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Matt LaCombe
Registrace 27. 01. 2012
Solar generator 24 hour test
2400 Watt/Hour Solar generator powering a refrigerator, freezer, lights and phone for 24 hours
zhlédnutí: 4 043
Video
Solar Generator build part 1
zhlédnutí 979Před 8 měsíci
Part 1 is putting the box to house the generator together.
Mighty Mule wired gate sensor
zhlédnutí 8KPřed rokem
How to install the Mighty Mule wired gate opener sensor.
Installing a Renogy battery meter
zhlédnutí 1,2KPřed rokem
Replacing my battery meter with a Renogy battery meter and setting it up.
water catchment part 2
zhlédnutí 220Před rokem
Details some functionality of the water catchment and some of the flaws.
water catchment part 1
zhlédnutí 28Před rokem
Setting up my test water catchment system using an old waste management bin from building the platform seeing if it will work.
Eco Worthy solar panel set up
zhlédnutí 247Před rokem
Hooking up solar panels to power a utility shed.
12 volt Light switch in utility shed
zhlédnutí 70Před rokem
Installing a 12volt light switch in utility shed
Installing 12 volt USB in utility shed
zhlédnutí 76Před rokem
Experimenting with my solar system in my shed by installing this USB port
Paddock Part 3
zhlédnutí 22Před rokem
This is the final part of the new paddock with a follow up showing the new horse loafing shed
Can you prepare a diagram for me?
Would of been nice if you put a list of parts you used
I put it in the comments of this video czcams.com/video/Ke36uHE6rP0/video.htmlsi=TYEjeiWikLvgvucd Thanks for watching
Thank You for the setup video! So you have 2-100ah batteries but have you ever done a capacity test? I ran a capacity test on mine and they come in under what they're rated at. Should I set the ah on the meter to the actual ah as tested? That's what would make sense to me.
I have not done a capacity test. I use the meter as a ballpark just to let me where I’m sitting. Thanks for feed back and watching the video
Sir - do you have a parts list you can share with this build? I really like your design and layout a lot.
I believe this is everything I bought. I didn't list the wire or crimping connectors as I already had those. If you need that I can get that for you too. I'm glad you enjoyed the video and good luck with your build. www.amazon.com/dp/B0BY7XW685?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 www.amazon.com/dp/B08XJPB9GZ?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRV88HHC?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRV88HHC?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 www.amazon.com/dp/B09SKXX1J9?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details www.amazon.com/dp/B09NHW72YB?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 www.amazon.com/dp/B09PF27Y5Q?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 www.amazon.com/dp/B07XF5D8HK?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 www.amazon.com/dp/B08MPP2JPC?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details www.amazon.com/dp/B07GL9X3B5?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details www.amazon.com/dp/B09Y8Q1X15?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details www.amazon.com/dp/B01N9O2Q51?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details www.amazon.com/dp/B0C8TPMFSN?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details www.amazon.com/dp/B096Z1WNLW?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details www.amazon.com/dp/B09L89LW3P?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LQK889Z/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07114RK67/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 www.amazon.com/gp/product/B091TYHY8M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-23-in-50-Gal-Black-Rolling-Toolbox-with-Keyed-Lock-and-Portable-Hand-Tool-Tray-206319/321052317
TY very much for the itemization!
When plugged into 120 volt wall outlet, how fast does it charge?
I don’t exactly know, I plugged it in and I checked it in the morning and it was fully charged. I do know if they get really low, like down to 25% it takes about 8 hours because the batteries slow charge until about 50%. I’m also charging both batteries at the same time.
What’s kind of inverter is that? I’ve never seen one with two switches like for switching from lead acid to lithium
May I make a suggestion at to change the direction of the solar panels throughout the day or you could mount them up higher. I was looking at the little tent that was blocking the sun off to the right
I made that frame a little more mobile so I can move it out to a clearing. I was hoping I could leave it where it was and keep the solar generator in the barn and just run some wires too it but I see that won’t really work. I’ll do another test once the sun comes out again.
