Re: [RE-wrenches] heating pads for batteries

[Jerry Shafer via RE-wrenches]

Wrenches
It might sound cheap but I have incandescent lamps, also used reptile tank
heaters, watered heaters work too.
Funtimes

On Fri, Sep 30, 2022, 12:34 PM Chris Daum via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

> Hello all you brilliant people:
>
>
>
> Does anyone have something new for lightly heating a battery bank in a
> cold climate?  Something reliable and reasonably efficient?  We’ve been
> selling LFP batteries for a while, but few to our northern customers who
> cannot keep them from freezing.  I can give advise about insulated
> battery boxes (and have one myself), but surely there must be something new
> out there.
>
>
>
> Here we see low temps of -20F below – sometimes -40…..
>
>
>
> I recently spoke with a fellow who offers heaters for gutters to prevent
> ice creep that can ruin your shingles or roof, but there must be something
> more adaptable than that.  Any suggestions?
>
>
>
> Chris Daum
>
> Oasis Montana Inc.
>
> 406-777-4309 or 4321
>
> 406-777-4309 fax
>
> www.oasismontana.com
>
>
>
>
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[RE-wrenches] Early Hurricane Ian Report

[Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches]

Widespread devastation, but only a handful of reported PV failures. Sanibel
Island was thrashed and nobody has installed more panels there than we
have. Post-storm aerial imagery shows that almost all systems survived. A
couple of flat roof pitched systems had about 20% of panels break free with
mounts and rails still intact base on what I can see.

Mainland systems are largely intact with some having single or few panels
plucked from random areas of arrays.

No word yet on FPL's utility scale systems in Charlotte County. Suspect no
major damage.

There will be lots of roofs that need replacement where the PV system is
unscathed. 5 years after Hurricane Irma and results are similar, maybe even
more successful. That doesn't comfort the affected. Sad stories everywhere.

More to come. Triage mode now.

Jason Szumlanski
Florida Solar Design Group
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Re: [RE-wrenches] heating pads for batteries

[Michael Morningstar via RE-wrenches]

So, what I’ve been using are ag seed tray heat mats. I have been using
almost exclusively Discover AES or Helios. We use the Lynk II gateway with
all systems and utilize its temperature controlled relays to activate the
mats. The battery calls for heat, Imagine that. With open loop systems we
use the Lynk II to command AGS also.
On Fri, Sep 30, 2022 at 2:10 PM Jay via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

> I’m looking at agricultural seedling mats.
> They are super tough,come in many sizes many come with thermostats.
> Reasonable flexible.
>
> Jay
>
> On Sep 30, 2022, at 2:45 PM, Dana Orzel via RE-wrenches <
> re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
> Reptile heater pads?
>
>
>
> Dana Orzel
> C: 208.721.7003
> E- d...@solarwork.com
>
> On Sep 30, 2022, at 1:35 PM, Chris Daum via RE-wrenches <
> re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
> 
>
> Hello all you brilliant people:
>
>
>
> Does anyone have something new for lightly heating a battery bank in a
> cold climate?  Something reliable and reasonably efficient?  We’ve been
> selling LFP batteries for a while, but few to our northern customers who
> cannot keep them from freezing.  I can give advise about insulated
> battery boxes (and have one myself), but surely there must be something new
> out there.
>
>
>
> Here we see low temps of -20F below – sometimes -40…..
>
>
>
> I recently spoke with a fellow who offers heaters for gutters to prevent
> ice creep that can ruin your shingles or roof, but there must be something
> more adaptable than that.  Any suggestions?
>
>
>
> Chris Daum
>
> Oasis Montana Inc.
>
> 406-777-4309 or 4321
>
> 406-777-4309 fax
>
> www.oasismontana.com
>
>
>
>
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> --

Michael Morningstar


Morningstar Electric

PO Box 1494

Mount Shasta, CA 96067

530-921-0560

mjmornings...@gmail.com
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Re: [RE-wrenches] heating pads for batteries

[Kirk Herander via RE-wrenches]

Search for a thread on this forum for use of reptile aquarium pads to warm
BI battery cabinets. Posted within the last several months.

