Solar Install; the on-going saga

Well spotted, I was just zero-ing the meter it was reading 4mA open circuit with the meter tied to the charger iirc.
Seeing as you asked the Trimetric is ~30mA high of cal too (that's my wiring's fault though not the unit).

The 87 auto-powered off a few times while I was watching it, I didn't delta it for the rest of the results, the Victron is still 58% up to 14.1V.

The upper middle is a cheapo Chinese "GopherT" ran into the TS on solar inputs via C/O as it's predecessor. Current limited (5A) 32v variable power supply. It's a neat little do-fer. Passive cooling, seems well able to manage full load. Low noise, I can tune out the buzz that was previously plaguing me. It's non-existent under 17V. I kept the frankinductor because it makes a great battery restraint and it'll smooth the ripple.

The GopherT is my high float, load compensating to 5A, Winter equalising box and emergency back-up/universal transformer. I'm well happy with it. (Don't worry I'll post pics if this goes down in another smoldering death :pac:).
Coincidentally it hits the current limit at a perfect equalising and float set point voltages in stand-alone, compensating for diode drop (on positive lead to protect the output from the battery just in case). Efficiency listed 88%, actual 50% @17v, through the tristar, schottky diode and frankinductor; ~20% when switching.

The Victron not so much, I'm just using it for bulk & absorption charge. Sure, storage mode is great, but not when it goes into it at 25% DOD (probably my own meddlesome fault in fairness....)
A 5A + 15A charger does not make a 20A charger, one just interferes with thuther and screws up the absorption timers on both. Especially when the set points and temp-comp. are different.

I did a bit of experimenting on combining chargers, after 3 weeks on mostly just PV and flirting with 40% DOD....it doesn't work. Everything I had was signing off on a job well done at SG 1.225 per cell after all the confusion. In the end I had to run the PSU; diode protected, current limit 2.5A and voltage @ 14.9v for 12 hours straight to battery without the TS regulating after all my chargers had had enough, this earned me SG 1.250 then a 4 hour TS equalise and a day's high float to get 3 cells up to 1.275, I expect the rest to make up the 0.015 difference after another 3 days floating and I reckon I've boiled off a litre of electrolyte. I'm no longer concerned with short-cycling...the blighters are never bloomin' charged anyways. :rolleyes:

I need to tidy that mess a bit more, It's getting to the point I ought to be considering some heavy trunking. I also need to refit the 230v outlet for a double socket.

I've hard-wired my inverter on 42mm² conductors (just cos I had it not that I needed to) with crimped ring termination instead of the stock 8mm² on croc. clips now that I have a use for it (fridge). I just don't like croc. clips for contact surface area or their spring grip for a mobile application. I've a set of jump leads that I've cut the croc's off and stripped back the conductor so I put the stranded conductor straight onto the battery terminals and use the croc. clip to hold it in place. Learned that from an arc welder.

All the cable that came with the Chinese jobbie was junk. Australian plug with an everything-in-the-world to UK BS adapter that was too small for BS sockets and the contacts looked glued on besides. The DC leads were 0.4mm²
Never got around to re-capping it either...might-do down the line. 7 CapXon and 6 SamXon...worst capacitors in the world I hear. I'd rather swap for better.

moodrater wrote: »

You'd get a quality used 750w-1000w gaming psu for very little on ebay. I have one here that will put out 100A on 12v rail for quad graphics cards; at 45A it wouldn't even break a sweat cost £35.

I figured this one out. Two identical 300W current limited PSU's in series with the earth lifted on the second and the casing earthed to the first and isolated from the second would do the job as a 24V 25A supply.

Ambient 12°C = 15% De-rate
Overwatering = 10% De-rate
48Hr rate = 255Ah
255 x 0.75 = 190Ah
190 @ C48

180Ah Aprox. Relative Capacity

Other news: Trimetric SOC is finally calibrated. :pac: ...years after installing it.
It's only out by ±8Ah after a week. I've set the auto reset off.
Efficiency: 100% (actually batteries are ~85% efficient and discharge is ~C100/C50...it works out).
Capacity: 85% (-weather, -too much water, +reduced discharge curve).
It's also subtracting 5Ah a week that aren't actually used due to to disputing conductors.

Didn't get to see the split charger working today, ran out of photons before I had a chance to power up. My shunt was giving me grief probably from loom manhandling. Claiming I had a 7A load on with the system offline. So I pulled it apart and gave it whatfor. Removed the kelvin connections, put new ring terminals on them with solder + crimp, hit the shunt with a wire wheel and ground the ring terminals down to the copper. 15mA high of cal. now. :cool:

Ten days I've had the deep cycles on the Victron. S.G.: 1.260. It's not a patch on the TriStar I tells ya.

I've a weak cell in my crowns.
One's always 0.010 SG below the rest.

Instructions:

• Take off alternator, put new one on, simples.
• Adjust belt as required...In my case with an automatic adjuster I just used a shorter one I have in the roadside repair drawer. Check service manual for tension setting. If it squeaks the alignment is out or there's a bad bearing in the mix.
• Reconnect all electrical connections before starting engine.

Now I just needed to upgrade my split charge relay and grounds. Grounds are easy enough one for the 0V deep cycle bank terminal to shunt and the other shunt to chassis.
Most of the rest of the job was done by my 95mm² leftovers. All I had to do is go from the end of the B2B link into a new upgraded relay and across to my deep cycles.
For now I've upgraded the B2B fuse for a 80A from the spares drawer. If I need bigger later I'll go bigger later.
The primary PWM split charge relay circuit via solar controller is still a humble 40A and is current limited by MCB.

The secondary is big and dumb: battery to battery.
In the end I couldn't commit my 250A relay...that thing is a monster...15W coil!! My laptop uses less on a good day..ahem well maybe not..but close!

Next contender is that lervely 200A latching relay.
Permanent magnets, fires like an unloaded gun. Pulse on, reverse polarity pulse off.
Uses less lekytrons than my piddling 10A relay.

Rolls Royce of Relays, P.
Albrght relay with a Merlin Badge.
That seller comes by them from time to time braking ambulances.

datasheet

6W flat mount this morning. 55W tilted 60°.

Now that my window slides are a bit weathered they hold the module fine without clamps even in 3m/s wind.

I'm wise to your mischiefs P.


I've a 1.5kW array to stick on the gaff that's more pressing.

The police crash response jeeps have an interesting LED sign deployment mechanism on their roof. :pac:

It's only vital tilt for the cusps of Winter season and they're the ones most campers are indoors or only wanting trickle.