Generators are a need having extra's are very handy when the one stops working for which ever reason. A off gridder can't have to many as i see it. There like toilet paper never not needed.
We've had some instances where there's an imbalance on the lifepo4 server rack cells when charging from a generator through an All-In-One unit like a growatt. The reasoning they were given, is that even though a generator is "pure sine wave", that they only remain this way up until a certain amount of load is put on. You would think a BMS would be able to still determine what goes where, but I think the whole pitch was that they buy a larger generator from them. lol. Instead, they ended up getting a Chargeverter to bypass the AIO, and things are looking better after a few cycles. It was to the point where low voltage cutoff was hitting that cell quite early during discharge. Not sure if there's anything similar for 36v or not. Be interesting to see if your cells stay balanced during these charge cycles from the generator.
Yes I have heard many good things about the chargeverter. Right from the first lithium battery balance has always been challenging which is why I only charge to 3.41 on a cell that way I get more than 90% and no balance issues.
I tried charging with my geny today and it wount work. 137vac and 64 hrz. Inverter wouldnt accept it at all. What a pain. I could get the voltage down but not the hrz on the geny. O well. Glad you got yours working. Cheers
That was a steal for that gen if you have a use for the big power…….. your inverter doesn’t like the juice it produces…… it may be the hertz that needs to be adjusted……. There is a way to adjust those parameters so that the inverter will accept it…….check it out.
@@DMIINC2013 The internal bms needs to be powered from an outside source as it was in the original system they were designed for. The revision 2 batteries will allow disassembly so most guys replace the bms but these revision 1 are glued shut. There is plenty of information on them on the internet but I got them used at a good price so I will just use them like this.
@@jasonl8648 oh but it was the frequency of the sine wave was out but the amps added to the problem as it is with lots of things there was more than one thing wrong.
Similar problem. I have the newer Calpha but it won’t charge from my Honda 2000 inverter generator. It will show 128v coming into the Calpha but no amps going to the batteries. So far support can’t seem to fix it
@@offgridwanabe So I figured it out. I had to switch the charge setting to AC 1st priority. The manual states you can only charge the battery bank via PV input and AC grid if you choose AC 1st priority for power. So I don't really understand why it doesn't work on "Hybrid" setting but at least now in a pinch I can charge via my generator. Also, you were correct about the amps. My little 1800 w generator can only charge at 15 amps. I have a new 3600W generator on the way so I can quickly dump more power into the battery bank. Thanks for the reply!
No offense. but you threw your money away on that low cost, lightweight, low surge capacity, high frequency, transformerless inverter. Transformerless inverters offer much shorter life expectancies and far poorer surge capacities than real inverters that use low frequency, transformer based designs. They're no good for powering high surge loads like well pumps, welders and large AC units. Give it a year or two and you're going to regret spending your money on a transformerless, high frequency inverter.
Ya you are likely right I already have 3 low frequency inverters but none of them came with a mppt solar charger so for what I paid for it if I get to use it as a charger it is still a deal and cheaper than a Midnite 150 and more production
@@frankz1125 From what I could see when it was first running the hz were like 45 so when I turned up the governer it would stay above 60 and start charging but still 20 amps is all it will charge even tho it is a 4000 watt geny
Nice work. I am sure you will get your other generator hooked up and working when you have time to mess with it. It might just be an rpm change to get the exact hertz output. Thanks for sharing.
Watching closely on this build.......I helped a friend spec out some items for his cabin/home......it was a 3000watt but same idea as this........we will be transferring off grid in stages in the near future at our homestead also.......we will be paying attention to what you do and find out with this build...........I think I will make a video of my buddies build also.....that should be in the fall here. Thanks for sharing.
you mentioned your golden Capacitor and all of a sudden I went "Back to the Future" It says here that a bolt of lightning is going to strike the clock tower at precisely 10:04 p.m. next Saturday night! If... If we could somehow harness this lightning... channel it into the flux capacitor... it just might work. Next Saturday night, we're sending you back to the future!
@@offgridwanabeI've been working on a tiny house getting it ready to move had to set up a small solar system there I'll try to do a video soon the heatwave has been crazy
Wow, that's an awesome setup you have there. I have no idea how it all works but it's impressive to see how you have everything linked together. It will be cool to see everything working with the solar all hooked up. Great video.