On Fri, Sep 30, 2022 at 5:11 PM Jay via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

> I’m looking at agricultural seedling mats.
> They are super tough,come in many sizes many come with thermostats.
> Reasonable flexible.
>
> Jay
>
> On Sep 30, 2022, at 2:45 PM, Dana Orzel via RE-wrenches <
> re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
> Reptile heater pads?
>
> Dana Orzel
> C: 208.721.7003
> E- d...@solarwork.com
>
> On Sep 30, 2022, at 1:35 PM, Chris Daum via RE-wrenches <
> re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
> 
>
> Hello all you brilliant people:
>
>
>
> Does anyone have something new for lightly heating a battery bank in a
> cold climate?  Something reliable and reasonably efficient?  We’ve been
> selling LFP batteries for a while, but few to our northern customers who
> cannot keep them from freezing.  I can give advise about insulated
> battery boxes (and have one myself), but surely there must be something new
> out there.
>
>
>
> Here we see low temps of -20F below – sometimes -40…..
>
>
>
> I recently spoke with a fellow who offers heaters for gutters to prevent
> ice creep that can ruin your shingles or roof, but there must be something
> more adaptable than that.  Any suggestions?
>
>
>
> Chris Daum
>
> Oasis Montana Inc.
>
> 406-777-4309 or 4321
>
> 406-777-4309 fax
>
> www.oasismontana.com
>
>
>
>
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>

-- 

*Kirk Herander / **kirkh@vermont.solar *

*Owner|Principal, VT Solar, LLC*

*Celebrating our 31st Anniversary 1991-2022!!*

*www.vermont.solar*


dba Vermont Solar Engineering

802.863.1202
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Re: [RE-wrenches] heating pads for batteries

[Jay via RE-wrenches]

I’m looking at agricultural seedling mats. 
They are super tough,come in many sizes many come with thermostats. 
Reasonable flexible. 

Jay

> On Sep 30, 2022, at 2:45 PM, Dana Orzel via RE-wrenches 
>  wrote:
> 
> Reptile heater pads?
> 
> Dana Orzel
> C: 208.721.7003
> E- d...@solarwork.com
> 
>>> On Sep 30, 2022, at 1:35 PM, Chris Daum via RE-wrenches 
>>>  wrote:
>>> 
>> 
>> Hello all you brilliant people:
>>  
>> Does anyone have something new for lightly heating a battery bank in a cold 
>> climate?  Something reliable and reasonably efficient?  We’ve been selling 
>> LFP batteries for a while, but few to our northern customers who cannot keep 
>> them from freezing.  I can give advise about insulated battery boxes (and 
>> have one myself), but surely there must be something new out there. 
>>  
>> Here we see low temps of -20F below – sometimes -40…..
>>  
>> I recently spoke with a fellow who offers heaters for gutters to prevent ice 
>> creep that can ruin your shingles or roof, but there must be something more 
>> adaptable than that.  Any suggestions?
>>  
>> Chris Daum
>> Oasis Montana Inc.
>> 406-777-4309 or 4321
>> 406-777-4309 fax
>> www.oasismontana.com
>>  
>>  
>> ___
>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>> 
>> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org
>> 
>> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
>> 
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>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
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>> other:
>> https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/
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Re: [RE-wrenches] heating pads for batteries

[Dana Orzel via RE-wrenches]

Reptile heater pads?

Dana Orzel
C: 208.721.7003
E- d...@solarwork.com

> On Sep 30, 2022, at 1:35 PM, Chris Daum via RE-wrenches 
>  wrote:
> 
> 
> Hello all you brilliant people:
>  
> Does anyone have something new for lightly heating a battery bank in a cold 
> climate?  Something reliable and reasonably efficient?  We’ve been selling 
> LFP batteries for a while, but few to our northern customers who cannot keep 
> them from freezing.  I can give advise about insulated battery boxes (and 
> have one myself), but surely there must be something new out there. 
>  
> Here we see low temps of -20F below – sometimes -40…..
>  
> I recently spoke with a fellow who offers heaters for gutters to prevent ice 
> creep that can ruin your shingles or roof, but there must be something more 
> adaptable than that.  Any suggestions?
>  
> Chris Daum
> Oasis Montana Inc.
> 406-777-4309 or 4321
> 406-777-4309 fax
> www.oasismontana.com
>  
>  
> ___
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[RE-wrenches] Vent fan for Conext MPPT 80-600

[Dave Tedeyan via RE-wrenches]

Hi All,

I need to get some replacement vent fans for a Schneider CC. Tech support
gave me the replacement part number as  Sunon pf80251b1--a99. Looking
around online, I cannot find anything with that exact part number, but I
have found a bunch that is off by one digit -  Sunon pf80251b1-000*U*-a99
(the difference being a "U" rather than a "0" in the middle part. Does
anyone know if this matters? I would hate to get fans that have a different
connector or something like that and be incompatible with the charge
controllers.

