*A quiet **Generater.Systems** , love the dual fuel capabilities, camper is 50 amp but the adapter helps and found it still handles the load. Haven't taken a camping trip yet, that's in a couple of weeks. Will see how well it does over a long weekend.*
Much like yourself, I too have this thing for batteries and battery chargers. I have a bunch of AAs, AAAs, and 9V rechargeable batteries in the drawer. I have to admit, I do keep these fully charge, because when you need a battery of this type, who wants to wait for it to be charge? The drawer also contains an EBL dumb charger. This is for bulk charging and for those batteries that might get too low for the smart charger. Beside that is the La Crosse Technology BC700 smart charger. This is my goto charger for the AAs and AAAs. I have the same 3 brands of batteries as you have. Though I have not been happy with the EBL AAAs. I have one IOT device that just doesn't last very long with these AAAs as compared the the Amazon brand. I've kind of got my own solar charging repertoire for charging the above household batteries along with several other batteries/chargers around the house. I purchased the Polaroid 289Wh PS300 Portable Power Supply and attached a 50W solar panel and its very sustainable for charging all of your personal, hand held electronics. The list goes on from there. I think I have 5 different 12V chargers for the lawn mower and automotive batteries. Add portable power tools and battery operated yard tools. My wife probably thinks I need help. LOL Forgot to mention the LiPos for the quads and my hobby chargers. I'd like to go larger than the typical solar generator, however. I'd really like to be able to power a couple of circuits in the house with a small solar setup and a lithium battery from a Chevy Volt. :)
Cory Grimm wow!!! A volt battery would be incredible! I was wondering what it would cost to get the battery from a wrecked Tesla as I saw one crash down the street for me
40 amp hours at what voltage? 12? How big of a load can it handle? Did you build in a thermal cutoff safety? Any BMS? I am assuming it is just 12v because you didn’t mention an inverter.
Thanks for the questions clay! 12v yes, Thermal Cutoff no, I keep it cracked most of the time when I use it. Batteries never even get warm. The Battery management is built into the solar charger, nothing in addition to that. The idea behind building this was just testing out different products and putting it into a small package. I wanted the capability to plug in an inverter if needed but mainly to charge devices, run 12v lights and recharge AA batteries. I would love to build a larger more robust one sometime in the future that is closer to 150ah. Any suggestions would be appreciated if you have any!
Fully charging batteries (except lead acid) actually shortens their life. NiCd & NiMh can be left at about 40% safely for prolonged periods. In fact, you should occasionally fully discharge (1 v per cell) them to prolong their life (this is called exercising them). Additionally, they should be discharged to less than 0.6 v per cell (this is called reconditioning them) maybe once a year or so. Finally, don't leave them on chargers for prolonged periods as this encourages crystalline growth (reconditioning removes the crystals). Go to 'batteryuniversity.com' see section BU-807, although there are many other sections with good starting info.
I'm planning my 1st solar generator and have come up with a cool possibility. What do you think about the following? A certain Nuclear power plant must replace these batteries every 5 years even though they have a life span of 20 years. They are available to the public and cost about $500 each. However, you certainly could power a whole house with these I believe. GNB Flooded Classic NXT-33 Batteries These feature two module designs with a wide range of capacities to fit the requirements of renewable energy applications. These batteries are ideal for float applications with an occasional deep discharge, such as battery-backup for grid-connected systems. The front safety shield design easily clips on and off without tools for quicker assembly. The modules are coated with acid resistant epoxy powder paint and each module has mounting holes for grounding option. Material - Container - Styrene-Acrylonitrile (SAN)?Cover - Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) Optional - Polycarbonate Container & Cover, All Plate Counts PVC Container & Cover, 27 - 29 Plate Counts Only Grid Alloy - Positive - Lead-Calcium-Tin Negative - Lead-Calcium Separators - Microporous Material Retainers - Fiberglass Material Posts - NXT-09 to NXT-19 Two 1.5" (38.1 mm) square NXT-21 to NXT-29 Four 1.0" (25.4 mm) square NXT-31 to NXT-39 Four 1.5" (38.1 mm) square Post Seals - Floating “O” Ring - Seal Nut?Vents - “Pre-Vent” Flame Arrester? Level Lines - High and Low - All Container Surfaces Electrolyte - Height Above plates - 2.75" (69.9 mm) Electrolyte Withdrawal Tubes - 2 per cell Sediment Space - 1.06" (26.9 mm)? Specific Gravity - 1.215 @ 77°F (25°C) ?Inter-Cell Connectors - Lead Plated Copper GNB Flooded Classic NXT-33 General Specifications Cell type: NXT-33 Amp-Hour Capacity: 2264 Length in (mm): 14.56 (370) Width in (mm): 14.5 (368) Height in (mm): 22.5 (572) Net lbs (kg): 386 (174.9) Packed lbs (kg): 400 (181.4) Electrolyte per cell gal. (liters): 11.8 (44.8) Mitch Leopard - Atlanta
Watching a vid this long about small batteries is just... weird. We always talk about bigger batteries for this kind of project. 18650s, deep cycle, standard acid kind, etc.
