"The battery choice was the decision of the system owner."
Since when does the customer make these decisions?
Todd
On Monday, October 4, 2010 6:36am, "North Texas Renewable Energy Inc"
said:
Todd
I've heard the same arguement, as well as its inverse. The battery choice was
the decision o
I know many on this list disagree, but this sounds SO typical for sealed
batteries. It is why I never use em... never! If they are 5 years old, you are
probably at the limit of their life. Replace em with flooded lead calciums and
your customers (and you) will be happy for 20+ years.
my .o2
To
Thanks everyone for the feedback on my question!
Todd
On Friday, October 1, 2010 9:32am, "Larry Crutcher"
said:
> Todd,
>
> The shunt is only providing a mV DC signal. In our showroom we have a
> working display wall of charge controllers and battery monitors (Blue
> Sky, Trimetric, Morningst
I recently read on the DSIRE web page that the 30% credit need not be the
primary residence.
Todd
http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=US37F&re=1&ee=1
Federal
Incentives/Policies for Renewables &
Efficiency[http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/incentiv
"repairable unit - you don't have to trash it every seven years (reported
national average)"
My tank is 20 years old now. I change the anode every 3 years.
Todd
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I sell 2.8 kW with 4.5 kW STC going into a GVFX, which is 62% DC -> AC
efficiency. I can't imagine the XW being worse. Lead calcium wet cells take
very little float current and rarely need watering.
Todd
On Tuesday, August 24, 2010 2:42pm, "Jeff Oldham" said:
I remain shy about Brand X but I
Hopefully, they are equally concerned about the energy efficiency of their
home... but I be they aren't.
Todd
On Sunday, July 18, 2010 10:08am, "Peter Parrish"
said:
Hi Keith,
A few que[#] stions:
(Q1) How much is your client willing topay for the most efficient module
(module not ce
"proper absorb times (do the math)"
Can you talk more about this please.
Todd
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I agree with that for floating flooded, wet cell lead antimony batteries... but
flooded lead calcium cells are a more appropriate choice for floating banks on
grid ties with backup. No cycling is necessary.
Todd
On Thursday, June 10, 2010 12:32pm, "Bell, Steve" said:I
also agree with Ray’s c
I have a question about my personal home system. It is an Outback battery based
grid tie. My digital utility meter is capable of reading var and power factor.
So often (like just now) when I read this it is not even close to unity.
Today's reading was 1.57 VAR, 56 PF. What is going on here? Am I
UNLESS you are moving that power any distance. I have a 20+ year old rack of
12, Solarex MSX-60's traveling 200' to the FM60. Wired in two strings of 6,
allowed me to drop the wire size considerably!
Todd
On Thursday, April 29, 2010 1:44pm, "R Ray Walters" said:
HI Allan
I would strongly en
Don't you think the transformer is good for isolation?
Todd
On Tuesday, April 27, 2010 4:26pm, "ryan" said:
> I have done this a couple times. I have done this with a MX60 and a
> MidNite Classic the beauty with the Classic is you can eliminate the
> Transformer. I Simply rectified the 120vac a
I am looking for any old stock or leads for the now discontinued
E-meter/Link-10 prescaler. 0-100 volts.
Thanks,
Todd
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Ahh, the old "DT kludge". I have done this here at my home because the GFX only
has one AC input... grr... so this is a good workaround. As long as you take
the 120 or 240 down to ~ 60 volts, you will be fine. My 3 kW xmfr (got used
online - very heavy and expensive) has a 240 volt input/outputs
A dual system will need two meters... one to keep track of each leg. Outback
has details on their web page about how to configure these, or if you like
contact me off list for repostings of messages from the last few times this
went around.
Todd
On Wednesday, April 21, 2010 10:08am, "Dana" sa
Has anyone included the extra racking costs to add additional modules used to
compensate for wire loss?
Todd
On Friday, April 9, 2010 10:46am, "R Ray Walters" said:
All our economic analysis is based on a 20 to 25 year life.
Safety first, but then good design is to spend the customer's mon
Ray, what is the AC output voltage at the inverters while they are selling? If
it goes too high (too small of a delivery wire) you will have to raise the sell
voltage by specifying "USER" in the mate.
Todd
On Tuesday, March 30, 2010 9:42am, "R Ray Walters" said:
> We currently have a Grid Tie
So do the charge controller and amp hour meter communicate so they agree on
when the batteries are fully charged?