Separately, the existing fan in there is an  ADDA ad0812ub-f71. I found one
seller on ebay who has a few of these, so maybe I should just get them?

Cheers,
Dave

-- 
[image: Logo] 
Dave Tedeyan, P.E.
Owner | Sungineer Solar
p: he | him | his
a: 1653 Slaterville Rd. | Ithaca, NY 14850
w: www.sungineersolar.com 
c: (607) 288-2898
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Re: [RE-wrenches] heating pads for batteries

[Chris Daum via RE-wrenches]

Hello all you brilliant people:
 
Does anyone have something new for lightly heating a battery bank in a cold 
climate?  Something reliable and reasonably efficient?  We’ve been selling LFP 
batteries for a while, but few to our northern customers who cannot keep them 
from freezing.  I can give advise about insulated battery boxes (and have one 
myself), but surely there must be something new out there.  
 
Here we see low temps of -20F below – sometimes -40…..
 
I recently spoke with a fellow who offers heaters for gutters to prevent ice 
creep that can ruin your shingles or roof, but there must be something more 
adaptable than that.  Any suggestions?
 
Chris Daum
Oasis Montana Inc.
406-777-4309 or 4321
406-777-4309 fax
  www.oasismontana.com 
 
 
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Re: [RE-wrenches] sol ark reliability question

[Jerry Shafer via RE-wrenches]

Ray. Understand but loose connections can be any product and
troubleshooting loose intermittent issues are the hardest to correct
J
Funtimes

On Fri, Sep 30, 2022, 9:03 AM Ray Walters via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

> One thing I can say:  trouble shooting problems over the phone has its
> limitations.  I had a customer issue with a system we hadn't installed that
> was quite vexing.  Turned out to be a loose main DC connection to the
> inverter.  Bizarre behavior as the connection heated up and the resistance
> varied.
>
> Ray Walters
>
> On 9/30/2022 6:57 AM, Jay via RE-wrenches wrote:
>
> Hi all and thanks for the input.
>
> I guess he’s just been unlucky with the problems ( firmware upgrade
> switching to 50hz) and possibly just some random bad hardware.
>
> In regards to your thoughts of a install issue, he has spent a lot of time
> with sol ark reviewing everything. Loads, wiring, they have been monitoring
> all the data, photos, video etc with everything coming up correctly
> installed, wired, and loads.
>
> this system is an upgrade for an older XW ( 6kw units) system which worked
> fine. The customer wanted better monitoring, more kw, expansion
> capabilities and newer tech.
>
> Weird
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Sep 29, 2022, at 9:50 PM, pieter offgridenterprises.org via
> RE-wrenches 
>  wrote:
>
> 
>
> We have dozens of Solark based installs and have had excellent results.
> All of our system have multiple parallel Solark inverters and have operated
> with out issues. On the rare occasion that we had commissioning questions
> our experience with Solark technical support has been outstanding, they
> have by far the best technical support in the industry. Although Solark
> helped design the system in question I suspect that there must be some
> finer points that were not shared with Solark, a load side wiring problem
> or perhaps an installation error that is causing the repeated failures. I
> suggest that your friend gets a fresh set of eyes on the system and look
> for that oversite we have all made and just can’t seem to see it on our own.
>
> Pieter Huebner
>
> Off Grid Enterprises
>
>
>
> *From:* RE-wrenches 
>  *On Behalf Of *Jerry Shafer
> via RE-wrenches
> *Sent:* Thursday, September 29, 2022 10:25 AM
> *To:* RE-wrenches 
> 
> *Cc:* Jerry Shafer  
> *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] sol ark reliability question
>
>
>
> Wrenches
>
> Solark issues, I have them living off grid, 3 phase and grid tied back up,
> both AC and DC coupled with only one intermittent comms issue, does not
> seem to have any more issues than OB and less than Schnieder, all are
> connected to Fortress 18.5's or Blue Planet BMS interface seems hardy,
>
> Would be good to know what issues he is having to accurately help
>
> Jerry
>
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 29, 2022 at 7:01 AM jay via RE-wrenches <
> re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
> I’ve got a question about how many folks are having issues with sol-ark
> products?
>
> the reason i ask is that i’ve got a friend, a good competent installer (
> well versed in OB, Schneider, magnum)  who’s had continuing nightmares with
> them.
>
> he’s got 2 systems each on is a stacked pair of 12kw units, both offgrid.
>
> each system was designed by sol-ark, meaning the design was approved by
> them for the loads/solar etc.
>
> He’s been through 7 MCU swaps.
> He’s been through a field call required because the over the air firmware
> update caused the inverters to go into 50hz and for some reason that isn’t
> fixable via the web.
> He had an inverter that didn’t work correctly out of the box.  They
> charged him $2500 deposit for a replacement.
>
> Then they charged him $1500 to fix the inverter he sent back under
> warranty.  Thats right $1500 to fix a warranty which they agreed was a
> warranty issue.
> Hes not going to pay but this $1500 has been going on a while.
>
> The inverter they sent to replace the broken one had a older MCU firmware
> so wouldn’t stack and it took tech support way to long to figure that out
> then they had to send him a new MCU…...
>
> And the list goes on.
>
> But Im asking, is this poor guy just an anomaly or will anyone else chime
> in about issues?,
>
> Because at this point I have no desire to install one given his experiences
>
> Jay
> ___
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Re: [RE-wrenches] sol ark reliability question

