₦airaland Forum

Trippledots:
Partial contact with the plug...I advice you replace the socket with a higher rating type and plug too.

Thank you!

I have two solar arrays and two charge controllers and two inverters.

I now have a third inverter.

My question is can one solar array/charge controller be connected to more than one set of batteries (ie., batteries hooked up to different inverters) concurrently?

Trying to skimp on setting up a third solar array and purchase of a third charge controller for now.

blaise26abj:
Truck or retail ?

Retail price depends on location

Retail

blaise26abj:
Truck- 4,300 -4,400

Retailers - 4,700 to 4,800


Bought a truck immediately after announcement at 4480, price was 4800-4,850 before the announcement.
Bought another one at 4,300 a week ago .
Location Abuja

4,600. Abuja yesterday 19/10/2023

FEGEITOK:
Please what is the cost of stone dust and granite (1/2" and 3/4" in Abuja per ton?

Got a quote of 5,200 per ton today? is that a fair price in Abuja?

GloriousGbola:
Can you share a Pic of the back of the outlet? The manufacturer name will usually be there. I suspect it may be volex.

Picture posted as requested @GloriousGbola

GloriousGbola:
it is probably from the socket outlet

a socket outlet is meant to be rated for 13A, but a large number of socket outlets sold around and installed by electricians can only carry 5A or less. The usual imitation problem. this is why in most homes sockets in kitchens or where kettle are connected to keep having issues.

you want to buy an original confirmed socket outlet - MEM, ABB, MK, Legrand or Schneider

sometime last year i bought some original socket outlets and the IRONY is that they cost less than the nonsense sold by electrical shops

for electrical it is best to directly source from known manufacturers. there is a lot of corner cutting in electrical materials .

you can also ask for genuine ABB plugs

Post-mortem of the plug
@TechGeek777 and Valto thanks

GloriousGbola:
it is probably from the socket outlet

a socket outlet is meant to be rated for 13A, but a large number of socket outlets sold around and installed by electricians can only carry 5A or less. The usual imitation problem. this is why in most homes sockets in kitchens or where kettle are connected to keep having issues.

you want to buy an original confirmed socket outlet - MEM, ABB, MK, Legrand or Schneider

sometime last year i bought some original socket outlets and the IRONY is that they cost less than the nonsense sold by electrical shops

for electrical it is best to directly source from known manufacturers. there is a lot of corner cutting in electrical materials .

you can also ask for genuine ABB plugs

Thank you very much

OKEMKPI:
Last week,I got a loss of revenue billing of 346k on my prepaid meter for a room n palour self contained in surulere from Eko electricity distribution company

They reported that the meter has an infraction called BLANK & SUPPLY.It means that the meter is visually blank and not capable of accepting token yet, supply electricity to the user.

This is totally wrong since the Meter kept on accepting token as even stated in thier letter that I recharged last on 24th July which is last month.
Unfortunately for me ,most of my token slips have faded off and as such ,getting a proof of my payments as requested by them is a challenge.

A co tenant that had a similar issue had all her proofs on her phone because she recharge from her bank App directly but unfortunately, some of her payments in the App statement where missing on the discos statement of payments which clearly confirms that not all tokens purchased from her App reflected on the discos platform which could be the result of the loss of revenue that they are billing on we the consumers

This is not a case of bypass but rather BLANK & SUPPLY which is not in any way the fault of the consumer.

They have already placed a hold on the meters of the affected consumers that we cannot buy token or recharge pending the resolution of the revenue loss.

I will appreciate your contributions on how I should handle this challenge.
Thanks
08170573735

Don't you buy tokens through bank transfers? if not, how do you recharge your account with EKODC?

You can print all those transaction receipts.

Don't you get token by SMS or email or are you one of those that delete messages evidencing transactions because of the mistaken belief that you might not need them again?

Going forward don't delete transaction receipts if you are one of those. Would have saved your ass.

Hello house,

I tracked down a wire burning smell to the electrical plug adaptor that my inverter is charged by the mains.