Todd
On Wednesday, March 17, 2010 12:02pm, "R Ray Walters" said:
We have a couple out in the field. A bit of hassle to upgrade the firmware at
first, but Apollo was very helpful
Thankfully my MX60's software is old enough to still have an option to control
it's aux output by current. Anything over 50 amps turns on auxiliary fans. Not
sure why Outback eliminated this useful option in more recent "upgrades".
Todd
On Sunday, February 28, 2010 10:00am, "Michael Welch"
PS I was told the GVFX will NOT back off the power in an overtemp situation.
The inverter will just shut down if it gets too hot.
Todd
On Friday, February 26, 2010 9:59am, "Michael Welch"
said:
>
> >From: j...@greenhousepc.com
> If the temperatures get
> >out of hand, the software will back
selling wattage) runs ~87%.Hope this is helpful.ToddOn Friday, February 26, 2010 9:59am, "Michael Welch" said:> > >From: j...@greenhousepc.com> >> >toddcory at finestplanet.com writes:> >> How high have the temp counts on your transformer gotten?> >
I think Backwoods Solar used to carry these.
Todd
On Thursday, February 25, 2010 10:12am, "jason pozner"
said:
Hi wrenches,
Does anyone know a good source for a reliable, reasonably priced 24v DC clock
timer 5-10A run off a relay. We are powering heat tape to mitigate a
vulnerable spot i
USE2
Todd
On Thursday, February 25, 2010 10:54am, "Mick Abraham"
said:
...and...the next time I buy #10 sunlight resistant wire for making up my own
plug extensions...should I buy a more exotic wire type and how do I know what
will work?
Thanks,
Mick Abraham, Proprietor
[http://www.abraha
My home system's GVFX3648 maxes out at around 2.8 to 2.9 kW @ 80 degrees F. If
I push it harder, it overheats. While they are rated at "3600 watts", they
cannot do this continuously with ambient temps above ~40 F.
Todd
On Wednesday, February 24, 2010 2:25pm, "Michael Welch"
said:
>
> From
What is a "golf cart battery"?
Todd
On Monday, February 22, 2010 12:53pm, "R Ray Walters" said:
These are grid tie with battery backup systems. All inspected.
Personally, I think that we should have OCP on each series string, but that's a
whole nother can o' worms.
Most sealed batteries (an
Hey folks,
I'm looking for a Mitsubishi 185 (black frame if possible) to replace a broken
one on a customers rack.
Thanks,
Todd
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Here is a repost of this information from 20067
Todd
Ok, I called Jake and he forwardedme to Brent Carper (253-395-6818) who works
in the Puget Sound Energymetering department. I had a long conversation with
him about how tometer battery based, grid tied inverters.
The form 12s meter (recomm
There is a bug in the last batch of these meters before they were discontinued
by Xantrex. I have heard about this from many others, but Xantrex claimed to
know nothing about it... and since the meter is no longer available, you either
replace it with an overly complicated (for most customers) T
Who warranties the installation, you or the installer?
Who carries the liability insurance, you or the installer?
Who sells the materials and gets the materials profits, you or the installer?
The reason why I ask these questions is I see this disturbing model becoming
more common... where the wr
So you can get others to install your designs? I would never touch materials I
do not sell, or install a system I did not design... and I am amazed anyone
would.
Todd
On Monday, December 21, 2009 12:56pm, "Brian White"
said:
> Thanks to all who have posted.
>
> To answer a couple of quest
Not to take this thread too far into the land of metaphors, but I'm sure
everyone knows that by the time a vehicle's oil pressure light comes on, severe
engine damage has already been done.
My point is, most of our current earthly problems are because people do not
want to be "bothered" with t
Well said Jeff... like with auto genny starting systems... if the customer is
not willing to be involved with flying their system, only insisting on some
"auto-pilot" system... a crash is inevitable. Watering the batteries is an
opportunity for the customer to be more involved with their system.
I do not have these an any customer's systems yet. The data comes from my
Surrette evaluation/beta test bank. All my future battery based/grid ties will
get these though.
Todd
On Thursday, December 10, 2009 10:19am, "jay peltz" said:
> HI Todd,
>
> Given the super long time between watering
On grid or off grid Joel? If grid tied /w battery backup, use lead calcium wet
cells. They only need watering about every 18 months.
Todd
On Wednesday, December 9, 2009 6:14pm, "Joel Davidson"
said:
> Wrenches,
>
> We installed 48 each IBE 1-85N-15 cells (24 in series in 2 Direct Power &
>
I am sure the reason for using gloves with grease is lithium based grease
stinks like 90 weight. Who wants that on their hands?
