An unlikely issue - current from solar is out of control

[followingsea]

From the first post on I am wondering I am wondering how much people will spend to die in a motor home fire?

Thanks to the USN, one of my hats that I got paid to wear is fire safety. Producing power is inherently dangerous. Armatures should not be doing it.

Solar PV is an expensive dangerous scam. The reasons given are rather silly.

[mhudson]

Originally Posted by followingsea

Armatures should not be doing it.

Don’t you mean Armatures SHOULD be doing it?

I’m sorry followingsea, I had to do it![emoji16]

[Itinerant1]

Originally Posted by followingsea

From the first post on I am wondering I am wondering how much people will spend to die in a motor home fire?

Thanks to the USN, one of my hats that I got paid to wear is fire safety. Producing power is inherently dangerous. Armatures should not be doing it.

Solar PV is an expensive dangerous scam. The reasons given are rather silly.

I had to look and make sure there wasn't another meaning to armutures.
1.the rotating coil or coils of a dynamo or electric motor.
2.a metal framework on which a sculpture is molded with clay or similar material.
One of those hats wasn't proofreader/ teacher.

[astrocamper]

The more I read this thread, the more likely I will do my solar with two 100 volt/30 amp Victron Smartsolar MPPT charge controllers instead of one rated for 60 amps or more. I have a 3rd Smartsolar 100/20 inside my truck cap that can also plug into my trailer to charge my main battery bank.

I will go conservative by using factory made 4/0 cables with 3/8 ring terminals and 650 amp bus bars on all parts of the system involving the 2200 watt inverter and batteries.

The only other part of the DC system with current higher than 30 amps will be from my Progressive Dynamics 60 amp Lithium battery charger.

I want to do my wiring system so it is robust and done safely the first time.

This will be my 4th solar power system and definitely the largest. I think it can be done safely. It is certainly safer than hauling around gasoline and pouring it into portable generators. You neighbors will like that you have a quiet campsite.

[CountryFit]

update -

yesterday i took the board out and inspected the back of burned terminal. it appeared no major damages othar than the "shell" surrounding the slot charred. i had to use a drill to get the fused wire tips out of the slot, and rimmed it to allow 2ga wire to plug in. now 2ga wires are used the controller is back to do its job.

for safety reasons i set the output limit to 80a for now, until i re-arrayed the panels to get a balanced charge rates as vince recommended.

big thanks for all who shared their thoughts! love this board!

[Smitty77]

As much as we kid each ather about spaleing fat finger tyeping (My wife still swears English is not my primary language. After 40+ years she claims to have yet found my primary language. And that is talking, she says my 'crisp/short/to the point' writing technique, and unique choice of wording (or lack of) - is most likely from outside the zone of the known universe!!) --- this thread helps all of us keep SAFETY FIRST on our minds!

I do have a yearly review of wires, bolts, hoses and hydraulic lines for chafing, etc. maintenance routine. But looking at the inside of that Classic 150 was a wake up call for me. As that is not a wire end connection that I've ever checked in my yearly review!!! Have not removed the cover since I added the WhzBngJr module to the unit 3-4 years ago now... MY BAD! And an action item for me to check sooner then later.

Appreciate the thread, and the safety concerns voiced here - it's a community effort to help keep SAFETY FIRST as a way of thinking!

Best to all,
Smitty

[Smitty77]

Countryfit - Thanks for the tip on the software update. I had not caught that a new release was out. The last time mine was updated, was to enable the WhzBngJr - and I flunked the course on doing that update by myself. I made an appointment with Starlight (Larry/BatteryPro) to help me, and at the same time review the work of the install of my solar panels/MS2812/Classic150 by another location. (Our schedules did not mesh, or he would have been who I would have used for the install. But we were out of sync by a few months, and I wanted the panels for our 5-6 month trip to Alaska, so could not wait until the next Yuma Season!).

I'll take another run at it in doing the latest software updates in the weeks ahead. Before then, I'll log onto MidNite and see what is included in the new release.

Be good, and best to you,
Smitty

[mhudson]

I wasn’t trying to be the spelling nazi. I am the worlds worst speller. I think followingseas will get the humor. I think his autocorrect made a Freudian slip!

[baphenatem]

Originally Posted by mhudson

Don’t you mean Armatures SHOULD be doing it?