@@mattlacombe3912 I’m a beginner myself 😊
Four more 100 watt panels and a 40 amp mppt charge controller would fit this nicely and charge up quickly.
I purchased two 200 watt panels and I had a 60amp PWM I’m going to the 30amp. I don’t have room for a big MPPT charge controller. Unfortunately in the Pacific Northwest there isn’t a lot of sun in the winter. Thank you for the comment.
@@mattlacombe3912 I get it. We gotta do what we can do. The extra panels will certainly help. Nice build and you're gonna love that mobility.
Nice am building 5 100amp 12V ,1200watt storage capacity lithium battery 🔋 diy solar generators with blue tooth Mppt Controller and Inverter myself ,nice build
Thank you. It was a lot of fun to build it.
Thank you so much for the video... Can you please provide links to where where you purchased your outlets? Also I think it's better to have the exhaust fan as high as you can get it so it will tend to exhaust hot air more than cold air
Thank you for watching the video and glad you liked it. I purchased the outlets on Amazon www.amazon.com/dp/B07XF5D8HK?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 I originally was going to put the inverter down with the batteries but it ended up not fitting so I had to move it on top. I figured I can just open the lid if I need too.
Watched all 3 Solar Generator Build videos and, though it is a lot of work, it sure seems like a fun project to do!
That's quite a setup. It looks like it will work just fine.
Interesting..
nice video hope you can get more views
Hey @mattlacombe3912 could you tell me a cable I could get like that to run power. I want one if possible that I could run into a wall and not the electrical power box! But IDK about anything electrical as much.
So my exit loop is only closing the gate when the sensor is triggered, it wont open the gate, any ideas??
sorry getting back to you so late. You must have something wired backwards as the gate should always open then close. Is your gate always open? How is the sensor closing the gate, it should be closed to begin with.
Link to the wireless sensor czcams.com/video/pACgNnUUNVg/video.html
Is the monitor still working ok? I just had one go bad on me. It just started beeping on me one day after a road trip and showing 0% battery capacity, despite the fact that my battery bank was fully charged. I'm seeing a lot of bad reviews pop up now on Amazon describing issues similar to mine. I also noticed that the really short startup screen on mine (when you first power it up) says 350A instead of 500A for some reason. Does your monitor say 350A? Also does yours have screen dimming functionality? I saw guy on YT show how to adjust screen brightness on his RBM500 by holding down the left arrow button for 3 seconds. A little lightbulb appeared on his screen and he used the up and down arrows to brighten or dim the screen. I don't remember ever seeing this in the instructions I got with my RBM500. I had no idea that was even a possible. So I went to try it on mine and found out it's not! At least on mine.😞 Wondering if mine was an older model with outdated software or something. Anyway thanks for posting. Hopefully you'll have better luck with yours.
I didn't notice whether is showed 350 or 500A on start up. So far it is working as expected. To dim the screen just push the down arrow button and it will dim incrementally all the way down to off. That light is pretty annoying and couldn't imagine having to see that all the time. All my stuff is in a shed so I only have to see it when I go in it. I'm glad you liked the video.
Steve, thank you for the info. There was one other setting below the alarm. I think it is ATTEN%, do you know what that is for.
I believe if you scroll down below the POWOFF selection you should get to the Alarm setting.
Hey Great video, i am all in except for Learning the Sensor and kinda stuck, any help would be appreciated..
Hi George. Are you talking about the underground sensor or the green transmitter? If you are talking about he green transmitter, you need to take the batteries out, press the “enter” or middle button on the control panel until it beeps then put the batteries back in the transmitter. This is similar to learning the push button transmitter for your car. Hope this helps.
I have the 571w. I used to have the old 500. I have no dip switches either on this new one. My wireless vehicle sensor worked with my 500 because of the dip switches, now I can't get it to work with my new one. How did you get them to communicate? Any help would be appreciated.
