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CRUSTY MINGE posted:E: Hooked up the battery charger (30~ year old Sears model), earth grounded the generator, let it run for an hour. Started on 2A, worked fine, flipped to 10A, guage on the charger starts swinging, flipped back to 2A and it held fine. His batteries were getting down to 11v flat. Got him up to 12.3v before cutting it off, already back to 11.8v an hour later. That lovely controller or whatever, when cycling through, seemed to indicate 10 amps across all 10 batteries. But who knows because the manual is poorly photocopied chinenglish. If the batteries were also inherited from a previous owner I would test them. They sound pooched. It should be safe to charge the batteries with the charge controller connected. You can run those things in parallel. I’d get a better charge controller. One with MPPT can more efficiently harvest power from the same panels. Mine has a selectable battery type setting and does cell equalization to maintain battery health. It even has a relay with both normally open and closed contacts so you can fire up a generator if the voltage drops too much or turn on power to some discretionary circuit if the batteries are charged.
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Oct 4, 2021 03:21
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Yeah, batteries came with it. Oldest is marked late 2019, most from early 2020, however. I think he's just not getting enough charge, it largely sat unused since purchase, and since moving in, I think he's in a classic more demand than supply situation. 6 panels just aren't enough to keep up. Suddenly adding a 40" tv and multiple devices charging just sapped his batteries dry, it will be worse once the new well is done. He's got a contact for a local solar company, but I'm assuming they have a fair deal of a wait. The generator is going to have to be leaned on for additional charging for a while.
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Oct 4, 2021 03:40
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Brennanite posted:My heat won't turn on. I have a stupid Honeywell thermostat and it always is weird about turning on the heat (never the AC What model of thermostat? What kind of heat? What brand and model furnace Did you switch it from cool to heat mode? Is the gas valve going to the furnace open? Like when you turn up the temp does the thermostat click? I'd not it's likely in cool mode not heat mode.
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Oct 4, 2021 04:24
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), but I can't remember what I did last year to make it work. I can press the fan button and it turns on the fan, so it's seems to be connected. The filter was replaced in June, so that seems unlikely to be so clogged it's blocking air flow.
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My backyard is in a low spot that pools up with water during heavy rainfall. What's the best way to eliminate this pooling? Some of this water comes from one of my downspouts, but most comes from my neighbour's yard due to the sloping. We do have weeping tile installed on that part of the foundation. But sometimes a bit of water does come into the basement (usually a small amount in the unfinished part of the basement that the weeping tile couldn't) and I'm concerned about the hydrostatic pressure this is putting on the side of my foundation facing the backyard. I'm thinking that we need a surface drainage system because I don't think we have enough of a slope to drain it from our backyard to our front yard. I was considering improving the yard grade, but all it'd do is slope it towards my neighbours (and if THEY re-graded I'd have the water would return back into my backyard). I'm installing a sump pump into the OTHER side of the house but that alone won't eliminate the pooling. We need to redirect all that water from the backyard to my front yard, somehow. I also have an very long driveway leading from the backyard to the street. melon cat fucked around with this message at 14:50 on Oct 4, 2021 |
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Oct 4, 2021 14:06
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melon cat posted:My backyard is in a low spot that pools up with water during heavy rainfall. What's the best way to eliminate this pooling?
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Oct 4, 2021 15:17
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Rakeris posted:Known a lot of peeps use a french drain in said low spot and run a perforated field tile to wherever you want it to drain. Biggest issue will probably having enough fall to the road. Known some farmers to do dry wells no idea on cost however I would assume it will be expensive. Definitely do not have enough fall to the road. Property from backyard to front yard has very little slope. Almost flat. In fact that low point in the picture is probably lower than the road on the other side of the house. Is an external sump pump a potential solution for this sort of thing? Because I think a pump is the only thing that can help me given the lack of slope + long distance. But it'd have to be a strong pump to move water 80 feet down from the backyard to the street. If not a pump maybe a drywell + rain garden combination? melon cat fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Oct 4, 2021 |
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Oct 4, 2021 16:06
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CRUSTY MINGE posted:Yeah, unpermitted. Well, legal with the county. Someone signed off on it. Gas and I fear to tread in the root cellar. (The spiders...possibly snakes...) tater_salad posted:What model of thermostat? Honeywell RTH6350 5-2 DAY PROGRAMMABLE THERMOSTAT. Uh, normal? (I'm not sure what you mean. There'a a furnace that blows warm air up through floor vents.) No idea, but I can check after work. Yes I assume. The only interaction I have with the furnace is changing the filter every 3 months. Yes, which is why I find the whole thing so vexing.