[Ray Walters via RE-wrenches]

One thing I can say:  trouble shooting problems over the phone has its 
limitations.  I had a customer issue with a system we hadn't installed 
that was quite vexing.  Turned out to be a loose main DC connection to 
the inverter.  Bizarre behavior as the connection heated up and the 
resistance varied.


Ray Walters

On 9/30/2022 6:57 AM, Jay via RE-wrenches wrote:


Hi all and thanks for the input.

I guess he’s just been unlucky with the problems ( firmware upgrade 
switching to 50hz) and possibly just some random bad hardware.


In regards to your thoughts of a install issue, he has spent a lot of 
time with sol ark reviewing everything. Loads, wiring, they have been 
monitoring all the data, photos, video etc with everything coming up 
correctly installed, wired, and loads.


this system is an upgrade for an older XW ( 6kw units) system which 
worked fine. The customer wanted better monitoring, more kw, expansion 
capabilities and newer tech.


Weird








On Sep 29, 2022, at 9:50 PM, pieter offgridenterprises.org via 
RE-wrenches  wrote:




We have dozens of Solark based installs and have had excellent 
results. All of our system have multiple parallel Solark inverters 
and have operated with out issues. On the rare occasion that we had 
commissioning questions our experience with Solark technical support 
has been outstanding, they have by far the best technical support in 
the industry. Although Solark helped design the system in question I 
suspect that there must be some finer points that were not shared 
with Solark, a load side wiring problem or perhaps an installation 
error that is causing the repeated failures. I suggest that your 
friend gets a fresh set of eyes on the system and look for that 
oversite we have all made and just can’t seem to see it on our own.


Pieter Huebner

Off Grid Enterprises

*From:* RE-wrenches  *On 
Behalf Of *Jerry Shafer via RE-wrenches

*Sent:* Thursday, September 29, 2022 10:25 AM
*To:* RE-wrenches 
*Cc:* Jerry Shafer 
*Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] sol ark reliability question

Wrenches

Solark issues, I have them living off grid, 3 phase and grid tied 
back up, both AC and DC coupled with only one intermittent comms 
issue, does not seem to have any more issues than OB and less 
than Schnieder, all are connected to Fortress 18.5's or Blue Planet 
BMS interface seems hardy,


Would be good to know what issues he is having to accurately help

Jerry

On Thu, Sep 29, 2022 at 7:01 AM jay via RE-wrenches 
 wrote:


Hi All,

I’ve got a question about how many folks are having issues with
sol-ark products?

the reason i ask is that i’ve got a friend, a good competent
installer ( well versed in OB, Schneider, magnum)  who’s had
continuing nightmares with them.

he’s got 2 systems each on is a stacked pair of 12kw units, both
offgrid.

each system was designed by sol-ark, meaning the design was
approved by them for the loads/solar etc.

He’s been through 7 MCU swaps.
He’s been through a field call required because the over the air
firmware update caused the inverters to go into 50hz and for some
reason that isn’t fixable via the web.
He had an inverter that didn’t work correctly out of the box. 
They charged him $2500 deposit for a replacement.

