I cover a variety of preparedness and self sufficiency topics such as DIY Solar Generators, Living Off Grid, Generators, Vegetable Gardening and growing your own food, Water and Food Storage, Water Catchment, Emergency Lighting, Product Reviews and other topics I'm interested in.
Also check out my website where I typically include additional details - www.proficientprepper.com
Thankyou for this video, it is very informative and u r a good teacher. Can I ask: can I set up 2, 12v batteries in series and then connect to a 24v 3000w/6000w peak inverter with an 100a mppt controller?. Thankyou.
Speaking as a veteran and a former technician LOL I was wearing safety glasses watching this video and safety shoes . I did also activate my body cam just in case ....
i have the aims 4000 watt 12 volt inverter looks like the same build it has no lcd display and no house hold outlets but i looks the same dont need 4000 wats in my setup but for the quality of my unit its what i will use to buy a 3000 watt inverter on the cheep side it would cost me 400+ my inverter is heaver the 54 pounds
I have watched many videos on small 12 volt systems and their construction. I would say that yours is the first I have seen that combines a description of the components and also discusses wire gauge, fuses, breaker sizes etc. Great explanations. To get all that info I have had to go to many different sources to put it all together in my head. The only question I still have not been able to answer is why have a breaker/fuse between the solar charger and the positive bus bar? What are you protecting? The MPPT can only put out so many amps, so if the wire is sized correctly this seems redundant to me. Thanks.
5000 watts is right up there at the limit for a 12v system. For 5000, you would need the largest wire readily available which is 4/0 wire. 5000watts / 12.8v = 390amps. Windynation is where I buy most of my wire and their 4/0 wire can handle a max of 440amps according to their website. But personally, I would never build a 5000watt 12v system for normal use. 1/0 wire is difficult to work with. I can't imagine building a system with 4/0 wire. It is very thick. For 5000 watts, I would at least use a 24v system if possible.
Good day. After fully charging my battery, the voltage drops to 13V in 2 days, and to 12.90V in 5 days. But when the battery is connected to 200W for 1 minute, the voltage is 13.39V and it stays like that all day? Is this normal or not a battery problem.
Do you have an inverter powered on an connected to the battery? That drop would be normal if you have a powered on inverter because it draws some current while sitting idle. But what does not make sense is that if you use 200W for 1 minute, the voltage does not drop over time. Something does not seem right about that. Without knowing more, it seems that something may drawing power from the battery. But if nothing is drawing power, then it might be a defective battery. I've not had a defective battery or a battery acting strangely yet. So I don't have a lot of experience with troubleshooting battery issues.
@@proficientprepper Thank you for your answer. Exactly, the battery behaves suspiciously (there is a gradual voltage drop) when the battery is charged and nothing is connected to it. The seller wrote that this is the protection of BMS. But nothing is said about this on ebay.
Yes, next time I review an inverter, I will definitely do that. Brad Cagle is another youtuber that reviewed the 2000watt version of this inverter. He opened up the inverter if you wanted to take a look at his video - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KLdEr6SdgFI.html
Very true, its hard for me to watch that video now. This was very early on my RU-vid channel and I've gotten much better at that since filming since I did this one.
I've found that the internal resistance of the battery is usually enough to keep the spark relatively small and undamaging. However, what will make an abhorrently large spark, and likely damage the capacitors in the process, is to connect a power source with already-charged capacitors, such as a battery with another inverter already connected, to the inverter. This will connect the almost zero-resistance capacitors together, resulting in 1/2*CV^2 worth of energy being directly deposited in the spark!
Your fuse needs to be at the POS post of the battery First... before the wire run.. Same as from the panels to Controller needs a breaker or fuse and from Controller to battery... If your gonna show this stuff then it's up to YOU to explain and Push the Safety.
It totally depends on how much load you put on it. This setup should keep a typical full size refrigerator running maybe a day and a half without any sun. But if you had good sun every day, it could keep it running almost indefinitely. But we always get clouds, so if you had 400 ah, that just might get you through a series of cloudy days. If I just ran lights, then 200 ah should be fine to run that every day.
At 12 volts there isn't much going on unless there is a short to begin with. I've never used a resistor. But with higher voltage I will try to remember to use the resistor first. Ooops I forgot when I hooked up my 24 volt inverter and nothing much happened. The spark is only a little bigger. I'm guessing I would have to use a resistor when I hook up to a 48 volt battery for sure.
GOT to argue what you said about the fuse in the red wire being at the battery!. NO! At the Battery means AT the Battery! Pull your wires from the battery to the disconnect switch and flip it end for end and put the fuse as close as possible to the POS post. Open any Commercial built unit or one that has to pass inspection and you will find the fuse on the POS post. Take that fuse out of the fuse holder and bolt it to the POS post if you want. Or get another fuse. it's a SAFETY ISSUE! Love your Design!
Good point. I will look into getting a fuse that can mount right on the post as an extra safety precaution. If something happened to the wire between the battery post and fuse, the fuse does no good then. I now use a 24v system with two 24v batteries. I would need one for each battery post. Thanks!!
@@proficientprepper If you want to buy another that's cool But you would be just fine flipping the fuse you got off the Switch and mount to battery with the same wires. End for End...
I thought that using the resistor releases the energy stored in the capacitors and this energy is shown as a spark. You repeated state that the resistor precharges the capacitors while just the opposite is happening.
My understanding and experience has been that if your inverter has been sitting for a long time not in use, the energy in the capacitors has dissipated and have no energy left in them. In that case, if you don't use the resistor when you connect the battery, the flow of current from the battery into the capacitors causes the spark. If I disconnect the inverter and leave it sitting for 5 minutes for example. The capacitors are still charged and if you don't use the resistor, there will not be a spark because the capacitors are already charged. At least that is my understanding.
@@proficientprepper My understanding is that the capacitors, when charged (and they hold the current for some time), will instantly release their charge when connecting to the battery. If a resistor is used it releases this energy slow enough to prevent the shock. Once release, or if there's no energy stored in them, there will be no spark.
I'm not an expert on this, but from what I've read and seen on other videos, those little breakers do work, but are not as quick and reliable as the fuses. Sometimes the current can go quite a bit over the rating on those breakers before it will trip. I did buy some real cheap fuses once and learned that it does not pay to buy cheap fuses. Quality matters with breakers and fuses.
If you want to see how I actually used a resistor to eliminate the spark, go to the 9:20 timestamp in the following video - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lQ_3_9nPYFM.html
To charge the battery by plugging into the wall you just need a LiFePO4 battery charger, if using a LiFePO4 battery. I use this one for 12v LiFePO4 batteries - www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082LZNDRH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&th=1
I thought your video was very helpful. I'm just starting to build my 700w system and waiting for a few of the components to come in. I still had some questions about wire gages, fuses, and disconnects and you seem to have gone over it fairly well. Mine will be 12v also.
It has been a while since I sized this system. But from memory it seems like these panels have a maximum series fuse rating of 15 or 20 amps when wired in series as I have. I may could have gone with a 15 amp breaker. I believe these panels have a 11amp max.
Resistors especially since the disappearance of Radio Shack stores which I hope Trump brings back are too difficult to get and besides the spark Is caused by the capacitors charging up
When putting the PowerPole connector terminals on don't twist the copper strands after stripping off the PVC. Keep them as straight as possible. This makes putting the terminal on a lot easier. It does take a little practice to make sure all the strands make it into place, but it makes for a much superior crimp in the end. When you twist them, the chances of them binding and not sliding into place a lot greater. This leaves less of them along the length when you crimp.