Todd
On Thursday, December 3, 2009 1:21am, "R Ray Walters" said:
> I was just picking up on where everybody is located. The cold weather boys
> like
> vaseline, an
As someone who has been doing off grid systems since 1985 I can say from
experience, ALL sealed batteries are CRAP... especially in off grid
applications. They are too fragile and do not last.
Todd
On Sunday, November 29, 2009 5:48pm, "Conrad Geyser" said:
In the vein of us on grid folks
Here is an old 2001 posting from Bill Brooks...
William, Marco, and Jeff C.,
Here is the method I found to be most effective:
INVERTER SETUP (MENU 9)
set to SELL
BATTERY CHARGING (MENU 10)
set ABSORPTION TIME to 0:00 on both machines.
set MAX CHARGE AMPS to 1 amp on both machines.
BATTERY SE
There is also the option of converting the genny's AC output to DC and running
it through an MX60 as a rather rube goldberg way to interface a genny with a
GFX inverter. I did this at home and it works great.
Todd
On Saturday, October 31, 2009 8:06am, "Tump" said:
>
> Drake I think the caus
Hey Drake,
Did you look in the mate warning/error menus to check voltage/frequency?
Todd
On Thursday, October 29, 2009 4:25pm, drake.chamber...@redwoodalliance.org said:
> Hello Wrenches,
>
> I was under the impression that he Honda EU series of inverter generators
> could synchronize with the
My first modules had that kind of JB cover. Hoxan was the manufacturer. Do I
win?
Todd
On Thursday, October 22, 2009 2:59pm, "Mick Abraham"
said:
Set the dials on the Wayback Machine, Wrenches!
The modules which I wish to identify had bright blue polycrystal square cells,
before the yellowi
So in essence, you had the PV's connected directly to the inverter's DC battery
connection point. What did the MPPT charge controller do without the battery as
a buffer? Did the efficiency go up on the system without batteries to keep
charged?
Todd
On Wednesday, October 21, 2009 10:12am, "Dar
Thanks for saying that Ray. I also have been a huge Outback fan but have
similar frustrations with why some problems have not been addressed, after all
these years. The single AC input on the GVFX comes to mind.
Todd
On Wednesday, October 21, 2009 1:09pm, "R Ray Walters" said:
> We're in th
Why do you limit your selection to sealed batteries? I highly recommend
Surrettes FC-420. These are flooded, lead calcium batteries in a L-16 case. In
the last 12 months my home system's set has not used any noticable amount of
electrolyte. Rated for 15 years, and should easily last 20+, IMO thi
I am curious how you connect a generator to the GVFX? It only has one AC input
that us used for the grid.
Todd
On Monday, September 28, 2009 11:43am, "Orion Thornton"
said:
Wrenches,
We recently installed a grid-tie battery backup system usingtwo Outback GVFX
3648 inverters. The clien
After swearing off brand X I did a XW system this last spring. The customer
needed two AC inputs and unfortunately the GVFX topology still only has one. On
the single occasion I called Xantrex to ask how to raise the sell (grid
support) voltage the "tech support" person told me to do what I alre
We have a local company who sells "designed", packaged systems wholesale to the
public. IMO, their designs are poor and the quality of the customer installs
are equally suspicious. I support incentive and tax credits penalizing this
kind of behavior with lower financial support.
Todd
On Mond
On Monday, August 31, 2009 8:57pm, "Bill Brooks" said:
Roger,
Why would a legitimate contractor argue against this reducedincentive (it is
not a penalty at all)? This is simply acknowledging the factthat operating a
business and providing a long-term system warranty costs moneythat a
se
Those massive pictures could have easily been resized and compressed to less
then 100 K each.
Todd;
On Sunday, August 16, 2009 1:52pm, "Bruce Geddes" said:
For goodness sake, posting attachements of 2M or so. There was a discussion on
this forum some months ago about large attachments beca
My line voltage often runs in the 250 VAC range. My grid tied Outback system
used to go off-line when it got much higher than this, so I changed the
settings to "user" and opened the window way up. Problem fixed.
Todd
On Sunday, August 16, 2009 10:06am, "William Korthof"
said:
> I'm beginn
Power factor on DC? As far as I know, power factor / vars is an AC phenomena
where current and voltage are out of phase.
