Going solar

[kidharris]

thanks KH!

interesting read on bluetooth.

the victron bluetooth hits my phone a long ways away. sitting at my desk, inside the house, i can sign on to the charge controllers and see what they are doing. the battery bluetooth, i was, getting up from the desk and going to my door, and it would work. now with the battery box, i have to go outside to the bus almost before it reads the bluetooth. ~20' ish

well, now i,ve had 2 failed nights of testing.

the box is giving me about 10 degrees of protection. night 1 was 20 outside, battery temp got down to 31-32, but the heating pad didnt fire. night 2, the low temp was only about 30, and the battery sensor was at 42, and the pad didnt fire.

the heating pad sticker says its should turn on at 45, off at 70.

the heating pad hasnt turned on yet that i've seen.

i really dont want to dissasemble and pack a battery and heating pad to my freezer for testing, fingers crossed it gets cold enough to work and it works.

out in the desert we use thermo cubes hooked up to heat bulbs to keep our pumps from freezing. Turns On @ 35F off @ 45F, uses120v power, just be careful how/where you point the bulbs, it can get really hot. The light can also be used as a signal to let you know when it is on.


could also be used as a backup. You can find them @ most hardware stores or online


https://www.homedepot.com/p/15-Amp-...ically-Controlled-Double-Outlet-TC3/100210525

 

[turf]

iv;ve had a couple of nights of the battery heater.......

its working, kind of......

2 nights ago, it didnt get cold enough here for the heater to fire that i saw, our low was only about 40 degrees.

last night we went down to 15 so i got to "see" it work a couple of times.

the heating pad only operates for a minute or less. and in these conditions it was about an hour apart between firing.

the heating pad made no difference that i could see in the battery temp sensors, only that they didnt fall as fast than without the heater, i think.

by the load on the battery, i could "see" whether the heating pad was working. just the lights on the bus were on and the heater. the lights load was a constant 53-55 watts, all night. the heater pad was another 65 watts, sowhen it turned on, the battery ap was posting a discharge around 110 watts.

so, i'd see an hour or so of 55w on the ap and then for a minute, it would jump up to 110watts.

the first time i notice the increased wattage, the battery temp was about 40, out side was 29 degrees. right after sunrise, the battery temp was 35, and outside was 15 degrees.

i never saw any spike in battery temp after a heating pad run, just slower decline of temps.

the ap posts show the first time i caught the heating cycle, 53w vs 117w, and then the final temp post at sunrise here. temps will go up. the battery got down to 35 last night, which is an improvement over similar nights the since its been running.

so kind of works, but not how i thought it would.

on a different note......

today my bluetooth is rocking and rolling.... maybe we had a solar event that interfered the other day when i complained. last night, i sat inside, 100' away from the bus and the bluetooth worked all night.

look up tonight! supposed to have a good aurora borelais tonight. (probably from the cme that cause my bluetooth blacjkout a few days ago)

 

[turf]

ah

it was a good day, today!

i didnt finish, but im close. just clamps and fasteners now i think.

i put in a good long half day working.

it was a good day!
:biggrin:

so i got my longer cables in the mail and redid 3 cables. im glad i did, it looks better.

i rigged up a better battery heater. its not supposed to be above freezing for the next week. winter is here.

and for any that care.... here is a quick wiring explanation

1. the cables to the battery - 12/24v in
2. shunt and fuse
3. the cables loop around to the battery disconnect
4. then the cables go to the bus bar
7. on the way back from the bus bar, where the 24/12 converter will sit
5. house 12v disconnect
6. house 12v bus bars


the solar can self adjust to the bus bar voltage.

 

[turf]

brrrrrrrr


its cold and my batteries arent happy.

my jerry rigged battery heater solutions werent working. so, time to buy a real battery heater. unfortunately, it was 120v., but i'll work around that.

so like previously mentioned..... i got a cube controller too, stupid easy, and works. plug it in, on at 34, off at 45. i have a little inverter around i'll have to wire in to run the heater, but for now, at least its working.

right now its plugged in to my house. so the inverter setup will be coming soon.

i got a Kats battery heater.
https://www.amazon.com/Kats-22100-Watt-Battery-Thermal/dp/B08B884JWQ?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&gQT=1

and its working great.

about 10 degrees outside now, and my battery is in the 50s sitting inside its box.

the cold temps revealed a minor problem. the low temp cut off is different for my 2 batteries. 1 battery had been off for a few days, while the other battery was warming back up enough to turn back on each day.

when they both warmed up, the dead battery that had been cycling started charging. i guess the low temp cutoff released and now the batteries want to balance.

i got a few days of sunshine ahead... so will get the batteries back up to full charge .... and warm.
:biggrin:

 

[kidharris]

brrrrrrrr


its cold and my batteries arent happy.

