed.

Yea, I told him he was welcome to replace the old one, and he said it was fine, so leave.
But it was because of that transfer switch that you guys scared me to death, and then the melted fuse block did not blow.
Im thrilled to no end thanks to you guys its now safe and works like a house.

 

[CamoGreg]

Yea, I told him he was welcome to replace the old one, and he said it was fine, so leave.
But it was because of that transfer switch that you guys scared me to death, and then the melted fuse block did not blow.
Im thrilled to no end thanks to you guys its now safe and works like a house.

That's kind of the ironic part, Barry...
You came here because of the ATS. Which was never really a problem. A bunch of other stuff was seriously wrong.

 

[John Frum]

The main battery cable is still too small.

 

[CamoGreg]

The main battery cable is still too small.

Yes. If he would ever use the full 6000W of the inverters.
I wonder what size the main fuse is? I'm guessing 400A to protect the main battery cable.

 

[CamoGreg]

Set the generator so it kicks on if the inverters receive excess volts,

I think he may have set the generator autostart to kick on before the inverters would draw more current than the main cable can handle.

 

[Barryga]

Yes. If he would ever use the full 6000W of the inverters.
I wonder what size the main fuse is? I'm guessing 400A to protect the main battery cable.

Im stupid when it comes to this, but he has several busbars with fuses and lights that turn red to show you what fuse blew in that busbar—scattered out through the system.
Batteries are in sets of 3, and if I understand, it's a two-part system for efficiency??
I dont think I could hit 4000 watts if I turned on everything at once as just looked up but never do that ?
Both airs fridge micro, led lights, tv 3 added.

Usually just the one heat pump is on, tv , lights and fridge.

Being stupid,
All I know is it works to perfection, and I thought the old crap system was good! LMFAO now!

 

[CamoGreg]

It's a very nice setup, Barry. Probably the largest 12V system I've seen. I think it could draw around 4500W before the main fuse would blow. And I'm guessing he has your generator kick on before that much power is used.

Here's why @smoothJoey is correct on main battery cable size:
(2) inverters @3000W ea. = 6000W.
Inverter conversion = .85
System low voltage = 12V
6000/.85/12 = 588 amps.

I've seen that much power more often used on at least 24V systems. Here's the difference:
6000/.85/24 = 295 amps.

4/0 battery cable is about the largest easily available battery cable there is. Top quality 4/0 cable is good to about 450 amps.

I'm sure your system installer took all this into account and now it should do everything you ask of it.
Enjoy your mobile mini power station!