Re: [RE-wrenches] RETURN AMP SETTING
Darryl, You are probably aware of this but the Endurance machines are 240 VAC induction machines. I had asked about their policy on AC coupling their turbines for off grid use and they were less than enthusiastic. You might want to touch base with Endurance Wind Power before proceeding. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 7/22/2010 9:09 PM, Darryl Thayer wrote: I am talking with a customer who wants to do a standalone system using an Endurance wind machine, solar, and genset. I have no experience with Endurance other than to know it is a good machine. Talking with Magnum today they informed me that the MS 4XXX PAE inverter, combined with the ARC remote control, and BMK battery monitoring kit can do enhanced SOC control. Has anyone compared this with the Outback as I have not used the PAE inverter yet, only the AE inverter? Darryl --- On Wed, 7/21/10, Darryl Thayer wrote: From: Darryl Thayer Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] RETURN AMP SETTING To: "RE-wrenches" Date: Wednesday, July 21, 2010, 9:35 PM That is a good question, I have not an answer, but of course it should be based on the amp hour of the battery bank, absorb charging voltage, and of course the charging source in the case of generators. Following Ron's advise start at C/5 for SOC less than 50% then C/10 till about 70% SOC and then C/15 till 80% then C/20 to 90 %. the problem we have no way to set these values, Perhaps Ron could give is a routine? The closet to SOC charging is the Outback and then the Magnum but both miss the goal. --- On Wed, 7/21/10, Dana wrote: From: Dana Subject: [RE-wrenches] RETURN AMP SETTING To: "'RE-wrenches'" Date: Wednesday, July 21, 2010, 5:54 PM As the % of full charge is related to the of degree absorption & gravity [the denser & more charged acid descending, and lighter acid rising] @ what point in the absorption would be prudent to stop charging? I used to cut off the charge on the Trace SW series at 12 “return amps”, VS. the factory default I think was at 5 amps. This has & continues to work well but I never had anyone really answer this function clearly. Is there a battery manufacturer or wrench that would care to comment on the: The minimum “Return” amps to disconnect for a “full” charge? OR The time required per 100 AHR after reaching the Absorption point setting for the mix to occur?
Re: [RE-wrenches] wind scam?
Todd,
We're still waiting for verifiable 3rd party energy production data
on this turbine.
Until that happens, this turbine stays on my "not ready for prime
time" list.
As of today, Helix has not seen fit to file a notice of intent to
certify with the
SWCC. Keep an eye on that list and the eventual certified turbine
list, both will
be very helpful in the future for weeding out the scams.
www.smallwindcertification.org
"Revolutionary" may be a good description for kinetic lawn art but
doesn't
tell us a thing about it's ability to produce kilowatt hours to the
grid.
What is it about human nature that makes people believe that the
weirder
the design, the better it must be? And that "breakthrough"
technology is
the best technology?
Have fun with this customer!
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46
Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747
www.four-winds-energy.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 7/24/2010 12:36 PM, Todd Cory wrote:
Sorry to bother the list with this kind of BS, but I have a client
who
insists this is a revolutionary wind machine design that is not a
yard
art scam. Feedback?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9flSPAdOLk
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Re: [RE-wrenches] 100 Foot Skystream tower
Dana, Could you tell me a bit more about that 100' tower? The last I knew, SWWP only offered a 70' tower. So this would be a 3rd party tower? Xzeres (formerly ARE)? Or LMW&S? And is that schedule 40 pipe or schedule 10? Did you install the concrete foundations? Since you've installed some tilt towers before, I would imagine you understand the importance of having the foundations line up correctly. For this reason, I hate finishing a tower installation someone else started! I've seen as much as a 6 foot difference in elevation between the two side anchors on owner installed foundations. Under ideal circumstances and on that mythical frictionless plane, I'd allot 1 day with 3 people for assembly and another day with 4 people during the initial raising of the empty tower and the final raising with the cherry on top. Having a side spotter on these towers is invaluable! The trick of course is knowing all the unknowns before hand ;-) Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 7/30/2010 11:23 AM, Dana wrote: Good Morning all, I have an ongoing client that we have straightened out the doings of the first 3 PV installers. They have a Skystream Wind Generator, concrete bases are in place and a 100’ tower kit, but not the tower pipe sections. We are just starting to look at the erection process of this. Has anyone erected a 100’ tower for a Skystream wind generator? I have done 100’ tilt up towers in the past but not for this size of a wind generator. If so, how many man-hours would you allot for the assembly of the tower on the ground and raising? Assuming all goes smoothly and a worst case. I am aware of having to 20’ - “gin-pole” the 50’ gin-pole, and have several tractors to move the pipe around. Thanks, Dana Orzel Great Solar Works, Inc E - d...@solarwork.com V - 970.626.5253 F - 970.626.4140 C - 970.209.4076 web - www.solarwork.com "Responsible Technologies for Responsible People since 1988" ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Grundfos SQ Flex Float Switch
Kirpal,
If you use 18/2 shielded tray cable (with all the proper insulation
ratings of course) you can
run that for thousands of feet. 700' is about our average run on the
majority of our pump
systems and it works well for us.
My wire is by Omni, part number A21802.
Be sure to ground the traveler wire inside the CU200 and bury the
cable if possible.
FYI...our longest run is 7,000 feet. Been installed for 8 years and
working fine on a Grundfos pump.
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46
Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747
www.four-winds-energy.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 8/23/2010 4:54 PM, Kirpal Khalsa wrote:
Hi All.I can't find it in any of the manuals for
grundfos.does anyone know if the wiring to the float switch
carries current or not. The float switch has 3 #14AWG
wires...I need to add about 700 feet of wire from the CU 200
controller to the storage tank.I want to use #18AWG..is
this okay? most float switches I have used do not carry current
they are simply signal wires and can use very small gauge for long
distance.
Anyone know off the top of their head?
Thanks
--
Sunny Regards,
Kirpal Khalsa
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer
Renewable Energy Systems
www.oregonsolarworks.com
541-218-0201 m
541-592-3958 o
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Re: [RE-wrenches] deadly fall off of roof
Hi Pat, This 1768 foot tower climbing video has gone viral in the wind industry. Just for the record, although this is an impressive and entertaining "training" video, this guy is not only an idiot, he's also in a lot of trouble from the communications industry, Verizon and OSHA. The fact that this video was first posted on a so called legitimate training website makes it all the more disturbing. But it is impressive. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 9/24/2010 2:58 PM, solar...@aol.com wrote: Wrenches: When you have 7 minutes, check out this video on 'fall restraint' - you may get dizzy (as I did) and you may wonder, as I did, HTF they built it in the first place: http://video.yahoo.com/network/101149635?v=8244494&l=5144241 Pat Redgate Ameco Solar In a message dated 9/24/2010 9:39:56 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, k...@vtsolar.com writes: The two instances are not the same. The skylight accident happened previous to April 2010, and the company is listed in the accident report , but I don't recall the name. They are a large CA electrical contractor. Kirk Herander VSE On Sep 24, 2010, at 11:25 AM, "Bill Brooks" <billbroo...@yahoo.com> wrote: Marco, The company was purposely not identified. I believe the young man fell through a skylight while moving equipment during construction. Much more likely way to die since most people assume a skylight will bear their weight if they fall against it. Edge of roof falls definitely occur, but self preservation instincts are usually much more heightened in these areas. Bill. From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Marco Mangelsdorf Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2010 7:09 PM To: 'RE-wrenches' Subject: [RE-wrenches] deadly fall off of roof A 30-year-old PV installer fell to his death back in April at job site in CA. He backed off of a roof accidentally and was not wearing any fall protection. I have the official report of the accident, but the “multi-state full-service solar provider” that has “approximately 650 employees” was not identified. Anyone know which company this was? Thanks, marco ___ ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/piperm
Re: [RE-wrenches] Grundfos
Ah yes, the dreaded F3. Loss of communication between the Cu200 controller and the pump. Grundfos has had this problem on and off for several years now and I wish they would correct it once and for all. We've had 9 systems with the F3 fault and 8 were bad CU200s and only one was the pump. In all cases, it was a bad modem. Other than the F3 troubles, we've had no problems with the SQflex pump line. I too am interested in feedback on the Lorentz pump line. We had a ton of trouble with them when they were the Regreta pump systems but hopefully they have improved. I'm more than ready to try a pump line from a company that's responsive to factory defects and feedback from the field. Everything that Grundfos is not. Grundfosare you listening? Hello.? Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 11/8/2010 7:47 PM, Gary Gordon at SYV Solar wrote: Wrenches, More details on the Grundfos failures: 1st failure 11 SQF-2 w/ 204ft TDH 2nd failure 6 SQF-2 w/ 220ft. TDH 3rd failure 6 SQF-2 w/ 253ft. TDH All controllers were displaying F3 failures, there was voltage at the well head. Only one replaced so far and seems to work fine. Any ideas or similar problems? Gary Gordon Santa Ynez Valley Solar P. O. Box 688 Santa Ynez, CA 93460 805 688-1213 g...@syvsolar.com From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Mike Nelson Sent: Saturday, November 06, 2010 10:07 AM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Grundfos Doug, Thanks for the feedback. I have to install the monoflo, because it was purchased 2 summers ago, but the customer didn't have the site work done to install the pump. This summer the site work was finished and now the customer is ready to have the system installed, so wish me luck! DC Power is getting out of the pumping biz, so is Wholesale solar up north, hopefully Solar Depot will remain in it. Our only other option is to go through the plumbing supply houses. I hear the bugs are being worked out of the Lorentz pump line, anyone have any experience with them? Mike Nelson MD Electric & Solar Gualala, Ca. On Sat, Nov 6, 2010 at 7:45 AM, Doug Pratt <dmpr...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: Mike, from another Mendo native, don’t do the Monoflo. DC Power is getting out of the pumping biz, and we’re the only Monoflo distributor in the US. Our experience with Monoflo hasn’t been good. We’ve seen a number of pump failures recently, support from the manufacturer is pretty thin, and troubleshooting in the field is poorly developed and documented. Basically it’s… pump not working? Try plugging in a new controller. Still not working? Plug in a new pump. Dealers don’t keep expensive pumps on the shelf in case of breakdowns, so repairs usually end up taking weeks. Not good for dealer/customer relations! DC Power is getting out of water pumping because we just don’t have the technical bandwidth anymore. We’re being pressed so hard by the rapidly-expanding grid-tie market that our tech support crew is getting loved to death. There’s no time. I’m sorry to see it go, I found water pumping projects challenging and interesting, but the tech cloning project has hit some snags. From a sales perspective, the Grundfos SQ Flex was the best of the lot. We heard the fewest problems from them, and those problems were usually on the surface (the CU200 control). Doug Pratt DC Power Systems
Re: [RE-wrenches] Grundfos
Good info as always Phil! I want to add one more tip to Phil's troubleshooting procedure. If you have full sun, jumper the PV output to the pump input conductors and if the pump runs, the controller is at fault. That's assuming that the float switch is calling for water. To be sure, pull one of the float wires out of its hold down tab and make it call for water. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 11/8/2010 8:28 PM, Phil Undercuffler wrote: I believe the F3 error code was the known communication issue with the CU200 controller. Basically, it loses communication with the pump and so throws the error code. I saw a bunch of CU200 controller issues in my previous job; GF acknowledged they had a bad batch, and were pretty good about swapping them out. The good news is, the CU200 controller is not required for the pump to run. The important thing to remember with the CU200 is that it doesn't actually "do" anything to the power going to the pump. If the float switch signal circuit closes, the controller doesn't interrupt power like a traditional switch. Instead, it sends an electronic "stop" signal to the pump, which turns itself off. The conductors down the hole are always energized whenever the sun is shining (assuming it's a PV array powering the pump). Similarly, the controller doesn't actually "measure" the wattage flowing for its display -- it just reports what the pump tells it that it is drawing. I believe the F3 error comes up whenever the controller loses communication with the pump. Take the controller out of the circuit, and if there's enough PV power to overcome the lift the pump should run. In fact, I believe one of the greatest saving graces of the SQ-Flex pump is the ease of troubleshooting. Go out into the field with a small 1,000 watt or larger generator or inverter. Connect 120V AC directly up to the wires going down the hole, and if you get water, the problem isn't with the pump, so you can focus your attention to the array. Add a CU200 into the circuit, and measure the gallons per minute produced (still running from 120v source). Compare the gallons per minute and the wattage consumed by the pump as shown on the CU200's display, against the flow and energy charts for the designed lift in the SQ-Flex service manual. If the flow is lower or wattage is higher, either the water table has dropped (increasing lift), or the pump is beginning to bind (increased friction). BTW, for those of you using the Flex in a pressurizing system, it's important to remember that the CU200 doesn't directly control the pump -- if there's a loss of communication, the pump will continue to run, causing a potentially damaging over-pressure event. I use a SQ-Flex running off 120v inverter power at my home in New Mexico. I have a CU200 in the circuit so that I can keep track of the water level/pump friction/energy consumption, but I use a standard pressure switch to control when the pump runs. Phil Undercuffler On Mon, Nov 8, 2010 at 4:47 PM, Gary Gordon at SYV Solar <g...@syvsolar.com> wrote: Wrenches, More details on the Grundfos failures: 1st failure 11 SQF-2 w/ 204ft TDH 2nd failure 6 SQF-2 w/ 220ft. TDH 3rd failure 6 SQF-2 w/ 253ft. TDH All controllers were displaying F3 failures, there was voltage at the well head. Only one replaced so far and seems to work fine. Any ideas or similar problems?
Re: [RE-wrenches] Outback Mate Controller Issues
I'm seeing a commonality here2 years. Because I've also had this issue.2-3 years into the Mate service life. How long do those coin batteries last in the Mates and could that even be an issue? Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 12/9/2010 2:56 PM, Starlight Solar, Larry Crutcher wrote: Interesting. A customer from Baja, on the Sea of Cortez has a similar problem after 2 years trouble free. No ESD potential there. Rebooting the remote did not help. Did Outback pant a time bomb!! Larry - Original Message - From: Kirpal Khalsa To: RE-wrenches Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2010 9:30 AM Subject: [RE-wrenches] Outback Mate Controller Issues Good Morning All..we have recently had 2 off grid outback systems go haywire.both have been running perfectly for more than 2 years.then all of a sudden the mate stops allowing AC inputs.a variety of troubleshooting indicated all components were fine.Outback support took care to help with the confirmation that all the components were fine..finally with us being stumped, tech support asked us to unplug the mate from the hub and replug it back in.Voila! everything started working properly again..only setting that seemed to be changed and needed to be reset was that the chargers on the inverters were turned off and a few button pushes later and this was also restored.. Anyone else having any similar experiences? This is puzzling as we haven't ever had this kind of problem and for some coincidental reason we had two systems both with long term smooth operating histories have the same issue..we appreciated the quick, accessible, competent support from Outback tech support but remain puzzled as to what may have triggered these odd events..feedback appreciated! -- Sunny Regards, Kirpal Khalsa NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer Renewable Energy Systems www.oregonsolarworks.com 541-218-0201 m 541-592-3958 o ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Dankoff Flowlight pumps
Chad, Try Matt Leimbach Dankoff Pumps m...@dankoff-pumps.com ord...@dankoff-pumps.com (505)471-3469 Matt treated me really well! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 1/13/2011 4:34 PM, Chad Waits wrote: Greetings Wrenches, I am in need of a Dankoff Flowlight booster pump with accessories. I have tried on multiple occasions to reach Ben Kerr over at Argand Energy Solutions for pricing and availability, but have yet to receive a response (going on 2 weeks). Is anyone aware of another source for Dankoff products??... Thanks! Chad Waits President NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™ Net Zero Solar LLC Tel:520.270.4873 Fax: 520.203.7230 Email: chadwa...@netzerosolar.net AZ ROC#248710(B-), ROC#259521 (K-78) & ROC#259756 (K-11) ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Electro-calc calculator
Hi Allan,
Here's the link...it's $39.95.
http://www.calculated.com/prd318/ElectriCalc+Pro+NEC+2005+2008+and+2011+Upgrade+Kit.html
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46
Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747
www.four-winds-energy.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 2/2/2011 11:46 PM, Allan Sindelar wrote:
Dana,
How does one upgrade the chip? I couldn't find that info on the CI
website.
Thanks, Allan
Allan Sindelar
Allan@positiveenergysolar.com
NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic Installer
EE98J Journeyman Electrician
Positive Energy, Inc.
3201 Calle Marie
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507
505 424-1112
www.positiveenergysolar.com
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Re: [RE-wrenches] (no subject)
I like the Morningstar line. Depending on how small
you need, they have some nice sealed units up to 20 amps
and have LVD versions of those. Some wrenches have had mixed
results with them but I've been fortunate
and spec these all the time.
I have 3 of the 300 watt SureSines in use, 2 at unattended,
unheated sites. All doing well!
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46
Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747
www.four-winds-energy.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 2/17/2011 3:00 PM, August Goers wrote:
Hi Off Grid Wrenches,
Does anyone have any feedback on what brands and
or models of small 12v charge controllers they like? I'm
looking at setting up a small emergency power shed with a
couple of PV modules and deep cycle batteries and perhaps a
Morningstar or Xantrex small charge controller. We just need
something to power a light or two and some cell phone
chargers, etc.
Also, has any tried the Morningstar SureSine 300W
inverter?
Thanks,
August
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Quick Cote troubles
Allan,
I used Quick Cote for years until my local supplier had problems
getting it in a timely manner.
I never had a problem with it but then again, I never put it on
the lug/ terminal mating surfaces
prior to making the connections. Then I carefully coated the
terminals, making sure to not
miss any spots.
I've had several opportunities to have a look at the mating
surfaces years later and never found
any corrosion. I would imagine that grit would indeed create a
connection problem. But you say
you've never seen this yourself?
I wonder if the formulation has been changed recently?
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46
Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747
www.four-winds-energy.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 2/22/2011 7:12 PM, Allan Sindelar wrote:
Wrenches,
Russ in our Taos office sent me the following query. I haven't
seen this problem before and told him so, but others among you may
know more.
What problems if any have you had with Quick-Cote battery terminal
coating? What else works really well and lasts the life of the
batteries?
From Russ:
We just had a situation involving Quick Cote on battery terminals
that has made us question its use for coating battery terminals
and cable lugs. We just installed a bank of HUPs on Monday using
Quick Cote. First we lost power with just the Trimetric and MX60
powered up -- using an ohmmeter I found the problem to be a single
jumper -- I got 7 megohms across two battery terminals connected
by a jumper -- so I replaced the jumper and got the Trimet and
MX60 powered up again. Then, when I powered up the OutBack
inverters, there were sparks on the battery terminals, and the
power cut out again. At that point I guessed that the problem
must lie with the Quick Cote, since ours has tiny crystals in it
(it feels gritty), and I thought those crystals must be holding
the cable lugs off the battery terminals a tiny bit. Sure enough,
Mark and I took the cables off, wiped off the Quick Cote from the
contact surfaces and applied vaseline, and when we powered up the
system, no sparks. (So, the jumper I removed probably wasn't to
blame for the first loss of power.)
Our container of Quick Cote stayed on the truck (which stays
parked outside) during the seriously cold weather we got this
winter, so it probably froze. I'm guessing that's when the
crystals formed. Nowhere on the Quick Cote label does it say to
keep it from freezing though.
We're going to go back out to another job to wipe off the Quick
Cote from the contact surfaces of the battery terminals and cable
lugs, since we just installed four new batteries there and used
Quick Cote, and I remember it being gritty at that time as well.
Is your Quick Cote gritty?
Russ
I told Russ that it always has been gritty. When it's dried out in
the can (they often leak), I have added an oil-based carrier to
thin it - usually WD40, as it's on the truck - and it's always
mixed easily. So it's definitely solvent-based and shouldn't be
affected by freezing.
I haven't had this problem before. I have found terminal bolts too
loose and that has caused failures, but never the coating.
Thank you,
Allan
Allan Sindelar
Allan@positiveenergysolar.com
NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic Installer
EE98J Journeyman Electrician
Positive Energy, Inc.
