What happens to time? It runs along. Gallops at times. Yet here I am. Still working. Getting things done between events. One step at a time.
The M6 rod came in. Threaded the packs together.
I know what you're saying. Wow Creek, Nice rod threading jig.
First discharge test. All continues to perform as per spec. Lovely when research works out.
Okay. So then the Ammeter/Voltmeter thingamabob came in. Complete with shunt. 18 bucks. Sheesh. Not sure how accurate it is. Seems to measure a bit off when compared to the Morningstar voltage report and what my Voltmeter says. Still.
So. Plug in the Victron 48-1200. Wire up the shunt. Turn all on. Run a drain test. Well. It's summer. Plug in the big screen and watch a movie. What you see above is the idle draw on the Victron along with the idle on the TV (off).
TV draws up to 280w and after two hours the ammeter records 518 used. Battery voltage is 45.72 the next morning. Interestingly the voltmeter says 45.8 and the morningstar says 45.83. Eh. Good enough for the funny papers.
Note: for this test I use the first battery I charged. Initially my settings used a 15 minute absorb period. The battery sat for 10 hours attached to the solar controller. So powering the controller overnight. The battery then sat for almost two weeks. Time is moving by.
Next morning I recharge the battery. I'm now using a 30 minute absorb. By the end of the absorb its only asking for 30 watts to maintain 48.26. So I think I have the absorb time dialed.
(I find very interesting that when charging the battery was cheerfully drinking all my pollen / dust clad panels were putting out. 550 watts. When the battery hit absorb voltage the power drawn dropped almost immediately to 250. Then tapered to 30. I missed the final number, but only by a few minutes. If you've charged lead acid you know how wild that is.)
Summing up:
The initial charge used 710 watts from 3.83/cell voltage. Recharge from 3.8v/cell was 650.
So one 48v battery (nominal 2.125kw) used 650 watts between miscellaneous loads. And recharged that amount in 1 and half hours. Primarily due to very dirty panels.
Right. On to battery installation.
Keeping with the light on the earth, recycle, reuse, repurpose theme. I use the pallet the battery came on, some left over 1/2" plywood scraps, to build the battery box.
And now I'm off to make some battery cables. Wish me luck.
PS-as always, more pics online. And even more detail (
