Відео

I do have a water pump in the pond that pump water across from one side of the pond to the other so it circulates and air rates the water, you can see it around the time code of 2.34 But a little solar pump would be nice as well 👍

They sometimes come inside the cabin as well, especially at night as they're attracted to the lights.

The 25,000 litre storage tank is around 4 meters (when full) and around 2 meter when empty above the ground level down at the cabin. So that means when the tank is full I will get around 6 psi at ground level but once the water moved up the pipes to the height of my shower rose in the bathroom I will be down to around 3 psi at the shower so not enough pressure. I am not worried about power consumption of my water pumps as I am off grid and have heaps of power to run pumps. I would like to have a header tank on a tank stand so I could gravity feed the water but that's another expense I would have to find money for and I will still need pumps to pump the water up to the tank on the stand. My large pump gives me around 60 psi at the taps for watering gardens and so on, which equates to 42 meters of head. So I would need a tank stand 42 meters high to get the equivalent. A windmill would be a big investment especially the height I would need to clear the tree line to catch any wind. It would also require permits from our local council. So yeah it is a good idea and one I would like to do but the cost of doing it is just not viable in my area.

It got to 45 today but I was down in Perth at work so it only got to 41 in Perth today.

You mean my Triton, it jumped a tooth on the timing belt and the valves kissed the piston. I wasn't gonna risk resetting everything and pushing my luck as I don't know if their were micro cracks in the pistons. So it's parked under the trees on my property and maybe one day I will get another motor for it. But the cost of diesel motors now-a-days, and the maintenance costs on the common rail diesel, I have gone back to petrol motors.

@TheSimpleLivingAussie going back to the Anglesea days, mate, your old hilux was a beast. Planted the 4x4 seed for me. You probably don't remember me from 25 years ago. Great off grid set-up mate.

Thanks mate

Yes I am. I'm gonna be building a carport where the caravan is to put the car and van in. Just waiting for my savings account to build up some more. I don't believe in debt so I have to wait until I have saved up for it. Hopefully sometime mid next year I should have something sorted. It also be more roof space for water collection 🌧💧

Yes I started with the GC2 six volt batteries running a modified sinewave inverter when I lived full time in my bus back in the early 2000's. The 64 watt uni-solar shade tolerant solar panels cost me $750 each back then and I bought four. $3,000 for just over 250 watts of solar and those panels still run today although they are pretty beat up. When I set up my off grid house system around 2007 - 2008 I went for the L16 size, Rolls Surrette brand, six volt flooded lead acid batteries charged by a Plasmatronic PL60 PWM controller and a Latronics 1800 watt inverter, yep 1800 watts ran my entire house. I still have the old solar controller in my cupboard and the Latronics inverter I have used on my 24 volt test system testing the Kings batteries which I did a video on. Since the invention of MPPT controllers, Lithium batteries and the price of solar panels dropping, it has become more affordable for people to go off grid. If building the right size system they also miss out on the challenges we had 20 years ago like.... water batteries, acid build up on battery terminals, acid burn holes in your cloths, voltage sag during high current draw, running generators in winter, running the generator when you put on the kettle. ........ Ahhh the good old days 😁😆

My original PL20 Plasmatronics is working fine. It has a 200W old house panel charging the Kings 200Ah in parallel with another old panel charging the same battery via a Victron reg. Set it to Gel mode with no issues so far. Kings 3kW inverter died just short of one year old so refunded. On my 3rd Allpowers R600 in 12 months so switched to EcoFlow which look like they are very Victron like in quality and function. No cabling fuses rules to comply with, just switch on and use them. Old house panels plug in or connect to the Kings batteries for fully configurable charging.

Are you meaning the blue sea container ?

@@TheSimpleLivingAussie yeh i think so, seen it behind you at the pond

@@TechStories79 you meaning the blue sea container as shown in this video: ua-cam.com/video/3_I5uIWNTPI/v-deo.html Or the little blue filter housing on the side of the fish pond?

@@TheSimpleLivingAussie yeah the container in video. Just thought you could have a great solar shed in that and make an adjustable solar mount on top. Seen it done a bit on containers.

