₦airaland Forum

hotdealz:
There is a charging light on the fan that turns from red to green when the lead acid battery that came with the fan is fully charged.

But since I replaced the battery with lithium battery, I don't charge till the charging light turns green. I strictly charge for 5hours and stop charging. The charging light still shows red indicating that I'm not charging at over 1v above safety limits.

CC CV charging so you're already breaking limits. You need to string them in series of 4 cells.

And with that, no more comments from me

wirinet:
I take God beg you don't confuse the guy and others.
If he is using the fan connection made for lead acid battery, he is not charging within limits. You need a minimum of 13.7v to adequately charge any 12v lead acid battery. Most use 14.4v and float charge at 13.7v. Now a 3 series li-ion battery should never be charged beyond 12.6v. So he is probably charging at over 1v above safety limits.
Use Google to check up on li-ion charging voltage if you do not know.

A pretty rash response but you're right. I didn't notice they were 3 in series. 12V battery packs for lithium are typically 4S and when I saw the comment on spot welding, I thought that's what he did. On looking through the pix, I discovered he merely adapted the power pack straight up - 3S.

By the way, I have all 3 common lithium chemistries so thanks for the Google tip but rather unnecessary.

SolnergyPower:
I think you should rather ask how he got it to work than this too many ways why-it-will-never-work.

It's a pretty straightforward connection. Literally plug-and-play. But that's not the contended issue.

wirinet:
The charger that came with the fan is a lead acid charger, which probably charge at about 13.9v. That's far too high for a 3S li-ion battery. At 13.9 each cell receives about 4.6v . That is a recipe for disaster. Your charging voltage should never exceed 12.6v. If you had connected through the BMS, you will not have any problem but you are connecting direct. You also seem to connect 3 of such laptop batteries in parallel, making the whole battery set up 3S6P.

I repeat get someone who is knowledgeable in lithium batteries to do the set up for you. I just pray the cells themselves are protected.

I disagree on that. He's charging within limits. Just that things can go wrong without warning. And with the low drain rate, imbalance is unlikely too. That doesn't mean his contraption is safe

dragnet:
hope you have a fire extinguisher nearby?

I couldn't agree more.

While they rarely explode, they have a knack for burning when you least expect it and probably when you wouldn't be there. Get a BMS, especially when mixing brands

GeorgeD1:
niyi,
i agree with you totally.
my experience with new technology is its tendency to being 'souped up' to serve the needs of whoever is
peddling it. at the initial time lithium broke into the scene, we were told it could be drained down to 0% dod
without any issues at all, and thus we would need exactly half the capacity of lead-acid batteries as replacement
for our battery banks. over this short span of time however, i've seen changing dod figures. from 90% to 85% as
the sweet spot where maximum number of cycles would be best guaranteed. this for me is a red flag and it simply
tells me that all is not settled yet as far as this nascent technology is concerned. so, if I have a lead-acid bank that
i'm maintaining at 50% dod, and i have lithium which is 3 or 4 times the cost of lead-acid and I can only go 85%
for best results, what difference does that make to me?
most of the hype of lithium revolves around its superlative number of cycles and its ability to charge faster while
needing lesser number of solar panels to do so. maybe that would strike a chord with someone looking to go solar
for the first time but for an enthusiast like yours truly already heavily invested in an oversized array and running an
agm bank pushing nearly 7 years, it would take a little more convincing that lithium is actually worth the effort -
and cost.

GeorgeD, I can always count on you to speak my mind before I do. What's more, lithium is considerably more dangerous. In the background, I've been messing with lithium (I'm that kind of DIY guy who keeps tinkering with things even when they're optimally tuned). I've had two remarkable experiences. In one, I had to bail while I watched a small bank burn brilliantly for a few minutes. In the other, I got a pretty nasty burn.
The hazards are real! I did nothing out of the ordinary other than pushing the limits.

I've avoided joining the lithium vs. lead chemistry wars simply because it's pointless. They both have their applications. If you're a power user with short bursts of high power demand or space and weight mean a lot to you, lithium is your guy. If you're old school and you want that trusty bank you can mess around with (ignore what people tell you about PbSO₄ being unstable) that can last you the whole day on reasonable drain without selling your kidney (for some of us), please do FLA or AGM.