3201 Calle Marie
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507
505 424-1112
www.positiveenergysolar.com
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Slow clocks
Allan, Same here, some parasitic loads are necessary- answering and fax machines need to stay on. I want to add my off grid clock experience to the mix. When I went off grid in 1997, I switched all my clocks to battery units. I love 'em! Wall clocks, desk clocks and best of all, my alarm clock that runs for almost 4 years on 1 battery! The other clock batteries go for 2+ years, can't beat that. Oh, I should mention my 1887 Seth Thomas double wind/ 28 day schoolhouse clock. Best one of all, although the bio interface used for winding the clock doesn't always work as it should ;-) It's not a clock problem when I don't get somewhere on time. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 4/6/2011 10:09 AM, Allan Sindelar wrote: Todd, Come on now! Times have changed. People expect more from their systems now, and lower module costs make that possible. It's not the electric clocks per se - it's everything else that we come to want on all the time, that happens to also have a clock in it. I don't know anyone any more with a modern system whose inverter ever goes into sleep mode. With three teenagers who have grown up in the digital age, rural wireless, all the electronics, my off-grid home has about an 80W continuous tare load. Maybe ten years ago (kids were small), we had no tare in the winter, but even then it never went to sleep. And we let all or most of the phantom loads stay on during the rest of the year when we have an excess of PV energy. Allan Allan Sindelar al...@positiveenergysolar.com NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic Installer NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician Positive Energy, Inc. 3201 Calle Marie Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507 505 424-1112 www.positiveenergysolar.com On 4/4/2011 8:46 PM, toddc...@finestplanet.com wrote: I wasn't going to say anything, but electric clocks off-grid? really??? Todd On Monday, April 4, 2011 6:20pm, "Kent Osterberg" said: > Kris, > > Even with generators using an electronic governor, the frequency changes > with load. Also while inverters are stable their frequency is not as > accurate as utility power. Clocks that use the ac frequency as the time > standard will not work reliably when powered with off-grid power. Such > should be disclosed in any contract to install an off-grid power system. > > Kent Osterberg > Blue Mountain Solar > > > Kristopher Schmid wrote: > > I have an off-grid client who tells me that his clocks lose about 1 minute > > per hour while he is running his backup generator. Has anyone seen this > > before? Do clocks use the zero crossing on a 60Hz wave for keeping time and > > could a frequency discrepency in the generator cause this? > > > > My thanks to the brain trust... > > > > Kris > > > > Legacy Solar, LLC > > 864 Clam Falls Trail > > Frederic, WI 54837 > > 715-653-4295 > > sol...@legacysolar.com > > www.legacysolar.com > > > > ___ > > List sponsored by Home Power magazine > > > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > > > Options & settings: > > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > > > List-Archive: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > > > List rules & etiquette: > > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > > > Check
Re: [RE-wrenches] Grundfos SQ Flex
Kirpal,
Although I can't answer your IO101 question, I can tell you that the
SQ Flex operates nicely for us
when used with a pressure tank/ pressure switch. As long as the pump
and PV power source are
sized to accommodate the additional vertical lift caused by the tank
pressure, all is good.
As for the 2 current carrying conductors, that still fascinates me.
When using 240 AC, the 2 phase
wires from the grid are attached to the blue and brown wires from
the pump.
When switched over to the array, the DC positive and negative are
attached to the same brown and blue
wires but the polarity doesn't matter. It's all taken care of by the
electronics in the pump. Takes a while
to get used to that.
And have you seen the documentation that comes with the pump and
CU200? I'm embarrassed to include
them in the customer's document package...they're all pictures and
no textsigh
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46
Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747
www.four-winds-energy.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 4/6/2011 4:55 PM, Kirpal Khalsa wrote:
Hi allso I have a pumping project using a grundfos
SQ Flex pumpIt will operate on the grid when grid is present
and then switch back to solar ready if the grid power should
fail.here is the set up...
5-Sanyo HIT 220's Vmp non temp adjusted is 213VDC
Pump is SQFlex 16 SQF-10 will have CU 200 controller and IO101 AC
input box
System has a pressure tank and pressure switch which will be used
instead of float switch as there is no storage tank at or above
ground level
This system is a retrofit project to an existing well pumping
system..
Here is my questions:
1. Pump and CU 200 controller are rated for upto 300VDC but IO 101
Controller is only rated for 225VDC.is that open circuit or
max power on the modules
2. The Grundfos wiring diagrams only show 2 wires and a ground
leaving the IO101 going to the CU200.What is happening when
there is 240VAC supplying the system and what happens when it
switches back to DC how is the power transmitted on those wires?
What happens to the second leg of the 240VAC generator/grid input?
3. Has anyone done one of these Grundos SQFlex back up water
pumping systems connected to a pressure tank and did it operate as
expected?
Grundfos does not offer tech support...that is kind of a
bummer
Thanks for any advice or help
--
Sunny Regards,
Kirpal Khalsa
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer
Renewable Energy Systems
www.oregonsolarworks.com
541-218-0201 m
541-592-3958 o
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Air conditioning for batteries in high temperature climate
Bob is correct, I do have an off grid client that uses an AC unit to
keep the batteries cool.
Although we're not in a high temp climate, it does get into the 80's
and low 90's here
in the summer.
By my calculations, he was losing an 'average' of 10% storage
capacity during the 5 month
period from late spring to early fall. In July and August it was
closer to 18%, but for calculation
purposes, 10% is close enough. His bank capacity is 4800AH @ 48 VDC.
That's 230,400 watt hours
and 10% of that rounds out to 23,000 watt hours lost to heat.
I showed up one day to check something in the power shed and was
dismayed to see a window
AC unit installed there. An interesting customer discussion ensued
and I had to admit he was
correct in his calculations.
The Energy Star rated AC unit consumes no more than 3,000 watt hours
per day, even in the
highest heat. Essentially, he's 'spending" 3 kilowatt hours to 'buy
back' 20 kilowatt hours of
storage. He got me on that one!
That reasoning didn't work on the 6 other AC units that appeared on
his house the following
week. But that's another story altogether!
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46
Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747
www.four-winds-energy.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 4/22/2011 7:40 AM, bob ellison wrote:
I
believe Roy has a customer with a huge battery bank that
air conditioned the battery room. He ran the numbers and
the air conditioning actually made sense.
Bob
Ellison
From:
re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org
[mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of R
Ray Walters
Sent:
Thursday, April 21, 2011 4:50 PM
To:
RE-wrenches
Subject:
Re: [RE-wrenches] Air conditioning for batteies in
high temperature climate
Are you using temperature
compensation? It lowers the voltage when its hot.
Also, have you considered
setting the batteries in a below ground vault? I've had
good luck with in floor battery boxes.
Finally, AGMs and L16s just
don't last very long anyway. AGMs maybe 3 years, and
L16s I've seen die in under 5 years and we get to 15
below zero.
My suggestion: temp comp,
ground vault, HUP or equivalent cycle life.
R. Walters
r...@solarray.com
Solar Engineer
On Apr 21, 2011, at 1:22
PM, Starlight Solar, Larry Crutcher wrote:
Hello
Battery Wrenches,
Over
the years I have had several battery banks in Baja
and Sonora Mexico fail in just 36 to 48 months.
These have been L16 or 8D AGM or flooded banks, 24
and 48 volt systems. The charging systems are
working properly and programmed to manufacturer
recommended set points and discharges are
rarely over 30% DoD. Some batteries are only used
on weekends, some are discharged daily. I believe
what is affecting the short life is the high
temperature they live in for 5 months each year.
Temps. can hit 115 F in vented battery rooms. I
have been thinking about a small air conditioner
and insulated battery box to keep the battery at
no more than 80 F. There are some portable units
that draw about 600 watts and the run time would
be very little with
Re: [RE-wrenches] Air conditioning for batteries in high temperature climate
Hugh, Correct to a point. But if we added 10% capacity, we would need to add a bit more charging capacity (PV/wind) and it begins to spiral up in cost. Much as I hated to see that AC unit there, it was still the more cost-effective solution for that specific system. FYI- with the AC unit, we also eliminated a heat issue that we'd been dealing with on the upper Outback inverters on his dual quad stack setup. Yes, we had active ventilation, 4 levels to be exact but the fans themselves became part of the problem with the increased power consumption. So bottom line, because we killed 2 birds with one AC unit, I think it was a good move. And I've worked (successfully) to avoid ever having to use one again. I really do prefer simple, passive methods for solving problems like these. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 4/22/2011 3:13 PM, Hugh wrote: Re: [RE-wrenches] Air conditioning for batteries in high Hi Roy, Hi temperatures will hit the battery capacity but will the battery efficiency be that much affected? If the battery capacity is inadequate then you need to compare the aircon running cost to the cost of buying a 10% larger battery. Don't you? Cheers Hugh Bob is correct, I do have an off grid client that uses an AC unit to keep the batteries cool. Although we're not in a high temp climate, it does get into the 80's and low 90's here in the summer. By my calculations, he was losing an 'average' of 10% storage capacity during the 5 month period from late spring to early fall. In July and August it was closer to 18%, but for calculation purposes, 10% is close enough. His bank capacity is 4800AH @ 48 VDC. That's 230,400 watt hours and 10% of that rounds out to 23,000 watt hours lost to heat. I showed up one day to check something in the power shed and was dismayed to see a window AC unit installed there. An interesting customer discussion ensued and I had to admit he was correct in his calculations. The Energy Star rated AC unit consumes no more than 3,000 watt hours per day, even in the highest heat. Essentially, he's 'spending" 3 kilowatt hours to 'buy back' 20 kilowatt hours of storage. He got me on that one! That reasoning didn't work on the 6 other AC units that appeared on his house the following week. But that's another story altogether! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 4/22/2011 7:40 AM, bob ellison wrote: I believe Roy has a customer with a huge battery bank that air conditioned the battery room. He ran the numbers and the air conditioning actually made sense. Bob Ellison From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of R Ray Walters Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2011 4:50 PM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Air conditioning for batteies in high temperature climate Are you using temperature compensation? It lowers the voltage when its hot. Also, have you considered setting the batteries in a below ground vault? I've had good luck with in floor battery boxes. Finally, AGMs and L16s just don't last very long anyway. AGMs maybe 3 years, and L16s I
Re: [RE-wrenches] National grid hertz adjustment
I saw this as well, came over the AP news wire on Friday, June 24th.
I've been trying to figure out what they hope to gain by allowing
more
frequency variation.puzzling at best!
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46
Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747
www.four-winds-energy.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 6/26/2011 1:31 PM, North Texas Renewable Energy Inc wrote:
This article in the local paper sounds a
little like potential trouble for grid connected
inverters. I looked around on the NERC www site without
finding the report mentioned. Any other
wrenches seen anything about this experiment?
Jim Duncan
By Seth Borenstein The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- A yearlong experiment with the nation's
electric grid could mess up traffic lights, security
systems and some computers -- and make plug-in clocks
and appliances like programmable coffee makers run up to
20 minutes fast.
"A lot of people are going to have things break, and
they're not going to know why," said Demetrios Matsakis,
head of the time service department at the U.S. Naval
Observatory, one of two official timekeeping agencies in
the federal government.
Since 1930, electric clocks have kept time based on the
rate of the electrical current that powers them. If the
current slips off its usual rate, clocks run a little
fast or slow.
Power companies now
take steps to correct it, keeping the frequency of the
current as precise as possible.
The North American Electric Reliability Corp., which
oversees the U.S. power grid, is proposing an experiment
that would allow more frequency variation without
corrections, according to a June 14 company presentation
obtained by The Associated Press.
The test is tentatively set to start in mid-July.
Tweaking the power grid's frequency is expensive and
takes a lot of effort, said Joe McClelland, head of
electric reliability for the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission.
"Is anyone using the grid to keep track of time?"
McClelland said. "Let's see if anyone complains if we
eliminate it."
No one is quite sure what will be affected. This won't
change the clocks in cellphones, GPS or even on
computers.
But wall clocks and those on ovens and coffee makers --
anything that flashes "12:00" when it loses power -- may
be a bit off every second, and that error can grow with
time.
VCRs or DVRs that get their time from cable systems or
the Internet probably won't be affected, but those with
clocks tied to the electric current will be off a bit,
Matsakis said.
According to the June presentation, East Coast clocks
may run up to 20 minutes fast over a year, but West
Coast clocks are only likely to be off by eight minutes.
In Texas, it's only an expected speedup of two minutes.
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/06/24/3178359/test-of-electric-grid-could-be.html#ixzz1QOzHwezw
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Jacobs Wincharger Book, 1978?
Hugh, I'm glad to hear that you have a copy of that book. That's the infernal book that got me started in the RE field back in 1973. Inspired me to make methane from the school lunch leftovers. Ran a small engine off the gas. No more free seconds at lunch when the lunch ladies learned I had used their lunch for a manure substitute.. It's back in print by the way, with updates I hear. But I like my original.I'm not letting mine go either ;-) Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV& wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 8/25/2011 2:20 PM, Hugh wrote: I've got a copy of the 'Handbook of Homemade Power' 1974 by the staff of mother earth news. But you can't have it, nah. ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Instruction manual / User interface rant
Larry, Too bad that Outback (Alpha Group) is now in the process of sending all inverter manufacturing to India.sigh Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV& wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 10/19/2011 6:31 PM, Larry Crutcher, Starlight Solar Power Systems wrote: I may have mislead some with my last post. When I said Outback was "much better than any of the other Made in China products", I did not mean to imply that Outback was made in China. Outback products are made in the US. My wording was poor. Sorry for the confusion. Larry Crutcher Starlight Solar Power Systems On Oct 18, 2011, at 7:11 AM, Larry Crutcher, Starlight Solar Power Systems wrote: I second the vote for Magnum Energy remotes. When combined with the BMK battery monitor and AGS, there is simply nothing better on the market as far as function and ease of use. The new ME-ARC offers very advanced control for off grid or grid connected systems. And Made in USA makes me a huge fan. In our early years we only sold Outback for off grid use. Although reliable, the configuration, programing and customer use has created much frustration and cost. When your customer is 6 hours drive into Mexico, I want things to be easy for the customer to understand. After the FM controllers were released, we had several failures that soured my opinion on Outback. It would of helped if they covered my cost but no compensation was given. Now we only install Magnum products for off grid systems and high end mobile installs. I'm not "disssing" Outback as I think they are much better than the any of the other Made in China products. Larry Crutcher Starlight Solar Power Systems ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options& settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules& etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Booster Pump/Slowpump information
Thank you Allan, this is really good information. I have about 35 of these in the field at this time and I'll need this info soon, I'm sure! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 10/20/2011 4:10 PM, Allan Sindelar wrote: Wrenches: This information is important to those companies that have customers with Dankoff/Flowlight Booster Pumps and Slowpumps. These pumps use DC motors to drive rotary vane positive displacement pump heads made by Procon. Windy Dankoff developed these pumps about 30 years ago and I think thousands have been sold. Other than the quirkiness of their need for fine (10 micron) filtration on the intake side, and the relative unreliability of the optional dry run protection thermal snap switch, the pumps are exceptionally well-made and long-lasting, in my experience. Early (before around 1998) pumps were sold under the "Flowlight" name; then under "Dankoff Solar Pumps" name until Conergy bought Dankoff around 2004. The pumps had Conergy's name on them until around two years ago, when Conergy closed its sales and distribution of water pumping, solar thermal, and wind products. Innovative Solar bought the water pumping line and restored the "Dankoff Pumps" name. Innovative Solar became Argand, and changed their distribution model in order to not compete with their dealers (attaboy!); Dankoff Pumps, while owned by Argand, is wholesale only; new dealers must place a minimum stocking order. The pumps continue to be manufactured here in Santa Fe by the same folks that have made and serviced them for years, and quality and support remain high. Dankoff Pumps website is currently www.Dankoff-Pumps.com. Note the hyphen; www.Dankoffpumps.com takes you to a (currently closed) online store, with referral links to Dankoff Pumps for dealers who want to become dealers. Dankoff Pumps will soon be either moving to or adding www.DankoffSolarPumps.com as well, I understand, but this hasn't happened yet. Contact Dankoff Pumps at m...@dankoff-pumps.com. The Procon heads wear out. New replacement heads are available through Dankoff Pumps (and probably other sources as well). However, the heads are rebuildable, and the cost is much less than new. We always ask customers for their old pump heads in exchange for new or rebuilt ones. The rebuilder is Edco Service Center, 8220 Belvedere Ave., Suite F, Sacramento, CA 95826; 916-454-1445. The contact person there is Sandie, san...@edcodistributing.com. Recently we learned some critical information related to pump rebuilding: the heads may rebuilt in many configurations, and it's essential to specify that the pump heads must be for potable water applications. This has to do with the amount of lead in various internal components. According to Sandie at Edco, you must specify a 114E head. According to Matt at Dankoff Pumps, the full designation is 114E240F11XX for the Booster Pump head and this should be specified in full. All original Booster Pump and Slowpump heads were acceptable for potable water; however, due to a mixup of indeterminable cause, we were recently sent a set of 104 rebuilt heads, which aren't (according to the State of California) suitable for potable applications due to lead content. To their credit, Edco will re-rebuild these heads to potable standards at no cost to us save shipping, but this seemed to me to be a good opportunity to share this information widely with other water pumping Wrenches. Allan -- Allan Sindelar al...@positiveenergysolar.com NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic Installer NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician Positive Energy, Inc. 3201 Calle Marie Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507 505 424-1112 www.positiveenergysolar.com ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/p
Re: [RE-wrenches] DC-DC converter question
FYI.It appears that Solar Converters may be out of business. Roy Butler Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Check out the 14th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors April 9-10, 2018 Twin Cities, MN www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 12/19/2017 7:28 AM, solar1onl...@charter.net wrote: Allen, John, et al, Aren't DC-DC converters a mainstay of Solar Converters, Inc. product line? Just to toss another manufacturer into the mix. Stay warm, stay safe, Bill Loesch Solar 1 - Saint Louis Solar 314 631 1094 -From: "John Blittersdorf" To: "RE-wrenches" Cc: Sent: 19-Dec-2017 11:54:47 + Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] DC-DC converter question Allan, I have used the Mean-well converters several times and have had good luck. My other choice would be an Iota but definitely more expensive. John Blittersdorf Rob Stubbins Solar On Tue, Dec 19, 2017 at 1:29 AM Sindelar Solar wrote: > Wrenches, > The time has come to upgrade a longtime client's 1985 12V system and > original Trace 1512 inverter. The inverter still works fine after 32 > years of continuous operation, but 12V is too limited to allow much > expansion. The power system has numerous 12V loads - mostly lighting > throughout the home, as the 12V SunFrost fridge will also be replaced, > so a 24-12 step-down DC-DC converter is part of the upgrade. > > Is there any reason that I shouldn't use a Mean Well RSD-300B-12 > (https://www.trcelectronics.com/ecomm/pdf/rsd300.pdf) [1] wouldn't fill the > bill? I'm familiar with this brand, as they were used for years by Array > Technologies to step down voltage to run tracker drives, and I have > never known (or heard of on this list) of a failure. The price is right > too at a bit over $100. > > Any reviews, cautions, or other recommendations? > Thank you, > Allan > -- > > *Allan Sindelar* > al...@sindelarsolar.com > NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional > New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician > Founder (Retired), Positive Energy, Inc. > *505 780-2738 cell* > > ___ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Change listserver email address & settings: > > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org > > ___ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change listserver email address & settings: List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org Links: -- [1] https://www.trcelectronics.com/ecomm/pdf/rsd300.pdf) ___ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance 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 List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance 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 List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
[RE-wrenches] Enphase tech support
Does anyone have contact information for Enphase Tech Support? Thanks in advance! -- Roy Butler Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Check out the Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. ___ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance 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 List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Bergey XL.1 HummmBuzzz
Matt, What you are hearing is alternator noise. It's caused by the vibration from the permanent magnets passing by the alternator coils. All turbines produce some alternator sound, some more than others and the tower itself can act as a resonator, amplifying the sound. The reason you don't hear it when the turbine is unloaded is because no current is being induced in the alternator coils, so there's no resistance pushing against the rotor magnets. Unfortunately, there's nothing much to be done about it. Roy Butler Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 9/30/2019 9:44 AM, Matt Sherald wrote: Friends, I've exhausted the Bergey tech support expertise on this issue and I'm hoping someone on the list may have a solution to share. I have a customer with an older XL.1 on a tilt-up tower. The machine has been in place since 2007. I've done some work to it over the years including blades, yaw bearings, painting, slip rings, brushes, rectifier. The machine/property has a new owner who finds the noise of the machine to be objectionable. The original owner also noted the noise, but was not as dogged about resolving it. The noise is best described as a "hummbuzzz" and it happens when the machine rpms have slackened and then begin to accelerate again. The transition causes some kind of electrical harmonic that is not noticeable once the rpms increase. So, if the machine furls out of a high wind and the rpms drop then the noise begins as soon as it un-furls and the blades begin to accelerate. The noise disappears as it comes up to speed. This noise does not happen if the machine is allowed to run unloaded (with the breaker in the off position). Anyway, I'd sure appreciate any thoughts. Many thanks in advance! -- Matt Sherald PIMBY Energy, LLC NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® 304-704-5943 www.getpimby.blogspot.com www.getpimby.com ___ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance 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 List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance 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 List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Direct solar options for stock tank de icing
Gary, Try these folks. They're based in Wisconsin and make almost everything in house.I'm sure they have something that can work for you. They know a lot about aeration and de-icing. US Solar Mounts https://www.ussolarmounts.us/ Roy Butler Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 2/10/2020 6:55 PM, Jay wrote: Using an air bubbler works well. It will make a hole in the ice formed overnight Jay On Feb 10, 2020, at 1:30 PM, gary easton wrote: Hello Wrenches. I have a friend in need of a way to keep stock tanks free of ice during winter months. Has any one had any experience with direct solar options for this? -- Sent from Gmail Mobile ___ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance 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 List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance 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 List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance 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 List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Wind Turbine
Ron and John and all, SD Wind Energy out of Texas is representing what was the Proven/Kingspan down wind turbines. They have a 3 and 6kW turbine now but I heard through the grapevine that they may have a 1kW in the near future. Price is a bit high but they are solid machines. https://sd-windenergy.com/ Other folks have been using the Braun turbine out of Germany but that's really spendy. The Whisper line was good, then Southwest Wind Power bought it, they went under, a company from India bought it, then it went to Japan and last I heard it's now owned by a Chinese company.buyer beware! Although there are a couple of small turbine manufacturer's in the US making 1kW to 2kW machines, I am assuming you want something reliable so you may want to steer clear of those. I won't name names here. And of course there are all those tempting units for sale on Amazon and Ebayrun screaming from the room on those. Slim pickings out there, the small wind industry began a rapid decline back around 2012 when the PV prices started dropping. Most of us wind weanies moved to solar installations to help support our wind habit and decreased wind sales put many turbine manufacturers out of business. Anyway, best of luck on your search and if you find something and care to run it by me off list please do so! Roy Butler Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 7/8/2020 6:55 AM, John Blittersdorf wrote: Ron, I installed a lot of the Bergey XL.1 until they stopped production. I just replaced blades on one last week and my first install of one of the first ones manufactured in 2001 is still working fine. We took in down about 10 years ago for preventive maintenance and replaced the brushes and blades though both were still in good shape. Most problems have been blades, brushes and a few tower failures mostly due to customer neglect or violent storms. I installed a Pika 1.6 kw at my home about 4 years ago and fell in love with that machine. Pika solved the Blade root attachment weakness found on the Bergey as well as sound issues and performance. Unfortunately they stopped production due to low sales. I ran mine for a year and a half and almost eliminated my generator in a low wind speed site but att he same time saw it perform flawlessly in high winds putting out well over 2500 watts and regulating my batteries at float with no dump loads needed. I got my first order for one and called Pika to order one but they had already stopped production and were not going to make any more. I had sold a customer a complete upgrade of his system which included upgrading from a Xantrex SW Plus to dual Outback inverters, going from 24v to 48v, and directly replacing his Bergey with a Pika, and new Aquion batteries. Sine we had already done the rest of the system, I ended up selling mine to him to keep him happy. I dearly miss that machine. Since Pika sold out to Generac, I’m hanging on a glimmer of hope that the turbine production could be resurrected. Otherwise, the only new turbine I have installed is a 1 kw SuperWind, made in Germany. It is on a 40’ tilt up guyed tower on a mountaintop transmitter site. It has performed as expected with the only problem being susceptible to icing and the blade hub freezing to the nacelle. It is all white so the sun can’t help defrost it. Very nice workmanship but it also has a controller and dump load In addition to pitching blades. Similar cost as the Pika. I don’t have any data on how much the dump load has interacted with the controller. This is a high wind site. I’m not sure how it would perform in low winds. We put it up in November and it survived the winter. If you could find a used Pika, that would be my choice but I haven’t found one yet myself. Let me know If you find anything else. Wind Wrenches out there. ... respond ! John Blittersdorf CV Wind Service john.blittersd...@gmail.com 802-770-8625 On Wed, Jul 8, 2020 at 4:08 AM Ron Young <solarea...@solareagle.com> wrote: Looking
Re: [RE-wrenches] Wind Turbine
Agreed! Kohilo and oh so many others were never real projects, only
concepts in search of investors.