​@@TechStories79 yeah you could do for sure but there are a few issues with using a sea container. The main one in my area is the heat as they get incredibly hot inside during summer, they can get over 60 deg C inside on a hot summers day. So insulation and air-conditioning is a must which would be expensive to set up. The other thing with my sea container is it's location, more shaded by trees and then I have to run the power across to the cabin. All of the above would be nice but would cost me a lot of money to set up. Considering the panels are already located on the roof of the cabin, it's in the best location for sun with no daytime shading (except early morning and late afternoon) it's not financially viable to shift it across to the sea container.

Thanks mate.

I don't worry too much about cleaning my panels, I let the rain do that. My batteries are charged usually by around 11:00 am so a little dust on the panels doesn't bother me. Besides, out here, as soon as you clean off the dust, it's back again. Safe products is a hard one as there are so many products available. I use well known brands that have been proven over time, like Victron. There are other brands out there that I haven't used so I can't comment on them, so check their reviews and give them a try.

Woops, sorry mate, you ask about cleaning products, I was thinking products in general like solar products. For cleaning products, if I do clean my solar panels I use water and a broom.

I don't actually have any footage of the Kings DC to DC running as the battery box is fitted in the car and I don't usually look at it as it mainly runs from the alternator power. Occasionally I may plug solar into it when camping and usually keep an eye on the battery monitor. If you look at the owners manual you should be able to see what LED's should be flashing which will depend on what is powering the DC to DC being either solar or alternator. You can see the LED's flashing on my Kick Ass DC to DC in my video "Can You Mix Match Different Solar Panels" but that isn't the Kings one so probably no help there. So best thing is to check the owners manual which you could probably download from the Kings website if you have misplaced your one.

Yeah it is an inverter generator, link below, although my one is the older one and only 3.3 KVA but pretty well the same unit. Most enclosed small generators are usually the inverter type. This one is an SP Tool brand and it has been very good. I also have a smaller SP tool inverter generator and it hasn't missed a beat the 5 years I have had it. It has been across Australia and back a many times. www.sptools.com/product-catalogue/generators/inverter-generators/inverter-generator-4500w-super-quiet/

The cables were very light in weight so I doubt there would be much copper in them but I would have to cut the cables in two and confirm it, which I am not willing to do as it means I would have to replace the cable. So far they work for what I need them for, so time will tell I guess 👍

Thanks for the reply, just wondering what the max continuous output current is when using the output terminals?

@@ArturArt321 I am guessing your meaning the output terminals on the Kings BattBlock. It is 120 amps which is what most Lithium batteries are rated to that would fit in the box. So it would be good enough for a 1000 watt inverter. All the info on it is on their website, click the specifications tap and it shows all the output ratings. www.4wdsupacentre.com.au/batblock25.html?gad_source=1

I have heard the Huayi compressor is Danfoss which was bought out a while ago, but I can't confirm that is correct. Either way, they have a 5 year warranty and considering they're 1/4 the price compared to an Engle or Waeco, it's worth trying it out for the price.

I bought these panels I have on the roof of my cabin from Altech, back when they were down in Forrest Field, many years ago 😀 I will have to drop into their new shop sometime for a look see 👍

Yeah those standard blade fuses are good for up to 15 amps but anything above that, the holders just get to hot.

Thanks mate, it's been a lot of work to get this far 👍

Are you meaning 30 amps from the panels to the controller or 30 amps from the controller to the batteries? One way to get around MC4 connectors is to cut them off and hard wire them in which is what I usually do on my lower voltage systems. But if your meaning 30 amps from your panels to the controller, then you can increase the panel voltage by wiring them up in series like what I have done in the video. When you increase the voltage you decrease the amperage but that will depend on the charge controller your using and the maximum input voltage it can take. What is the system voltage your setting up, what solar controllers are you using, how many panels are you putting in the system and what is the voltage of the panels?

@@TheSimpleLivingAussie Cheers mate. I have the renogy rover 100li mppt. From memory it can take 150v in. I have four of the atem power 200w bifacial panels to hook up.

From the panels to the mppt mate. Sorry. My bro just came in with dinner. Ill have to check the panel specs. They are still in their boxes

​@@GoodenuffCollective To get around the current issue you could wire the panels in a 2S - 2P configuration. Wire two panels in series which will double the voltage and half the amps. Then you do the same with the other two panels. So now you will have panels 1 & 2 wired in series and we will call it string one and you have panels 3 & 4 wired in series, we will call that string two. Then you connect string one and string two into the charge controller provided it can handle the string voltages. If it is a 150 volts input, then it should be fine. I can call in during the week sometime and have a look at it for you if you want me to.