I then touched it, and it was hot so hot it could burn if the fingers were left there for a considerable length of time.

What is the best way to resolve this issue?

Thanks, in advance!

Additional point: The wire itself is not hot, it is just the plug adaptor that is hot

Jakumo:
My obsession with flying can only be described as all-consuming, The Amaka.  I have a flight simulator setup based on Microsoft 2004 flight sim platform, and have logged more hours than I care to admit mastering the systems and procedures of the 737 fleet produced by PMDG, and my all time favourite, the 767-300ER from Level D, which handles like a finely tuned Ferrari, in comparison to just about all other commercial jetliners in service today.

Rather than a computer keyboard, my simulator is equipped with a flight yoke, rudder pedals and a throttle quadrant, for added realism.  For me, there are few more intense pleasures than dis-engaging the auto-pilot to hand-fly a big bird though a ferocious storm on final approach to land in a sideways crab while battling monster crosswinds, and I have logged more hours doing that than I have in just about any other recreational activity I know of, including sex.

The right seat in my simulator room is set up with helicopter controls - the collective, cyclic and anti-torque pedals, and with all the hours I have logged there, I could fly and hover a Robinson R22  helicopter blindfolded.  So yeah, I love the birds, be they big or small.

Have you got pictures? Care to share?

For those who want a great looking kitchen without spending heavy


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZO-uMLQlNo

MeineMutter:
Check these ones out and see what he does with epoxy and resin-based additives.

Most of those luxurious homes don’t know this is what they are buying. 😁😁:
https://www.youtube.com/@StoneCoatCountertops/videos



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9JcwjdBD9U&t=144s&ab_channel=StoneCoatCountertops



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-k7-WmgwHE&ab_channel=StoneCoatCountertops



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CENAGcrv1TE&ab_channel=StoneCoatCountertops



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVGYT6R1qys&ab_channel=StoneCoatCountertops



There are lots of other videos. Check those ones out and you would learn a great deal and take your interior deco biz to a higher level.

Every materials used in those videos are in Nigeria.

Just make your research and don’t buy China made materials for your works to come out well. You know what our Nigerian importers from Asia do 😉

There are Europe or American chemicals and they would give you better results.

I've had my fair share of trouble from using Chinese glue.

Posted about their high VOC adhesive awhile back.

Cannot make the same mistake twice.

I want to thank you for sharing.

I found another example of the stunning craftmanship that can command premium dollars courtesy of you


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6-XkvV8ctE

MeineMutter:
You can use resin-quoted MDF with hardner . Works very well.

I can share with you videos of how they do it over here.

Very lovely and ‘royale’

Even they use it for countertops.

Please share with me.

I am doing a bathroom remodel.

I have already fixed one major design flaw.

The toilet seat should not be seen if the bathroom door is open. This involved a complete redo of the plumbing works.

I have been consulting YouTube on ways to make the bathroom luxurious and one can either make use of very large tiles to reduce the amount of grout one has to deal with

Or one can use an alternative material.

Please share the video or videos

Any experience with tileless bathrooms? Did anyone on this thread ditch the common tiled bathroom for something else? If yes, please share your experience.

Bathrooms are tiled for a number of reasons:

Waterproofness: Tiles are non-porous, meaning they don't absorb water. This is important in bathrooms, which are exposed to a lot of moisture from showers, baths, and sinks.

Durability: Tiles are very durable and can withstand a lot of wear and tear. This makes them a good choice for high-traffic areas like bathrooms.

Easy to clean: Tiles are easy to clean and maintain. They can be wiped down with a damp cloth or mopped with a mild detergent.

Aesthetics: Tiles come in a wide variety of colors, patterns, and finishes, so you can create a unique and stylish look for your bathroom.


Alternatives to tiles in the bathroom:

Waterproof wall panels: Waterproof wall panels are a relatively new alternative to tiles. They are made from a variety of materials, including PVC, acrylic, and stone resin. Waterproof wall panels are easy to install and maintain, and they come in a wide range of colors and finishes.