There are NO viable vertical axis turbines (VAWTS) on the
marketjust expensive lawn art.
Roy Butler
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 7/9/2020 8:56 AM, Chris Schaefer
wrote:
RUN from the room when it comes to the Kohilo! This
ole boy is in my backyard and I'm currently trying to clean up
one of their projects. They kinda went the way of Wind Tamer,
whereas they had to add solar to meet their output claims.
Christopher
On Wed, Jul 8, 2020 at 9:06 AM
<pgir...@mindspring.com> wrote:
Morning fellow wrenchers. There is a
newer Wind turbine company based in the North East
called Kohilo Wind. Link below
http://kohilowind.com/about-kohilo-wind/
thx
peter Giroux
From: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org>
On Behalf Of Roy Butler
Sent: Wednesday, July 8, 2020 8:33 AM
To: re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Wind Turbine
Ron and John and all,
SD Wind Energy out of Texas is representing what was the
Proven/Kingspan down wind turbines. They have a 3 and
6kW turbine now but I heard through
the grapevine that they may have a 1kW in the near
future. Price is a bit high but they are solid machines.
https://sd-windenergy.com/
Other folks have been using the Braun turbine out of
Germany but that's really spendy.
The Whisper line was good, then Southwest Wind Power
bought it, they went under, a company from India bought
it, then it went to Japan
and last I heard it's now owned by a Chinese
company.buyer beware!
Although there are a couple of small turbine
manufacturer's in the US making 1kW to 2kW machines, I
am assuming you want something reliable so
you may want to steer clear of those. I won't name names
here. And of course there are all those tempting units
for sale on Amazon and Ebayrun
screaming from the room on those.
Slim pickings out there, the small wind industry began a
rapid decline back around 2012 when the PV prices
started dropping. Most of us wind weanies
moved to solar installations to help support our wind
habit and decreased wind sales put many turbine
manufacturers out of business.
Anyway, best of luck on your search and if you find
something and care to run it by me off list please do
so!
Roy Butler
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 7/8/2020 6:55 AM, John
Blittersdorf wrote:
Ron, I installed a lot of the
Bergey XL.1 until they stopped production. I
just replaced blades on one last week and my first
install of one of the first ones manufactured in
2001 is still working fine. We took in down about
10 years ago for preventive maintenance and
replaced the brushes and blades though both were
still in good shape. Most problems have been
blades, brushes and a few tower failures mostly
due to customer neglect or violent storms. I
installed a Pika
Re: [RE-wrenches] Cheap solar
Dave, I agree...this is really scary stuff. I've been showing this website in my workshops as an example of the "siding salesmen" and scam artists that come out of the woodwork when there's money to be madejust like back in the 80s! I especially like the popups that won't let you leave the site. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. David Katz wrote: Wrenches, Here is a really scary link. the guy is selling a book for $50 that shows you how you can build your own PV module for $125. http://www.power4home.com/index.php?hop=roeib Cheers Microsoft Outlook Signature David Katz ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Chinese solar cells and modules and pricing
Bob-O, This is why we love ya, man! You're not afraid to speak my mind.... Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. Bob-O Schultze wrote: I have to chime in here in support with Bill and especially Joel. I refuse to buy or install Chinese modules. Yes, the price is low, but as pointed out by Bill, will they be there in 5,10,15 years to back a warranty? There is something else. This country is in serious financial trouble. We've brought it on ourselves with unregulated greed and outright foolishness, but it needs to stop. Now. I, for one, buy American when I can. Doesn't always work out and it isn't hard and fast rule, but it's what I CAN do. I don't buy Chinese stuff regardless of quality. We, as a country, just can't afford to do that anymore. When I point that out to my potential clients, most agree and will part with a few extra bucks to do what THEY can do. Those that don't/won't/can't, I wish them well and good luck. Seek life elsewhere. Bob-O On Jun 7, 2009, at 6:05 PM, Joel Davidson wrote: Chinese quality will improve and price is important, but I think that doing business with people who you trust and respect comes first. Some of you remember Bill Lamb. The Wm. Lamb Company was the world's first PV distributorship. Bill helped a lot of us get started in the business. I learned a lot about PV and business in general working for Bill. Here's a Bill Lamb true story. Before moving to Camarillo, Arco Solar was in Chatsworth about 16 miles from the Wm. Lamb Company so Arco referred a lot of customers to us. In 1983 or 1984, Arco sent three Arab gentlemen to us. They selected about $50,000 in solar modules and other equipment which was a big sale in those days. One of the men pulled out cash and told Bill that they plan to buy a lot more solar equipment and will buy it all from him if he did not sell to Israel. Bill's reaction was immediate. It was the only time I ever saw him get angry. He told the men to go to hell and that he would never sell anything to them. Then he walked out the building, got in his car, and drove away leaving me with the three shocked men. They asked me what to do. I told them that Bill was the boss and had the final word so they left without buying anything. A few hours later, Bill returned and I asked him if he refused to sell to the Arabs because they were boycotting Israel. Bill said, "It's not just about Israel. I refuse to do business with dictators." Joel Davidson ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] tax credits and repairs
Repairs do not count...sorry Bob. But new grid-tie wind turbines absolutely do qualify for the 30% tax credit! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. Wind-sun.com wrote: From everything I read, repairs are not covered. And I don't think windmills qualify even on a new installation. .. Northern Arizona Wind & Sun - Electricity From The Sun Since 1979 Solar Discussion Forum: http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/ .. - Original Message - From: robert ellison To: RE-wrenches Sent: Friday, July 24, 2009 8:40 AM Subject: [RE-wrenches] tax credits and repairs Does anyone know if the 30% tax credit will apply to windmill repairs? I just had a customer ask me and I have no idea. I told him that i am sure not into tax advice but that i would ask.. Thanks, Bob ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] XW6048 parts problem
Allan, I remember you speaking at that Xantrex event. As I recall, you were a Charter member? And I bet Pagan remembers me grilling her at one of the picnic tables in the hot sun for about an hour. I was trying to determine what my $300 and a 4 hour test was going to do for me! Not much..but I did get 99.4% on the test. So now we're proud members of the Xantrex Energy Club.and if we sell enough product, we can actually get a hat or a t-shirt! I get the warm fuzzies just thinking about it. I would rather see something more valuablesuch as advanced diagnostic manuals, small spare parts, enhanced customer support, etc. Hats and shirts I get for free from the other mfgrs! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. Allan Sindelar wrote: Jeff, Around 2001 Trace/Xantrex set up its Certified Dealer Program (it happened while Xantrex was taking over Trace). It was a good attempt, long before NABCEP, to set up a way for better installers to set themselves apart and market accordingly. Pagan MacKay set it up under Ezra Auerbach’s initiative. One of the things she did was to ask the inaugural members what they needed from Xantrex/Trace that would be a benefit of being a Certified Dealer. I suggested a “care package” of all the special screws and small parts that were too easy to lose (we were still using SW inverters and DC250s at that time). Darned if she didn’t make it happen! Cover screws, etc. Soon enough, “Trace Certified Dealers” became the Xantrex Energy Club or something, Pagan was gone, and the program died. Now it sounds like we have everything made in China and inadequate tech support. My story suggests that there once was a solution, with the same company, but I don’t know if it could be replicated today. It would have to come from someone high up in the company. I admit I made it more difficult for her. This was about the time Xantrex was shooting itself in the foot, both with the SunTie and losing UL listing for grid-tie with the SW series. I complained about something on this list and called the company Xanthrax. Pagan asked me never to do that again, that she was asked to explain why a Certified Dealer would say that… Allan Sindelar al...@positiveenergysolar.com NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic Installer EE98J Journeyman Electrician Positive Energy, Inc. 3201 Calle Marie Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507 505 424-1112 www.positiveenergysolar.com From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Yago Sent: Wednesday, August 05, 2009 8:01 AM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] XW6048 parts problem Thanks to all. William Miller had a spare plug left over from another job and is sending it to me so for now I am back on track. However, this still does not resolve my initial question and comments from several others on the list. Over the years when installing and later servicing different brands and models of inverters and charge controllers, covers, cover screws, special plugs (like the one we lost), and plastic display cover lenses can get lost, dented, or broken. I have found that most of these small parts, including simple cover screws, are not standard items you can find at your local electrical supply house or Radio Shack. So my question is - since you can't most of these items anywhere but the manufacturer, and it seems the manufacturers do not stock any extra, and the manufacturers don't seem to care that some missing $2.00 part of theirs is holding up a job completion, what is the solution? Jeff Yago Netscape. Just the Net You Need. ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Helix Wind
Keith, Feedback on these and other VAWTS? Oh, you bet! Bottom linethere are no commercially viable VAWTS on the market today. Only lots of spinny things we call kinetic lawn art. To be more precisemost will generate power but almost none are able to generate energy in an efficient, cost effective manner. Especially on a rooftop or near the ground where the VAWT marketing promotes their installation. And if you read further about Helix, they just agreed to acquire all assets of Abundant Renewable Energy...the makers of the ARE 110 and 442. It appears that the VAWT people have caught on to the fact that HAWTS are where the money is. That's not to say that there's not a lot of crappy HAWTS out there... but that's a story for another time ;-) I'm not against VAWTS, just deceptive marketing and scams. Someday someone will come up with a viable VAWT and I'll probably give it a try. Hasn't happened yet Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. Keith Cronin wrote: http://www.helixwind.com/en/index.php Anyone have any feedback on these? Thanks ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] FX2000 / Trojan battery question
Bob, I just replaced a set of out of warranty OB boards on a VFX3648 at Alfred Tech and it only cost $250 plus freight. If you don't return the old boards, it's $1400. One helluva core charge on those puppies! But well worth it. Perhaps the tech you spoke with is newlots of new tech people at OB these days. Hmmmmmm Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. David Palumbo wrote: Bob, Don’t go to the casino until your luck turns. Wow, OB is playing it strict on this one. I think we had a couple of out of warranty FX’s that we paid a total of $600 for all three boards this summer. The tech is blowing smoke, as you well know, on the batteries not being this or needing an EQ etc.. Their inexperienced phone techs probably share their favorite “let’s blame it on __ stories” (batteries, generator, wiring, installer, homeowner, George Bush, Barak Obama.) during break time. Dave From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of robert ellison Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 7:40 PM To: RE-wrenches Subject: [RE-wrenches] FX2000 / Trojan battery question Just visited a site with a 04 version FX2024 The inverter is shutting down and showing "low AC output voltage" It is hooked to 4 Trojan L-16 G batteries. When i arrived the voltage was 23.8, the other day when i arrived it was 25.5 volts and shut down both times with the same error showing. There are 1050 watts of panels and an MX 60 on the battery bank also. In the past when the batteries went low it would show a low battery error, so i don't expect that is the problem. Loads are minimal Disconnecting the battery or starting the generator clears the error. When i called Outback i was told there was a $250.00 "out of warranty charge" as well as a retail of $1400 for the boards. She also insists it was probably a bad battery bank, or at least needing an eq charge. It just had one 9 days ago. The hydrometer readings are all close and the voltages similar. Anyone run into this before and have any knowledge on this error? On another note, has anyone had any Trojan L-16 G batteries with cell failures? The date code is J8 I have had 2 in the last year, one was under warranty and the last one out of warranty. Anyone else had this problem or am i just unlucky? Thanks, Bob ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Off-Grid Sizing Case
Bob and all, I've heard that PV works better with full sunmy array's been in since '98 and I'm still waiting for that mythical 1,000 w/m2 to test that theory..yeah Bob, why do we live here? Seriously though.I do agree with over sizing the array. But much as I hate running a generator on my off grid pv/wind system, it's a necessary evil where we live.and it's even worse where Bob lives! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. robert ellison wrote: On this area of Northern New York i have not had over .30 KWH (300 watts) per day over the last week and thats the high day, most have been .10 or none, none being the most common. Thats off a 1400 watt rack of SW panels Up here you size in a generator or go south for the winter. Tell me again why i live here, any thoughts Roy? You can't be doing any better Bob On Thu, Dec 10, 2009 at 9:29 AM, Darryl Thayer <daryl_so...@yahoo.com> wrote: The system is way short on PV, and I would think that it is already a Gen with PV support. I agree with everybody more PV is the way to go but the batteries must be cooked by now with this many Deep cycles. BTW C/10 is not important, in fact I feel better if I charge slower. I know fast charging is a good way to kill batteries. Operating cost needs a high efficiency engine. So until you can get the PV up to become the dominant source, a gen is probibly in order. I tend to use smaller generators than most people, and the fuel efficency of a Honda inverter gen is hard to beat. --- On Thu, 12/3/09, wind...@wind-sun.com <wind...@wind-sun.com> wrote: > From: wind...@wind-sun.com <wind...@wind-sun.com> > Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Off-Grid Sizing Case > To: "RE-wrenches" <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> > Date: Thursday, December 3, 2009, 12:18 PM > > Off-Grid Sizing Case > > > > > > The rate of charging is not the > real problem in most > undersized systems, it is the fact that the batteries > seldom, if ever, get fully > charged. Given the ratio of PV vs battery capacity, I would > suspect that their > batteries have been chronically undercharged for ages. We > usually recommend > around 1 watt of pv per AH for a 12 volt system, 2 > watts for 24 volt > etc. > > A generator is not usually the > answer, because it may > have to run for hours to get that final 5-15% of charge > into the batteries. > Generators are good for equalizing, not so much for general > > charging. > > .. > Northern > Arizona Wind & Sun - Electricity From The Sun Since > 1979 > Solar Discussion > Forum: http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/ > .. > > - Original Message > - > From: > Mark > Frye > To: 'RE-wrenches' > > Sent: Thursday, > December 03, 2009 10:56 > AM > Subject: Re: > [RE-wrenches] Off-Grid > Sizing Case > > > So being able to achieve C10 > charging from the PV is not so > important? > > Mark > Frye > Berkeley Solar > Electric > Systems > 303 Redbud > Way > Nevada > City, CA 95959 > (530) 401-8024 > www.berkeleysolar.com > > > > > From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org > > [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On > Behalf Of wind...@wind-sun.com > Sent: > Thursday, December 03, 2009 9:51 AM > To: > RE-wrenches > Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Off-Grid Sizing > Case > > > > I would go with #1. > The solar is obviously > undersized for the battery bank he has. Another panel + > MPPT should give him > about 25-40% more, depending on temps etc. > > > .. > Northern > Arizona Wind & Sun - Electricity From The Sun Since > 1979 > Solar > Discussion Forum: http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/ > .. > > > > ___ > List sponsored by > Home Power magazine > > List Address: > RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Options & >
Re: [RE-wrenches] Battery Automatic Watering
Joel, I was waiting to see if others use my method but I didn't see anyone post it. I've been off grid and having to maintain my batteries since 1997. I grew to hate the battery watering jugs for several reasons and finally came up with something that works for me.your results may vary! I now use a pump up type garden sprayer. I use a 1.5 gallon version with a plastic wand, spray tip removed. I pump it up 6-8 times and that pressure allows me to fill 3 to 4 cells, depending on the volume of water needed. What I like about this is that the wand reaches anywhere in the bank and most important, I can watch the cells fill. I put a piece of electrical tape around the wand and insert the wand into the cell to the tape level. This is my water level and it's really easy to tell when the electrolyte reaches the end of the wand. About 1/2 of my customers are off grid and most use the sprayer method with good results. BTW, this was a brand new sprayer, dedicated to distilled water and hidden away from my wife, who loves to grab what ever is available in my shop. And at least here in snow country, the sprayers are all on sale! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. Joel Davidson wrote: Wrenches, Thank you for your feedback that automatic watering is not automatic or reliable. Valves can stick open (a flood) or shut (a dry cell) or not seat properly (dripping that becomes a slow flood). I'll get a 2.5 quart watering can sold at auto parts stores - unless you all have a better idea. Thanks again, Joel Davidson - Original Message - From: "Joel Davidson" To: "RE-wrenches" Sent: Wednesday, December 09, 2009 6:14 PM Subject: Battery Automatic Watering Wrenches, We installed 48 each IBE 1-85N-15 cells (24 in series in 2 Direct Power & Water battery boxes). We do not want to use Hydrocaps. Your suggestions for an automatic watering system would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance. Happy Holidays. Joel Davidson ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Battery Automatic Watering
Bob and Jay, That's where I keep mine, in the battery box. Also, I bought 2 others for general use so mine would be left alone. And I labeled mine with nasty warnings! I'm the only one that ventures into the scary battery zone, so no worries there! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. jay peltz wrote: Hi Bob-O, Its what I've been using for years and get for my clients, new sprayers that is. I recommend building the battery box large enough to store it inside that way nobody messes with it and you have a harder time losing it.. keep the peace, jay peltz power On Dec 12, 2009, at 9:27 AM, Bob-O Schultze wrote: Roy, Good idea, but you'd almost want to keep in in a locked box. The potential for someone using it for say... a dormant oil spraying of the fruit trees, is way scary. "But I cleaned it out really well afterwards and the spray is organic!". Perhaps if you encase it in red warning tape with toxic waste symbols or the like... Best, Bob-O ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Outback Mate remote programming
Kirk, It's as you suspect, that the programming resides in the FX computer board. The only programming that resides in the Mate is for the AGS and HBX. How about making him a "cheat sheet" and give him a live "how to" demo at your shop. He's gotta provide the beer though Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. Kirk Herander, VSE wrote: Hello Group, I have a customer who wants to bring their Mate to my shop for programming. I have a GVFX3524 in my shop. His inverter is a VFX2812. Will I be able to plug his Mate into my inverter, program it for his inverter, and then have him take it home and plug it into his inverter and have the parameters transfer somehow to his inverter? I suspect the answer is no, but thought I’d check. I assume that the FX parameters are not stored in the Mate but in the FX itself, hence “you can’t get there from here”, as the old saying goes. ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Pump choice - Grundfos or Lorentz; distributers of Lorentz
I have 11 Lorentz systems in the field. The biggest problems I had were with the controller. Infant mortality, failure within the first 3 months and the float switch circuit failing were some of the issues. I also ran into the rubber problem that Windy mentioned. So I switched to Grundfos. 16 of those in the field now. I've had a lot of trouble with the CU200 controller. The dreaded F4 fault is the worst. The controller loses communication with the pump. I had a bad batch of CU200s that had faulty modems but got those replaced under warranty. I've had 2 pumps with bad modems as well. Sometimes the pump won't run at all with an F4 fault, but most times it will. But the pump is stuck on the setting it was in when the comm failed and performance isn't usually very good. Even with these problems, I still prefer the Grundfos system. I love the flexible input voltage. It gave me the flexibility to adapt the array when module availability was hit or miss. As for customer supportwhen Dankoff Solar was handling their version of the Lorentz pump known as the "ETA" pump (aka the Regretta pump!) the customer service was phenomenal. With Conergy, not so good. I'm still underwhelmed by the Grundfos factory support. They would rather have the pump distributors handle all the warranty issues. When I need to contact Grundfos directly, I get the distinct feeling that I'm inconveniencing them. I'm installing 5 more Grundfos systems this spring. Maybe all will be goodness and light this time ;-) And Windy.really glad to see you back in the game for a bit. I've missed you my friend! Also very happy to have support for the many Dankoff pumps I have out there. All running very well. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. =| 6th Annual Small Wind Conference | A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, and Distributors | June 15 and 16, 2010 | Stevens Point, Wisconsin | i...@smallwindconference.com | http://www.smallwindconference.com | =| Windy Dankoff wrote: Bob, Warren is referring to problems with Lorentz that showed up 5-7 years ago. There was a problem with rubber that occurred only in some kinds of water. It took a long time to track down. It was solved and reliability has been high ever since. That's what I've heard from several sources. I would consider both Lorentz and Grundfos -- look at total system cost of both and make your choice from there. You'll also see that the control options are different, so consider those too if the decision is a close one. Windy Warren Lauzon wrote: At one time Dankoff (the pre-Conergy Dankoff Solar) handled the the Lorentz submersibles. They dropped them after about a year because of failures. Now, that was several years ago and Lorentz may have gotten their problems fixed, but we have felt more comfortable with the Grundfos. ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Et tu Honeywell?