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Oct 4, 2021 18:52
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Have you changed the batteries in your Tstat? That's usually the first stop After that I'd say have the t-stat call for heat and look for the diagnostic light on your furnace and then look online to see what it means. You can also try to call for heat jumping your T-stat wires (Based on you calling what I assume is Natural gas forced air heat "normal heat this may be beyond your skill set) Furnaces aren't "what they useta be" (fan turn on flame turn on) They have lots of sensors that keep them from blowing up house. Pilot could be out (most now just have an electric igniter), Flame sensor could be dead / full of soot, ignitor may not fire up, forced induction motor could not be working, Condensate switch might be tripped, High limit switches could be tripped / bad, exhaust pressure sensor / could be too high etc. Lets keep in mind that furnaces involve a large flame and air quality for your home, temper your expectation of what you can DIY on your own and call a professional when you've exhausted your skill set. Keep in mind if guy1 tries to sell you a new furnace / 11billion parts call another guy. HVAC thread is this way but I'd still stick with my recommendation of "call someone for a service call" https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3761260 tater_salad fucked around with this message at 19:31 on Oct 4, 2021 |
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Oct 4, 2021 19:26
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CRUSTY MINGE posted:Yeah, batteries came with it. Oldest is marked late 2019, most from early 2020, however. If they're just standard automotive batteries and the location they're in has any chance of freezing they might be shot no matter how new they are. Once a dead car battery freezes it will likely never hold a charge properly again. I've lost a few newish batteries this way on seldom used vehicles due to forgetting to turn off lights. PremiumSupport fucked around with this message at 20:18 on Oct 4, 2021 |
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Oct 4, 2021 20:16
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melon cat posted:Definitely do not have enough fall to the road. Property from backyard to front yard has very little slope. Almost flat. In fact that low point in the picture is probably lower than the road on the other side of the house. Is an external sump pump a potential solution for this sort of thing? Because I think a pump is the only thing that can help me given the lack of slope + long distance. But it'd have to be a strong pump to move water 80 feet down from the backyard to the street. Could do that, external sump pumps are definitely a thing. Might not be needed with a drywell, would really depend on the amount of rainfall you have, water table, soil type, plans to run gutters to it etc. Biggest expense probably being labor for the hole. Could definitely DIY with a shovel or rent a small excavator. When I was a kid we had a dry well with an old fashion manual pump that we used for gardening and wtvr else, it was big though, probably 10ft across 40ft deep, and lined with brick, honestly thinking back on it, it might have originally been a well. After doing a little googlefu it seems my experience with dry wells is not typical hah, as all the ones I see are very small in comparison. Rakeris fucked around with this message at 20:35 on Oct 4, 2021 |
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Oct 4, 2021 20:29
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actionjackson posted:does painting a popcorn ceiling change it's acoustic properties? It's the reason ceilings get their own special paint, which is formulated to be as flat/matte as possible.
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Oct 5, 2021 00:43
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PremiumSupport posted:If they're just standard automotive batteries and the location they're in has any chance of freezing they might be shot no matter how new they are. Once a dead car battery freezes it will likely never hold a charge properly again. I've lost a few newish batteries this way on seldom used vehicles due to forgetting to turn off lights. There's a good chance that's the case, given the elevation and slapdash storage shed. Tomorrow he's buying a new battery charger to run off the generator. Generator puts out 3800 watts at 120v, has a 20 amp and a 30 amp circuit. As I remember gently caress all about electrical equations, my mind is telling me a 10 amp 12v charger draws 1 amp at 120v. Anything wrong with getting a charger that pushes more like 30 amps? Or am I misremembering my math and should we stick to a 10 amp? Plan for tomorrow is to hook up whatever charger he buys, disconnect the house from the batteries, run both off the generator all day, letting the charger and panels work without drawing load from the batteries.
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Oct 5, 2021 04:44
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I was watching a recent episode of Ask This Old House, where they talked about how you could replace a two prong receptacle with a a three prong outlet WITHOUT changing out the wiring if you used a GFCI outlet. Is this even close to being true? They claimed that the ground and arc fault protections allow it to meet code. I'm not in the process of doing any electrical work or anything like that, I was just really surprised to hear this and wanted to see if it was better suited for the OSHA thread.
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Oct 5, 2021 16:26
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That's correct. My understanding is that it doesn't offer the same protection to the equipment as a ground wire, but it will keep you from being electrocuted.