- Before I go, I should mention the random cell failure which plagues lead chemistry cells also plagues lithium.
- Dry joints appear (akin to failure of connections between cells for lead).
- When hot, while thermal runaway is not an issue but . . . they get very hot, very fast, very much without tell tale signs.
- You thought your days of babysitting your bank were over? Think again!
- Balancers go poof!

All the aforementioned are things I have personally experienced in a 6 year window.

Anyway, the good, the bad, the ugly. Do what suits you and choose the one that would work for you. Avoid the overwhelming urge to do something simply because everyone is doing it. Unless for experimental purposes or "the experience".

Peace! I'm out.

dapsyra:
The version under reference is running on Windows 10. I also have it running on Android 8 and 9.

I did nothing extra, other than just install it to get it working on Android.

You can try deleting all it's data, uninstall, reboot and reinstall to see if that will straighten it out

Noted. Will try shortly.
Could I get a link to your version? Mine is version 1.0.03

dapsyra:
I can feel you Babaegun; I am in the same shoes like you.
If not for my large battery bank, I would have ran out of juice today

I need to get the Midnite app working on Android 8.1 (it crashes on opening despite installing Adobe AIR).
How did you get yours running?

durumibaka:
Gurus in the house, i am using bluegate ups as an inverter, charge contoller, batteries and solar panels thought really enjoying it, but I want to ask solar inverter and ups which one is better, hope to hear from you.

I don't think you should change a winning team. Unless the need (not want) arises. Then again, some of us keep improving our teams despite optimum performance. Restlessness perhaps.

State your budget and lots of people would gladly help you out.

earthrealm:
dont see you complaining today, that the lagos sun burned hot like the gates of hades itself

We don't talk while we feast!

Even had to blast the AC in my room to ward the heat away. Panels doing a prime job till about 3:30pm (1.95kW at that time).

mctfopt:
Constant cloudy days and rain are the bane of solar energy users during the rains. But the good news is when the rain is over and the sun gets to blaze, the yield you'd get will far outstrip that which you'd harvest during the dusty dry season.

Wednesday was brutal. Rained from dusk till dawn. And till midday. And till 3pm. And ... wait, is that sunshine breaking through the clouds. Are my eyes playing tricks on me or could I be seeing 2.25kW sustained power from a 3kWp array at 3pm (location Ilorin)?

Ended up with 4.6kWh (CC squeezing juice till 6pm). Not bad for a "sunless" day.

JUO:
Fangpusun xtm 4000

Guess they had a manufacturing contract with Studder. All of sudden, I feel like trying one out. I refuse to accept this temptation.

[quote author=totalgreen01 post=78601673][/quote]I really need to know how you got your welding done.
And to the house, I need a DIY-grade spot welder

kiekie1:
Affordable package !

A bigger UPS!

JUO:
but must people are not aware of this energy conservation. My inverter is 14w and 3.5kw 48v at that. I can't use any inverter that the idle consumption is more than 20w henceforth. Any good system should survive with 120ah over night with basic load. Nice one with your logic

Brand and model of inverter?

JUO:
what is the essence of using small inverter at night, to conserve energy?

Think
- fewer batteries (with all the benefits like fewer failure points, lesser maintenance hassles, cost benefits, etc)
- shallower cycling
- same derived utility

Let me paint the picture: overnight, consumption altogether culminates to about 2,000W max on any given night. On a typical night, my energy use averages 1,300W. This includes the inverter's tare load. Specifically, my inverter claims about 130W max from that figure.

My daytime inverter on the other hand has a tare consumption of a minimum 1,200W overnight! In essence, the inverter on its own is able to drain the batteries as might the entire house household. Oversimplifying the maths, the inverter literally doubles my night-time consumption.