Laminate: Laminate is a popular choice for flooring in kitchens and bathrooms. It is durable, easy to clean, and comes in a wide range of colors and patterns. However, it is important to note that laminate is not completely waterproof, so it is important to seal the edges of any laminate flooring in the bathroom.

Natural stone: Natural stone, such as marble, granite, and slate, can be used to create a luxurious and elegant look in the bathroom. However, natural stone is expensive and can be difficult to maintain.

Paint: Paint is a more affordable alternative to tiles and other materials. However, it is important to choose a paint that is specifically designed for bathrooms and that is resistant to moisture and mildew.

mctfopt:
Most places I've seen MCCB used are in industrial applications where we have like 120KVA UPS and thereabouts. And also high battery bank application,eg like 24nos of 2v 1500AH batteries and the like. It's a rugged breaker for high current application.

So I learned.

The higher the output of your inverter and or solar array the more likely that an MCB may not good enough.

Hope we all know/remember and appreciate that running an inverter in the house is like running a powerhouse indoors.

We need to be extremely safety conscious lest something meant to bring comfort ends up bringing sorrow.

I recall my days as a child, I used to play with screwdrivers, and I cannot recall the number of times I got shocked from poking where I should not have been.

Installing appropriate protection devices will not only safeguard equipment but may also protect life and limb.

Dedicating a room that is always under lock and key maybe another issue especially as it seems inverters, batteries and their connections are closer to the floor than the typical electrical connections at a home

olopan:
NO, I will recommend an MCCB when you want a CB between an inverter and battery or where appropriate amperage is needed.

Except you have a powerplant of several PV arrays connected, an MCB of 125A would suit for a 100A charge controller

And a max. Of 63A series for PV to charge controller


An MCB is a miniature circuit breaker while an MCCB is a molded case circuit breaker molded as like with ceramic attached is a picture too

I like to do business with those who have a command of the subject/product they are dealing on.

That is what I do so that is what I look out for.

I will meet you on WhatsApp for further discussion.

You have done justice to the subject matter.

Thank you.

FEGEITOK:
Would you recommend the use of MCCB in between a charge controller/inverter and solar panels OR between batteries and a charge controller/inverter OR BOTH?

I have researched your previous posts; you give the impression that you are well-versed in this topic and I would like to do business with you.

So I bought a new inverter and it recommended certain circuit breakers between the battery and the inverter and between the inverter and the solar panels.

I have contacted two companies that sell MCBs, I noticed that they both had the AC MCBs but did not have the DC MCBs.

That was the genesis of my original enquiry about MCBs.

By posting that request on this forum, I got some enlightening information that I will now share.

As at today if you search this entire forum for the expression MCCB you will get 2 pages of results, the majority of screen real estate you will find out is advertising.

Almost no one has told us when to use MCCB or when to use MCB.

So I did the research and I now present that research to the house.

I asked the question: Should I use MCCB or MCB between my inverter and its batteries?

Answer:

It is recommended to use a MCCB (Molded Case Circuit Breaker) between the inverter and batteries. This is because MCCBs have a higher breaking capacity than MCBs, which means they can handle higher currents without tripping. This is important because the inverter may draw a large surge current when it is first turned on, or when it is powering a heavy load.

In addition, MCCBs are typically more robust and durable than MCBs, making them better suited for demanding applications such as solar power systems.

Here is a table comparing MCCBs and MCBs (see picture 1 below):

When choosing an MCCB for your solar power system, it is important to select one with a current rating that is equal to or greater than the maximum current that the inverter can draw. You should also consider the breaking capacity of the MCCB, which should be sufficient to handle any surge currents that may occur.

It is important to note that MCCBs are typically more expensive than MCBs. However, the increased reliability and durability of MCCBs make them a worthwhile investment for solar power systems.

I also asked the question: Should I use MCCB or MCB between my charge controller and my solar panels?

Both MCCB (Molded Case Circuit Breaker) and MCB (Miniature Circuit Breaker) can be used between solar panels and a charge controller. However, there are some key differences between the two types of breakers that should be considered when choosing which one to use.