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Oct 5, 2021 21:34
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Usually GFCI outlets come with “no equipment ground” stickers you’re supposed to put on when you don’t use an actual ground. It’s better than nothing, and it’ll protect human life, but it won’t save a device from static or anything.
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Oct 5, 2021 21:56
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Pretty sure my friend's batteries are hosed. Voltage drop is significant when the old well pump kicks on, the only insulated part of the shed is the wall with the batteries on it, nowhere else. They likely frosted over last winter and have been making GBS threads capacity ever since. Power is pretty much only useful during the day. Plus side, I got his heater lit yesterday. A cheap gas radiant affair that vents into the wind, which blows the flame out. So now we're hammering out a wind block for that. Is there a solar power thread I'm not seeing? Or should I take my pestering to the wiring thread? Looking like we're going to be DIYing an overhaul, contractor isn't available until next year.
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Oct 6, 2021 16:42
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Danhenge posted:That's correct. My understanding is that it doesn't offer the same protection to the equipment as a ground wire, but it will keep you from being electrocuted. eddiewalker posted:Usually GFCI outlets come with “no equipment ground” stickers you’re supposed to put on when you don’t use an actual ground. Thanks for clearing that up!
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Oct 6, 2021 17:31
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CRUSTY MINGE posted:Pretty sure my friend's batteries are hosed. Voltage drop is significant when the old well pump kicks on, the only insulated part of the shed is the wall with the batteries on it, nowhere else. They likely frosted over last winter and have been making GBS threads capacity ever since. Power is pretty much only useful during the day. Diysolarforum.com is kind of a weird boomer cesspit but there are SOME knowledgeable people, and a lot of stuff in their documents/resources pages.
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Oct 6, 2021 17:52
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I need to remove a fixed shelf in a built in book case. I own no tools. I am thinking, buy a pull saw, cut as close as I can on either side of the shelf, then rubber mallet to knock it loose?
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Oct 7, 2021 21:22
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Upgrade posted:I need to remove a fixed shelf in a built in book case. I own no tools. I am thinking, buy a pull saw, cut as close as I can on either side of the shelf, then rubber mallet to knock it loose? Take a picture of the joint and post it, it could be glued in or there could even be some tack nails diagonally in there or some other kind of fastener. Maybe rub a magnet around to see if it grabs on anything metal so you know before you start.
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Oct 7, 2021 22:28
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CRUSTY MINGE posted:There's a good chance that's the case, given the elevation and slapdash storage shed. Is there any ventilation in that room? A dozen car batteries in a room with lovely charge controlling (and your attempts to rapidly charge them exacerbates this) is a recipe for a hydrogen explosion. If you don't have a temperature probe cut off you should NOT be pretending like you can fast charge these things. I haven't looked up any data, but knowing your situation you should definitely make sure there is some kind of ventilation here. The problems you're having are pretty common with "off grid" solar setups - the sheer amount of power you need in a home is way more than people think and why most systems are grid tied. You don't even have 1 kw of panels, and I bet they're the cheapest things the previous owner could buy. You should test if they're even outputting their rated amount. Do you own an amp clamp? If not, go buy one. Fire up your generator, hook it directly to the house without anything else inline, turn on the usual suspects like fridge (open the freezer door and make it turn on, leave it open for this test), TV, the commonly used lights, the well, that sort of thing. Clamp the power on both legs (or the single leg) one at a time and write down how much power he's drawing. Go close the fridge. If he's buying new batteries they should be marine batteries, not car. If the batteries are that new, consider a warranty claim on them. They might have a pro-rated return warranty. There are so many red flags about this setup I would seriously consider scrapping everything (except MAYBE the panels) and starting over. Do you have spill control pans? If a battery boils off you REALLY don't want to step in what comes out of it. H110Hawk fucked around with this message at 22:57 on Oct 7, 2021 |
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Oct 7, 2021 22:55
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There's a window in the shed along with the door we left wide open with the charger on it, I'm aware of off-gassing. Less worried about it when it's 10 amps over 10 batteries than I would be with one. I don't have an amp clamp but I'm smart enough not to smoke my $7 harbor freight meter tapping poles on the amps setting, going off voltage and the faster it drops, the worse we're assuming the capacity. There's no spill pans, the shed is only insulated on one wall where it will definitely get below 0°F this winter/spring, if the whole shed goes up in smoke, he'd probably be happy to claim it on his insurance. He might even need to heat the shed this winter, definitely need to finish insulating it at a minimum. Kinda moving at his pace right now. I'm trying to push him towards SOK lithiums and to start looking at used panel sets to increase his charging capacity, along with a better inverter and controller. If he spends the money on lithium batteries, he needs to put them inside the house this winter, possibly in the crawlspace. She absolutely went bare bones with this set up. He's not going to have power this winter for poo poo if he doesn't start ordering poo poo yesterday. And of course, nothing says confidence in your solar system like a harbor freight inverter. It's pretty obvious he'll be spending probably $10k+ to fix this mess. He might start bringing batteries in to town to load test at a parts store tomorrow. He specifically asked today about inverter and controller recommendations, so I know he's at least trying to feel out price there. And of course, thinking about switching to 48v for the whole thing and putting the 12v poo poo to the side for now.