As I understand it, Honeywell makes one small component in the wind turbine controller. But the consumer is going to see the Honeywell brand and figure it has to be good. I just love marketing! FYII'm every bit as excited to see wind turbines in retail stores as the PV folks are about PV sold at Lowes, etc. Let the games begin.... Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. === The 6th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of small wind industry stakeholders June 15 and 16, 2010 Stevens Point, Wisconsin i...@smallwindconference.com http://www.smallwindconference.com On 4/8/2010 2:55 PM, Kent Osterberg wrote: David, I was suspicious about the Windtronics claim that they use the Honeywell logo with permission so I check with Honeywell. Turns out that Windtronics really is a Licensee of the Honeywell name for wind generators. The web site I referenced in my earlier post is out of date. Kent Osterberg Blue Mountain Solar, Inc. David Katz wrote: The Honeywell turbine appears to be made by a company called Windtronics, which is a division of Earthtronics. Earthtronics appears to sell CFL light bulbs. I have talked to several people at Windtronics who cannot answer any technical questions. True Value Hardware is giving out brochures for the wind generator. The brochure claims 2500 KW per year in calss 4 winds. I list them as vapor ware for now. At least until someone calls me back. David David Katz David Katz Chief Technical Officer AEE Solar 1155 Redway Drive P.O. Box 339 Redway, CA 95560 Tel (707) 825-1200 Fax (707) 825-1202 dk...@aeesolar.com www.aeesolar.com DISCLAIMER: This communication, along with any documents, files or attachments, is intended for the use of only the addressee and contains privileged and confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of any information contained in or attached to this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by e-mail reply and destroy the original communication and its attachments without reading, printing or saving in any manner. Brian Teitelbaum wrote: Hi All, Has anyone seen this “Honeywell” turbine? http://www.earthtronics.com/honeywell.aspx Interesting what it says at the bottom of the page: “The Honeywell Trademark is used under license from Honeywell International Inc. Honeywell International Inc. makes no representation or warranties with respect to this product.” Brian Teitelbaum AEE Solar ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.801 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2797 - Release Date: 04/07/10 11:32:00 ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.
Re: [RE-wrenches] Entertec service manual
Bob, We may have one here but I won't know until I dig through some stuff in the barn.stay tuned. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. === The 6th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of small wind industry stakeholders June 15 and 16, 2010 Stevens Point, Wisconsin i...@smallwindconference.com http://www.smallwindconference.com On 4/12/2010 9:44 AM, robert ellison wrote: Does anyone have access to a service manual for a 4 K Enertec windmill ? The owner has an operators manual but no service manual.. Thanks, Bob ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Lorentz Sub Pump
I've had the worst time with those CU200 controllers as well. The only reason I use them at all is for the float switch function. Many of our agricultural installations have long wire runs between the tank/float and the controller, so we really have no other choice than to use the CU200. Out of the last 32 SQ Flex installations we've only had one bad pump and thankfully, that was an infant mortality case and covered under warranty. And yes, customer service at Grundfos is horrible. About as bad as their documentation! Like many of you, I was burned horribly with the Regretta pump linemany bad pumps and even more bad controllers. I dropped them like a hot potato and have used the Grundfos SQ ever since. It's definitely not perfect but it's better than the old versions of the Eta/ Regretta. Like Allan said, it was a tough decision to drop that pump line because I like Windy Dankoff and wanted to support Dankoff Solar. His company had a heart when he was running it and I really miss that old fashioned quality customer service! I figure he was stuck in the middle of the Eta debacle like I was, so no hard feelings. We still love ya Windy! I'm following this thread with great interest. If the Lorentz pump has indeed improved, I want to know all about it. Thanks for all the great info! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV& wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. === The 6th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of small wind industry stakeholders June 15 and 16, 2010 Stevens Point, Wisconsin i...@smallwindconference.com http://www.smallwindconference.com On 4/22/2010 2:55 PM, Jeff Oldham wrote: I'm aware of 2 CU-200 failures recently and I agree that Grundfos CS is about as bad as it gets in our industry. A customer had 3 Grundfos failures in the last 5 years all within 3 months of warranty expiration (of course!!), I did not make those sales but when he learned of my inclusion of the warranty his 4th pump came from me. WHEN, I was installing Grundfos I always included the extended warranty (takes it to 5 years) at my cost and stopped selling any of their controllers and used off-the-shelf stuff for a fraction of the cost instead. Happy Earth Day!! -jeff o > From the Solar, Wind and Hydro powered office of Jeff Oldham/Regenerative SOLutions Penny Stock Jumping 2000% Sign up to the #1 voted penny stock newsletter for free today! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3131/4bd09bc85c067a7742st06vuc ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options& settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules& etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Lorentz Sub Pump
Hi Jeff, I probably should mentioned that many of our float switch wire runs exceed 3,000 feet from tank to Cu200. We use shielded, direct burial rated 18/2 cable, bury the wire and ground the drain wire at the controller. So with those "long distance" systems, do you think a relay would work? It just doesn't seem feasible to run coil voltage that far. That's why we've been relying on the CU-200 microprocessor to do the job. Also, I don't like to run anything but the pump off a PV direct system. As for the pressure tank/ switch option, we do have a few of those out there and I agree, they work fine. But on some of our systems the vertical rise between the pump and storage tank is over 300 feet. That's about 130 psi and those pressure tanks wouldn't like that too much. And for various design reasons, a check valve on the main feed line isn't feasible, so we ruled out the pressure switch option on these "long distance" systems. I also like to keep things as simple as possible where livestock water is concerned. Farmers have so many maintenance items on their list now, I hate to add more. So at first look, the Cu200 seemed to be the ticket. Thanks for the info! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV& wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. === The 6th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of small wind industry stakeholders June 15 and 16, 2010 Stevens Point, Wisconsin i...@smallwindconference.com http://www.smallwindconference.com On 4/22/2010 4:20 PM, Jeff Oldham wrote: Hi Roy, You do have a choice about controllers, as I mentioned I use off-the-shelf components. For your need you have at least 2 sweet options - 1) get a relay to switch the pump power and use a float switch to control the coil, go with a SSR for even higher reliability. This is a $50 substitute for a $300 CU-200. 2) Use a Cla-val at the tank and a pressure switch and 2gal press. tank at the pump. This works at any distance w/o control wires and is fully hydraulic and highly reliable plus this valve does not throttle as it reaches full. This is my control of choice if the distance between pump and tank is much over 400', cost must be considered as this is about a $700 setup. -jeff o > From the Solar, Wind and Hydro powered office of Jeff Oldham/Regenerative SOLutions Penny Stock Jumping 2000% Sign up to the #1 voted penny stock newsletter for free today! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3131/4bd0afe9e1274a5860st03vuc ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options& settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules& etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Thermal isolation (and liner) for battery bank
I use the same technique as Dana just mentioned and it does work very well. The blue rigid insulation we call Dow board has a very high compression strength. It's used under concrete pads and between house foundation walls and the backfill with great success. Good enough for batteries. What I haven't seen mentioned here is the material I've touted several times on this list since '99 called Structoglas. This is a very heavy duty fiberglass sheeting that is used in kitchens, restrooms, dairy milk parlors, etc. We've been using it since '98 to line the interior of our plywood battery enclosures. We make the bottom liner out of a single piece, no seams. We install an 8" high vertical "base trim" strip on all 4 sides and seal it with a high quality, 50 year silicon caulk. 12 years now, with several acid "incidents" caused by a few of our less maintenance conscious customers, have proven to us that the fiberglass and the caulking hold up perfectly. I'm off grid here and have been able to observe my Structoglas liner for 14 years. No degradation whatsoever. Don't tell anybody but I've done some acid testing here myself ;-) The nice thing is that this is available at most Lowes and Home Despot stores. A 4 x 8 sheet is usually around $34.00. One sheet will easily do an enclosure that holds 12- L16s. It cuts easily on the table saw and can be scored and snapped as well. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. === The 6th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of small wind industry stakeholders June 15 and 16, 2010 Stevens Point, Wisconsin i...@smallwindconference.com http://www.smallwindconference.com On 5/1/2010 12:53 PM, Dana wrote: To thermally isolate the battery bank in un-heated locations we use 1½” blue or pink board under ¾” exterior ply wood on top to set the battery bank on. It will settle a hair but this has worked for years in many places. ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Whats with Kyocera
Dan, I had to resort to Yingli modules on several of my Regretta pump systems a while back and they're working just fine. Over all, they exceeded my (rather low) expectations. I can't speak for any changes in quality since 2006 though. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV& wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. === The 6th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of small wind industry stakeholders June 15 and 16, 2010 Stevens Point, Wisconsin i...@smallwindconference.com http://www.smallwindconference.com On 5/19/2010 8:36 PM, Dan Fink wrote: Chris and other Wrenches; Have any of you tried the smaller (<100 watt) PV modules from Sunwize? I believe the brand name is Yingli and they are from China. Same question with the small modules from AEE Solar under their brand name. Because I work only with off-grid systems in very remote locations, it's crucial to have a steady supply of smaller modules, and it has been getting tricky. DAN FINK Buckville Energy Consulting LLC http://www.buckville.com/ Chris Daum wrote: Sunwize may not be the cheapest but their service runs from good to doggone excellent. And they stock quite the variety of module sizes. Chris Daum Oasis Montaba Inc. ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] TED MONITORING
I'm also testing the Envi and so far, I have identified 2 problems. The first is that it does not show you kilowatt hours, only cumulative cost. The second is that the power display is called "instantaneous energy." Isn't that an awful lot like power? ;-) So far, I'm underwhelmed by the Envi Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV& wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. === The 6th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of small wind industry stakeholders June 15 and 16, 2010 Stevens Point, Wisconsin i...@smallwindconference.com http://www.smallwindconference.com On 5/21/2010 10:17 AM, Jason Szumlanski wrote: We have had serious interference issues with TED installations. One small office was completely unable to transmit MTU->gateway signals. TED tech support just blamed it on interference from fluorescent lights and UPS systems. I would say their tech support leaves a lot to be desired, although it is easy to get them on the line. I just think the product is inherently problematic, and there is not much they can do to assist. We were unable to isolate any circuits that were causing the interference. The same unit worked perfectly at another location. On a larger home, it took hours of trial and error to find a suitable gateway location (especially given that it needs to be close to a LAN connection). It's really hard to sell a product when you have to tell customers that it may or may not work in their home/business. And wasting time trying it, only to fail is time/money spent. We have been evaluating the Envi as an alternative. It is completely wireless and can monitor up to 9 circuits with the same base. The web interface is not as robust, and the MTUs are insanely huge, but it does have many advantages (and it costs less). The Google Powermeter is pretty lame. It does not provide the granularity that we need to make useful analyses. Hopefully they update and improve the product. Finally, I am not convinced about the accuracy of any of these devices. Under normal conditions, the Envi seems to read low, the TED seems to read high. At very low current, the opposite is true. Each one seems to have a sweet spot for accuracy. Strangely enough, although instantaneous readings often do not appear right, our TED test unit matched our meter over the last two months within the specs of 2% error. Jason Szumlanski Fafco Solar http://fafcosolar.com -Original Message- Date: Thu, 20 May 2010 12:04:07 -0700 From: i2p To: RE-wrenches Subject: [RE-wrenches] TED MONITORING Message-ID:<930bbe08.6c44.43d1.a848.110bcbdff...@aol.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" I was intrigued by a previous thread on Google Powermeter and the TED 5000 and tried to setup on two system. In both cases, they did not work. ?I know they were installed correctly and factory support has me moving wires, getting noise filters, using different branch circuits, etc. In other word they make it my problem. Their out is "you have too much noise". Who else has given the TED a try and what are your results? At this point no comment on Google Power meter since I have not gotten to that point in the setup yet. ?My suspicion is the TED is not up to speed design wise.? Don Lowerburg Offline Solar ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options& settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules& etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] low cost DAS systems - Follow-up
Joel, I would be very interested in further updates on your Envi experience. I bought one to use in my PV installer workshops and used it for the first time back in May. I'm really hoping that future software, theirs or 3rd party, can fix two glaring issues I have with this unit. One is that I can find no cumulative kwhrs, only cumulative kwh cost. The other, a biggie in my opinion, is the readout labeled instantaneous energygee, isn't that a lot like POWER? Other than that, it seems to work as advertised. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 7/21/2010 7:14 PM, Joel Davidson wrote: Hello Wrenches, After a busy 1.5 months, I'm finally getting back to setting up the software for PowerSave Envi (aka Current Cost)monitoring system on our home/office PV systems. What software do you recommend? As always, thank you for sharing what you have learned. Best regards, Joel Davidson - Original Message - From: Joel Davidson To: ch...@solarandwindfx.com ; RE-wrenches Sent: Friday, May 28, 2010 5:55 PM Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] low cost DAS systems - Feedback Wrenches, Chris' email motivated me to buy a low-cost, easy-to-install monitoring system for residential and small commercial PV systems. I sent RFQs to vendors asking for a monitoring system for my PV systems, a SunnyBoy 240VAC PV system, and an oldie-but-goodie Trace 120VAC PV system. See http://www.solarsolar.com/oursys.html and http://www.solarsolar.com/solardwgs.html sa...@fatspaniel.com and distribu...@theenergydetective.com did not reply to my RFQ email. Draker Labs sent an automated reply but did not contact me. Daron at locusenergy.com replied quickly. He was very supportive, quickly answered questions, and gave us a training webinar. Price for one system is reasonable: $509 for 5 years of generation monitoring, data hosting, and performance hardware, plus $40 for California rebate program automated reporting, plus $130 to monitor electric consumption. Daron did a good job explaining Locus, but I needed 2 systems and didn't want to spend over $1,000. Charlie at egauge.net also replied quickly. Their residential eGauge system to monitor the Grid, PV system #1 and #2 costs $760, It includes the eGauge main unit, homeplug communication adapter and 5 CT's (2 CTs for the main utility feeds - one on each leg), 1 CT for the SunnyBoy system and 2 CTs for the Trace system. Better price, but still higher than I wanted to spend. Robin at powersave.us (Envi) answered my phone and email questions quickly. Their price was much lower so I bought their hardware. $237 for 1 Envi monitor with 1 transmitter and 2 CTs for PV system #1, plus $79 for 1 transmitter with 2 CTs for PV system #2, plus $12 for the USB cable, plus $17 for shipping. Powersave shipped the equipment promptly, but it took me a few days to get around to installing the hardware. The Envi monitor is in our office next to my computer. Installing the transmitter and CT on the Trace/battery PV system was easy. The Trace inverter is in the garage next to our office but not away from our electric service panel. You only need one CT to monitor a 120VAC PV system's output. The SunnyBoy inverter is next to the electric service panel. Grid power wiring into the service panel is behind the clamped and sealed utility meter. I did not want to break the utility seal to open that section of the panel so I am not monitoring the grid. Besides, monitoring the grid with a net metered PV system only tells what the utility kWh meter measures. Inside our 200A service panel, there is just barely enough space for the transmitter. The CTs are big, but I was able to squeeze them into th
Re: [RE-wrenches] Electric fence, metal buildings, lightning protection systems
Erika, That electric fencer needs it's own grounding electrode system! Unlike the premises grounding system, where there's normally no voltage present, the fencer's ground completes the circuit. I have measured over 12,000 volts on our farm fencer grounding conductorI have learned not to touch ithad to try it 2 or 3 times to be sure though ;-) Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 10th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 17 and 18, 2014 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 12/6/2013 2:31 PM, Erika Weliczko wrote: SB3000TL-US inverters. The concern is possible voltage that may lead the inverter to believe there is a ground fault because of fence connections. I wonder what the tolerable window of voltage of + or – to ground is for this unit before it cries GF. During a drizzle I had a little tingle while assembling EMT. I did not get a meter out, but it sorta felt like a 9V battery across your tongue. In the end even a little tingle is not really supposed to be there… Regards, Erika From: jay peltz [mailto:j...@asis.com] Sent: Friday, December 06, 2013 11:05 AM To: er...@repowersolutions.com; RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Electric fence, metal buildings, lightning protection systems Hi Erika, What seems to be the issue? And what equipment ( inverters ) are you using Jay Peltz power On Dec 6, 2013, at 5:57 AM, "Erika Weliczko" <er...@repowersolutions.com> wrote: Anyone had to contend with electric fence installation (AC controller) using a ground rod (not main service) at remote farm building and messing with inverters? And perhaps causing other issues? Of course, this is a metal roof with a lightning protection system (i.e. bare braided copper on roof all the way to rod.) I think we need to redirect the electric fence wire to its own dedicated rods, away from the building that has solar. Insights are appreciated. Thanks, Erika ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Charge Controller with Configurable Maximum Output Current
Bob-O nailed it.couldn't agree with
you more!
The Classic is my first choice for an MPPT controller.
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Join us at the 10th Annual Small Wind Conference
A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors
June 17 and 18, 2014 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
www.smallwindconference.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 1/3/2014 3:51 PM, Bob-O Schultze wrote:
Midnite Solar has that capability as well. IMO, it's a
better CC than the OB FMs.