I’m sorry followingsea, I had to do it![emoji16]

Armatures are so old-school. Stators rule!

[followingsea]

Originally Posted by Itinerant1

One of those hats wasn't proofreader/ teacher.

Those are certainly parts of a engineers job that I am good at so I have rules about how I do those tasks.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission changed the rules in the middle of our design review. I was assigned the tasks of explaining the new calculation to the NRC and show do design changes were needed. During the process I found the wording was wrong and that some of the information the NRC had wanted was inappropriate. So I also had a teaching job to change a mind set.

My response was 56 pages long and complicated. What went wrong is that a manager added the 'word' to a sentence he did not understand and the version the drafting department produced did not come back to me for proofreading.

Two of my rules for proof reading. I give my self an extra day just for proofreading. Second I do not make last minute changes. I give managers three extra days to make changes.

So what happened to the 56 page document? I got to do it again two months later after the investigation. There was not much to do. The NRC liked my new words but wondered why the drafters has not put a red line through the old words. Everyone had signed two weeks ahead of time except for the final manager who was in a different city. The day was due an engineer who worked that managers shows up with comments. No thanks!

The manager sent a email lambasting everyone for not doing there job on time and embarrassing him with the NRC when he told it would be late again.

I responded to all he had copped plus on the engineers and mangers who had signed two weeks before. I told him that he had embarrassed me and others who had personally assured the NRC in phone meeting we would get it right this time. This was followed by a parade of thumbs up.

[ALLOY]

Thought I'd mention:

All the connections I make have an anti-corrosion compound.

Terminal are torqued to spec with a torque screwdriver/wrench.

Lugs 4ga and smaller are crimped with a manual crimper...4ga and larger a hydraulic crimper.

All wire is tinned and rated for 105 degrees.

All lugs are tinned and heat shrunk.

None of the wiring is loose or hanging.

[followingsea]

Originally Posted by Smitty77

Appreciate the thread, and the safety concerns voiced here - it's a community effort to help keep SAFETY FIRST as a way of thinking!

Best to all,
Smitty

Smitty

According to Cohen, the most dangerous occupation is being unemployed. Based on my experience, retirement counts in that regard. My trill seeking involves step ladders, slides, and awnings.

Last month I had our Allison transmission serviced. The safety rules posted in the shop for working above the ground were the same as a nuke plant. I have been on the roof of my motor home many times without a safety meeting.


Life is a series of risk/ benefit situations. The benefit of electric power is huge. Air conditioning is essential to my wife's health. It was 96 in the Nevada and we are hooked up to the grid.

Here is the point. The 6500 watt Onan is an essential piece of equipment when we are off grid for us.

PV is just a toy. If you put it on the roof it is all risk and no benefit.

If you are a big business, it is good for green washing. A large casino chain announced a 170 MWe PV project.

That's right, the gaming is eco friendly.

[astrocamper]

My small 5x8 trailer was used for nine years and the 15 amps of solar power was enough to keep us out for up to 8 days at star parties. I use the power to run an Engel freezer so I could make my own frozen water bottles for the cooler. It was plenty of power that we never ran short and keeps our pair of T105 batteries full by mid day every day.

It is enough power that we could run a pair of laptops, TEC cooler imaging cameras and astronomy mounts for doing astronomy imaging. It also powered fans, lighting, furnace when colder, etc...

I enjoyed the power without listening to a generator drown on. Solar power is huge win for delivering quiet dependable power with an appropriately sized system. It was not a toy but a necessity for our astronomy power needs.

[CountryFit]

Originally Posted by astrocamper

My small 5x8 trailer was used for nine years and the 15 amps of solar power was enough to keep us out for up to 8 days at star parties. I use the power to run an Engel freezer so I could make my own frozen water bottles for the cooler. It was plenty of power that we never ran short and keeps our pair of T105 batteries full by mid day every day.

It is enough power that we could run a pair of laptops, TEC cooler imaging cameras and astronomy mounts for doing astronomy imaging. It also powered fans, lighting, furnace when colder, etc...

I enjoyed the power without listening to a generator drown on. Solar power is huge win for delivering quiet dependable power with an appropriately sized system. It was not a toy but a necessity for our astronomy power needs.

now i know why your id is "astrocamper" .