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Oct 7, 2021 23:54
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Rakeris posted:Could do that, external sump pumps are definitely a thing. Might not be needed with a drywell, would really depend on the amount of rainfall you have, water table, soil type, plans to run gutters to it etc. Biggest expense probably being labor for the hole. Could definitely DIY with a shovel or rent a small excavator. It was probably a cistern at one time.
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Oct 8, 2021 01:15
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Some SOKs, possibly some heating pads hooked up to temp sensors, a boatload of panels from santan, and one or two decent charge controllers and your buddy will be coming with gas (solar electricity). A mere ten grand, maybe less
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Oct 8, 2021 01:22
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Danhenge posted:Some SOKs, possibly some heating pads hooked up to temp sensors, a boatload of panels from santan, and one or two decent charge controllers and your buddy will be coming with gas (solar electricity). A mere ten grand, maybe less Goddamn that's some good prices. Don't care if it's used, as long as it's tested before shipping. I need to sit down and make him list off everything he wants to run, figure up the maximum load, then go overboard on those $48 panels. I haven't wandered over to diysolarforum yet, trying to push him that direction because it should be more of a concern to him than me, but it couldn't hurt to learn more personally.
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Oct 8, 2021 02:55
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Rexxed posted:Take a picture of the joint and post it, it could be glued in or there could even be some tack nails diagonally in there or some other kind of fastener. Maybe rub a magnet around to see if it grabs on anything metal so you know before you start. This is a good idea. Might I also submit that this might be a great reason to purchase an oscillating multi tool, earmuffs and safety glasses.
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Oct 8, 2021 03:04
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Will grab sone pics and check it with a magnet. If its at "power tool purchasing stage" though probably just gonna hire it out.
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Oct 8, 2021 05:10
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CRUSTY MINGE posted:Goddamn that's some good prices. Don't care if it's used, as long as it's tested before shipping. The santan panels will work fine, they just won't pull full capacity and they're aren't as efficient for their size as newer panels.
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Oct 8, 2021 13:55
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That's fine, for the price, I wouldn't expect new panel numbers from used. He'll be able to afford more used panels than new anyhow. Their $3500 7.5kw set (sans batteries) seems like what he's going to be drawn towards, just has all the basic stuff he needs and will definitely be overkill for the summer, but probably just right for winter. Throw another $3k at batteries and he should be set, aside from railing and heat pads. He's got plenty of space to set up the array however he wants, so that's not going to be an issue with 30 panels. Honestly rather him have more than needed than be bouncing off the voltage cutoff every day. E: if I'm doing my math right, 4 of the 12v 206Ah SOKs should give him 9.9kw of storage. That's probably plenty for now, he's only going to be running his tv, modem, router, xbox, fridge, low wattage lighting and soft start well pump some 50 feet deep off of it. If he started this months ago, we probably could have ordered a 12v water pump and set that up on a separate system using the old panels. Wouldn't mind wiring all the new solar up in his utility room, then putting a water tank in the shed so his pump doesn't have to run every time he showers. CRUSTY MINGE fucked around with this message at 15:10 on Oct 8, 2021 |
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Oct 8, 2021 14:14
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How good is the sun where he is? What latitude give or take? Winter is also going to reduce the output of the panels. Used panels seem like such a great DIY deal.