Bob-O
On Jan 3, 2014, at 11:37 AM, Jason Szumlanski wrote:
What commonly
available MPPT controllers have a user configurable
current output limit? (other than Outback FM##)
Jason
Szumlanski
Fafco Solar
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Replacement for Whisper 500
Nathan, Unfortunately, this is a common failure mode for that turbine. A 2 bladed turbine is an unbalanced turbine and the vibration is not kind to welds, blades, etc. Although the Bergey XL.1 1kW turbine is a decent machine, it's not a replacement for a 3kW turbine. Bergey does have a 6kW unit but that's a spendy unit and likely not appropriate for this client. I'm with Chris on this.check out the Kestrel from Eveready. And you'll like Matthe's a real trip ;-) And it's OK to tell him I said that Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 10th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 17 and 18, 2014 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 1/17/2014 3:08 PM, Ray Walters wrote: Bergey is the only reliable choice I'm aware of right now. They have the XL.1 1000 watt, and I believe it jumps to the 10 kw unit. The 1 Kw units are now using Midnite Controllers, which is definitely an improvement. I can't advise on adapting to the tower, as I (thankfully) never sold any of the Whisper machines. I'm sure Bergey sells adapter hardware that could work. R.Ray Walters CTO, Solarray, Inc Nabcep Certified PV Installer, Licensed Master Electrician Solar Design Engineer 303 505-8760 On 1/17/2014 12:56 PM, Nathan Stumpff wrote: Wrenches, A client of ours recently had a catastrophic failure of his Whisper 500 turbine (weld completely failed, turbine destroyed, very ugly) and is in the market for a replacement. Any recommendations out there for a good, quality unit in a similar size range of 3 kW? It is a 48V off-grid system. Any experience, positive or negative with the Luminous branded Whisper 500 units? Given previous experiences with the SouthWest units and the nature of this particular failure I am reluctant to recommend going that route unless Luminous has done some serious upgrades… Our client wants to salvage as much as possible, and I am having a hard time coming up with anything that would come close to being able to use with his existing tower, 80’ guyed SouthWest make. As always, much appreciated, -Nathan ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] 72-cell modules
Allan, We just finished replacing a BP SX170 pole top array under warranty and BP provided us with the Ameresco 4190J modules. We had to install cords with the MC4 connectors on the J-boxes but other than that, they bolted right in. The dimensions are almost identical to the SX-170 and the bolt holes line up nicelyand they are a 72 cell module. FYIwe have no nearby warranty contractor so BP actually paid us to do the work.I hung a copy of the check on my office wall ;-) Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 10th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 17 and 18, 2014 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 1/30/2014 11:37 PM, Allan Sindelar wrote: Wrenches, About a year ago I asked for suggestions of 72-cell modules with 125 mm cells - the standard 155-195W modules of just a few years ago. Now we really need some. We have a good customer for whom we put in an off grid system in 2006. 48V, 27 BP SX170 modules on three Wattsun trackers. Each tracker holds nne modules, wired as three 72V strings of three modules each. Yes, the notorious SX170s. Four with burn spots were replaced in 2008, 6 more in 2010, and now ten more failed or are showing discoloration. BP's warranty contractor has agreed to replace the wattage equivalent of 23 of them at $2.00/W. They will either ship us replacement modules or send a check for purchase of replacements elsewhere. The problem is that their only offerings are 60-cell modules, which won't fit the trackers. BP got out of the solar business before the standard configuration went to the larger 156 mm cells. I would have appreciated a serious corporate effort to procure warranty stock of modules that were most like the ones manufactured by BP, so that they would more readily replace their warranty failures. That apparently is not to be. The SX170s are 31.1" (790mm) by 62.8" (1593 mm). I need to locate some 72-cell modules in this standard dimension range. We'd probably buy 27 of them, once we determine that the replacements can be fit to the racks. Can anyone suggest a brand/model/supplier etc.? I have seen that Eopply shows 195W mono modules in the U.S. section of their website (thanks, Chris Daum) and I'll call them in the morning. Any other suggestions, please? Thank you, Allan -- Allan Sindelar al...@positiveenergysolar.com NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician Founder, Positive Energy, Inc. A Certified B CorporationTM 3209 Richards Lane Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507 505 424-1112 office 780-2738 cell www.positiveenergysolar.com ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Midnite solar Charge controllers
Jerry, I've been using Classics for several years now and have never seen any of them drop programming. Not even after being removed from the system, stored for a couple of years, then re-installed. My guess is that it's a bio interface issue..the customer is pressing buttons. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 10th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 17 and 18, 2014 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 2/17/2014 11:31 PM, Ray Walters wrote: Volatile memory was a pet peeve of mine with the Trace SW inverters. I quit even trying to program them, because they would always end up getting reset anyway. However, I've tested this feature on the Midnite Classics and I could not get them to drop programming. I used the computer app, set all sorts of stuff like fan relay start parameters and then powered down after. It worked everytime I powered it back up. Of course I can't guarantee this, because weird things like lightning and time have a mind of their own, but I was encouraged before I sent this out the door for another installer to take over. R.Ray Walters CTO, Solarray, Inc Nabcep Certified PV Installer, Licensed Master Electrician Solar Design Engineer 303 505-8760 On 2/17/2014 9:06 PM, Jerry Shafer wrote: Has anyone had an issue with Midnite solar Charge controllers loosing programming. I have had Out back FM 80 do this and it was an software issue they fixed it. Now I have the same thing with midnite either that or the customer is messing with it and this is also a good possibility but before I go there I want to confirm with you all out there. The issue from Outback is if the CC is powered down on both sides it will loose memory, I cant confirm this as the customer is away and I cant get on site but we have Nickle Iron batteries that require high charge voltage to charge at all and it seams to not maintain the charge voltage setting. Thanks Jerry ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Huge battery bank recommendation
We've used these batteries in a couple of high end off-grid jobs and they work great. Yes, they are around 280 pounds..but by afternoon, they're more like 325 ;-) The last system we installed had 48 of these. And as Tump said, allow plenty of time for watering...especially if you wind up with 72 cells. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer IREC Certified Master Trainer™ for Small Wind Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 10th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 17 and 18, 2014 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 3/11/2014 10:10 AM, Tump wrote: Surrette YS 31s 2400Ahr X 3strings = 7200 2 volt IN plastic containment vessels. ~280Lbs/per On Mar 11, 2014, at 9:24 AM, Mac Lewis wrote: Hi wrenches, I am consulting on a job that requires an 8000 Ahr battery bank. This is quite a bit beyond my normal battery bank realm. What would you recommend for this? Thanks in advance -- Mac Lewis "Yo solo sé que no sé nada." -Sócrates ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org t...@swnl.net www.SWNL.net Solarwinds Northernlights Serving Mid Coast Maine & Northern California 207-832-7574 Cl. 610-517-8401 Blair "TUMP" May MAINE'S CHARTER NABCEP "Certified PV Installer" MAINE'S CHARTER Trace Xantrex "Certified" Dealer / Installer" ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrench
Re: [RE-wrenches] Hijacked Website
Dan,
That's freaky! I would have known right away this wasn't
yoursfar too corporate looking ;-)
Seriously, here's the registration info I found.I bolded what
I think might be a help to you:
Registrant Email: speaderva...@yahoo.com
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: Christian Crawford
Admin Organization: Foxfire Energy Corporation
Admin Street: 141 Howland Rd 141
Admin City: Brattleboro
Admin State/Province: VT
Admin Postal Code: 05301
Admin Country: US
Admin Phone: +1.4792086701
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: speaderva...@yahoo.com
Registry Tech ID:
Tech Name: Hostmaster ONEANDONE
Tech Organization: 1&1 Internet Inc.
Tech Street: 701 Lee Rd.
Tech City: Chesterbrook
Tech State/Province: PA
Tech Postal Code: 19087
Tech Country: US
Tech Phone: +1.8774612631
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax: +1.6105601501
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email: hostmas...@1and1.com
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
IREC Certified Master Trainer™ for Small Wind Installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Join us at the 10th Annual Small Wind Conference
A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors
June 17 and 18, 2014 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
www.smallwindconference.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 4/30/2014 7:16 PM, d...@foxfire-energy.com wrote:
Merry Mud season everyone, We just got the heads up from
NABCEP that our website (www.Foxfire-Energy.com)
has been hijacked by a fictitious renewable energy
organization (www.Foxfire-Energy-Corporation.com).
Seems they copied our web site info and posted it on their
site with minor modification. a google search of their
business location puts them on a dirt road in the middle of no
where like three towns down. a phone call brings you to a
Philippino sounding call center to a gent who identifies him
self as Dutch. I want his Juggler for a chew toy for my
Weinerdog. Just wondering if anyone else ran into this, and
what might be our recourse. Is this the result of the end of
Net Neutrality?
Sorry Micheal if this is a off subject. We've worked hard
to build up our industry's credibility. Irks me to see some
scumbag cubicle dweller trying to cash in.
Advice? Thanks db
Dan Brown
Foxfire Energy Corp.
Renewable Energy Systems
(802)-483-2564
www.Foxfire-Energy.com
NABCEP #092907-44
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Low flow high head pump
I would recommend using a Grundfos SQ 120 or 240 volt AC pump on a timer. Because you mention using a conventional pump, I assume that there's AC power available? The SQ line is very efficient and has no surge at start up. And it's a lot less expensive than the SQF line of pumps. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer IREC Certified Master Trainer™ for Small Wind Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 10th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 17 and 18, 2014 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 5/7/2014 5:28 PM, All Solar, Inc. wrote: Static level is 200 feet Well produces ~1 gallon per minute. 4 inch casing. 200 gallons per day requirement Jeremy Rodriguez, President All Solar, Inc. 1463 M Penrose Colorado 81240 719-372-3808 office 719-372-3804 fax www.asolarelectric.com Sent by Jeremy's iPhone. Sorry for typos and shorthand! On May 6, 2014, at 6:43 PM, Brian Teitelbaum wrote: Hi Jeremy, PV-direct pumps operate at variable speeds depending on the amount of sunlight and time of day, so a GPM figure is not very helpful in sizing the pump. It's useful info if the water source will not produce more GPM, since you don't want to over-pump the source, but it's not enough info to do proper design. What are you pumping out of? Well, pond, spring box? How many gallons per day (GPD) do you need delivered, on average? GPD is a much more useful figure for sizing PV-direct pumps. Is that "600 ft" of head measured from the standing water level to the top of the storage tank, as just elevation change and not distance? A 600 foot-deep well might actually have a standing water level at 300-400 ft. Even if the pump is set at 600 ft, it only takes energy to lift water from its standing level, so your head figure would be inaccurate if that is the case. If it's a well, what is the diameter of the well casing? What are the peak sun-hours at the site during the darkest time of year that the water is needed? There are lots of other questions to ask, but these should help a lot. Brian Teitelbaum AEE Solar -Original Message- From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of All Solar, Inc. Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2014 5:08 PM To: re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Subject: [RE-wrenches] Low flow high head pump Hi all, Any recommendations for a low flow, high lift pump, PV direct pump. 1 GPM @ 600 ft of head. Maybe a conventional pump on a timer? Jeremy Rodriguez, President All Solar, Inc. 1463 M Penrose Colorado 81240 719-372-3808 office 719-372-3804 fax www.asolarelectric.com Sent by Jeremy's iPhone. Sorry for typos and shorthand! ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Magnum and Pumps
I haven't seen anyone mention the battery bank. If I understand correctly, there's a single string of sealed L16 batteries on this inverter. I have my doubts as to whether or not that bank can provide the high current the inverter needs to start this load. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer IREC Certified Master Trainer™ for Small Wind Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 10th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 17 and 18, 2014 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 7/2/2014 2:10 PM, Jason Szumlanski wrote: To further qualify my statements, the inverter will start the pump without issue, but I should echo the warnings by others that if there are other loads present, especially other motor loads that could start concurrently, you may experience issues. As long as your customer understands the limitations and possibilities, you may be just fine. Jason Szumlanski Fafco Solar On Wed, Jul 2, 2014 at 11:00 AM, Jason Szumlanski <ja...@fafcosolar.com> wrote: For what it's worth, I've run a single speed 1.5HP pool pump with a MS4448PAE in a mobile application on a 38.4kWh battery bank (sixteen Rolls S-530's). I have also run a 2.5HP Hayward EcoStar Variable Speed pool pump at full RPM, but that startup current is likely less than you well pump. I'm going to guess your 3/4HP well pump will be a breeze to start with this inverter. Jason Szumlanski Fafco Solar On Wed, Jul 2, 2014 at 10:47 AM, Allan Sindelar <al...@sindelarsolar.com> wrote: Drake, As a normal CYA, I'll always gently let a customer know that this (or any) particular combination of inverter and load sometimes proves incompatible, just in case the unexpected happens. (We once had a MS4448 that would not reliably start and run a condensing boiler; a switch to a different boiler resolved the issue.) Having said that note of caution, I wouldn't give it any concern. 3/4 HP and 1 HP well pumps have never been an issue; I would expect 1.5 HP to be easy to run. At 2 HP I'd be asking these questions here. You might check that it's a 3-wire, capacitor-start motor, but nowadays nearly all are. Two-wire pumps (with no control box) can add 50% to the surge. The Magnum has a fairly poor voltage regulation response. Sometimes the AC voltage can drop to ~80 VAC momentarily. So you might also caution your customer that the lights may flicker when the pump starts. In our home we know whenever our Kenmore fridge turns on. Allan Allan Sindelar al...@sindelarsolar.com NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional New Mexico EE98J Journeyman E
Re: [RE-wrenches] Magnum and Pumps
Sweetthanks for that info, I stand
corrected!
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
IREC Certified Master Trainer™ for Small Wind Installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Join us at the 10th Annual Small Wind Conference
A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors
June 17 and 18, 2014 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
www.smallwindconference.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 7/2/2014 2:55 PM, Larry Crutcher, Starlight Solar Power Systems
wrote:
Hi Roy,
The FullRiver DC400-6 AGM battery can issue 2000 amps for 5
seconds so he should be fine.
Larry
On Jul 2, 2014, at 12:35 PM, Roy Butler <r...@four-winds-energy.com>
wrote:
I haven't seen anyone mention
the battery bank. If I understand correctly, there's a
single string of sealed
L16 batteries on this inverter. I have my doubts as to
whether or not that bank can provide the high current
the inverter needs to start this load.
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
IREC Certified Master Trainer™ for Small Wind Installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Join us at the 10th Annual Small Wind Conference
A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors
June 17 and 18, 2014 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
www.smallwindconference.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 7/2/2014 2:10 PM, Jason Szumlanski wrote:
To further
qualify my statements, the inverter will start the
pump without issue, but I should echo the warnings
by others that if there are other loads present,
especially other motor loads that could start
concurrently, you may experience issues. As long as
your customer understands the limitations and
possibilities, you may be just fine.
Jason Szumlanski
Fafco Solar
On Wed, Jul 2, 2014 at
11:00 AM, Jason Szumlanski <ja...@fafcosolar.com>
wrote:
For
what it's worth, I've run a single speed
1.5HP pool pump with a MS4448PAE in a mobile
application on a 38.4kWh battery bank
(sixteen Rolls S-530's). I have also run a
2.5HP Hayward EcoStar Variable Speed pool
pump at full RPM, but that startup current
is likely less than you well pump.
I'm
going to guess your 3/4HP well pump will be
a breeze to start with this inverter.
Jason
Szumlanski
Fafco Solar
On Wed, Jul 2, 2014
at 10:47 AM, Allan Sindelar <al...@sindelarsolar.com>
wrote:
Drake,
As a normal CYA, I'll always gently
let a customer know that this (or any)
particular combina
Re: [RE-wrenches] Grid-tie inverter for wind generator
And with most all of these grid tie
wind inverters, they rely heavily on an external voltage clamp/
limiter.
With the Aurora it was the MWI interface.
I don't believe these are available anymore.
Grid-tie wind inverters are getting almost as hard to find as
affordable 72 cell replacement modules ;-)
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
IREC Certified Master Trainer™ for Small Wind Installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Don't miss the Annual Small Wind Conference
A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors
Every June in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
www.smallwindconference.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 9/4/2014 5:58 PM, b...@midnitesolar.com wrote:
Power One (now ABB) had their Aurora GT inverter for wind that I
believe worked down
to around 48 volts. It was (is ?) an MPPT wind inverter kind of
like the SMA Windy Boy was
so would raise its input voltage as the wind blows faster.
Now that ABB has taken over Power One, I can't seem to find this
one on their web site
but I probably just haven't looked long and hard enough.
I hope it's still available. It did a pretty good job as I
remember.
boB
On 9/4/2014 2:04 PM, Brian Teitelbaum wrote:
Chris,
What
is the wattage rating of the wind turbine?
And
is that 48-60 VDC directly out of the turbine, or is that
what comes out of the turbine’s “controller”? To put that
another way, are there just two wires coming out of the
turbine, or three wires?
Brian
Teitelbaum
AEE
Solar
From:
RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org]
On Behalf Of Chris Daum
Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2014 1:47 PM
To: 'RE-wrenches'
Subject: [RE-wrenches] Grid-tie inverter for
wind generator
Hello
Wrenches:
I
have an inquiry from a fellow with a 48V wind generator
(it puts out between 48 and 60VDC). It's an old
Cyclone, originally made in Canada. He's wanting a
grid-tie inverter to lessen his electrical bill; I know
he could use an Outback but he doesn't want to fool with
batteries. Anyone got any ideas what inverter might
work for him?
Best,
Chris Daum
Oasis Montana Inc.
406-777-4309
406-777-0830 fax
www.oasismontana.com
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Thirsty batteries: Daily absorb cycles on top of grid powered float
Mick, You are in luck! The Classic controller can be programmed to skip up to 32 days of bulk charging. Look for this in the Main menu under Charge/ Advanced/ Skipand select the # of days you want to skip. Not sure what firmware version this goes back to but the current one (1849) has it. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer IREC Certified Master Trainer™ for Small Wind Installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Don't miss the 11th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 15-17, 2015 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 10/6/2014 10:16 AM, Mick Abraham wrote: Greetings, Mechanics~ My client's (flooded lead acid) battery is in Float almost all the time, courtesy of an XW inverter stack plus public utility power while the system waits in standby. "Selling to grid" is not enabled for complicated reasons, so here's the problem. Each day at sunup, the Midnite charge controls implement a new 3 stage charge cycle including a lengthy absorption interval. The batteries require frequent water additions and there may be other deleterious effects from running a complete bulk/absorb charge every day on a battery that's already highly charged. Possible solutions: (1) We could tweak the Midnite settings for a short absorption interval with less gassing...but if a prolonged grid outage should develop we would wish the absorption interval had not been shortened. (2) Your suggestions here, please. The client would be willing to update and/or reconfigure their Midnite software if that would help or the client would even consider hardware revisions. We chose the Midnite controllers in 2011 largely because of their 250 volt input ceiling, btw. Thinking ahead to my future but similar projects: Does any DC charge controller know that a new absorb cycle is not needed each day provided that the battery never dropped below Float the night before? A full cycle would still be wanted every 30 days or so just to stir things up, so that's almost like a 30 day equalization trigger only it would be a bulk trigger instead. OR: would "selling to grid" avert this problem since the "battery backup with grid tie" type inverter is aware that the battery never left the Float stage? OR: would AC coupling also avert this problem even if "sell to grid" is not enabled, for the same reason cited above? OR: Your suggestions here, please. Thanks & Jolliness, Mechanix. The Wrench List is the Bomb! Mick Abraham, Proprietor www.abrahamsolar.com Voice: 970-731-4675 ___ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance 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 List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance 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 List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] These Wind Turbines Generate Energy Without any Blades | Digital Trends
Larry, Another concept that will likely not pan out. And like most VAWTs, that poor alternator shaft is the Achilles heel. As for further comments, if I proceed with mine, Michael will ban me for life! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Don't miss the 11th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 15-17, 2015 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 6/2/2015 5:27 PM, Larry Brown wrote: Wrenches, Does anyone have any comments or knowledge on this new product about to enter the Renewable Energy world? Larry Larry Brown Sun Mountain http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/vortex-bladeless-wind-turbine-indiegogo/ ___ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance 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 List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance 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 List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] remember the pirate solar inverter?
Was that the OK4U? Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 9/17/2015 6:31 PM, Nik Ponzio, Building Energy wrote: Question for the old timers out there: What was very early micro inverter called that was designed to plug directly into the wall? It had DC input for single solar panel and the output was a live 120V male plug. On a related note, is there anything like the SMA Secure Power Supply inverters that will run off just 1 or 2 panels? Thanks for any insight.. ___ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance 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 List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance 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 List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Batteries
Dan,
We've been using the garden sprayer method for the last 14 years and
it works great!
Be sure to buy a sprayer with a plastic wand..the brass wands
can create a bit too much excitement.
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 12/12/2015 7:54 AM, Dan Fink wrote:
Hi Jerry; That's a great idea, I'm going to get one
and try it next time I hit Home Depot. I also do not use
automatic or central battery watering systems, as I feel they
give a false sense of security. Nobody is in there regularly
checking for loose connections and corrosion. My most important
battery bank tool is a thermal imaging camera that connects to
my smartphone.
Dan
Fink
Adjunct
Professor, Ecotech Institute
IREC
Certified Instructor™ for:
~ PV
Installation Professional
~
Small Wind Installer
Executive
Director, Buckville Energy
NABCEP
Accredited Continuing Education Providers™
970.672.4342
On Fri, Dec 11, 2015 at 5:41 PM,
Jerry Shafer <jerrysgarag...@gmail.com>
wrote:
Wrenches,
There has been allot of talk about batteries, i use
allot of FLA and Edison type batteries. When we do an
install i aways include a one gallon pump weed sprayer
with distilled water, we cut the sprayer tip off and it
is an easy and fast way to fill batteries, this is a
cheap way too. Battery automatic fills are fine but
there is no subsutute for eyes and hands on inspections.
Just wanted yo pass along a easy battery filling
solution.
Jerry
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Inverter/AC pump compatibility question
Allan,
I have several customers running the Grundfos SQE series on their
modified square wave inverters.
To be clear, those most recent was about 5 years ago, so perhaps
there's been a design change since then.
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 4/25/2016 11:15 PM, Allan Sindelar
wrote:
Wrenches,
Has anyone powered a Grundfos SQ or SQE series soft-start AC
submersible pump from a modified square wave inverter?
I need to run a 1/2 hp 115V AC sub on a 1990-era Heart EMS
2800-12. The customer likes his equipment so I'm not encouraging
an inverter upgrade.
