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Risks of Charging batteries, Car, "Maxing out supplies"

Comments

  • Posts: 2,768 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    You need to evaluate each installation individually, a packed board pulling 60 amps for 4 hours is asking for trouble. A modern board, with loads of space, busbar sized accordingly, cables torqued to manufacturer recommendations and minimum 16sq internal panel flex should have no issues dealing with that load. Distance from the meter cabinet and method of installed tails matters too.

    I would advise anyone reading these forum to consult a competent REC, have their boards updated and carry out a periodic inspection. I recently asked a colleague when he last tested his main RCD and he said "never". Test your smoke alarms too, I have two where my Inverter is, I'm a little paranoid.

    My next project with my install is to add 3 no. Temperature sensors to my board, if they sense over a set threshold they will trigger a contactor to kill the supply, smoke detector near the board and inverter will also trigger it and set the battery discharge current to 0.

    When I tested my board last with the imaging camera, no cable or overcurrent device was over 27 degrees, after an hour at 14kw, I have 25sq cable feeding my main busbar and 16sq panel flex from there.

    ESBN really need to lower the fee for upgrading to 16kva.

    Post edited by graememk on


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 852 ✭✭✭gossamerfabric


    battery to take advantage of 2am to 5am cheap electricity. A battery which can only be charged 1095 hours in the year so you mean to push it to its charging limits to fill it.

    This is a symptom of a problem…mains electricity in Ireland is just too expensive.

    Post edited by graememk on


  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 7,102 Mod ✭✭✭✭graememk


    Pulled the Previous thread wildly off topic, so its been split out.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,203 ✭✭✭drury..


    You make contradictory statements anyhow regarding the uses of smoke and heat detection on main board

    Are you saying your board presents a risk due to the 14kw loading or not

    You were saying upstream there was no risk on a 14kw new board

    Now you're referring to ovens causing fires which isn't relevant in your case as you believe 14kw doesn't present a risk on a high quality board



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 852 ✭✭✭gossamerfabric


    A three hour window in a tariff is an artificial construct like the earlybird/nightowl tariffs from ESAT digifone all those years ago. Batteries should be charged at little more than a trickle to prolong life over a period longer than three hours. I think 3.6 to 3.8kw is optimal balance of time versus stress on infrastructure.



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  • Posts: 2,768 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Moderators have lost the run of themselves here. A perfectly civil, on topic conversation deleted. I had a user call me a "**** bellend" and it's still there for all to see.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,203 ✭✭✭drury..


    Seemed relevant enough to me discussion around safety or otherwise of these loads

    Some of it was off topic argument



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,203 ✭✭✭drury..


    Barely an electrician bothers posting now

    Electrical forum is noticeably overran with diyers enquiring about cheap supply upgrades and connecting big loads



  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 7,102 Mod ✭✭✭✭graememk


    @allinthehead not deleted, spun out into its own thread



  • Administrators Posts: 457 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭System


    This discussion was created from comments split from: Battery - to take advantage of 2am to 5am cheap rate electricity.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,203 ✭✭✭drury..


    The risk varies depending on the installation and the quality of the work carried out

    The basic fact remains that it is not a standard electrical design practice to run installations at the rating of the main protective device

    An 80A maximum demand calls for a 20kva supply using esbn guidelines

    Sure a poster will say as they have done that an MIC is not set in stone as it cant be



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,203 ✭✭✭drury..


    My major points are that the new accepted wisdom here among many posters is to max out supplies to the rating of the main mcb and keep an eye on things with thermal cameras etc

    None of this is any sort of accepted practice in the real world of electrical installation work and safe electric design

    It's a handful of mostly non electricians advocating this and there's a greater risk for those readings these posts and undertaking poor installation work with existing poor installations

    Any of the few sparks posting on the electrical forum are in agreement



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