grizzzman
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Re: Wowee The Insane Rise Of Copper Price
mr_andyj wrote: There is no lumber shortage, the lumber is stacked and packed in the yards, the banks want high prices to make higher mortgages. Everything will go up. 25% inflation will see to that. Printing money like crazy. It is not stimulus, it is welfare that the govt is paying out to everyone, job or not. Don't hold Dollars. Buy stuff now. Friends I know who fled eastern Europ nations say when they hit hyper inflation that they would get paid, go spend it that day, buying anything, clothing not their size, pots and pans, anything, because the next day that money would not buy gum. It is sure great people see what is really going on764Views0likes0CommentsRe: LifePo4 Voltage at .5C - .6C Discharge
Itinerant1 wrote: BFL13 wrote: We always are off grid except at home, so redundancy is good. Don't want to have to bail and go home early. Itenerant1, how did the sequence work when you had your BMS shut-down when one of your cells "went rogue"? In particular, how did you get your Magnum to light up so you could use its charger with the House batts shut down? This all happened while I was away working in a different state and wife was with the 5th wheel and going on 1,017 days of continuous boondocking and never an issue. Cells didn't go rouge they shut off charging acceptance due to low cell temp (bms doing exactly what it was designed to do). The batteries were still able to power the rig "but" without charging time is against you. Once the cells warmed up above 32f solar started to charge but this was in the afternoon when it started charging. Generator ran out of gas and she couldn't get it going again. Next night before me coming home she called me and said the system shutdown "no 12v power". She had no idea why. This happened in Nov 2019 while in Kansas with nighttime lows between 7-11f, daytimes just above freezing (cold front dropped down). Temporary solution... she winterized the trailer (we carry rv antifreeze with us during cold months), pulled out the big buddy heater. Cause of the system shutting down was one of the senseboards on the cells stopped communicating with the cpu, it did exactly what it's supposed to do...shutdown (one of many safety features, if it doesn't see 20 cells it shuts down). Why did the senseboard die, I don't know why...age, electronic failure or just sheet happens? When I returned I picked up a new eu2200i generator on the way back. I wanted to upgrade the eu2000i anyways this just sped that up. First thing I did was put a multimeter on the pack and it was showing 13.28v so it was ok and had a charge. I talked to my installer and he explained how to bypass the cpu (bms) "but" doing this the 20 cells were unprotected. Now for the next part of the problem, the batteries were not being charged from the Magnum inverter/ charger or solar. After talking to the installer and trying different things...nothing, no charging as if the system was dead but I could see the lights on the equipment showing power? In the meantime plugged in a car battery charger (10a) to the generator so not to kill the batteries while thinking about my options. After thinking about this overnight, the next morning I went and looked at the Me-Arc setup menu for the system and everything was not as it was set up originally, it cleared itself back to factory settings. After 15 minutes of resetting all of the setup menu from before these issues started the system was back on line charging properly from both the inverter/ charger and solar. I was told that Magnum equipment will remember settings if this were to happen...well it didn't. This was a inconvenience for sure, more for the wife than me because she was with the trailer and I was in a hotel room that night. Leason learned from this experience. Keep generator full of gas. ;) How to bypass cpu. Don't go off the word of others, check everything including settings. Carry extra senseboards now. Don't put off insulating compartment, tapped into furnace heat duct. Everything thing is written down now with pics if I'm away and the wife has to do it. Good thing I wrote the settings down that were programmed originally because 3 years later I wouldn't of remembered them all. Hint to all write your settings down, you never know.;) I like to think I was prepared but this showed the wink links that needed attention to. :( Something else between "dropin" and a more diy system is the control over exterior components verses the sealed box. It won't be the end of the world just some inconvenience, you hope anyways. This is exactly why I went with a hybrid LFP-FLA system. Here is an voltage example of when the was a software SOC error. The LFP BMS shut down shortly after sun up charging started.977Views0likes0CommentsRe: Reviving flooded deep cycles
wopachop wrote: Does it turn open circuit because of a mechanical failure? Or does the chemistry flip back and forth? It's strange how my charger voltage display will turn on and off, just as if the battery was a switch and turning on and off. Just seems like a mechanical failure would be permanent. So I dont think it's that. Then you have never seen an internal strap connection "lift off" (go open) then cool and reconnect then. It happens.720Views0likes0CommentsRe: 60a DC-to-DC Charger Powered by 220a Alternator