Thank you,
Allan
--
Allan Sindelar
al...@sindelarsolar.com
NABCEP Certified PV
Installation Professional
NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional
New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician
Founder (Retired), Positive Energy, Inc.
505 780-2738 cell
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Re: [RE-wrenches] time delay relay
One you may want to look at is the Peltec 191 multifunction time
relay.
It's AC/DC 12-240 volts.
http://peltectimers.com/
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 4/27/2016 5:49 PM, Dana wrote:
Call your
local electrical supply they will probably have to order but
there are loads of timer relay in various scenarios
available.
Dana
Orzel
Great
Solar Works, Inc - NABCEP # 051112-136
E - d...@solarwork.com
- Web - solarwork.com
O -
970.626.5253 C - 208.721.7003
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From:
RE-wrenches
[mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On
Behalf Of Starlight Solar Power Systems
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2016 3:47 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: [RE-wrenches] time delay relay
Hello Wrenches,
I need a relay with off delay timer to
control a battery charger and I’m having difficulty finding
the type. The sequence I need is as follows:
Power or trigger on, relay closes.
Power or trigger off, relay opens and
starts delay timer.
Power or trigger on, relay closes after
timer has finished.
Does anyone know what this type is
called or any other help?
Thank you,
Larry Crutcher
Starlight Solar Power Systems
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Whisper 100 parts?
Last I knew, Luminous sold the Whisper line to a Japanese company and since then, Whispers and parts have not been available. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 7/29/2016 3:54 PM, Starlight Solar Power Systems wrote: Have you been here: http://www.luminousrenewable.com/whisper100.php Thank you, Larry Crutcher Starlight Solar Power Systems On Jul 29, 2016, at 11:34 AM, Dan Fink <danbo...@gmail.com> wrote: Wrenches; I was contacted by an individual in remote Alaska who is heavily invested in Whisper 100s (the best turbine SWWP ever made IMHO and his). He is looking for spare parts, and even entire boneyard turbines. Specific needs right now, a Whisper 100 powerhead. He was dealing with a company in Colorado for a while, but they severed all ties with India recently. Please contact me off-list if you know of a secret stash of Whisper 100 parts. I have a client here in CO that will probably need some refurb parts soon. Best regards; Dan Fink Adjunct Professor of Solar Energy Technology, Ecotech Institute IREC Certified Instructor™ for: ~ PV Installation Professional ~ Small Wind Installer Executive Director, Buckville Energy NABCEP Registered Continuing Education Providers™ 970.672.4342 ___ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance 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 List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance 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 List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance 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 List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Whisper 100 parts?
Dan, This just in from a contact of mine. And so you know, I also sent this info to the individual in Alaska. Mike Ridden from the Solar Store in Oregon is the source for parts in the USA. Chris Meyer in the Toronto area (Farm Energy) is also a source for parts and expertise. 519-955-1243 for Chris 541-388-3637 or 541-633-5760 for Mike Ridden Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 7/29/2016 5:58 PM, Dan Fink wrote: The client was getting parts from Luminous through a distributor in Colorado, who cut all ties with India due to numerous issues. Dan Fink Adjunct Professor of Solar Energy Technology, Ecotech Institute IREC Certified Instructor™ for: ~ PV Installation Professional ~ Small Wind Installer Executive Director, Buckville Energy NABCEP Registered Continuing Education Providers™ 970.672.4342 On Fri, Jul 29, 2016 at 1:54 PM, Starlight Solar Power Systems <la...@starlightsolar.com> wrote: Have you been here: http://www.luminousrenewable.com/whisper100.php Thank you, Larry Crutcher Starlight Solar Power Systems On Jul 29, 2016, at 11:34 AM, Dan Fink <danbo...@gmail.com> wrote: Wrenches; I was contacted by an individual in remote Alaska who is heavily invested in Whisper 100s (the best turbine SWWP ever made IMHO and his). He is looking for spare parts, and even entire boneyard turbines. Specific needs right now, a Whisper 100 powerhead. He was dealing with a company in Colorado for a while, but they severed all ties with India recently. Please contact me off-list if you know of a secret stash of Whisper 100 parts. I have a client here in CO that will probably need some refurb parts soon. Best regards; Dan Fink Adjunct Pr
Re: [RE-wrenches] PV Recombiner
Drake,
That's funny, William and I were having that discussion earlier
today about those old DC enclosures.
There was no need to sign your work because you left plenty of DNA
behind for identification..
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 10/12/2016 6:44 PM, Drake wrote:
Right, the old Trace DC cabinets were bloody knuckle boxes for
sure.
Things have come a long way since those days, and still have a
ways to
go.
At 02:36 PM 10/12/2016, you wrote:
Drake:
Â
Your point brings to mind the evolution of the BOS cabinet:
Â
1.   In the good old days of the SW inverter, the DC cabinet
was
all you got, and it was grossly inadequate. Off-the-shelf load
centers were the only choice for the AC side. AC bypassing was
a
relatively new concept but it could be done.
2.   Prior to having an approved inverter, Outback
manufactured
a brilliant system of BOS that fit the SW, the DR and the future
FX
series of inverters (the PS series). I believe BoB Gudgel is
responsible for this design and it was genius.Â
3.   Even with improved BOS, there are the shortcomings we
have
been discussing. There is always room for improvement and I am
hoping our discussion drives more of that.
Â
I too believe that plug-on AC breakers are the superior
alternative. They are cheap and readily available.Â
Generally two load centers are required, one for generator fed
and one
for inverter fed. GTBB systems might call for a third panel:
utility fed. Bypass is the only issue that calls for
considerations out of the ordinary for standard load center
installations. Most panel manufacturers provide limited
interlock
methods. Where we need to interlock more than two breakers we
fab
our own slides. Sure, they are not “listed� but they are a
simple mechanical device and I am comfortable using them.
Â
There are some challenges to overcome when integrating
specialized
inverter equipment with standard electrical components. For
example, connecting standard load centers to an FX inverter is
problematic because the FX KOs are so far from the mounting
surface. This is the part of the work that I enjoy
immensely. We really want to make installations that are
reliable,
efficient to install and look good. I have a friend in the
entertainment industry that once said, “aesthetically pleasing
installation are more reliable…â€� True words.
Â
Thanks for you input.
Â
William
Â
Â
Lic 773985
millersolar.com
805-438-5600
Â
From: RE-wrenches
[
mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On
Behalf Of
Drake
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2016 6:36 AM
To: RE-wrenches
<
re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org>
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] PV Recombiner
Â
DC breaker systems should be designed similar to AC bolt on
breaker
systems that are used for many commercial and industrial
applications.
The explanation for the fact that these don't exist has to do
with the
cost of designing and listing the equipment. There is no
technical reason
that a DC enclosure needs to be any more difficult to wire than
an off
the shelf AC box.
The AC breakers in any solar enclosure should certainly be
standard snap
on breakers. Once the power has been inverted to AC, there is no
reason to require anything other than standard code
requirements.
Drake Chamberlin
Athens Electric LLC
OH License 44810
CO License 3773
NABCEP Certified Solar PV
740-448-7328
http://athens-electric.com/
At 11:31 PM 10/10/2016, you wrote:
My students we just today complaining about the access to
wires on
the panel mount breakers. The lug idea with separators might
be a fix. It
definitely needs to be done differently. In class We added
another
Re: [RE-wrenches] Battery Transport
In the early 90s and for 2 years, I drove for an expedited freight company. I had my radmat, hazmat and secret service endorsements. We had to know when to placard when under a hazmat load, where and when we could and could not travel, safe haven locations, etc. It's the RQ amount of the hazardous substance that dictates the procedure. The RQ tables can be found here: https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/staticfiles/PHMSA/DownloadableFiles/Files/172_101_appa.pdf When I started my RE company 21 years ago, the first thing I did was look into the potential issue of transporting batteries. The RQ amount for sulfuric acid or sodium hydroxide is 1000 pounds.that's not battery weight, it's the electrolyte weight. And that's a LOT of battery! Of course, Lithium is likely a different story so all I can suggest is research it. So, as others have stated, proper securing of the load, obeying traffic laws, etc. is sufficient. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Check out the Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 5/24/2017 7:40 AM, Dana wrote: If you ask the folks that regulate our lives with lots of rule to save us from ourselves, of course you must abide by the rules that vary state to state. I have hauled batteries very openly, well secured, at or below the speed limit for 29 years on a specially constructed 3 ton capacity trailer with an overhead I-beam similar to a propane tank trailer. I have hauled state to state from WA - SoCal - CO to ID & have never had a state or local patrol question what I am doing. I do not think it is a common enough site to arise interest. I have noticed the placarding on my delivery haulers and they do not even alter their placards. If you ask I am sure there are regulations. Dana Orzel Great Solar Works, Inc. 208.721.7003 d...@solarwork.com Idaho Contractor - # 028765 Idaho PV # 028374 NABCEP # 051112-136 www.solarwork.biz "Responsible Technologies for Responsible People since 1988" Please consider the environment before printing this email. -Original Message- From: RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2017 11:54 AM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Battery Transport No problems here in the land of Fruits and Nuts. Breadbasket of the world and plenty of regulations :) Now that you have brought this up maybe it will happen? Soligent has been great for my deliveries. I often use a local battery dealer near the owner in their state or country. That way the owner gets a local shop and I do not have to worry about returns. I just did a system down to Guatemala and put it all in the small shipping container. Mostly pretested and ready to go once they get it out of customs... Most all of my work is extreme rural and I rarely get near a big city. Hope this helps! Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar "we go where powerlines don't" http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/ e-mail offgridso...@sti.net text 209 813 0060 HI All; I was wondering if anyone had run into to trouble or special requirements or regulations when hauling new or dead lead acid batteries to and from job sites. Do we need to be DOT approved/ registered? This seems like a special case, since regular shipping companies do not deliver to these remote areas. The regulations etc are amazingly daunting. In the past, I've considered it a case of a contractor transporting building materials to the job site. We're not a carrier, that delivers packages for others for a living. We have rented a truck with a DOT# when we need something over the 10,000 lb gross vehicle limit, like a 1 ton truck. I'm hoping that would be adequate. Thanks in advance for your advice, -- R. Ray Walters Chief Technical Officer, RemoteSolar.com BS Mech Engineering, 1988 Former NABCEP Certified, 2004-2016 Licensed Master ELectrician, Colorado 303 505-8760 ___ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance 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 List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist .html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org _
Re: [RE-wrenches] battery venting
I agree with Michael. I would try to avoid pressurized battery boxes. I also want to add that I have always followed the 360 degree limit for vent pipe bends. I have also learned that even though the Zephyr vents can be replaced, most of them run so quietly that most end users don't notice when they fail. Yes, that's another great argument for regular inspections. I have been using 3" vent pipe with a minimum 60 cfm, brushless, sealed motor vent fan, mounted so that it pulls the gases from the box and up the pipe. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV& wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 12/31/2011 6:20 PM, Michael Welch wrote: Exeltech wrote at 02:16 PM 12/31/2011: 4) Install the vent fan on the fresh-air inlet side of the box. Not a recommended practice. This pressurizes the box, so that the gas can exit through any leaks into the room just as easily as up the vent. So instead, the fan should be an exhaust fan, pulling from the box, creating a slight vacuum. That way any leaks are into the box, not out of it. ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options& settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules& etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] NABCEP Sales
Nick,
The best advice I can give you is to use the NABCEP PV Technical
Sales Resource Guide.
The exam is based on the Task Analysis, as is the Resource Guide.
The resources used to develop the exam are also used to develop the
Resource Guide.
It's a really handy document.
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer®
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Join us at the 8th Annual Small Wind Conference
A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors
June 12 and 13, 2012 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
www.smallwindconference.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 1/29/2012 7:10 PM, Nick Vida wrote:
Hi all,
out of curiosity, what resources are you using to study for
this?
If it is like the PV installer test, it is a puzzle and a
test, but all and all, not that hard if you super know your
stuff.
nick vida
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Community says farewell to solar pioneer Gottlieb - Brattleboro Reformer
Dan, Thanks for posting. I had the privilege of knowing Richard for about 15 years. I will miss him and our talks every summer at the Vermont Solarfest.he was one of the good guys! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV& wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 8th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers,& Distributors June 12 and 13, 2012 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 2/24/2012 10:05 AM, d...@foxfire-energy.com wrote: For those of you who knew Richard http://www.reformer.com/localnews/ci_20024575#.T0enKNp5zOw.email --- This message was sent by d...@foxfire-energy.com via http://addthis.com. Please note that AddThis does not verify email addresses. Make sharing easier with the AddThis Toolbar: http://www.addthis.com/go/toolbar-em To stop receiving any emails from AddThis please visit: http://www.addthis.com/privacy/email-opt-out?e=mAPxS4550WvNbctr0E7PZ9B60CDRa4550WvNbctr0CDMfMQ in your web browser. ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options& settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules& etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] low head/low cost solar pump
Mac, Sounds like the Shurflo 2088 series pump that Dan mentioned would fit the bill. We've used them PV direct with good results, just be sure to use a PV module with a Voc that's not too high for the pump. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 8th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 12 and 13, 2012 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 2/24/2012 11:55 AM, mac Lewis wrote: Hi Wrenches, Let me be a little more specific about this site. Potential client has a pond that he would like to move water to his garden. This pond is about 10 vetical ft below his garden, and the garden is about 200' horizontal ' away. He has a little shack about 20' from the pond that we will mount the solar. He would like to flood irrigate slowly throughout the day and just move a flexible hose around. As far as budget, client hasn't been real specific. I have looked at the Shurflow 9300 but was hoping for something that would operate at a higher flowrate in exchange for not having the high head capability (and perhaps less expensive). It does need to be PV direct capable. Thanks On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 9:15 AM, Dan Fink <danbo...@gmail.com> wrote: Hi Mac; I would be looking at something like the Shurflo 2088 series and a Linear Current Booster, with a check valve on the intake if you can't mount the pump below the water level. 75-100 watts of PV should perform just fine with that. Dan Fink, Executive Director; Otherpower Buckville Energy Consulting Buckville Publications LLC NABCEP / IREC accredited Continuing Education Providers 970.672.4342 (voicemail) On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 8:49 AM, mac Lewis <maclew...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi wrenches, > > I am looking for a relatively low cost solar pumping system. The system has > about 10 ft of elevation head and he just wants to water his garden which is > about 200' away horizontally. It can either be a submersible pump or a pump > that can produce some suction. Any experience with this? Everything I've > looked at thus far has been overkill and/or fairly expensive. > > Thanks > > Mac Lewis ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org -- Mac Lewis "Yo solo sé que no sé nada." -Sócrates ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re
Re: [RE-wrenches] small wind generators
Hi Drake, The Air 403/ Air-X/ Air Breeze/ whatever it's name is now, is fairly dependable. In most wind regimes it's the equivalent of a 10 or 20 watt solar module but seems to work just fine. FYI- it's ~ 200 watts or so. It's not the quietest thing though, being a fairly high rpm turbine. But the Sunforce 600 is not a 600. The rotor diameter tells the truth, making it somewhere around a 200 - 250 watt machine. Perhaps they have the bugs worked out but when they first came out, there were many reliability and performance issues. What's the application for this? Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 8th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 12 and 13, 2012 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 4/3/2012 9:44 AM, Drake wrote: Hello Wrenches, Are the new Air 403 wind machines more reliable than in times past? I'm also looking at a Sunforce 600 W machine. How do these small turbines hold up these days? Thanks, Drake Drake Chamberlin ATHENS ELECTRIC LLC OH License 44810 CO license 3773 NABCEP Certified PV ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] small wind generators
Hi Dick, Kestrel is going through certification at this time. This is good news, as this will help them enter the US market with some established credibility. It has the potential to be a good turbine. And with the Eveready battery company behind them, they should have the capital needed to be a solid company. Last I knew, they do not have a US distributor. Too bad because I want to test one here! FYI- I had the opportunity to dismantle and reassemble one in a course I taught in 2010. It's built like that proverbial outhouse. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV& wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 8th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers,& Distributors June 12 and 13, 2012 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 4/3/2012 3:36 PM, Richard L Ratico wrote: Does anyone have any experience with Kestrel Wind Turbines? Dick Ratico Solarwind Electric --- You wrote: SWWP has changed their turbines again. They are now called the the Air 30, Air 40 and Air Breeze. The 30 is like the old X land, the 40 is like the old Breeze Land and the Breeze is like the old Breeze Marine. The Breeze is the only marine model available. Confusing enough? The 40 and Breeze have a limited lifetime warranty and all have a new, higher price. Historically the Air products have lasted fairly well and been moderate performers. Air X and Air Breeze parts are still available but SWWP has discontinued support for all other models. We service, sell and recommend them for small PV/wind hybrid systems. AND...they are still USA made! Hurrah! Larry Crutcher Starlight Solar Power Systems (928) 342-9103 On Apr 3, 2012, at 7:04 AM, Roy Butler wrote: Hi Drake, The Air 403/ Air-X/ Air Breeze/ whatever it's name is now, is fairly dependable. In most wind regimes it's the equivalent of a 10 or 20 watt solar module but seems to work just fine. FYI- it's ~ 200 watts or so. It's not the quietest thing though, being a fairly high rpm turbine. But the Sunforce 600 is not a 600. The rotor diameter tells the truth, making it somewhere around a 200 - 250 watt machine. Perhaps they have the bugs worked out but when they first came out, there were many reliability and performance issues. What's the application for this? Roy Butler --- end of quote --- ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options& settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules& etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] small wind generators
Dan, You're right, I smell something and it's not a rose! I was told that the Sunforce is a Chinese product. There is nothing certified on or in that turbine and I would not touch it with a 10' poleor even a 10 meter tower ;-) I had not heard anything about a SWWP/ Sunforce relationship. Interesting...thanks for the info.I'll start digging for more. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV& wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 8th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers,& Distributors June 12 and 13, 2012 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 4/3/2012 8:24 PM, Dan Fink wrote: Esteemed Wrenches; I've been watching this thread closely, and I'm thinking something is really fishy about the Sunforce turbinedistributed by Coleman (camp stoves, sleeping bags, lanterns) and also distributed by Home Depot, Lowes, Sears, Target, Radio Shack, Kmart, Fry's, West Marine, Northern Tool I'm too busy right now to do any investigative journalism. The "400" looks like a Southwest Wind Power product, but I can't tell. The "600" appears to be a Chinese turbine, like so many we have seen before. Fishy things: ~ Sunforce company website and docs do not show any UL or CE listing for the included MPPT controller, nor any country of manufacture; ~ reviews on Amazon saying the Sunforce is really "Made in USA" by "Southwest Wind Power." Shills? ~ Mutally-linking advertising / sales drive / link spam websites not related to either Sunforce or SWWP that extoll the virtues of the Sunforce, quoting each other, some even using the name "Sunforce Whisper"; Is there an official rep from SWWP on this list? It would be interesting to hear if the Sunforce turbines are really made by SWWP in the USA. If not -- SWWPs legal department has some work cut out for them. I may have made a misjudgement here -- but I doubt it! Smells like snake oil, and I bet all of the wind power professionals on this site have a keen nose for rotten fish, ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Kohler 8.5 RMY question
Roy's quote: "Friends don't let friends buy a Generac" Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 8th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 12 and 13, 2012 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 4/4/2012 2:45 PM, toddc...@finestplanet.com wrote: ditto that question. i have only installed one genewreck... an 8 kW unit installed as grid backup. it sees very little use, but it is a total piece of shit. i have replaced the starter motor casting mount twice... of course they never bothered to redo the poor initial design, so replacing a broken defective design with a non-broken defective designed part is just stupid, because it is designed to break. the voltage regulators have failed three times... taking out appliances in the customers home in the process each time. the battery charger module came miswired from the factory. i spent about 3 hours troubleshooting the wiring to fix it... with reimbursement promises from their horrible 'factory support' which never came. i have heard similar horror stories from others. i will never touch or recommend a genewreck generator again... never ever! beware! todd On Wednesday, April 4, 2012 7:22am, "Dana" said: Hey Chris - I am curious how the Generercs are doing I have had nothing but dead, on fire, or in the shop stories from clients. I only know of one, a 30 KW water cooled that is healthy to this day.. Thanks Dana Orzel - Great Solar Works, Inc - E - d...@solarwork.com - V 970.626.5253 F - 970.626.4140 C - 970.209.4076 web - www.solarwork.com "Responsible Technologies for Responsible People since 1988" P Please consider the environment before printing this email From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Chris Mason Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2012 6:16 AM To: al...@positiveenergysolar.com; RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Kohler 8.5 RMY question I installed two Kohler 12RES about five years ago, before we switched brands to Generac. The Kohler units had a couple of electrical control problems, minor issues, easily repaired, nothing mechanical. Residential backup generators are in one of two states, working, or broken. If it has not broken down, then it is working. End of story. When the break, you get a new one. On Tue, Apr 3, 2012 at 11:28 PM, Allan Sindelar <al...@positiveenergysolar.com> wrote: Wrenches, We sold and installed a few Kohler 8.5 and 11 RMY generators in the first half of the last decade. We found over the years that followed that they held up quite well, with very few problems if cared for. We have a customer whose off grid system we cared for for about a decade before she sold her property and moved on. The buyer, with whom I have never spoken, did little research on the property or t
Re: [RE-wrenches] Kohler 8.5 RMY question - and Generac
Allan, Thanks for the positive feedback on Generac.maybe this old dog really can learn new tricks. But in the mean time, I'll live vicariously through you and others who purchase these gensets. Thanks for testing these for the rest of us! ;-) I have one Kohler 8.5 RMY in the field, still running from 1997 with 4,210 hours on it. It's the air cooled, 3600 rpm unit, so I was surprised at the longevity. It has been serviced regularly by the homeowner and had a couple of minor parts replaced. I would not consider that 8.5 RMY to be at the end of it's service life at 2,000 hours IF it has had regular service. Are there service records on site? Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 8th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 12 and 13, 2012 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 4/5/2012 5:47 PM, Allan Sindelar wrote: Roy and all, While I appreciate the dialogue that my request has generated, not a single post has addressed my question. So I'll give it one more try: What kind of runtime hours have you seen with the Kohler 8.5 RMY? Also, in a recent Home Power "Ask the Experts" column, I spoke positively about the new Generac "EcoGen" 6 kW model as a well-designed and well-engineered unit specifically for off-grid residential applications. It's quite different from their mainstream models, designed specifically to hold up under off-grid usage. Having been involved with this list since about 2000, you can bet I have read plenty negative about Generac over the years. So both the Home Power recommendation and a previous post speaking positively about it were carefully considered before they went out (my wording in Home Power was "it has caused me to favorably reconsider Generac for your type of application"). I have had one of these units in my own off grid home for about a year, and am quite favorably impressed with it. It has to date performed without flaw, has very good built-in diagnostics and a record of usage history, and runs cool and quiet. So I am encouraging those who have had bad experiences with Generac to take another look at this particular model. We have needed this on the market for several years now, ever since the generator manufacturers began focusing on "home standby" as the next growth market. Allan Allan Sindelar al...@positiveenergysolar.com NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic Installer NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician Positive Energy, Inc. 3201 Calle Marie Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507 505 424-1112 www.positiveenergysolar.com On 4/4/2012 1:20 PM, Roy Butler wrote: Roy's quote: "Friends don't let friends buy a Generac" On 4/4/2012 2:45 PM, toddc...@finestplanet.com wrote: ditto that question. i have only installed one genewreck... an 8 kW unit installed as grid backup. it sees very little use, but it is a total piece of shit. i have replaced the starter motor casting mount twice... of course they never bothered to redo the poor initial design, so replacing a broken defective design with a non-broken defective designed part is just stupid, because it is designed to break. the voltage regulators have failed three times... taking out appliances in the customers home in the process each time. the battery charger module came miswired from the factory. i spent about 3 hours troubleshooting the wiring to fix it... with reimbursement promises from their horrible 'factory support' which never came. i have heard similar horror stories from others. i will never touch or recommend a genewreck generator again... never ever! beware! todd
Re: [RE-wrenches] SW master & slave
Hi Mac,
It's always the inverter that you powered up first.