Then they charged him $1500 to fix the inverter he sent back
under warranty.  Thats right $1500 to fix a warranty which they
agreed was a warranty issue.
Hes not going to pay but this $1500 has been going on a while.

The inverter they sent to replace the broken one had a older MCU
firmware so wouldn’t stack and it took tech support way to long
to figure that out then they had to send him a new MCU…...

And the list goes on.

But Im asking, is this poor guy just an anomaly or will anyone
else chime in about issues?,

Because at this point I have no desire to install one given his
experiences

Jay
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There are two list 

Re: [RE-wrenches] sol ark reliability question

[Jay via RE-wrenches]

Hi all and thanks for the input. 

I guess he’s just been unlucky with the problems ( firmware upgrade switching 
to 50hz) and possibly just some random bad hardware. 

In regards to your thoughts of a install issue, he has spent a lot of time with 
sol ark reviewing everything. Loads, wiring, they have been monitoring all the 
data, photos, video etc with everything coming up correctly installed, wired, 
and loads. 

this system is an upgrade for an older XW ( 6kw units) system which worked 
fine. The customer wanted better monitoring, more kw, expansion capabilities 
and newer tech. 

Weird








> On Sep 29, 2022, at 9:50 PM, pieter offgridenterprises.org via RE-wrenches 
>  wrote:
> 
> 
> We have dozens of Solark based installs and have had excellent results. All 
> of our system have multiple parallel Solark inverters and have operated with 
> out issues. On the rare occasion that we had commissioning questions our 
> experience with Solark technical support has been outstanding, they have by 
> far the best technical support in the industry. Although Solark helped design 
> the system in question I suspect that there must be some finer points that 
> were not shared with Solark, a load side wiring problem or perhaps an 
> installation error that is causing the repeated failures. I suggest that your 
> friend gets a fresh set of eyes on the system and look for that oversite we 
> have all made and just can’t seem to see it on our own.
> Pieter Huebner
> Off Grid Enterprises
>  
> From: RE-wrenches  On Behalf Of 
> Jerry Shafer via RE-wrenches
> Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2022 10:25 AM
> To: RE-wrenches 
> Cc: Jerry Shafer 
> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] sol ark reliability question
>  
> Wrenches
> Solark issues, I have them living off grid, 3 phase and grid tied back up, 
> both AC and DC coupled with only one intermittent comms issue, does not seem 
> to have any more issues than OB and less than Schnieder, all are connected to 
> Fortress 18.5's or Blue Planet BMS interface seems hardy, 
> Would be good to know what issues he is having to accurately help
> Jerry
>  
> On Thu, Sep 29, 2022 at 7:01 AM jay via RE-wrenches 
>  wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> I’ve got a question about how many folks are having issues with sol-ark 
> products?
> 
> the reason i ask is that i’ve got a friend, a good competent installer ( well 
> versed in OB, Schneider, magnum)  who’s had continuing nightmares with them.
> 
> he’s got 2 systems each on is a stacked pair of 12kw units, both offgrid.
> 
> each system was designed by sol-ark, meaning the design was approved by them 
> for the loads/solar etc.
> 
> He’s been through 7 MCU swaps. 
> He’s been through a field call required because the over the air firmware 
> update caused the inverters to go into 50hz and for some reason that isn’t 
> fixable via the web.
> He had an inverter that didn’t work correctly out of the box.  They charged 
> him $2500 deposit for a replacement.
> 
> Then they charged him $1500 to fix the inverter he sent back under warranty.  
> Thats right $1500 to fix a warranty which they agreed was a warranty issue.
> Hes not going to pay but this $1500 has been going on a while.  
> 
> The inverter they sent to replace the broken one had a older MCU firmware so 
> wouldn’t stack and it took tech support way to long to figure that out then 
> they had to send him a new MCU…...
> 
> And the list goes on.
> 
> But Im asking, is this poor guy just an anomaly or will anyone else chime in 
> about issues?,
> 
> Because at this point I have no desire to install one given his experiences
> 
> Jay
> ___
> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
> 
> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org
> 
> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
> 
> Change listserver email address & settings:
> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
> 
> There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the 
> other:
> https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/
> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
> 
> List rules & etiquette:
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> 
> Check out or update participant bios:
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> 
> ___
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> 
> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org
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> 
> Change listserver email address & settings:
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> There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the 
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