Nonnof Yobiznes it’s 40ah’s of battery which i don’t believe is that small. I was comparing it to a goal zero when I made it and was trying to keep the cost down. This is my first go and I’m super stoked with it! All I need is two plug in a couple more batteries and I can expand it easily if I decide to spend some more money later on. :-)
Everyday Is A Holiday thanks so much. I m planning on building my first solar generator and so far, ur case is the most compact and attractive one I have seen. I stay in Nigeria, can u give me a link to where I can get it online... So I can order for it.
excellent video! im contemplating between making one from an ammo box or using this rigid tool box. I like the fact that it fits 2 batteries laying down. If you don't mind I might need to pick your brain for some advise once I start buying stuff. easiest way to contact you? email?
Sorry for the late replay! I thought about using 40mm ammo cans, but I like the ability to work with the plastic rigid toolbox and also that I can but a larger box with more batteries that I can attach underneath it. Also, it looks a little less conspicuous
meh, lots to cover and most people now watch RU-vid more than TV so I think time limits are a thing of the past. Unless you're saying my content is boring. But thats a different comment.
MegaSheepEater hahahaha oh man! Nope I dono what that is!? I was next to a window using natural light so it could have been anything!! Let me know how your project is going! I want to build a smaller one for changing batteries and add onto this one for Some added battery capacity!
I'm a bit lacking in technical knowledge but I enjoyed your video. I've been wanting to get into solar for a while. Your video is inspiring and I will certainly take on board what you've achieved. I'll see if I can get the batteries you mentioned. Might be a bit difficult here, as I have found materials are not available here in UK. CHEERS!
I feel you buddy. I created one with the same case system but I used the larger case that has the built in wheels. As far as looking sketchy inside you should see mine. As long as it work the rest is secondary. I've used LiFePO4 100 AH and super capacitors to help catch the power from the panels. I mainly catch the feed off my alternator and a 50W solar panel. I get the learning thing. It is 90% of the fun. And you save a ton of money.....!!! Good Job...!!!
@@benlawton5420 I thought WoW "Super Caps, watt a ( pun intended ) great idea. Capture it while you can because unless one has an expensive mppt controller to push the power ( Pushing too much power may not be good anyway ) to the battery then power (sunlight is wasted ). Am I wrong? ( probably lol ) Super bright Sunlight for twenty mins and clouds for forty mins, solar charger can't utilise all that power to the battery as it's too much ( a good winter set up but too much for the summer lets say ) so Super caps store the energy and it gets fed to the battery through the charge controller over the cloudy fouty mins with no sun. Am I wrong because this makes so much sense to me? Please steer me right if I am wrong ben, cheers.
@@pa_maj.MARTINI-van-MAN A super cap will fill up instantly and won't help much, as for the battery not being able to absorb it all that means it's in float and the power will be wasted anyway.
We have a lot in common. I've got Eneloops for all my devices. I built 2 solar generators from lead acid AGM batteries over the years and I'm in the middle of making a new one with 38120 Lifepo4 cells that will be much lighter and smaller and hopefully the best one yet! I also had some of those 18650 Li-ion batteries you have. I had like 10 of them for various flashlights mainly but some of mine that were 8 years old are showing signs of corrosion on the bottom (negative pole) which can lead to them shorting and with all the explosions and fire spewing meters out of those batteries when they go wrong I decided to remove all of them from my house. I replaced them with Lifep04 18650s and a special charger that does 3.2v required for Lifep04. I hope that will be safer, it should be under most circumstances. Vaping has really shown the world how dangerous those 3.7v Li-ion batteries can be. I still have Li-ion in my cordless tool batteries but they are at least stored in a metal fire box now. You can't avoid it as most things have them like digital cameras, tools, laptops etc... But a least they are in a plastic pack that will give some time to contain the fire while they burn to get them outside rather than naked cells that can shoot across the room if they go off leaving a trail of fire.