So you get to decide which one is the master.
FYI- this can cause problems with customers that fiddle around with
things and
turn the inverters back on the wrong order.fun ;-)
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer®
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Join us at the 8th Annual Small Wind Conference
A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors
June 12 and 13, 2012 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
www.smallwindconference.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 5/25/2012 9:16 AM, mac Lewis wrote:
Hello wrenches,
I recently series stacked two SW 4024s. Everything seems to
work fine. I want to follow the recommendation that the slave
device is the generator controlling inverter. How do I tell
which is the master and which is the slave?
Thanks
--
Mac Lewis
"Yo solo sé que
no sé nada." -Sócrates
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Re: [RE-wrenches] 12V loads
I like the Midnite MNDC series.low
cost, with lots of room for future expansion.
List price around $225
I like Maverick's suggestion of using a combiner box, even lower
cost.
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer®
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Join us at the 9th Annual Small Wind Conference
A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors
June 18 and 19, 2013 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
www.smallwindconference.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 8/10/2012 10:05 AM, Jay Peltz wrote:
I'd try using one of midnite's many boxes
Jay
Peltz power
Sent from my iPhone
On Aug 10, 2012, at 6:55 AM, Jason Szumlanski <ja...@fafcosolar.com>
wrote:
I'm not sure about the price, but what about using the DC
enclosure from an Outback Flexware system? Lots of space for
branch circuit breakers, plus a big DC disconnect.
Jason Szumlanski
Fafco Solar
On Thu, Aug 9, 2012 at 5:05 PM,
Jesse Dahl <dahlso...@gmail.com>
wrote:
Hello,
I've been looking at a lot of hunting shacks, fish
houses and other 12V loads setups and was wondering how
people go about setting these up? What are people using
for load termination, fusing?
.org
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Re: [RE-wrenches] RE-wrenches Digest, Vol 5, Issue 256
Ross, I couldn't agree more...the Midnite SPDs are far superior to those cans of silica sand that many of us have been installing for years. The video of the comparison test between the Delta and the SPD arrestor is well worth watching. Not to mention the colorful MOVs and pretty light inside ;-) Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 9th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 18 and 19, 2013 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 8/18/2012 2:12 PM, Ross Taylor wrote: Surge protection: for the price and quality and function, it's almost impossible to beat the Midnight Solar SPDs. ___ Ross Taylor - International Training Manager Southwest Windpower (Sent "mobily" so please forgive brevity or typos) "re-wrenches-requ...@lists.re-wrenches.org" wrote: Send RE-wrenches mailing list submissions to re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.re-wrenches.org/listinfo.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to re-wrenches-requ...@lists.re-wrenches.org You can reach the person managing the list at re-wrenches-ow...@lists.re-wrenches.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of RE-wrenches digest..." When responding to posts within the Digest, be sure to restore the Subject: line to the original, and please edit out any extraneous lines from the quoted message. Today's Topics: 1. Re: Best practices for comp shingle flashing? (August Goers) 2. Surge Protection- PV (Keith Cronin) 3. Booster pump (Nathan Stumpff) 4. Heart Interface Inverter (mac Lewis) 5. Re: Heart Interface Inverter (Chris Mason) 6. Re: Heart Interface Inverter (bob ellison) 7. Re: Heart Interface Inverter (Jay Peltz) 8. Combating requests for itemized PV pricing (Jason Szumlanski) 9. Re: Combating requests for itemized PV pricing (Allan Sindelar) -- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2012 11:48:14 -0700 From: August Goers To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Best practices for comp shingle flashing? Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Hi Eric, We've used TTi, EcoFasten, and Quick Mount. I like Quick Mount the best but they are a bit pricy so we've been using Eco Fasten for the majority of our work over the last year. If anything, I've found that TTi requires more labor and is more likely to require shingle cutting plus I'm gun-shy about their material quality. That said, the majority of our standard comp shingle mounts require no shingle cutting (although you might have to remove a nail or two) with Quick Mount or Eco Fasten. You just slide them up under the shingles as pictured in this video: http://www.quickmountpv.com/training/videos/classic-comp-install.html Maybe you have a different kind of comp in your neck of the woods? If you're really worried about it you can always take a sample out and see if you can slide it under the shingles without any cutting. It just might work. Good luck. Best, August *From:* re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] *On Behalf Of *SunHarvest *Sent:* Wednesday, August 15, 2012 4:22 PM *To:* RE-wrenches *Subject:* [RE-wrenches] Best practices for comp shingle flashing? Thanks guys. Talked with TTi and mentioned Mr. Miller's experience with rust. They said they got a lot of feedback about this problem on their 1st generation line and have since corrected the issue. I'll remain cautious...thanks Willy. TTi, DPW, EcoFasten, and Quick-mount all seem to have the same issue of lacking versatility in height adjustment. Anyway, going to check out a sample from TTi. DPW and EcoFasten look like they still require cutting of both flash base and comp courses. I'm trying to avoid cutting anything as I want to avoid disturbing original flashing and original roofing material. Thanks for all your input!! Eric Stikes SunHarvest Solar A Sustainable Energy Group Partner +1 (530) 798 - 3738 www.harvesthesun.com -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org/attachments/20120817/59552db0/attachment.html> -- M
Re: [RE-wrenches] Ni-Fe batteries
I have 5,000 pounds of original Edison NiFe batteries, made between 1928 and 1939. Almost all of them are working at close to 90% of their original capacity. I would be willing to bet that Edison was really close with his 100 year estimate.on his batteries. I would not want to make that same claim with batteries from other sources. BUT..they really are inefficient. And they really are difficult to charge with modern battery chargers. The cases are conductive and need to be insulated from each other and anything around them. And voltage is the only way to determine state of charge, as the electrolyte specific gravity does not change throughout the charging cycle. I like them but definitely agree with Danthey are not for the general public! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 9th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 18 and 19, 2013 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 9/26/2012 7:58 AM, Larry Crutcher, Starlight Solar Power Systems wrote: Forever? Well, at least Edison thought they should last 100 years. As mentioned by others, inefficiency is an impairing factor in an RE system. However, due to the all time low cost for PV solar modules, these batteries can actually be a viable option. If you have the space for 40% more PV power and you have a customer willing to keep the batteries filled, the Ni-Fe battery could be the last battery they will ever buy. Imagine the grand-kids inheriting the battery bank. Of course, there are many other details for you to study and understand before diving in; don't compare these to lead acid. I have about 25 that of these that are many years old that I bought for experimenting. I have also read about an 85 year old bank that was made useable again by Peter DeMar. Larry Crutcher Starlight Solar Power Systems ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Kestrel Repair
Hi Dan,
A while back, I had the dubious honor of opening
one of these up. If yours has the dual stator
then be prepared for a very
interesting alignment
procedure during reassembly.
I wish I could remember where the
rectifier was locatedwith any luck you won't
have to open the alternator housing.
As for rectifier
replacement, I have yet to meet
a turbine that wouldn't work with off the
shelf rectifiers from Digikey or
some other electronics
supplier.
Give me a holler if you hit
a snag. Good luck!
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer®
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Join us at the 9th Annual Small Wind Conference
A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors
June 18 and 19, 2013 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
www.smallwindconference.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 1/14/2013 8:49 AM, d...@foxfire-energy.com wrote:
Any one had to mess with Kestrel Wind turbine repair? No
help from Kestrel.. other than to tell me if I open it I void
the warranty. but the bird is over 5 years old anyway. I
suspect a fried rectifier. Thanks db
Dan Brown
Foxfire Energy Corp.
Renewable Energy Systems
(802)-483-2564
www.Foxfire-Energy.com
NABCEP #092907-44
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Re: [RE-wrenches] AHJ's & NABCEP cert.
Also good to remember
is that licensing is mandatory, but
certification is voluntary.
I can see where the NABCEP certification could help get
your foot in the door in areas
that do not require licensing but I'm sure that
it will not be a substitute for licensing.
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer®
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Join us at the 9th Annual Small Wind Conference
A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors
June 18 and 19, 2013 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
www.smallwindconference.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 2/4/2013 7:08 PM, Andrew Truitt wrote:
Ian - While some jurisdictions do choose to require
NABCEP certification to qualify for incentives, NABCEP
certification does not replace local licensing. Please see the
disclaimer at the bottom of the NABCEP About Us page (http://www.nabcep.org/about-us).
For a
brighter energy future,
Andrew Truitt
NABCEP Certified PV Installer™ (ID# 032407-66)
Principal
Truitt Renewable Energy Consulting, LLC
(202)
486-7507
LinkedIn Profile
Company Website
"Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just
that I prefer fusion to fission. And it just so happens that
there's an enormous fusion reactor safely banked a few
million miles from us. It delivers more than we could ever
use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless!"
~William McDonough
On Sat, Feb 2, 2013 at 5:15 PM, Ian
Eastman <i...@cesolar.com>
wrote:
Hi Re-wrenchers,
Does anyone know where to find some good information on
talking to your local AHJ concerning using the NABCEP
cert. for a Solar Contracting License? Arguments,
facts...?
Thanks,
Ian
--
Ian Eastman
| Installation/Project Management
GO
SOLAR!
Cell: 307.413.6789 • i...@cesolar.com
Creative Energies
Victor, ID office
208.354.3001
Lander, WY office 307.332.3410
Salt Lake City, UT office 801.487.6489
www.CreativeEnergies.biz
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Bergey XL1 and the Classic controller
Hi Chris,
Other than the increased cost for the additional
equipment, I like the new high voltage XL.1.
I have one in the field, running for almost
one year now. Took about 1 hour to work
through
the Classic/ Clipper programming but
then everything worked perfectly. And
no call backs!!!
The customer is
thrilled with it.
We saved a bunch of money on the
smaller wire run and the turbine produces more
energy
for the client than any of the 14
standard issue XL.1s I have out thereand it's not in as good of a wind
resource as some of the
others.
So, other than the learning
curve on the part of the installer, I see
no glitches. And the customer
service at Midnite is second to none (hi Ryan!) so
even the learning curve is painless.
FYI- I have the
Classic/ Clipper at my place now. It's now controlling my
legacy Whisper H1500.
(The
old World Power Tech. unit with
the big alternator, not the 1kW
SWWP unit)
It sure beats
the good old "EZ-Fire" controller.so
far, so good!
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer®
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Join us at the 9th Annual Small Wind Conference
A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors
June 18 and 19, 2013 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
www.smallwindconference.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 2/15/2013 2:29 PM, Chris Daum wrote:
Dear People:
We've had pretty good luck with our XL1
sales, with some out there since around 2001 with few
problems. The turbines have been less problematic than the
controllers (we've had to replace a couple of those). Now
Bergey is offering the XL1 with the Classic controller; does
anyone have any 'in the field' that can comment on their
performance with the Classic? I like the idea of field
selectability of battery voltage but am wondering if there
are any glitches
Thanks,
Chris Daum
Oasis Montana Inc.
406-777-4309
406-777-0830 fax
www.oasismontana.com
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Fw: Anyone recognize this turbine?
This is a Wind Baron, a Windseeker knock off. It originally had 3 blades and didn't really produce any energy. Looks like someone assumed that doubling the amount of blades would double that non-existent energy ;-) Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 9th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 18 and 19, 2013 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Fw: Anyone recognize this turbine?
The Lakota is a knock off of the Wind Baron knockoff of the Windseekerbut it was still a 3 bladed turbine. Someone had some fun with it ;-) I bet it governs at much lower wind speeds than it was designed for Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 9th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 18 and 19, 2013 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 2/24/2013 3:31 PM, Jeremy Rodriguez- All Solar Inc. wrote: Aeromax's Lakota it is! Sent via BlackBerry. Sorry for typos and shorthand! -Original Message- From: "Chris Worcester" Sender: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.orgDate: Sun, 24 Feb 2013 09:52:27 To: ; 'RE-wrenches' Reply-To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Fw: Anyone recognize this turbine? ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Conductor Sizing for Supply Side Connection
Garrison and Ross, Although there are times that the buss bar rating may be higher than the main breaker rating, the difficulty is in obtaining documentation to verify that. Sometimes it states the rating clearly on the panel label but that seems to be the exception, not the rule. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 9th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 18 and 19, 2013 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 3/1/2013 11:54 AM, Garrison Reigel wrote: Good point Ross. The panel is marked as a 200A with no indication that the bus has a higher rating, so I've assumed 200A. I considered downsizing the MB, but it's an discontinued panel, and filled to capacity so not exactly ideal. Thanks, Garrison From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] on behalf of Ross Taylor [wind.trai...@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2013 9:24 PM To: re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Conductor Sizing for Supply Side Connection Hi Garrison, This is a great discussion and I think I've read all the responses. If I missed this question, please forgive me. But, in your original post you refer to a 200 amp service. I don't, though, see mention of the rating of the bus bars. The bus bars may be rated for something more than 200 amps, depending upon the panel, even if they're protected by a 200 amp main disconnect. If so, that would increase your backfeed breaker sizing options. Best wishes, Ross Taylor ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Whisper Parts
The Whisper line, at least the 200 and 500, went to Luminous, a large battery manufacturer in India. Whether or not they will be continuing support for legacy turbines remains to be seen. The adventure known as small wind continues ;-) Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 9th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 18 and 19, 2013 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 4/5/2013 4:28 PM, Chris Schaefer wrote: Had to share the link below with everyone on the list (I’m not a member of the wind list so someone send there to). But even more fun is the comments at the end of the article. Primus is just the AIR products. No Whisper parts. If anyone finds the parts please share the source. http://azdailysun.com/news/local/last-days-for-local-turbines/article_31662958-c28d-5af4-99ee-8f0e6f19f595.html Christopher Schaefer Solar & Wind FX, Inc. From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Chris Daum Sent: Friday, April 05, 2013 11:57 To: 'RE-wrenches' Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Whisper Parts Folks: I may be incorrect, but I think a company called Primus Windpower took over a chunk of SWWP - 928-607-7034. Good luck. Chris Daum Oasis Montana Inc. ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] BZ Products Charge Controllers
Nathan and Dan,
We've used the BZ 250 and 500 MPPT controllers
here in our shop. They worked well
until we used them on our 2
meter amateur radio repeater solar/ battery power supply
system.
For some reason, they were
overly sensitive to RF from the transmitter and the
front ends blew in
both units. In the
interest of full disclosure, this was several years ago when these units first came
out and they may be much more
robust now.
And you are correct, they do
fill a current and price niche!
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer®
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Join us at the 9th Annual Small Wind Conference
A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors
June 18 and 19, 2013 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
www.smallwindconference.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 4/10/2013 4:19 PM, Dan Fink wrote:
Nathan;
I was just about to ask exactly the same question here on
the Wrenches list. The BZ controllers seem to fill an amperage
niche vs price point that we need here for small MPPT 12v -
suresine systems deployable by helicopter, canoe etc. We don't
need UL listing for these systems.
I'd love to hear reports on these controllers from
other Wrenches before I buy any of them and haul them out into
the bush.
Dan Fink,
Executive Director;
Otherpower
Buckville Energy Consulting
Buckville Publications LLC
NABCEP / IREC accredited Continuing Education Providers
970.672.4342
On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 2:03 PM,
Nathan Stumpff <nat...@arcticsun-llc.com>
wrote:
Hello wrenches,
Anyone have any experience with
BZ Products charge controllers? Kind of thin website
(http://bzproducts.net/)
but it seems like a pretty slick way to be able to
use the ubiquitous 60 cell panels in small systems,
if the controllers are quality.
Any thoughts appreciated.
Thanks,
-Nathan
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Re: [RE-wrenches] outback fx series inverters
Sounds an awful lot
like "Wind Turbine Syndrome'
And for that, tests are now showing that WTS is
a "communicated" disease.
The power of suggestion.
Perhaps this is also a communicated
disease.unfortunately, with psychosomatic symptoms manifesting in
those affected.
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer®
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Join us at the 9th Annual Small Wind Conference
A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors
June 18 and 19, 2013 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
www.smallwindconference.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 4/13/2013 4:09 PM, Chris Daum wrote:
I don't knowI have
perhaps three customers, over the past ~20 years, who claim
to be 'allergic to electricity', for lack of a better term.
As you can imagine, existing in our current society is
actually painful for them. They've all bought (for example)
propane 'fridges since they use no electricity and don't
cause them to have that 'pins & needles' feeling they
get when they are near electrical fields. I try not to
laugh at them, yet I believe they are sincere when they tell
me, "I can't stand to be near anything electrical". So
perhaps there needs to be some sort of independent test to
confirm what these folks claim to feel.
Chris Daum
Oasis Montana Inc.
From:
re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org
[mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On
Behalf Of Randy Brooks
Sent: Saturday, April 13, 2013 1:53 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] outback fx series inverters
Have you used a gaus meter (http://www.amazon.com/Gen-El-Gauss-Master/dp/B0004IR6J6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1365882645&sr=8-2&keywords=gaus+meter)
to measure the EMF near the inverters and other places? Might put
it in perspective.
Randy
On Apr 13, 2013, at 12:17 PM, Todd Cory <toddc...@finestplanet.com>
wrote:
wrenches...
put on our tin foil hats... i have a customer who
claims the emf from their grid tied gvfx3648 is making
them sick. does anyone know the switching frequency of
the inverter and has anyone else reported this? also
any ideas on how to mitigate it?
thanks,
todd
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Re: [RE-wrenches] CU 200 error
Hi Bill,
The dreaded F3..with over 40 Grundfos
systems out there, I've seen several of these.
The most likely cause is a bad connection and
the most common of those are the splices
underwater.
I hate to say it but it can also be a bad
CU200. I've seen the internal modems go bad.
First test is to jumper the power
directly to the pumpif it runs, it's likely
the CU200.
If not, it's either wiring or
the pump.
If this is PV direct and the
weather looks iffy, bring a 36 or 48 volt power source with you.
We have a standard deep
cycle battery box with 3- 21 AH sealed
batteries in series that we use.