Todd
On Wednesday, July 29, 2009 5:45pm, "Ron Young"
said:
Can anyone point me in the direction to find the power factor for Sanyo HIT N
205 panels? The utility is request
My home's kWh meter has a mode where it displays instantaneous energy flow in
kW... as well as power factor, line voltage and vars.
Todd
On Tuesday, July 28, 2009 3:24pm, "Eric Andrews" said:
I’m searching for a WATT-hourmeter…. Not a “KILOWATT-hour” meter… So that folks
cansee the meter s
Its apples and oranges comparing coal power prices to renewables. Should a
Lexus cost the same as a Kia?
Todd
On Monday, July 27, 2009 9:05am, "Joel Davidson"
said:
All this figuring makes my head ache...
I agree with Bob. If someone is willing to pay me to review their economic
analysis
"If neither pole is grounded then both must be treated aspotentially hot."
Only with regard to the other hot wire. If you do not reference one conductor
to ground than the other one will not present any danger unless you are
referenced to its mate... as in touching both wires at once.
Todd_
Re: [RE-wrenches] Fwd: Grounding on aglacier
My understanding is that it saves cost to ground one of theconductors. Then
you can use single pole switches, fuses andbreakers. If both of the circuit
conductors are 'hot' then youwill need to use double pole everywhere.
Why? A single pole switch
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/fs06grc.html
Plasma Contactor
The Space Station arrays operate at 160 volts dc. When the arraysare producing
power, the station structure will also tend to float to avoltage close to the
array voltage. Under these conditions, the SpaceStation could be s
Hmmm, I wonder how the birds can sit on those same HV wires and do just fine?
If a wire is not referenced to the ground you are standing on, touching it
would not give you a shock unless you were also in contact with the other
conductor it is referenced to.
Todd
On Friday, July 24, 2009 11:23a
NASA had a similar problem on the space station. They used (I think - research
this) some kind of static discharge unit on the exterior of the station.
Todd
On Wednesday, July 22, 2009 6:13am, "jason pozner" said:
Hey all,
I am trying to figure out how to mitigate problems found with a
Then there are the wholesale internet "designers" that sell DIY systems. These
are usually put together by kids who have never done an installation, and who
have completed some "training course" and design from behind a computer screen.
I just hate to see this going on, but for many, this work i
The problem here it about 5 years ago they upped the snow loadrequirements from
40 to 60 p/sf so ANY thing added to the roof needs astructural upgrade.
Todd
On Tuesday, July 7, 2009 9:59pm, "Bill Brooks" said:
Allan,
Check out my website at [http://www.brooksolar.com/services]
www.brookso
My dream! I hope someone knows of such a unit, cuz I'd love to know what to
recommend to folks.
Todd
On Monday, July 6, 2009 9:16am, "Drake Chamberlin"
said:
Thanks to all who have helped with this. The moving target ofgenerator
function makes things a bit more complicated than we wouldwish,
Its ok Nick... I feel the same way. My problems go back to when they bought out
Solarex and never issued a recall for all those defective MSX 60's out there.
Todd
On Monday, June 15, 2009 10:10am, "Nick Lucchese" said:
Oops, this was supposed just go to Andrew.
Nick
On Jun 15, 2009, at 9
Down about 70%.
Todd
On Saturday, May 30, 2009 11:06am, "Marco Mangelsdorf"
said:
> Compared to the first five months of last year, how would any of you who
> care to respond compare your year-to-date sales in 2009?
>
> Thanks,
> marco
>
> Marco Mangelsdorf, President
> 69 Railroad Avenue, A
Does anyone have any link-10/e-meter 0-100 volt prescalers in stock still? If
so please contact me off list.
Thanks,
Todd
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I just purchased a MSI U100 netbook and love it. Fast & cheap ($350.00).
Todd
On Friday, April 10, 2009 8:26am, "Joel Davidson"
said:
> Wrenches,
> Some Wrenches include their notebook computer among their most valued tools.
> My 2001 IBM T23 notebook has served me well in the office and on th
"Maintenance free" might mean replacing them after about 5 or 6 years rather
than 15 to 20.
Todd
On Wednesday, November 26, 2008 1:41pm, "Chris Worcester" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
said:
I will look at these for other jobs, our client wants
maintenance free on this one thoug
What about the new Surrette FC420's? The latest SOLARPRO mag has a tiny blurb
on them at the bottom of page 28. Two sets in parallel (630 a/h) would meat
your criteria and would perform much better than sealed batteries.
I have been beta testing a set here at home and they seem to be doing fine
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