MCCBs are typically used for higher current applications than MCBs. They also have a higher breaking capacity, meaning they can handle larger fault currents. MCCBs are also typically more expensive than MCBs.

MCBs are typically used for lower current applications than MCCBs. They have a lower breaking capacity than MCCBs, but they are also less expensive.

Which type of breaker should you use between your solar panels and charge controller?

If you have a large solar panel array or if you are using a charge controller that is rated for a high current output, then you should use an MCCB. An MCCB will provide better protection for your system in the event of a fault.

If you have a small solar panel array or if you are using a charge controller that is rated for a low current output, then you can use an MCB. An MCB will be less expensive than an MCCB and it will still provide adequate protection for your system.

Here is a summary of the key differences between MCCBs and MCBs (see picture 2 below):

Recommendation:

If you are unsure which type of breaker to use, it is best to consult with a qualified electrician. They can help you to choose the right type of breaker for your specific system.

olopan:
The thing is you can't see an MCB of 160A, MCB the big types stop at 125A that's why their model is xxxx125 while smaller MCB are of model xxx63 meaning that is the maximum you can go for their amperage range

Would you recommend the use of MCCB in between a charge controller/inverter and solar panels OR between batteries and a charge controller/inverter OR BOTH?

I have researched your previous posts; you give the impression that you are well-versed in this topic and I would like to do business with you.

olopan:
2 pole 40A AC MCB -4,000

2 pole 160A DC MCCB -54,000 (different from MCB, please check for difference between MCB and MCCB)

BOTH breakers are FEEO.

First of all thank you for your response.

The MCCB is several times higher than the MCB

Researched it.

Will get back to you soon.

I want to put another inverter online as an upgrade to my existing renewable energy setup.

I need pricing for 2P-40A AC circuit breaker, 2P-160A DC circuit breaker.

Please provide both pricing and brand name

mctfopt:
A friend went to a warehouse in the USA to pick batteries he bought @ batteryhookup and was amazed at shipment destined to Naija. Our people are doing well

In other news, utility revenue impacted by solar panels (solar farms)

samir101ng:
You can try a 24v setup but with the dollar rates now rising weekly you will need to adjust your budget and move fast.

1. SRNE 24v 3.5KVA inverter with built-in MPPT 150v going for about N235,000.

2. Amaron Quanta Batteries (Two) 200ah AGM batteries going for about N220,000 each that's N440,000.

3. Yingli Solar Panels 450W ( my last quote on this was August at N110,000 each but please confirm from their offices on the current price. Lets say N880,000

4. Installation & wiring with surge protection. N100,000 (just an estimate but you can negotiate with the installer)

You are already looking at over N1.5M already. But as stated here, the quality and brand of products you choose will determine how long your setups last.

The above setup i believe should fall withing your budget and if need be you can stretch it a bit.

Thank you for saving lives since time immemorial.

Edrizz:
1.3m? Check my signature for my wasap contact n please send a video

fegeitok at yandex dot com is the surest way to reach me.

Shoot me an email

brightk:
haha but ideally 25v is ok

You tried to contact me, please send me an email

fegeitok at yandex dot com

jonescosmos:
You should try a PCIe Gen5 NVMe M.2 SSD with blisteringly fast 12,400MB/s read and write speeds with an endurance of 1000TBW per 1TB of capacity. That gives you 2000TBW for the 2TB capacity drive, or enough to rewrite 1TB of data every single day for over five years on a compatible mainboard, thank me later.

Files and Bandwidths have grown bigger lately, after my Inverter setup I decided that I will have to do away with my 32TB WDMyCloudEX4100 NAS and 24TB HPE Proliant DL380Gen9 Server. They became too slow for my liking.
Despite having laptops like HP Omen, Lenovo ThinkPad P43s, HP AIO 24-df1270, HP ProBook 450 G8, all with minimum of 2TB NVMe SSD, I still find it slow pulling files from my NAS and HPE Server especially media files.
So I decided It's time to go full blown SSD.

