Re: [RE-wrenches] Fried Classic150?

The more I think about this the stranger it seems. All system breakers were left on before leaving for the winter. Inverter was also on to power two small AC fans. How can a 48 volt battery bank get so discharged to the point of almost complete depletion (13.7 volts). The inverter low battery

Re: [RE-wrenches] Feed-in tariffs and internal offsets

Hi Troy, Does this little utility have a Time of Use rate structure? How often do they true up (pay the customer for their extra power)? There are various markets that this makes sense, Germany, Hawaii etc. They call this type of system a self-consumption system. It does require energy

Re: [RE-wrenches] Fried Classic150?

Thanks all for the replies. Battery voltage was 13v on this 48 volt system. How they drained so low I just don't know. Low batter cut off was set and there were no DC loads. Not to sure what to make if this. Will be contacting midnite tomorrow. Aaron Mandelkorn Owner/Solar Specialist Renewable

Re: [RE-wrenches] Fried Classic150?

MPPT does need a minimum battery voltage to wake up and start charging, at least 9 volts -- I once arrived at a remote site on a sunny day, the PV input breaker had tripped, batteries were under 9v, no charging despite the sunny weather until I woke the MPPT up with jumper cables from my truck

Re: [RE-wrenches] Fried Classic150?

Any sign of escaped smoke? I had a Classic 150 go south this winter but the client lives in the house and caught it immediately. No visible damage on it the screen was blank. The replacement was a used/refurbished unit with blackened inside front cover; client was not too happy and caught a

[RE-wrenches] closets and working space

Hey Wrenches, We'd like to put a combo panel in a coat closet (its shallow and wide) right next to the existing panel. With the doors open (they are pocket doors) it is fine with working space requirements. I know the AHJ will have the ultimate say and am checkin in with them as well but wondering

Re: [RE-wrenches] Fried Classic150?

Uh OH !! Not good ! The Classic will turn on at around 9 volts DC input and will continue to run down to something around 4.5 volts input. So, maybe the batteries aren't "zero" volts at least. You can wait until tomorrow to call in OR go to the www.midnitesolar.com web site and start an

Re: [RE-wrenches] Fried Classic150?

Curious, what is the actual voltage and the nominal voltage? Jay Peltz power > On May 30, 2016, at 4:59 PM, Aaron Mandelkorn wrote: > > Hi all. I returned to a off grid site today after having no winter access. It > appears as though the classic 150 charge controller has

[RE-wrenches] Fried Classic150?

Hi all. I returned to a off grid site today after having no winter access. It appears as though the classic 150 charge controller has failed. The batteries are completely discharged. The classics screen will flash occasionally as well as a yellow light on this left front of the controller but wont

Re: [RE-wrenches] Compressor motor/SW+5548

On 5/30/2016 1:48 PM, Jeremy Rodriguez wrote: Bob Can you elaborate a little on this extension cord idea either here or off-line? Thank you Sure. The extension cord, in this case, is just added resistance. Some inductance but mainly resistance. The current from the starting load is

Re: [RE-wrenches] Compressor motor/SW+5548

Bob Can you elaborate a little on this extension cord idea either here or off-line? Thank you Jeremy Rodriguez Solar Installation And Design Expert All Solar, Inc. 1463 M St Penrose Colorado 81240 Sent by Jeremy's iPhone. Sorry for typos and shorthand! On May 30, 2016, at 1:15 PM,

Re: [RE-wrenches] Compressor motor/SW+5548

Yes, the SW4024 and SW4048 could start larger surge loads than the SW5548, because both allowed the output voltage to dip farther under surge. The 5548 was more tightly regulated in order to reduce the flickering caused by the voltage dip of a large motor under load. I learned this around

Re: [RE-wrenches] Compressor motor/SW+5548

boB, a spongey line on a load? Done it with windmills, never with a load. Makes complete sense to me, I'll add that to the old bag of tricks. Dan Fink Adjunct Professor of Solar Energy Technology, Ecotech Institute IREC Certified Instructor™ for: ~ PV Installation Professional ~ Small Wind

Re: [RE-wrenches] Compressor motor/SW+5548

Hi jeremy, The 5548 has really poor surge, it's not a wire issue. I'm not sure caps will fix that. Jay Peltz power. > On May 30, 2016, at 9:46 AM, Jeremy Rodriguez wrote: > > Hello > I've got an SW+5548 that will barley start my air compressor. Once it does > run it

Re: [RE-wrenches] Compressor motor/SW+5548

The (newer) SW5548 was harder on over current protection, mainly because it could put out more current than the SW4048... One trick to try is to place a long(ish) extension cord between the SW and the load to give it a wee bit of series resistance. Doing this would often reduce that OCP and

Re: [RE-wrenches] Roof harness

The back dorsal D-ring is the ONLY place fall-arrest equipment should be attached. Any other spot and you could flip upside down during a fall, big trouble. The waist D-rings can be used for positioning, and the chest D-ring for positioning and also ladder climbing if a lad-safe cable or vertical

[RE-wrenches] Roof harness

It's been awhile since this question has been asked on this list, I'm hoping there's something new out there! Does anybody have a favorite OSHA-compliant safety harness that works well for pitched roofs? I'd be especially interested in one that has a front waist attachment point since working

Re: [RE-wrenches] Compressor motor/SW+5548

Does your air compressor have an unloader valve, or can you install one? That should do the trick, sounds like you are just running into the regular high surge current demand. Off the grid, compressors are in about the same nasty league as old well pumps as far as surge demand. Dan Fink

[RE-wrenches] Feed-in tariffs and internal offsets

I am dealing with a small utility that only provides a small feed-in tariff (basically wholesale). Customer wouldn’t have much value to install PV when they sell in at 5 cents, and buy back at 8 cents. However, if we load shifted the PV to provide an internal offset on the consumption meter

[RE-wrenches] Compressor motor/SW+5548

Hello I've got an SW+5548 that will barley start my air compressor. Once it does run it shows 17 Amps on the inverters loads meter. During start up it reads 60+ amps. Do you think better capacitors would help the situation? BTW I've never ran the compressor off grid prior. I even tried #8 from