Hi Reg, I changed the left dip switch on the transmitter for the wireless sensor and then paired it as per the manual. I hope that helps. I am going to install a wired sensor as one of my dogs chewed up the transmitter and you can’t just buy the transmitter.
@@mattlacombe3912 I ended up getting it worked out a few minutes ago. But thanks very much for getting back to me
@@1Regmak That’s good. BTW I have a 371. What did you do to get it to work?
@Matt LaCombe I kept the dip switches in their same position without moving them. Disconnected the transmitter head and took the batteries out, walked over to the control box with it and opened the box. Held the enter/return/L2 button til it beeped, then popped the batteries back into the transmitter head so it would do its test cycle, and the box learned it just like the hand held remote. Put the transmitter head back on the exit wand/sensor, then test drove over to make sure it worked. Easy as pie. Wouldn't have even gotten the idea without watching your video tho. Thanks a bunch
How is it working being wired in Series ? I heard if shading is a factor on the panels Series may not be the best. Just asking. Good video, take care
Ernie, when I had them in series I was getting an over voltage error. I was getting 80 volts. Luckily the charge controller shut off so it didn’t get fried. I was thinking I needed to run them in series to get 400 watts but what I was doing was just increasing the voltage. On a sunny day I’ll get 20 volts and about 7-8 amps. You take care as well and thank you.
@@mattlacombe3912 Matt, parallel connections may work better and provide you the wattage you are looking for. When a panel connected in Series is shaded it effects the whole string. Just know you may not see 400 watts unless it’s under ideal conditions (either way connected). Glad your controller didn’t fry and it shut down. Don’t get discouraged. I’m still learning - it can be confusing at times. You read and watch videos one day and think you have it down. The next day you watch another one and that person did something totally different . Hang in there.
@@oskosh50 True. I’m just experimenting with this shed. I’d like to one day take what I learn to use on the house.
Kinda if curious if you ever figured out the little battery meter? Did it ever tell you what you needed it for....? Are you still using it?
It tells me how many amp hours I’ve used. I thought it would tell me how many amp hours I have left in the battery. I think that is impossible to tell. I have it hooked up but I bought another solar system from eco worthy that is installed on my shed. I haven’t moved that meter over yet so I haven’t been using it. The charge controller that came with the kit tells me almost the same things as that meter.
@@mattlacombe3912 you have to charge your battery(ies) to full .. then set the AH to whatever that number is .. for example yours would be 70ah .. at that point it can keep track of AH remaining (hypothetically)
Had the problem with it not closing far enough and when we did get it, the extension was greater than 17". Did you have a similar problem? How did you get around it?
I just different holes in the hinge to get the right length. Our gate didn’t close all the way either so we had to adjust it using the switches in the control box.
@@mattlacombe3912 thanks!
Do you have solar and a load (bulb) connected? This meter can only handle measuring one of those things. You'd need a meter measuring input and a meter measuring load output and starting with a full battery you'd have to do the math on those two numbers to see if solar has kept you full or if your load is larger than solar input you can calculate your remaining battery life. Say you get 20Ah of solar but use 46Ah on your load. 70-26=$$ah remaining Does your inverter have a low voltage cutoff of 12.2V because that meter can't shut off anything.
Eric, I only had the solar panels hooked up to it. I figured out I’d have to do the math with this. I also figured out that those harbor freight batteries were not holding a charge. Just having the inverter on would run them down and yes the inverter has a low voltage cut off, I discovered that the hard way. I’ve since upgraded my solar set up with Eco Worthy panels and batteries. The charge controller I got with this set up has some of the functions the meter has so I’m not using it currently. Thank you for the input.
You need Bus Bars From Battery to Accessories!
your control box supports the gate operator receiver, if you would of look at the board manual it tells you where to install it not the manual from sensor. yellow to aux negative, red to aux positive black to COM(8) Blue to EXIT (5)
Thank you man! The instructions for the control board were throwing me for a loop.