@TheSimpleLivingAussie cheers mate. No rush. I'm waiting on my boilermaker friend to weld up the new roof rack then it will be wiring time. Im just doing my usual pre stress about it.

Eventually the heat transfers through and it get's just as hot inside as out, unless you have aircon going. The shed is in the afternoon shade so it's not to bad. After running some tests on string one this morning I was still struggling getting power from the panels. So I have upped the line voltage on string one and what a difference that has made. It has 50 % more panels than string two yet it is close to producing twice the amount of power (watts) The problem is the input voltage for a 48 volt system which bulk charges at near 58 volts, needs to be in the 70 volt range to get the MPPT to work it's magic and run efficient. So I will have to add some panels back onto string two and up the line voltage again to get it to work properly. Go back to the system I was running before as it worked very well.

Thanks mate. Yeah in BH, been hot here the last few days. Pity we missed out on the rain that skimmed pasted up.

You know me, always playing with solar 😆

Ya gotta word things right on UA-cam now, too many people / businesses wanna sue now-a-days 😋

did ya get my FB link I left on your video I commented / replied on... be good to catch up

@@TheSimpleLivingAussie i didnt there is no link there?

Yeah they are on separate MPPT's. I did show that in the video when we looked at the individual charge controllers to see what each string was bringing in. The panels are on an angle on the roof which you can see in the video, not sure of the angle but it would be close to 30 deg at a guess, I can only just manage to walk up the slope. I should check the angle, be interesting to know what it is. Half of the solar panels get sun from around 7am in the morning due to the trees but by around 8:30 am all the panels are in full sun until around 3:00 - 4:00 pm in the afternoon. With the exception of a deep winters rainy day, may batteries are usually charged to 100% by around 11:00 am in the morning. I don't have any problem producing power except for the last couple of day in the above 40 deg C temps, surprising how the panels loose efficiency in the extreme heat of the day.

@TheSimpleLivingAussie saw the 2 mppt and had me wondering if you had them networked togeather. My own set up have use same mppt as networking and just leave them as individuals. Non networking produces more. There is a chart that can enter your gps position and gives you year round optimumial direction to face the panels and degrees of angle incline. I go 15' more east to give better winter production times. Is PIA if building roof is too far different.. Interested to see how many days for battery bank to reach 100%SOC again and if cooler days when it does

@@mattwalker6305 yeah they are networked together to the Victron Cerbo GX for data monitoring and remote monotoring as well as syncing the charge parameters and so on. Today was cloudy so limited sun but if I find I am struggling, I just put more panels back on the roof again, I have plenty of panels laying around 😁

Yeah the roof thing was my first thought as well. Imagine the amount of reflected heat hitting the back of the panels as well as the sun on the front of them. Pretty harsh operating conditions in those sorts of temps. It would be interesting to see how the equivalent sized panels would perform if on a stand by themselves with maybe some plants underneath to keep the area a bit cooler. Not the greatest of outcomes if the performance of the panels is derated at the time you need them the most.

@@oldbloke204 yes It would be a good test in not plants at lest some grass,

I think it was just the intensity of the sun hitting the glass on the panels, 43 Deg C was hot. Gotta be careful with rising the panels as not to allow wind to get underneath them. Yes I do need to put a cooling fan in the power shed for summer as it gets hot in there. I usually leave to door open in summer so the heat can escape from the shed.

@@TheSimpleLivingAussie Yes so true,

Thanks mate. Yeah the generic shuts are pretty well all the same. The Kings one has more data logging / settings compared to the Jaycar one but the shunt block is exactly the same, even my Renogy shunt block is the same. I stopped buying from Jaycar a while back as the quality was terrible and had a lot of failures with their gear. Kings is just as good and half the price.

A little beyond my budget for all of that but a great idea 👍

I grew up in Victoria. Lived in Aspendale in the 70's then moved to Moorabbin then down to a farm on the Mornington Peninsular. I went to high school (Tech-School) in Dromana. My Brother still lives in Rosebud.

I got a quote around 3 months ago to put in a reverse cycle aircon and I was quoted just over $4,000 which was a little outside my budget range. Will have a look at the AD-DC units and see how much that would set me back, thanks for the heads up.