Like a 300 horse engine is producing anything near that at idle...... I have a 40 amp DC to DC charger. It is a buck-boost device. At 14 volts input will output 40 amps at 14.7 cost is 50 amps input. At 12.7 volts (gotta love "smart" charging) 34 amps at 14.2 volts. The 220 amp alt handled both at idle without issue.424Views0likes0CommentsRe: Lithium Batteries
pianotuna wrote: Hi Steve, But the existing alternator is not going to "see" the LI bank. And the existing alternator is controlled by the Chassis ECM. In the E-450 the OEM house bank charging circuit is fused at 60 amps (for my unit). The 60 amp are hard to find--so I replaced mine with an auto reset circuit breaker rated at 50 amps. I did add a 2nd charging path with a 2nd circuit breaker, direct to the chassis battery. The wire in both circuits is #8. Back in the old days when I was using double conversion for limiting shore power, the twin 30 amp fuses on the PD (30 amp) converter did "deform" (i.e. quasi melted). They did not, however, fail. When I tried double conversion on a GFCI circuit that the Magnum would instantly trip, the surge current was such that the reverse polarity fuses went *poof* more or less instantaneously, due to inrush current from the Magnum. So, I suspect, that an OEM charging system with replacement LI batteries would blow the fuse before the alternator would fail. My 2013 F150 output 14.0 at all times. My 2019 F150 output 12.7 to 12.9 over a period of 2 hours. Using a Renolgy 40 amp DC to DC charger is a buck/boost device and bumped the voltage to my preset 14.2 at the cost of less amps(34) If your looking for a solution this is what I would advise you look into.416Views0likes0CommentsRe: Lithium Batteries
Itinerant1 wrote: If a person discharges a lfp 100% without proper protection they might deserve to have an expensive brick and doing it 25 times is just idiotic. Pianotuna are you going to test the 25 times bone dead depletion with no harm to the batteries, I won't hold you to the 620 times. ;) LOL I agree. And really the price has come down if you are into a DIY set up.( Although a person in the know says they will jump up in the next little while.)227Views0likes0CommentsRe: New trailer, new challenges
Kach wrote: Hello all!! It’s been a good while since I’ve been active on here, but always seem to pick up good info from the archives when google searching. We are back in the RV’ing game with our new Highland Ridge 26BH stick and tin trailer. As expected, the overall quality is a bit lackluster - I bought it expecting to beef things up and make mods over time. The one thing I’ve been fighting is battery charging for boondocking with the WFCO 8735 converter. Typical 13.6v, no boost mode conundrum. Basically, this thing pretty much needs to go. I’ve looked at the “Boondocker” model replacement converters (leaves the original distribution panel in place). I’m fairly convinced this would help. 1) what amperage should I get? I’m hoping to get by with my 2 6v batteries if possible. I run a Honda 1000 generator (only for batt charging purposes) - would be willing to upgrade if it makes a substantial difference. With our last trailer, we could go almost indefinitely with 2-3 hours of gen runtime per day. Now - not so much! 2) Some supplemental solar is in our future. Is there a solar charge controller that also allows 110//generator charging input? Thought Is I could leave the converter alone and wire up a separate charging setup close to the batteries with large guage wire for better efficiency. Just a thought, if such a thing exists. I would suggest leaving the WFCO in place(Just switched off while not in use) It is VERY likely that the WFCO is a long ways from the batteries any ways. PowerMax puts out a 55 a PM3 55LK. this unit can be a 3 stage or an adjustable voltage power supply. Mount it as close to your batteries as you can.544Views0likes0CommentsRe: Lithium Battery Question
pianotuna wrote: A great price! https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lithium-12v-100Ah-Rechargeable-Deep-Cycle-Battery-with-Home-Charger-BMS-Solar-RV/173898399831?_trkparms=aid%3D1110007%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.DISC%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20200220090753%26meid%3D8e54182c50cc4ab9bc5eff39af76a749%26pid%3D100009%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D2%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D174272891224%26itm%3D173898399831%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3Ddefault%26brand%3DSolar&_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982 $530 usd thats a fire ready to start. Stick with lifepo4226Views0likes0CommentsRe: Lithium Battery Question
pianotuna wrote: A great price! https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lithium-12v-100Ah-Rechargeable-Deep-Cycle-Battery-with-Home-Charger-BMS-Solar-RV/173898399831?_trkparms=aid%3D1110007%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.DISC%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20200220090753%26meid%3D8e54182c50cc4ab9bc5eff39af76a749%26pid%3D100009%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D2%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D174272891224%26itm%3D173898399831%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3Ddefault%26brand%3DSolar&_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982 $530 usd thats a fire ready to start. Stick with lifepo4226Views0likes0Comments
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We all start out new. Share lessons learned or first-time questions!Jun 15, 20174,026 Posts