The only issues with the Lifep04 cells is they are about half of the capacity of Li-ion energy density wise. So I guess that is one reason they are safer since there is less energy for that given volume in the 18mmx65mm space. The other issue is the lower voltage. All my flashlights work with 3.2v but some are maybe 20% less bright. Still I prefer the safer cell. Its still more power density than Eneloops so its a good compromise for me.
I'm sure you could but I don't have experience with Lithium batteries. That is an area I want to get more familiar with but I don't see why you couldn't. You just need a lot of money, better solar charger/battery management system. But I don't know the knowhow to tell you the best way to do it all! Start small and build yourself up to something awesome!
On rechargeable batteries (especially a phone that will show you % of charge) keeping it between 30% and 95% will keep it out of being a full cycle... I still keep my iPhone 4 charged (to read weather, email and stuff in a pinch) with the original battery from 2010... (yes I am in construction; doing UPS battery backup systems for Comcast)...
very good video, I am building my own solar battery with LiFePo battery, probably 2x23AH to charge my camping gear and electronics. The LiFePo battery can be depleted much lower than the Li-Ion or lead acid with no issues. Thank you
Thank you! These case is the Ridgid 22in tool box. I got mine at home depot but you can get it here - amzn.to/3c46rwW I chose this one because its stackable. I always thought I could get the larger lower box with wheels and drop in a much larger battery. I could combine them for at home and then pop the top off for a portable set up. That was always my intention which is why all the important parts got jammed in this box!
In the simplest terms. Solar into the controller. Controller to Batteries, Batteries to a bus bar ( i now use a Blue Sea like this - amzn.to/39olXDx ) that I run to each accessory. The solar charger does have a loadout which is probably better if you use a better controller or use the Blue Sea. If I would do it again today and wanted to spend a little bit more I would use Lifepo4 batteries and an MPPT charger. But for charging phones and drones it's been perfect for me!
Looks nice! How much does it weigh? Also it would be nice to see the connector to the solar panels and how you have that installed. Have you checked to see if this is still water proof after everything you have done?
Rishard Chapoteau hey Rishard! I’m actually working on a follow up video that I’ll get done here real quickly. It’s definitely not water proof any more but I would not hesitate to leave it outside if it got a little drizzle on. It’s not light, it’s the batteries that are heavy, I would guess 18lbs but I’ll make sure to weigh it for the follow up video! Thanks for the comment!
What type battery do you use in the case? I just bought 3 6 AH LiFePo4 batteries for powering my HF ham radio for portable ops (with a home-made solar controller for a 100 watt panel).
I'm using 2 - 20ah lead acid. I was just trying to get an inexpensive set up going. I've been thinking about switching it all over to Lifepo4 as well. I think I found the correct size but its not cheap.
Great video. I already had the ebl batteries but I just purchased that charger you were talking about. Do you have any recommendations for a battery storage holder and tester.
Thanks for the message! Right now I have a generic one I purchased off amazon that holds mainly aa and aaa since that’s 99% of what I use! For a couple spots that I rotate battery really quickly I 3D printed some that stack. I’ve found what’s important is that you are rotating them and using them all so no matter what organization system you use just make sure you have a System of using them all from top to bottom or left to right
what guage wire did you use to connect both batteries in parallel? Any chance you can go into detail as to how you wired everything and what fuses? Links?
Sorry for the delayed response. It was done with 10 gauge wire for the direct connections to solar panels, batteries and chargers. Everything else was done with 14 or smaller. Not much amperage over such a short run. I don't think I'll have plans for it, maybe if I make another one ill work on that!
Hey, thanks for the question! I used an inexpensive solar charge controller purchased on Amazon. 2 20AH - www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X01LSIO/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 A fuse block, some 18 and 10 gauge wire, 12v switches and a 12v digital meter. Sorry for the basic description, ill have to do a detailed video later!
Sealed lead acid batteries can leak as they get older. They create hydrogen as part of the discharge process. And gas pressure can build up and pop the vent plugs open. So it's better to mount the batteries vertically..
4 of the 5 leaky SLAs I've seen were in Car Jump Boxes used by professional mechanics. The other one was in a 5 year old UPS that was bolted to a wall.