Your welcome, Glad I could help
Does the Mppt go through the shunt..??. If so which end...??? I can't understand it 🙏🙏🙏🙏
The negative wire from the MPPT (charge controller) goes to side of the shunt opposite the battery connection. The side where the yellow wire connects. The positive wire from the MPPT goes directly to the positive post of the battery. I hope this helps. I haven’t fully figured out how to use this meter yet.
@@mattlacombe3912 Yes.... Thank you so much for your help 🙏
@@mattlacombe3912 just incase you bought the controller and it was listed as MPPT, its not MPPT, its PWM
How are you powering the wireless sensor?
The sensor is connected to the transmitter which is powered by 2 AA batteries. I believe the sensor detects the car by magnetism. Somewhat how stop lights know a car is there to change the light.
Hi Matt, My folks are in their 80’s. They have the mighty mule gate like yours and their gate opening sensor stopped working…the one that lets you out. They called the company and were told to change the two double A batteries in the sensor. They can’t figure out where the batteries are? Are they in the little green sensor where the dip switches are? If so, how do you “pop” the cover off? Thank you.
Yes, they are in the green sensor. You should be able to take off the cover and replace them.
I'm in the process of working on one at my fathers house and can not figure out how to get the green box to connect with the gate. is there any certain thing I have to do to get the two to sync up?
If your hand held transmitter has dip switches then changed the dip switches in the green box to match. If you don’t have dip switches in the transmitter (I didn’t) then what I did was just change one dipswitch in the green box and pair it like you did the hand held transmitter. Hope that helps.
@@mattlacombe3912 Is there a button on the sensor transmitter to pair it?
@@alixcoats I believe there is. I will have to double check mine though.
There is no button. Once you put the batteries in, it will pair. You made need to turn up the sensitivity on it.
On a different note, how did you mount the bracket to the gate itself? I have the same type of gate, did you use muffler clamps?
I used some U-bolts but muffler clamps would work better.
So, I changed the first dip in our wireless vehicle sensor, pulled the batteries out, then went to the control box and pressed the learn button (center button until it beeped), then ran back and inserted the batteries into the wireless vehicle sensor. ...The control box beeped (same as when it learns a remote) and our gate opened. -Thank you.
Glad the video helped.
thx for the tips, it definitely helped me!
Okay what I have found out you have to match the dip switch from your handheld controller to match the vehicle sensor controller on the ground. Have somebody take the battery out of the vehicle sensor controller and put the battery back in and which time you have 60 Seconds to hold L2 on the controller two pair two units this is when the gate opens. This is for the Mighty Mule w371 gate opener with internal receiver
I am just starting to install the exit sensor I also have the same gate closer let's see how she works thank you for the video
What did you change on transmission to get it to work
Karl, I changed one of the dipswitches on the transmitter and synced it the same way you you would for the transmitter you use in the car. I took the back off of my car transmitter and it had no dipswitches. I don’t know what kind of transmitter you have for your car but if it has dipswitches you are supposed to set them the same.
@@ReggieE82 I believe I changed the 1st one. The one on the far left. I don’t know if it matters which one you change. We couldn’t get our transmitter to work either so we changed one switch to see what would happen and it worked.
it might help someone it's #9 (the top one)
We can’t get them to sync
The receiver and transmitter?
Do I match the dip on the control board to the the sensor transmitter?
@@mattlacombe3912 how did you know which dip switch to change?
@@russshumate I don’t have dip switches on my control board to match with the transmitter. I just changed one switch on the transmitter then synced it like you would with the one you use in your car. The directions are pretty sketchy.
Wow, what a job. Sure seems to have gone smoother than the last time, though, other than that near miss. I’ve never seen a cow try to kick someone before. Glad no one got hurt!!
Hahaha this is great
Hahahahahaha. This is great!!!
Good job.
Thanks for sharing the potential pitfalls; it’ll help others and give them clues to what to look for.
Nice video; thanks for sharing. Nice trick with the magnet.
Pretty grueling, for sure!