SmithsJunk
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What is that a snow catcher 2000? :)
That mc guy from mc adventures thread said he had shovel snow off his trailer. I think he said he’s at like 3500 elevation though.
You think you’ll be doing a greenhouse in the future?
Hell ya bubba get all you can %150!I'm hoping to do a small grow in my cousin's greenhouse this summer. I can only do six in the garden and I pay 50% for my right to grow. The yields have been fantastic so its been a non-issue and it pays for zero interference from my silent partner. This year I want to better my position with 100% + (50%-100%) greenhouse, and give him a bigger than 50% cut with more variety. That really helps for his medical needs, mine too.
FYI, I set up the split and he just accepted. I know it's steep but it's also easy. One for you, one for me. It was worth it when I proposed it and still is. It's very hard to find grow space without owning land here. But there's no reason not to better both our positions. There are three of us who medically benefit from it (...and recreationally of course).
You use that plate for a stencil to mark holes to drill?OK, without being arrogant I can say, I'm pretty smart and very much mechanically inclined, but this device has me completely stumped.
Now, look at this and tell me I'm not crazy in asking, "WTF is with this mounting setup?"
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So the the lock nuts fit into the case. I see that, but that's the only part that makes any sense. The bolts dont slide through from the top and the bottom plate appears to be setup for it to be mounted then the switch fits over it. But theres no way I can see to tighten the switch to the back cover. The only thing I can guess is that it was designed to fit some sort of modular system or waterproof battery box. Maybe i should just hook it up and run wood screws from the front, through the back plate, and into the wall. Disregarding the hardware that came with it. Cause, I just don't get it. My brain hurts, hahaha. This device makes no sense from an engineering viewpoint, I think.
I'm gonna roll another jay, drink another Mountain Dew, and ponder this a bit more.
You use that plate for a stencil to mark holes to drill?
I’m trying to figure out how wired come out or into the box if the back plate is mounted to it. If there is a hole for wires with the back plate mounted to it then I wonder if you can use plate for stencil to mount to something thin. Looks like bolts are threaded all the way down. When you put bolt through device and plate do they stick out. Like far enough it could mount to something?That's a good start but the plate does appear to be part of the unit. It fits snugly like a Lego. I can see that the placement of the nuts are so it can be mounted from the front but it also looks like it's set up to be mounted from the back (that's what she said, hehe). Youd figure there'd be an inset from the back of the plate so two mounting screws could be put into the wall while two bolts could be facing the opposite direction as posts. It looks like it's setup to mount through a cut out in a battery box.
I'm looking around Amazon to see how other people mounted it. There area lot of these switches from multiple sellers so there are lots of different pics from reviewers.
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Looking for a better view of a setup like this or a solar setup like mine where it's mounted to a wall. I don't need screws to mount the back plate. Going to use heavy duty Velcro but still nerd to affix the plate to the switch. I don't want coming loose and risk touching hot wires running up to 60a DC. Anyone who knows better, knows DC current is very dangerous.
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Nvm these pics clearly show how it could be mounted. The way I was thinking mount it would be on outside the box instead of inside like pics.
She will b a good setup when you have it sorted out Junk..i like it..
Thanks for the vote of confidence. I have to admit, this has been a struggle for me. So many times during the process I felt like I was just banging my head against the wall (all the while hoping it might knock some of that old knowledge loose).
On a very positive note, when I'm done and it's been successfully energised, I'll be able help if any of you guys want to do one. I will draw up a complete diagram with all the components in place when I'm done, also, a list of components w/prices. That way no one will have to guess the cost for their own off-grid system.
**Important note**
**Electricians are not electronics technicians. They are not qualified to install DC systems without proper electronics training.**
My cousin's mom had a solar system/generator installed by one of her electrician friends. It caught fire and destroyed the system. The reason this happened was because DC current does not work the same as AC and will not trigger AC breakers, but an electrician doesn't necessarily know this. An electrician also may not know to fuse every leg of a solar system, where to install the fuses, or how to calculate the correct fuse sise. Each parallel leg must be fused independently and adjusted for panels in a series/parallel within that leg. There are other considerations too like the input/output capacity of the charge controller. For instance, my 60a mppt charge controller can handle up to 3600w of panels, a 48v battery bank, and 150v input, but to utilise these numbers the battery bank must be 48v. My battery bank is only 12v, since for now, it's being used to run a 12v RV load. On a 12v bank the maximum input voltage is 60v and max 900w of panels. I don't have enough fuses at the moment for 4 panels in parallel so I needed to run it in a different configuration (series adds the voltage of each panel and parallel adds the current from ea). Since each of my panels generates roughly 18v and 6a then if connected all 4 in series the combined voltage is 72v. That's 12v more than it's max input of 60v on a 12v bank. I have two options, run all 4 in parallel (18v, 24a) or in a combination of series and parallel x2 panels in series by x2 parallel legs (36v, 12a). I'm not going to show my calculations on this next part, I'll explain in a later post when it's important. To fuse 4 of these panels in parallel, each leg will get a 10a fuse (18v, 6a) and after the junction a 30a fuse (18v, 24a). With a x2 parallel x2 series, 10a fuse each leg (36v, 6a) after the junction a 30a fuse (36v, 12a). The 30a fuse stayed the same because it's protecting the 10awg wire rated for 30a whereas the panels are using 12awg normally rated for 22a (?) but I think this particular wire is rated for 30a. So I guess they can use a 30a fuse as well but I like to fuse for needs and would fuse with a 20a (36v, 12a, it's recommended to over-fuse components/panels by 25% and then code requires another 25%, I think??? So 12a+25%=16a+25%=20 (guess it won't be in a later post, hehe). Don't take the over-fuse calculations as set in stone because I'm tired and might have confused over gauging for grounding with over-fusing.
My brain is burnt. I might have done some wrong calculations but can't tell for sure right now. I'll verify and sort this in the morning with a fresh mind.
True. Where people mess up with fuses is they run ones that are too large for the application. Then the wiring or circuit catches fire because that is the point of least resistance. The whole point of a fuse is that it’s the point of least resistance and so when the energy spikes it blows before the wire or circuit heats up and catches fire.
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