RV SOLAR PART 6. WILL IT RUN OUR AC OR BURN DOWN THE RV. MORE PROBLEMS!!
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- čas přidán 4. 06. 2024
- Look like the problem weren't isolated to the dc step down converter! So far it appears to have over heated the Victron charge controller as well. Still need to test everything but hopefully that's where it ends
yea, most people will know within that time frame if they are going to like the video or not based on the how the person presents themselves but not everyone is the same. Some people will like flashy edits and quick cuts to remove dead space. ive personally been putting you on 2x and just listening in the background while doing some tasks, occasionally glancing over when youre explaining stuff.
Good to know. Thank-you
I hope you get it all figured out and safe so no worries!
it has been a test of my patience for sure
@@Interstate78-qu2dw I had a small fire in my RV/van a few years ago using too small of an inverter to run a window AC unit. This past year I've done better research (I hope) to build a better system. Buying a piece at a time as I could afford it. I have all the pieces now and have the system running in my mobile home, I have the solar panels but they are the last thing I still have to wire up. I got two of those Bougerv cis panels 200w each and two 200 ah power queen batteries with a 60a Bougerv controller
@@shuteme5 That sounds solid! you will have to get a video up for it. Might be worth having a third 200w panel though. 400 watts will probably take 15-16 hours to charge those batteries on a good solar day.
@@Interstate78-qu2dw Next year after I pay off the two batteries I just got I plan to add two more panels and two more batteries. I am of very limited funds.
@@shuteme5 Sounds like a solid system already. Good luck getting it put together!
Well, a variety of tools is always needed, but in your case the problem is also because you are buying random stuff off of Amazon to build the system. That's quite a mess. I'm not really sure where to start. If you don't mind a considerable number of bullet-points, I'll just start writing stuff down.
The Victron gear is good, everything else is junk. The batteries... well, I'm not sure what chemistry you are using for the main bank (LiFePO4? AGM?) but generally speaking even junky LiFePO4 batteries work fairly well. However, the topology kinda sucks.
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* You are using a 24-to-12 DC-DC converter which I guess you are using to down-buffer from the 24V system to your 12V system. That should be a 24/12 DC-DC charger, not a converter. Because you have 12.8V LiFePO4 batteries on the other side, they need a proper charging profile... you can't just float them with a DC-DC converter.
* Those 3 x 30Ah 12V batteries on the right and the associated cabling. Small batteries like that are not designed for the type of surge loads you are going to be putting them under and the cabling looks too small as well (large voltage drop on surges / motor-startups / etc). Having some redundancy by paralleling is great, but not built out of such low-rated batteries.
I strongly recommend using one or two 12.8V 100Ah LiFePO4 batteries instead, with 2 AWG cabling. Get the ones designed for trolling motors that have 2x current burst capabilities (they have thicker internal wiring and beefier BMSs inside).
* Those slider-style DC breakers are virtually certain to be polarized, and they are also not short-circuit-protected if I recall... they only have a thermal trip inside. And they are single-pole, and their I.R. (interrupt rating) is terrible. Those things are a SEVERE fire hazard.
Breakers in solar / power systems like this should always be unpolarized 2-pole breakers on the DC side. SIgh. Lets see... well, relatively cheap Amazon-bought breakers that would work here would be the 2-pole Chtaixi DC breakers (DIN rail mounted, MCBs). The 2-pole version is unpolarized (the single-pole version is not), but they are MCBs so the amperage ratings top-out at around 125A. Just as an example.
* Those DC disconnect switches are a severe fire hazard. Either use more unpolarized 2-pole DC breakers there, or get a proper DC disconnect (spring loaded, environmentally sealed, and able to disconnect under load). Those aren't. I don't have any recommendations for Amazon-bought DC disconnects. They all suck, even the BlueSea ones.
* No protective covers over the fuse blocks and terminal blocks? I know those bus bars on the lower left come with covers, I have some myself.
* Be sure to use a washer + lock washer for all of those M8 bolts, everywhere. Do not omit the lock washer (just in case you have, I couldn't tell from the video). BAT terminal, ring / lug against BAT terminal, then washer, then lock washer, than bolt. You can't just depend on torque in a high-vibration environment like this, they'll break loose very quickly. I'd even consider a bit of silicon to lock everything in place after finalizing, and/or a thin line of paint so you can visually determine if any bolts have come loose.
* Make sure that huge wonking inverter is not exhausting air into the other equipment when its fans are on. Those things can get hot. The idle power consumption is also fairly bad with those, usually well over 40W, sometimes over 100W. (In terms of replacing, if you ever decide to, I do like Victron's line of inverters, from small to large. They are all very good and have very low idle consumption).
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24V BATTERY SYSTEM:
You've saddled yourself with a number of problems by using 12V batteries in a 2s configuration and then it looks like you paralleled them. I couldn't tell if those were LiFePO4's or lead-acid AGMs. Normally one would put in native 25.6V LiFePO4 batteries. But you work with what ya got, so...
* You need a T-Class main battery fuse with that many batteries in parallel because the individual 2s groups aren't individually fused.
* You need to protect the terminals with terminal covers.
* Be sure to individually fuse the balance cables coming from that 12V x N battery balancer. Don't wrap the balance wiring around other cables. in-line glass fuses work for the balance cables. Remember that a short through a thin balance cable == fire.
* The cabling is not ideal, but my assumption is you don't want to re-cable things so... ya work with what you got. The main problem is that your options are limited when you have one battery balancer for the entire bank.
SOLAR CHARGE CONTROLLER:
* Presumably 50A @ 24V, roughly = 1000W of solar. Consider breaking that into two smaller charge controllers.
* Make sure the worst-case open-circuit voltage on the SOLAR input does not exceed 100V.
* If you are paralleling strings, I recommend not doing so without running the strings through a proper solar combiner box.
* If using paralleling MC4 adapters up on the roof... don't. Those are a major fire hazard.
An even better way to do it is to run any strings into their own charge controllers. e.g. two smaller charge controllers instead of one big charge controller.
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In anycase, that's all I could see from watching the video. You didn't really say much about the topologies, chemistries, and other technical details.
-Matt
I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone had some criticism to point out. I'm not going to spend a bunch of time touching on everything mentioned but thanks for the input. I'm not an electrician and don't claim to be and I like CZcams because there are lots of people like me that just want to roll up their sleeves and try stuff and that's all I claim to know how to do.
@@Interstate78-qu2dw
IMO the only takeaway from that wall of txt is the fuses and the ventilation
a lot of people on youtube use those fuses in their solar setups but they are mainly for a quick way to manually disconnect the batteries from the system(even though thats not good for the contacts), as the other person mentioned, get the fast blow ceramic or glass fuses to actually protect your electronics and they would be "tool less" since the one you have will just melt everything before they blow. make some ventilation holes, if i recall youve blocked off the OEM holes. maybe the cover you remove to access the compartment has a vent that we are not seeing. edit2: at 17:07 i can see that the door doesnt have a vent grille
as far as inverter goes, yours is a low frequency inverter and getting a victron series ones will be pretty much the same method for idle usage.
edit:
the victron mppt most likely blew the pv fuse thats inside
this happens if you disconnect the battery first while the panels are active(sunshine)
you can youtube the fix, requires a heatgun if victron isnt willing to replace it.
@@rookm13 don't know for sure yet but it seems like Victron is going to replace it. I'm going to make a second system with it if so.
Those fuses you are using are terrible. You will have to replace them.
Hopefully not. They had quite a list of positive reviews but thanks for the heads up.