And when
all else fails, pull the pump, cut the wires on the
pump side of the splice and test the pump.
You will need a
4-6" piece of PVC pipe, capped
on one end and filled with
water for this test because
of the dry
run sensor built into the
pump wiring.
This is my experienceI'm
curious to see what others say.
Good luck!
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer®
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com
Join us at the 9th Annual Small Wind Conference
A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors
June 18 and 19, 2013 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
www.smallwindconference.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 4/27/2013 9:54 AM, frenergy wrote:
Wrenches,
I have been asked to repair a Grundfos SQ
installation for our area Land Trust. Pump is not pumping and
the controller (CU200) is throwing a code of: F3. The manual
says loose wires, bad connection, failed CU200 or failed pump.
I'm looking for more experience than mine in these matters
before I drive the 3 hour round trip out there for the repair
for: most likely issues, tests to conduct, tools, spare parts
(controller??)..
Thanks in advance,
Bill Battagin
Feather River Solar Electric
4291 Nelson St.
Taylorsville, CA 95983
530.284.7849 / 6544 fax
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Wasps
Chris is absolutely right, dish detergent really does work. And Dawn is about the best brand to use. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 9th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 18 and 19, 2013 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 5/6/2013 6:07 PM, Chris Mason wrote: I have had good success with soapy water - mix dish detergent with water and spray it on, won't hurt your modules. On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 4:32 PM, Dana Brandt <d...@ecotechenergy.com> wrote: Thanks for the input everyone. She's pretty set on getting rid of them. I'll recommend hosing them down with water at night. I think she's going to want to go chemical, though. I'd love to hear anyone's experience with sprays damaging the backsheet or not. Thanks, Dana Dana Brandt Ecotech Energy Systems, LLC www.ecotechenergy.com d...@ecotechenergy.com 360.318.7646 On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:13 AM, Dana Brandt <d...@ecotechenergy.com> wrote: Hi Wrenches, I have a client who has developed quite a problem with wasps behind her array. Does anyone have experience getting rid of them? I'm afraid of the possibility of sprays damaging the backsheet. Is that a legitimate concern? Thanks, Dana Dana Brandt Ecotech Energy Systems, LLC www.ecotechenergy.com d...@ecotechenergy.com 360.318.7646 ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org -- Chris Mason President, Comet Systems Ltd www.cometenergysystems.com Cell: 264.235.5670 Skype: netconcepts ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Lorentz Pumps
Allan and all, I just purchased a Lorentz pump and motor to replace an ETA HR-14 that ran flawlessly (the ONLY one!) for 10 years. I did have to establish my creds with Genpro but then they referred me to a local distributor that sold me the pump with no hassle. Perhaps the policy is different with other distributors? On another note, my favorite pump is the Grundfos SQ Flex. But their customer service is frustrating at best and most of my suppliers have stopped carrying them. I, too, am hesitant to switch to the Lorentz line due to the long list of woes caused by the regrETA pump line. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 9th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 18 and 19, 2013 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 5/18/2013 11:15 PM, Allan Sindelar wrote: Ray, I posted this on February 19th. While I believe that GenPro passed it along to Lorentz (I copied them), I'm not aware that anything has changed. Allan Tom, Rant: I would caution you to be very careful working with Lorentz pumps. About 16 months ago we got a service request from a longtime customer for whom we had installed an ETA (Lorentz) PV-direct submersible in late 2005. The pump had worked well for nearly 7 years, serving community water for four off grid households, but the helical rotor had finally worn out, as I recall. I called GenPro about purchasing a replacement head, and was told that the US has been divided into northern and southern territories by Lorentz, and I needed to contact another company (whose name is in our records but not my head). That company told me that we could neither buy a replacement head nor a replacement pump, as we were not licensed pump dealers. Grundfos had once allowed their pumps to be sold through all sorts of channels, and it came back to bite them hard, as PV internet retailers with salespeople who knew next-to nothing about pump selection and water system design were selling pumps to anyone with a thick wallet. Grundfos tech support was overwhelmed, and changed policy to allow their pumps to be sold only through water and well industry distributors. That made a lot of sense to me, and we never lost our ability to spec, purchase and install their pumps, as our longtime conventional pump distributor knew we knew our business. But we'll never become "licensed pump installers", and as a result, we'll never carry or recommend Lorentz pumps. I had sworn off ETAPumps years ago when the failure rate was too high; I had eventually learned that those issues had been resolved and the pumps and controllers were proving pretty reliable. But this issue killed it for me. If anyone can offer an update to suggest that the situation has changed, please do so! (Jeez, I have a Lorentz pump in my own well at home, courtesy of Windy. I'd replace it, but it just hasn't stopped working yet. Talk about a bit of hypocrisy...) Rant: Tom, Besides getting feedback from other Wrenches, I'd talk with GenPro, your distributor, about support. I'm copying this message to them; if I get a useful response about my rant, I'll post it to the list. Allan Allan Sindelar al...@positiveenergysolar.com NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic Installer NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician Founder and Chief Technology Officer Positive Energy, Inc. 3209 Richards Lane (note new address) Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507 505 424-1112 www.positiveenergysolar.com On 5/18/2013 5:41 PM, Ray Walters wrote: Greetings Wrenchies; I have had a few inquiries for larger flow rate pumps, and was wondering what the latest on Lorentz pumps was. They show some commercial models with high flow rates (30,000gpd) but I haven't gotten any response from the company directly. I have three questions:
Re: [RE-wrenches] outback fx service work
Todd, You can do it on the wall but it tends to lead to a bout of heavy drinking afterwards. Although I have to say that after doing it on the wall 6 or 7 times, you get quite good at it. You got great advicetake it off the wall and do not forget your grounded wrist strap! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer® NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Join us at the 9th Annual Small Wind Conference A Gathering of Installers, Manufacturers, Dealers, & Distributors June 18 and 19, 2013 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin www.smallwindconference.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 6/12/2013 6:58 PM, Bob-O Schultze wrote: Todd, For sure take it off the wall and listen to the other Wrench responses as well. Good advice. When I took an OB Service Tech class back when the FX first came out they warned us that while it was "possible" to do it while mounted, it was a bad idea. While the circuit boards are in rails to keep them in alignment, it's a loose fit and it's very hard to get the case back on without mucho grief. This isn't the first bad tech advice I've heard of from OB recently. I just got some of that yesterday. Basically, the guy didn't know the answer to my question and just made shit up. Not good. Bob-O On Jun 12, 2013, at 3:16 PM, Todd Cory wrote: wrenches, i have a customer with a failed air (xmfr) temp sensor inside their gvfx3648. when ordering a replacement, i was bitching about having to unwire the unit and remove it from the wall (60 pounds is heavier than it used to be) to accomplish the repair... the tech said most people do these projects with the unit still mounted. i have previously heard this was a huge hassle as the boards do not easily line up when the unit is not flat on its back. whats the wrench experience? take it off the wall, or do the repair with it still mounted? thanks, todd ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] AC dump loads
Hi guys, Just a heads up.John Berdner is no longer with SMA-America. He's with GroSolar now...... Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. Richard L Ratico wrote: Darryl, Check this out: http://download.sma.de/smaprosa/dateien/4439/SL6000-11-EE2807_Internet.pdf As far as I know, and I asked SMA directly 9 months ago, this is not presently available in the US. I wish it was. I have two clients who could certainly use one. It would be great to get an update from John Berdner. Regards, Dick Dick Ratico Solarwind Electric Bradford, VT --- You wrote: Hello all I am again facing an AC dump load question. How can a AC dump load be intergrated into a system? I would hope more than just turn on a large load and turn it off. Is there methods that work? Thanks Darryl --- end of quote --- ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine RE-wrenches mailing list RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org http://lists.re-wrenches.org/listinfo.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/etiquette.php Check out participant bios: www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/ ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine RE-wrenches mailing list RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org http://lists.re-wrenches.org/listinfo.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/etiquette.php Check out participant bios: www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/
Re: [RE-wrenches] Wireless control of off-grid pumps
Title: Wireless control of off-grid pumps Allan, Is the distance between tanks too far to consider adding that float switch wire? It really is the most reliable way. What's the vertical lift from pump to tanks? If it's not too much, say under 60-70 feet, you could use a float valve in the tank and expansion tank w/ pressure switch setup for on/off operation. My fear with any wireless setup would be the complexity and thus the reliability of it. And it needs power Good luck! Please follow up with anything you findI'm tired of running float wireas much as 14,000 feet for one system (runs fine...for now) Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. Allan Sindelar wrote: I have an initial customer meeting next week about solar water pumping. They want to use two wells in separate locations to fill a large storage cistern for a community water supply. The wells are in place, as is a tank on a hill. The water lines are in, but nobody thought to run signal wires between the wells and the tank. All locations are off-grid. I am comfortable with the design of all aspects of the system except wireless signal circuits. I am posting to ask for proven methods of communicating both tank-full shutoff signals to the pumps (SQFlex with CU200 controller with remote terminals, most likely) and low-tank alarm signal to an external receiver. The area may have wireless internet already in place, depending on the topography of the specific sites and whether they're line-of-sight to existing wireless access points in the region. Cellular service is unlikely. I won't know much about the details of the job until we meet. I would like to be prepared with some suggested approaches. I would appreciate any assistance. Allan Sindelar allan_(at)_positiveenergysolar.com NABCEP certified solar PV installer Positive Energy, Inc. 3225A Richards Lane Santa Fe NM 87507 505 424-1112 ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Wireless control of off-grid pumps
William, I hadn't thought of the Jobe valves for the primary tank. We see them used a lot for the gravity fed stock tanks that are fed by the primary tank though. I seem to recall being told by an NRCS water system designer that the Jobes had a problem that developed after 2-3 years of use. I'll have to look into those a bit more. Thanks for the info! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. William Miller wrote: Roy: I have minimal experience in this field, but I did experiment with this type of control. I did not specify a pressure tank, which may have rendered the concept feasible. I had suggested a ball cock valve be installed at the tank and a pressure switch at the well to control the pump. There is a problem, however, with this type of valve: I believe they tend to close off water flow gradually. When partially closed, enough pressure can build up to shut off the pump. Because the valve is not fully closed, the pressure in the line can bleed off rather quickly, causing the pump to start up again quickly. This rapid cycling can increase wear and tear on the pump. There is a valve available that will function in a different manner and allow this type of operation. It "snaps" closed. Below is a link to the brochure: http://www.jobevalves.com/uploads/24227/attachments/Reservoir_Info_Sheet.pdf William Miller At 12:28 PM 9/3/2008, you wrote: Allan, Is the distance between tanks too far to consider adding that float switch wire? It really is the most reliable way. What's the vertical lift from pump to tanks? If it's not too much, say under 60-70 feet, you could use a float valve in the tank and expansion tank w/ pressure switch setup for on/off operation. My fear with any wireless setup would be the complexity and thus the reliability of it. And it needs power Good luck! Please follow up with anything you findI'm tired of running float wireas much as 14,000 feet for one system (runs fine...for now) Roy Butler ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] NABCEP succumbs to IBEW pressure?
Glenn, ISBN 978-0-8269-1287-9 Available in several places now including Amazon.coma wonderful book! Wish this was around 'back in the day' when I was getting started Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. Glenn Burt wrote: Do you happen to have the ISBN number for that textbook? Regards, Glenn Burt Technical Specialist Renewable Power Systems, LLC PO Box 967 Averill Park, NY 12018 V: 518-674-5808 C: 518-810-3174 F: 518-514-1175 E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.RPSpower.com -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Darryl Thayer Sent: Friday, September 05, 2008 4:40 PM To: RE-wrenches Cc: dt renewables Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] NABCEP succumbs to IBEW pressure? hi ALL I am the NABCEP certified installer that teaches the course. So I am the horses mouth. If you knew the whole story it might look different. Further we have no sweetheart deal with NABCEP, and are encouraging them to increase their standards. Following is part of the story. To complete this course the following: 1) the student must be a practicing electrician, for at least 4 years. holding a Minnesota journeyman’s license and have a current OSHA 10 hour stamp. (Note: NABCEP requested up to five times that the Employment records be sent, and they would not accept a letter from the Union on letter head if it was faxed or e-mailed, on just sent on photocopied letter head without a proof of validity of the records, this minutia alone cost me a great amount of money and many hours. 2) The student must complete 56 hours of classroom training. the school requires attendance, and missing a day of class or even 2 hours will require the retaking of the particular course. (for this reason the 56 hour class is broken into 3 each 16 hour classes and one 8 hour class, and if a student misses a single class he/she must only repeat a 16 hour session) These people are workers with lives, and this is my attempt to make this work course more palatable. 3) The school also requires the student to complete written tests during the sessions, to prove competency, and as an instructor I can require a student retake a 16 hour session before they move to the next session. All sessions must be taken in order, for example a student must take and complete solar basics before taking solar intermediate. \ 3a) The book which we use is the ATP “Solar Systems” (ATP Press) 435 pages and I work to cover most of these pages in only 56 hours. Some of the materials are not appropriate for installer’s, however the balance of the book is covered in "solar for contractors" 4) After completion of these 56 hours, they are encouraged to take the NABCEP Certificate of Knowledge test. (However because it costs 70$ and NABCEP does not require this cert for qualifying for the installer test many do not take the test. (I think NABCEP should require training and COK. I also think 40 hours of training for cert test is ridiculous.) 5) Then after satisfactory completion the student is allowed to take the 64 hour installers course. I will not, nor will the school, accept anyone who has not at least 4 years experience as electrician, have OSHA stamp, completed the 56 hour COK course, to take the installer course!. 6) the 64 Hour installers course is a minimum of 64 hours (school based installations). (BTW: My two installers classes both ran 80 hours, with some students carrying over to complete their installs) During this class we indeed disassemble and reassemble a ground mount array, with each student completing a section of the array for their inverter and system based experience. EACH student must complete the following!!! 6a) Install one single phase DGI inverter complete witn setting into operation, and trouble shooting and inspection. (for trouble shooting I introduce a fault, usually a ground fault in the array but other faults are possible , the student must tell me where in the array the fault is by testing.) 6b) Install one three phase inverter (commercial) array. The student chooses either a 120-208 three phase, or 208 three phase, or 277-480 three-phase, or a battery based (only choice is 120/208) system. They wire and connect the inverters, or inverter, and set into operation, and trouble shoot problems that I introduce. These faults include offset neutral voltage, out of specification phase voltage, array grounding, high resistance in the line connections and others. 6c) Then the students working in teams of two must install a battery based system it might be a stand-alone, or grid interactive. (We have only three brands of battery based inverters at present, some 24 and 4
Re: [RE-wrenches] Enphase inverters
Hi Dave, We're looking forward to installing our first 4 in about 2 weeks. I plan to give feedback on the project when we have some good data to pass along. It was good to seeya in VT again this year! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com www.nationalsolarsupply.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. David Palumbo wrote: All, Any experiences with installing Enphase single module inverters yet? Also how is their real world kWh production looking? And any quality issues with Enphase? Thanks, Dave ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Pt valves as overheat control
Title: Todd Cory Hi guys, I have been using the SS water loop in my Amish wood cookstove for my domestic hot water for 9 years now. My tank is a 40 gallon electric water heater (space saver unit) and is configured for thermo siphon operation. The P/T valve is all I have for protection and I have to be honest, I kind of knew this was probably not a great idea right from the start! But it worksthe valve opens up and discharges into a piping system located under a raised bed planting area in our attached green house. So we get the benefit of the 'waste' heat. The valve opens, on average, about 1 or 2 times a week during the coldest part of the winter. I replace the P/T valve every other heating season because it does begin to weep a bit. So that may be what's saved my ignorant butt from being blown to bits.maybe. My questionis there a more robust version of that P/T valve that I should be using? Something that you would use in a boiler perhaps? I'm hoping to not have to change the system too muchI love the long, guilt free showersmore so because the electricity for the pump comes from my off-grid hybrid system. I'm so much better at PV and wind systems....hot water scares me! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com www.nationalsolarsupply.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. Todd Cory wrote: Sure, but the discussion was about preventing hot water storage tanks from exploding. Putting BTUs into a tank, whether that be from a wood stove loop or 5 kW electric heating element is not the issue. Relying on a P/T valve to regulate overheating is of course not a good idea, but it will prevent the tank from exploding. Todd Conrad Geyser wrote: Todd, I’m afraid that any PT valves that I’ve ever known have continued to weep indefinitely after one or two overheat triggers. I would not recommend relying on them for heat control devices. Conrad Cotuit Solar NABCEP thermal cert. ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Pt valves as overheat control
Title: Todd Cory Matt, Good suggestion.real hard water here. My water coil needs cleaning twice each heating seasona royal PITA. In addition to the weeping, the P/T valves also start leaking around the valve post too, so I figure I'm better off replacing it anyway. Thanks! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com www.nationalsolarsupply.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. Matt Tritt wrote: Hey Roy, T&P valves leak after X amount of time in direct proportion to the mineral content of your water supply. Minerals are deposited on the seat surfaces and prevent complete closure. My hunch is that installations in areas with very low mineral saturation of the water source will have much longer periods of time between leaks/seeps/dribbles and oozing. Maybe you can fix these valves by immersing them in a vinegar bath for a day or so instead of replacing them?? O course you would have to have the valve open for this to work, so maybe the vinegar would have to be boiling! Matt Roy Butler wrote: Hi guys, I have been using the SS water loop in my Amish wood cookstove for my domestic hot water for 9 years now. My tank is a 40 gallon electric water heater (space saver unit) and is configured for thermo siphon operation. The P/T valve is all I have for protection and I have to be honest, I kind of knew this was probably not a great idea right from the start! But it worksthe valve opens up and discharges into a piping system located under a raised bed planting area in our attached green house. So we get the benefit of the 'waste' heat. The valve opens, on average, about 1 or 2 times a week during the coldest part of the winter. I replace the P/T valve every other heating season because it does begin to weep a bit. So that may be what's saved my ignorant butt from being blown to bits.maybe. My questionis there a more robust version of that P/T valve that I should be using? Something that you would use in a boiler perhaps? I'm hoping to not have to change the system too muchI love the long, guilt free showersmore so because the electricity for the pump comes from my off-grid hybrid system. I'm so much better at PV and wind systemshot water scares me! Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com www.nationalsolarsupply.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. Todd Cory wrote: Sure, but the discussion was about preventing hot water storage tanks from exploding. Putting BTUs into a tank, whether that be from a wood stove loop or 5 kW electric heating element is not the issue. Relying on a P/T valve to regulate overheating is of course not a good idea, but it will prevent the tank from exploding. Todd Conrad Geyser wrote: Todd, I’m afraid that any PT valves that I’ve ever known have continued to weep indefinitely after one or two overheat triggers. I would not recommend relying on them for heat control devices. Conrad Cotuit Solar NABCEP thermal cert. ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org Internal Virus Database is out of date. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.175 / Virus Database: 270.8.4/1753 - Release Date: 10/28/2008 9:20 PM ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & set
Re: [RE-wrenches] Golden Genesis question
I go back that far as well. I signed up to be a Sunelco dealer in '96 and was then contacted by the Photocomm rep (Gene Bertsche now of SMA) because they had just purchased Sunelco. Then it was GG, then Kyoceraso confusing! I'm fortunate not to have run into any of those GG modules by the looks of it! I was kinda hoping that I could get a discount on Coors beer when GG owned the company but alas, it was not to be. Roy Butler NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer® NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC 8902 Route 46 Arkport, NY 14807 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com www.nationalsolarsupply.com Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. Matt Tritt wrote: Well Alan, all I remember about the Coors guys' efforts pretty much matches your description. Except that everyone called them Golden Genitals. ;-) Matt T Allan Sindelar wrote: Golden Genesis question Old time Wrenches, I need a history lesson, please… We removed a Y2K system installed by someone else, before a home was put on the market. All equipment was resold. The array consisted of ten Golden Genesis 12V 120W modules. Six were sold with racks, but four went to one of our existing customers. I ordered a DP&W pole-top rack for them. When the time came to install them the rack didn't fit. We redrilled holes and it all went together, but I was ready to rake DP&W over the coals until I discovered that the mistake was mine: the terminal circuit board inside a j-box showed that these were actually Astropower AP120s. I had assumed that these were the common KC-120s of that time, that had been private-labeled with Golden Genesis' name. Golden Genesis was a Coors Brewing (of Golden, Colorado) spinoff that got into PV for a few years around that time. My understanding is that they bought the entire Photocomm name and distribution network, as well as played with thin-film development for awhile (gallium arsenide?). Photocomm had been the U.S. distributor for Kyocera for years. Eventually GG sold out to Kyocera USA, which is what we have now. Who can fill me in on all this? Joel? Allan Sindelar allan_(at)_positiveenergysolar.com NABCEP certified solar PV installer Positive Energy, Inc. 3225A Richards Lane Santa Fe NM 87507 505 424-1112 ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org Internal Virus Database is out of date. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.175 / Virus Database: 270.9.4/1794 - Release Date: 11/17/2008 8:48 AM ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