My latest config goes like:

To replace my 32TB WDMyCloudEX4100 NAS I will use:
ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Hero
LGA 1700(Intel®13th&12th Gen) ATX Gaming Motherboard
Intel Core i9-13900K Gaming Desktop Processor 24 cores (8 P-cores + 16 E-cores) with Integrated Graphics - Unlocked
PCIe 5.0, DDR5,20+1 power Stages,
2.5Gb LAN, WiFi 6E
Bluetooth V5.2,
2X Thunderbolt 4 Ports,
5xM.2, Thunderbolt™ 4/USB4)
5x4TB Seagate FireCuda 540 PCIe NVMe Gen5

To replace my 24TB HPE Proliant DL380Gen9 Server, I will use:
HPE DL380 Gen10 Plus 8LFF CTO Server
2x Intel Xeon-Silver 4314 16 Core Processor
2x 256GB DDR4 3200
16x 1.92GB SAS SSD
2x 10G SFP
etc.

All these items have arrived except the Intel Core i9-13900K Proc.

Pictures of my setup will be made available on demand.

I have seen your inverter setup, and I think courtesy of you I ordered the extractor fan from the same guy you got yours.

I don't doubt you.

Beautiful setup.

I've got a NVM in one of my 3 X260s, albeit an older generation.

I will do a hardware refresh during the upcoming Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day 2 ( my preferred shopping time unless it is an emergency purchase).

Unlike you after bad experiences with Toshiba and HP.

I decided to stick to Lenovo's business line of laptops since they were renowed for their longevity.

I have also used Sony VAIOs, still have 2 left that still turn on.

They have become too slow but the motherboards have never given out on me.

With the Toshiba, my brother and I bought at the same time, they both went bad literally a week apart (planned obsolescence).

Got the Lenovos before I got my inverter because of the ability of the battery to last 18 - 20 hours per charge.

Now that I have uninterrupted power, I think I should plan a hardware refresh.

GloriousGbola:
wow. thats a first

do you have an external drive case or an adapter?

it may still be working but not booting. this also happened to me once years ago when i updated a hard disk [manufacturers website] and it stopped booting and could not be used as a boot drive again .

It is booting.

Just not in the original laptop (x240), in a near identical laptop (X250).

Infact I am typing this using that OS now

GloriousGbola:
what make is the SSD?

i have found that i should just stick to Samsung SSDs. a few years back i migrated my kids to SSDs and i bought a cheap drive. [silicon power] one fine day, my sons laptop just stopped working. the drive was fried. making a whining noise. order of quality seems to be samsung , crucial western digital/intel.

Samsung SSD 870 EVO 1TB

jonescosmos:
What you needed to do from the beginning was a NAND hard reset, and that's what you ended up doing when you sterved the laptop of power by taking out any sources of power to the mainboard.

Your SSD frying up was due to multiple power interruptions when you were power cycling the system because it was up and running before you went upgrading the firmware.

My Disaster Recovery days and knowledge would have reminded me of removing the SSD at the 3rd failed bootup. Good luck.

Honestly knowledge I have not used since 2010 has become rusty.

That said, my drive (the 1TB) that refuses to boot in 1 laptop (the X240) boots in another laptop (the X250).

All other drives also boot in the problem laptop(X240).

Something I am very curious about, will ask on some forums to understand what actually happened because I am short on time to answer that question for myself.

Summary, I didn't lose any data, and all my SSDs are working albeit in different machines than before this incident

olopan:
This is what I call painstaking troubleshooting, I am not vast in knowledge of computer but I took on myself to know a bit if this and a bit of that when It comes to I.T

I told a friend one time that the quickest way to gather knowledge and experience is by working with the big players, because there are always new toys to play with at one point which you may not be exposed to if working for yourself.

As a rule of thumb, I avoid certain things that would run me into trouble with computers.

BTW have you ever gotten off of a ransomware before?

Too careful to personally experience it. But when I was in the field, I used to encounter trojans. I remember finding a set of files that was responsible for siphoning data from a certain government machine to the outside world via email. Long time ago.

I have since stopped doing that kind of IT so NO, neither have I come across it in a client's establishment.