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Oct 8, 2021 20:24
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H110Hawk posted:How good is the sun where he is? What latitude give or take? Winter is also going to reduce the output of the panels. If you have a lot of space where you can build a decent ground mount setup, used panels are great. Particularly since you aren't as concerned with maximizing output like a commercial producer. The best setup in the off-grid context is usually 2-3 strings set up in parallel, with different orientations set up to maximize use of solar irradiance. So like an east, south, and west facing setup. You can usually over-panel carefully past your open-circuit voltage limit on the charge controller under that circumstance, because the full set of panels will never be producing at maximum, but you can get 6-8 hours of good production spread across the day. Trying to do all-electric off-grid in the winter is tough unless you're somewhere super temperate. I'm hoping they've got a backup like an efficient wood burning stove or something for heat. Probably check the exhaust though, given this solar setup. They probably want enough batteries to go like four days on the base load without recharging if this is anywhere that has anything like a regular winter.
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Oct 8, 2021 20:35
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It's literally in a flat, wide, open alpine valley at 7600~ ft. No trees to block light. 40 acres of sand to spread out on. 37.5° N latitude. Heat is radiant gas burner, no electric fan (already made him buy a CO detector). Water heater and range/stove are gas too. Clouds come and go, but largely go over the valley quickly, trapping cold air in a bubble below, because we're between two mountain ranges some 60~ miles apart. Very sunny here most of the time. Fortunately I'm in town with proper power and heat with a spare bedroom, that's probably going to be utilized by him a few times this winter. It's 2 miles to the nearest power pole and the last loose quote we got a year ago was $15-20k per mile of pole and wire, so grid is not going to happen. CRUSTY MINGE fucked around with this message at 22:00 on Oct 8, 2021 |
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Oct 8, 2021 21:58
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Seems pretty ideal to diy a big used panel setup, just a lot of sweat equity.
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Oct 8, 2021 22:10
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Yeah. Getting him to do physical labor is no big deal, it's writing checks that's the hard part. I have enough experience dicking around with tools and basic mechanical sense that we won't be starting any accidental fires as long as the directions are obvious and clear, or there's a helpline to call with quick questions the internet stumps us on. Don't get me wrong, I want him to have more like 10kw of panels and 20kw of storage, more is better in this situation. He's not fully grasping the numbers of electricity, either, which is just adding to the challenge of convincing him he needs more panels and batteries.
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Oct 8, 2021 22:29
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CRUSTY MINGE posted:It's literally in a flat, wide, open alpine valley at 7600~ ft. No trees to block light. 40 acres of sand to spread out on. 37.5° N latitude. Heat is radiant gas burner, no electric fan (already made him buy a CO detector). Water heater and range/stove are gas too. Clouds come and go, but largely go over the valley quickly, trapping cold air in a bubble below, because we're between two mountain ranges some 60~ miles apart. Very sunny here most of the time. $4/ft? Not bad. This sounds really interesting. If you have updates over time I would love to hear them / see them. My dad gets people asking him to convert their houses to off grid prepper compounds (well, the electrical part anyway.) Turns out when you tell them it's not just 4 car batteries + a panel and oh every 5-10 years you have to completely refresh the storage and what do you mean I can't run all this air conditioning don't you know it's the desert he's not gotten any takers. I worry one day someone with more money than sense will get in touch with him.
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Oct 9, 2021 03:47
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H110Hawk posted:$4/ft? Not bad. I don't even want to ask the power company at this point, that quote is more like last fall's price. Between timber and conductor prices, it's probably another $10k on top, if not more. He's not exactly surrounded by neighbors that would want to kick in on it, either. Everyone is solar out there. Once he actually orders poo poo, I'll make an effort post or thread about it, since we're really, really light on solar threads around here.
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Oct 9, 2021 03:57
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What kind of residential energy storage wouldn't need to be refreshed so frequently? Lithium batteries? I can't imagine setting up a pumped water or liquid sodium system 
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Oct 9, 2021 04:02
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Lithium iron phosphate batteries tend to have 10+ year warranties, but cells will degrade with time anyhow, just like panels will wear and degrade.
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Oct 9, 2021 04:22
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:What kind of residential energy storage wouldn't need to be refreshed so frequently? Lithium batteries? I can't imagine setting up a pumped water or liquid sodium system I think there are some nickel chemistries or something? But existing chemistries with longer life require pretty constant monitoring and regular water refreshment iirc. I watched a video about some sodium ion cells with nicer chemical properties than lithium, only they aren't quite as dense. Probably good for stationary installations, not good for cars etc.
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Oct 9, 2021 04:42
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tater_salad posted:Have you changed the batteries in your Tstat? That's usually the first stop Just wanted to thank you for the good advice. Found the light, followed the instructions, and we have heat again. Still going to have a pro come out and check things later this week to be safe.
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Oct 11, 2021 03:55
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