my jerry rigged battery heater solutions werent working. so, time to buy a real battery heater. unfortunately, it was 120v., but i'll work around that.

so like previously mentioned..... i got a cube controller too, stupid easy, and works. plug it in, on at 34, off at 45. i have a little inverter around i'll have to wire in to run the heater, but for now, at least its working.

right now its plugged in to my house. so the inverter setup will be coming soon.

i got a Kats battery heater.
https://www.amazon.com/Kats-22100-W...ext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&gQT=1

and its working great.

about 10 degrees outside now, and my battery is in the 50s sitting inside its box.

the cold temps revealed a minor problem. the low temp cut off is different for my 2 batteries. 1 battery had been off for a few days, while the other battery was warming back up enough to turn back on each day.

when they both warmed up, the dead battery that had been cycling started charging. i guess the low temp cutoff released and now the batteries want to balance.

i got a few days of sunshine ahead... so will get the batteries back up to full charge .... and warm.
:biggrin:

kinda off topic, but, do you have a small yellow and black bird around there? When i was a kid i called them canaries and used them for target practice with my bb gun (hard to hit), but there were lots of them and they were everywhere there was a tree.

 

[turf]

yes, meadowlarks


they have the best song. they are my favorite. i had a picture of one tapping on my window, but i cant find it now. if i find it, i'll post it.

 

[turf]

just about finished.....

the solar has been running well. i am very impressed. the more energy i use, the more energy i harvest.

the batteries have different low temp cut temps. and that lets one battery cut out with out me knowing. but the battery heater i put has helped keep both batteries working.

for a few days, the batteries were perfectly balanced. the cell voltages identical. but something happened and it maintains a charge delta of .003 or .004. thats fine by me.


the last piece missing to the system is the ground. the system has been floating until today, now its bonded to the chassis.

i added a bolt to the back wall, with a grounding strap that runs to the frame. easy peasy.

the battery heater is running off a little inverter and a thermo cube. i ran its cord up to the house 12v bus bars. so everything on the bus is now self contained, self powered.

i did fix my broken hub seal too. thats an easy job that was over due. the old oil stinks.... it needed a refresh anyway.

i got another cap to do the other side too. if you change oil on a hub... do it in the dirt. its a messy job, but easy.

 

[nikitis]

All old oiled hubs like that stink. When used, it can still be good oil and smell that way once it's used at all.

You should try getting a wiff of gear oil in an excavator hub. Whew

 

[turf]

All old oiled hubs like that stink. When used, it can still be good oil and smell that way once it's used at all.

You should try getting a wiff of gear oil in an excavator hub. Whew

the weird part about the hubs was....napa didnt have them by vehicle. i had to pack the hub in some plastic bags and take it to napa for them to match up.

i washed my floor mat after the trip to get all of that oil out!

i started the other side yesterday, will finish today.

fresh hubs...check

 

[turf]

hey all


i had my first problem with the solar..... probably a lack of understanding on my part.

i started up the bus to move it. the shunt that shows my house battery went nuts. it zoomed up to 100a charging and hit its limit in displaying numbers.

the bus was barely on for 3-4 minutes, i got scared seeing those numbers and shut it down.

why would my alternator? start like that?

the bus battery is low, the house battery fully charge.

any help appreciated

 

[Rucker]

The only reason you'd see such high current is if there is a corresponding draw-like the battery is very low.

Are you certain the battery is fully charged?

 

[turf]

well the truck battery was low and probably triggered the alternator, but it seems the place to absorb that energy was the house battery. the house battery was fully charged and the bms hit an overvoltage shutoff level.


so it occured to me as well ....that maybe the bus bat state of discharge was the issue. so, the bus is on a charger and will try again tomorrow.

im not aware of a + positive connection between the 2 battery systems. just a common ground.

 

[Rucker]

Agreed if the house battery is charged there should be no current associated with the bus battery being low.

Maybe put the charger of the house battery and a DC amp clamp on it, just to see what it's drawing.

Or, can you disconnect everything downstream from the + bus bar (temporarily) and fire up the rig, see if you still see something weird?

This one is a mystery.

 

[Rucker]

A quick google search yielded this:
https://community.victronenergy.com/t/smartshunt-shows-impossibly-high-negative-current/7947/2

 

[turf]

interesting read about the victron shunts.

i think thats the same problem here.


today, both the house and vehicle batteries were charged.

i didnt notice the battery meter inside when i started charging the vehicle battery. after 2 days of charging cycles, i went to start the vehicle and the house battery meter was pegged again..... so that makes me think its the shunt. maybe a calibration... but right now, i dont think my old house shunt is compatible.

when i stopped the battery charger, the house battery meter went back to normal. i started and moved the vehicle normal... the gauges read normal, seemed like it was all working well.

anyways... got the bus parked back in its usual spot... the scaffolding is gone, mess cleaned up.
:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin: