₦airaland Forum

obyback:
Glad to hear from one of the greats. You mean one of these prime focus lnbs could perform better than the black ultra on the offset dish. Pls confirm sir

obyback,
a detailed experiment was carried out several years back on this forum using different lnbs.
the inverto black ultra performed poorly compared to the other lnbs. if u must buy an inverto
lnb go for the red classic. it out performed all the others by significant amount and it's what
i'm still using on my 4m till date.
for more details, check the now closed official thread of free to air satellite part III - V

obyback:
So I have been working on my 2.4m offset dish for a few week, previously I couldn't get any to on hotbird. I had to readjust the lnb holder, thanks to IRAPADA for the pictures for focal length. I have had to refoil the dish, thanks to GeorgeD and kungu pics on the nilesat thread. Today I and getting 460 channels on hotbird, a few sky Italia and nova tps but I am still unable to get the Polish packages which is my main aim.
I have been reading that Ku lnbs are mostly designed for 90cm to 1.2m offset dishes and can't fully cover 1.2m and above hence the need for a feed horn. I actually confirmed these by cutting the mouth of my Inverto black ultra to the widest point and I was able to get addition 230 station (before cutting I was getting about 200). I really need a feed horn, pls help !

Pic 1 refoiling

Pic 2 first layer of repainting

Pic 3 second layer of paint

Pic 4 3rd layer with can spray paint.

Thanks to Dlee1 joosat raskush

hello obyback,
i'm glad you found those pix useful. for prime focus ku lnbs you can try star gold fuji
or powersat. eurostar is also good.

NiyiOmoIyunade:
I agree with you fully.

Each separate PV array must have its own CC and if you must protect the CCs with an SPD, each CC must have its own SPD.

Any attempt to combine two separate PV arrays to one CC or SPD is very likely asking for trouble especially if the combined PV ampacity exceeds the CC limits or the array voltages are dissimilar.

The magic smoke would come out pretty quick in these scenarios.

An SPD is desirable and very good to have but not compulsory - if you can afford only one for now, simply dedicate it to the side of the installation that is most precious to you while you save up for the second SPD

if he has a magnum e-panel he could actually use one mnspd on all his arrays regardless of the size.

earthrealm:
omo, that was super fast!!!!...sweet deal,
who was the lucky buyer?
i would have benched my epsolar 60amp in half a heartbeat for this morning star!!!

lolz. i guess the deal was just too sweet for peeps to resist. even for those that really don't
have a need for the tristar. talk of compulsive buying (read: buying to keep) hehehe

kiekie1:
Hello Mr George, contact me privately if you need any service parts for your solar water heater ranging from vaccum tubes, float tank,optional AC element etc .. Cheer's

kiekie,
thanks for the offer. i guess the only service part i would really need now is a brand new 300l replacement tank.
if you can facilitate a like for like procurement then we are good to go.

DUNKA:
Quite unfortunate and your review had put a real dampner on setting up a solar water heater as I had looked at Protek and other brands such as Simba,NaturePal etc but that all seem to be of similar quality and reputation and I cannot shout

Well the waiting game still continues until a qualitative and affordable solar water heater comes into the market while I will for now increase my solar panels for use of an electric heater.

dunka,
yeah i think unfortunate is the right word. protek started out very well but now it's ending badly. so much for nigerian
white label companies.
however, make no mistake. i have never regretted going the solar water heater route and i still maintain it's the best
thing after sliced bread. you will never believe the feeling of using hot water 365 days a year without a single kilowatt hour
of electricity spent. that feeling of freedom alone is worth all the stress. if i were to do this all over again, i'll probably
do things a little differently but sure enough i would install another one without thinking twice about it.

DUNKA:
Were you able to finally resolve the leakage issue with the Protek tank?

dunka,
unfortunately the answer is no. protek hasn't gotten back to me for almost a year now and i've
since given up hope of ever hearing from them. apparently they have my number in their watsapp
distribution list and all they do these days is push solar inverter/battery adverts to clients. no more
mention of anything to do with solar water heaters. what a scam of a company!

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Practicals my Oga.

When it comes to the core business of squeezing solar juice out of a PV array, MorningStar is the best controller bar none - any advantage a Midnite classic has is in the ease of setup/configuration and perhaps less unit cost per amp - MorningStar capped at 60a while Midnite has 80a/96a units.

Even the MorningStar design (solid state/no moving parts, and conformal coating) is superior to Midnite's in my view. I firmly believe that a MorningStar CC can give 15years of trouble free service with zero components failure, I would consider it luck if a Midnite lasted that long.

I am fortunately placed in a position where a lot of CCs and equipment passes through my hands and I have been able to run tests of MorningStar vs other CCs in controlled conditions and so far I have not yet seen any CC beat MorningStar at solar yield.

The issue is just like the premium Fluke, they are rather slow to innovate or churn out new features, anything they cannot certify works 99.99999% they will not release - all the networking and remote monitoring restrictions can easily be sorted with a little bit of skill.

niyi,
you're very much on point. sometime last year i did a review on tristar vs midnite cc. the midnite won narowly but just.
recall that the winning points were mostly on aesthetics/effizy and not necessarily on core performance.
if i were to do the same review today, having now being weaned off the grip of that glamorous looking midnite lady,
the morningstar cc would win hands down

p.s: by the way, i have since reverted back to morningstar. solid state all the way!

chuckdee,
if you're using the magnum ms4348pe with the advanced remote me-arc50,
there is a button for turning off the charger completely. Also, you can program
the charger to cut-off and cut-in at certain times of the day, say from 6am to
6pm. This among many options make the magnum a very robust beast of an
inverter.

hello maboyarin,
i used to have the cyberpower cps5000pro (5kva) eu model but that
was sold like a year ago. it didn't have that feature you're talking about.
i'm sorry i can't be of help.

DMerciful:
I can check it... Whatsapp me.

dmerciful,
seems you may have yet another damaged tristar coming your way from my end.
the evil pv switch-off before battery error caught up with me and one of my cc is toast.
i learnt the only savvy guy in alaba is forming too busy and doesn't seem ready to devote
enough time to diagnose and fix. i guess he has too much big fish on his plate already.
i will be grateful if you can take a look and see what can be done.

mcTrinity:
Oga George D1,

Good morning sir... please, I thought you're using 3 strings of 12 batteries (I sit to be corrected).

How come you set your charging at 50%?

mctrinity,
seems you missed the part in my post where i said i don't charge with phcn.
i only put on the inverter charger to confirm the output dc current yesterday
morning after which i promptly went back to solar only mode.
the 50% charge rate was set a long time back and has remained so even
though i hardly use that feature.

kiekie1:
Hello Chief George, it isn't upto 100A cc as stated . Max I have seen is 50/60A max on remote setting unless you are referring to 24v specs.. Cheer's

ok looks like it's the input amps that can go as high as 100a and above.
my own inverter is set at 50% charge rate and as at this morning i'm
seeing 32 amps dc output meaning max charging amps (100% setting)
would be something around 64 amps dc.

thanks for the observation. have corrected my post accordingly although
i hardly charge with shore power (phcn, gen, etc).

mcTrinity:
Good day house..

please, does anybody know the maximum charging current of Magnum MS4348?

thanks

it's about 60 amps shore max but you can throttle it
to whatever current you want using the magnum remote.

NiyiOmoIyunade:
MY SUPER WONDERFUL CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE WITH MORNINGSTAR CORPORATION

I have two MorningStar 60a MPPT CCs which regulate the DC electricity that runs my entire house - the older of the two CCs intermittently throws a fault <DIP SWITCH CHANGED> due to some software error apparently but otherwise functions well and enters absorb and float normally.

Two years after I purchased this CC from an Amazon seller, I raised a support ticket with MorningStar Corp directly about the error I regularly saw logged on the CC - we worked through troubleshooting steps together and without any push or threat or force on my part, MorningStar already sent me a brand new MorningStar MPPT 60a as replacement CC entirely free of charge - bear in mind I did not purchase the CC directly from them o! They did not ask me for proof of purchase, they did not imply that I had somehow caused the fault, they simply determined that there was an issue with a product under their global 5 year warranty and immediately shipped a replacement out to me once I provided them the serial number of the product for their records

I was so humbled and grateful I told them to ship to my US address so that they would not have to bear the costs to ship to Nigeria - they were actually willing to ship it to me here.

This sets the standard for what a customer should expect from sellers and manufacturers when he buys from them and that way the customer can buy with confidence. MorningStar have made a customer for life with me.

See below juicy titbits from my engagement with MorningStar support.

niyi,
reading through your post i couldn't help but shake my head in disgust when i place my horrible experience
with protek energy side by side your sweet experience with morningstar. after making me climb up and down
my hot water tank for several days in a row they had to wash their hands off the same warranty they used
to peddle their product. interestingly i notice they now mostly advertise inverters, cc and solar panels these
days. no more mention of solar water heaters. but peeps should not be deceived. if they could shy away from
honouring their warranty on solar water heaters claiming flimsily that they were not the ones that did the
installation, they could as well do so for inverters and panels whenever issues arise. all they need to do is
claim that the customer installed their inverters wrongly and hence not their fault. end of warranty,
end of story!

niyi,
that's one of the things they claimed happened. at a point after installation
i decided to remove the assistant tank and connected the cold water inlet
directly to the tank. i did that because i noticed it always took like forever
to fill up whenever i drain the tank for whatever reason. but after the leaks
started and i called them to complain, they advised that I should put back
the assistant tank saying that the main water tank pressure was likely one
cause of the leakage. well, I re-installed the assistant tank and noticed a
slight improvement but that was it - the leakage was still there.

tholuxanny:
Kindly chat me up on this number, 07032687954. Let's see how it goes

check your watsapp bro

Juokorow:
Thanks again for perseverance over the botman! Two questions, please. Where you able to control the leaks with silicone or other methods. Given that my the house that I am currently finishing has been piped with Protek in mind, could you recommend an alternative? Thanks.

yeah i was able to reduce the leaks to manageable levels using the silicone but would still prefer a
complete replacement of the hot water tank if i had a choice.

i can't really think of any alternative right now but you can browse konga or jumia for options.

babaegun,
now you can see why the spambot was working overtime to ensure that
i don't get the message out. so strange you would think seun and protek
are working in league! anyway, things do happen but good enough i was
able to get the review out hook and crook!

pix as referred:

all,

after getting banned severally for the past couple of days i have finally decided
to go the attachment route. let's see if the botman can read attached files too

so, finally there you have it.

Juokorow:
We are keenly following your update. I am anxious to know they resolution of the leakage and any other issues and Protek’s customer service attitude. Thanks.

yeah, so the spambot thinks it can frustrate me. hehehe, it got something else coming!

solar water heater review continued. the botman banned me
again yesterday

the good
over one year free hot water without electricity so far. although there is an optional electric
heating element installed, i have never had any need to use it - yet.

the bad
a few months post commissioning, i started noticing small leakages coming from the water
heater. so i climbed the tower to investigate the source only to discover that the leakage was
coming from the inlet to the assistant tank (the small tank on top - check the picture). i
called my plumber and after deliberating on possible solutions, we decided to apply silicon to the
leaking connection. that seemed to solve the problem until the leakage re-appeared a few days
later but this time it was from the right end cover. on seeing this, i was perplexed and decided
to escalate this to the supplier - protek power and energy ltd.

i will now continue with my review from where i stopped yesterday.
hopefully, this around, botman will allow the posts to stay - with a
few tweaks to the wordings and removal of more special characters.
sigh.

Barezzi:
Lol Georged1 has been banned again
The devil is a liar, you must complete your review baba

lolz. yeah i guess the spam bot had to do it's thing yet again, and that while i was still
speaking. humph. it's seun's call really. he can choose to continue keeping his bot settings
on paranoid mode while restricting flow of information and stagnating growth or do the
right thing by loosening things up.
ever since the attack on nl a few years ago that brought his site down a for a few days,
the bot man has been on overdrive deleting posts and banning members for the
flimsiest of reasons.

all,
recall that i installed my solar water heater over a year ago and i've been using same
effectively since march 2017. i will now proceed to do a mini review of my experience:
the good, the bad and the downright shameful:

nameplate specs
product name - protek (white label)
type - non pressurized integrated solar water heater
capacity - 300l

installation
the installation presented a series of challenges when i had to decide on either a roof mounted
structure or erecting a separate water tower for the water heater. at the end i settled for the
later partly because of the weight and also ease of access for future maintenance issues. so,
after the decision was made, the rest was easy. retrofitting the existing bathrooms, toilets and
kitchen with new copper tubing was a breeze and my plumber was up to the task.
then came the commissioning part. coming from a background of electrical mains heated water
heaters with the likes of ariston, this was a new experience for me. i remember my first bath
with a solar heated hot water, it's a feeling out of this world.
max temp recorded from march to somewhere around june (before the onset of everyday rains)
was around 77 degrees celcius while the lowest was about 32 degrees celcius between july and
september (when the everyday rains set in).

abunafiu2:
Dear chief GeorgeD, you were about to give us a review of your solar water heater system.
kindly do sir

i tried uploading this review severally over the weekend but the spam bot keeps deleting my post
and banning me for 24 hrs. strange because i don't see anything that remotely resembles spamming
in my post. i know the bot has a loathing for special characters and i tried to minimize using those after
the first ban but it still had to do it's thing again the second time.

i will try again to upload the review. if it gets deleted again i might resort to posting a scanned copy.