Is anyone doing this in Nigeria?

Tracking the sun makes solar panels more efficient on land and water


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAvXSDqbwDg

olopan:
Only those with ideas and understanding will appreciate the wealth of knowledge shared in this post and the prerequisite conversation, that alone sef is enough to get you kicked in the right direction.

Speaking of the value of knowing your stuff inside out.

I decided to update the BIOS of my main laptop on Saturday morning. It turned out to be the biggest mistake of my life. I bricked my primary workhorse and had to literally cancel all my schedule for Saturday and Sunday.

I have been updating BIOS all my life. But this one went south. The laptop would not come on again. To be more specific, it would turn on, but only into BIOS. It would not boot into windows. I tried every trick in the world same thing. I downloaded and created a USB based Windows Boot disk, but it would not load. I downloaded recovery ISOs and used them to create a USB stick that can allow me access the system, no luck.

I then assumed I have a bad USB stick and went to a repair man and he gave me a his own, same thing. Guy was stumped, referred me to someone else who was busy. I went home, kept trying all of Saturday and all of Sunday then luck smiled on me towards evening.

Then something occured to me. As a matter of practice and principle, I try to duplicate how enterprise networks are run at home. It means that I standardized on a particular laptop brand (Lenovo), a particular series of that laptop and that I have several of such laptops at home. I have Thinkpads X series several generations. I have more than one of each generation. X240, X250 and X260

So I said, when I bought this laptop, I swapped out the 250gb SSD for the 1TB SSD from my retired laptop. What would happen if I put back that original 250gb SSD. I tried it and the laptop would come on. So, the problem was with the drive and not the motherboard.

I took it out and returned the 1TB SSD same thing.

I then recalled that they said that X240 and X250 are literally the same internally. So I took out my X250 that I rarely use from storage and it would not come on, the power button would blink and make some noises and then go off. I removed the external battery, same thing. I removed the internal battery, same thing. I disconnected the BIOS battery, reconnected it, reinstalled the internal and external batteries and it came to life. I then removed the SSD that came with the X250 and inserted my 1TB SSD and it roared to life.

If I did not know my onions, I would never have resolved this at home and all by myself.

This story also illustrates for those IT guys who have never operated in an enterprise environment why enterprises always standardize infrastructure. It makes troubleshooting a lot easier. It also explains why you must duplicate the enterprise environment if you want to relate well with your peers inside.

In my days as a hardware and software guy. I was not that guy who fixed a bad PC by formatting it. I never did so. I always repaired the OS. I was very adept at those tools. Which guy would you prefer? A guy that does the easy fix or the guy who tried to understand what went wrong and then fixed it. Who knows the technology better? Who would you want in your corner when you got into IT trouble? I did not mind how long it took.

Even before repairing, I would use Antivirus Boot CDs to throughly disinfect the system because the primary cause of those failures was infection from human error. I would even replace the corrupted operating system files.

That quest to understand the underlying technology and understand how things work and fix the problem instead of just refreshing everything made me extremely knowledgeable of operating systems and led me to such tools like Winternals amongst others. Knowledge that I have sadly rarely ever used since I switched camp. Winternals was so good that Microsoft ended up buying the company and absorbing its founders, I can never forget Mark Russinovich. How much sadness I felt when Microsoft said they would discontinue that line of products. How many hardware and software guys knew that such tools existed? Their solution was to get pirated CDs and reinstall Windows. I never did that.

Neither can I forget The PC Upgrade & Maintenance Guide by Mark Minasi.

In the event that that had to be done, I would extract all the license keys from the installed software before ever formatting. So that the user would not lose his or her investments. I invested so much and found out that private individuals cannot pay for the labor that I put in. They were always willing to pay for hardware but never for the brains that did the work.

I would also save the user's data. I would ransack all corners of the hard drive and I would even take notes of where I got what data from so that at the end of the day, when I was done, the PC would be the same as it was before the trouble.

Then I plotted my pivot from that sort of business and thank God I did. Where I am today and where I was then is literally as different as the night is as different from day.