Here's the interesting conclusion: since my house runs entirely from panels during the day, the batteries come into play at night. If I halve my cycling depth, I can theoretically double my cycle life. If my bank might have lasted me 4 years with my PowerStar inverter, it should take me 8 years with the Victron. Another way to look at it is, I could halve the size of my battery bank while retaining the same days of autonomy, should the sun misbehave (which is purely a myth at this point for my panels are sufficiently oversized to take me to absorb everyday even if they don't do float on sunless days). That way, I can go for an extra 2 nights should something catastrophically go wrong with my panels (insufficient insolation no longer being an issue).

And this is a mere 3kWp of PV. Fewer panels required to get the job done - an unintended benefit. The panels had been there before the new inverter and were about 50% oversized. Effectively, I'm now 100% oversized.

All these and lots more by merely having a night-time inverter. The cost savings are within the first year and the benefits until the said inverter croaks. Or a guru here decides to test it with his trusted hammer (that hammer has acquired Mjölnir-like attributes).

Of course, all the aforementioned presume optimisation of your system.

tsiriman:
Thank you for the suggestion but 800VA will be to small even though I don't plan to run AC or heater with it. I have 2 TVs and several fans.

I run two TVs, lights and at least 3 fans at any point in time on mine. It's the 375VA/48V model (300W). Reserved for nighttime loads.

bigrovar:
Me labout 3 years ago. I tried all that trick and still have the 150/45 fangpusun under a able somewhere in retirement. Hoping to one day put it under the axe and use the internals while secretly waiting for the hardware hacker community to take up the challenge.. maybe someday. I hope u succeed way I did not.

This doesn't sound good

.

Runx:
On your phone open the Victronconnect app without connecting to any device. Click demo mode select 100/50 cc, goto battery and select settings. Write down the all parameters you see and input them on your cc when you connect as I earlier posted. Continue for relay, alarm, display and misc Watch if there are changes to the LED lights flickering.

Tried getting to the settings mode but I can't get in. Stops on the screen right after the device selection. If I choose a higher VictronConnect app, it shortly afterwards tried to update the device but fails.

I think you were merely lucky. v1.19 definitely snowballs the device. Will keep trying my skills. Will see if I can peek into the update file and modify it appropriately such that I can downgrade (tricking it to think it's an upgrade).

Runx:
Do you mean your Fangpusun100/50 is now working?

Lights are flickering but that's all. Recognized by the Victron app. Doesn't display parameters on the app nor does it charge batteries. After a few moments on the app, it requests to update, which fails around 12%.
Then we start the cycle again.

bodeface:
Primo are good, SMA is a good options, but the challenge is the priming, it is a challenge in developing nations like ours.
Thanks - Saipro, any other ideas from other elders in the house.

I haven't tried it but I think there's a solution called Fronius Eco or something similar. It's standalone and starts at 25kVA, if I recall right.

While an overkill for your 10kW of loads, it might be up your alley. Otherwise, search amongst Indian inverters. You should strike gold there.

Runx:
I assume you installed Victronconnect v.5.2 of 2019-01-10 which support Smart Phoenix Inverter and Bluetooth dongle v.2.15
Do you mean 1. your cc can't wake up (LED light is blinking and not steady) or 2. No led lights are on?
....

I'm now at a point where it comes on but perpetually flashes the two lights on the right alternatingly.

In the Victron app, all fields are blanked out but the device is recognised as the proper MPPT 100/50. I can't upgrade (fails) nor see/access parameters.

Edit: I recounted my steps. I tried all updates but all failed - asides the initial ones. I got stuck on the number 22 update, v1.7 on the site you recommended (v2.0 when I installed it). And guess what? It bears the dreaded 1.19 update. That was the last successful update. Thereafter, the device got stoned. Not the gradual stuff Namzy dreads. Struck with instant death. I think there's something really wrong with that 1.19 update. Perhaps others should try to bypass it.

The Victron devices made it all the way to the file I downloaded yesterday, v5.7

Godliftedme:
House,

Good evening.
I have been thinking over 3-phase solar power system to power a mixed load of 10KW (5.5KW 3phase load and 4.5KW single phase load) between 7:30am - 6:30pm, from my findings most 3-phase setup requires a priming voltage for the unit to work, meaning I need to have another power source to get the 3-phase system working which looks like most 3-phase inverters are designed while considering develop nations with constant power supply.
....

Primo systems are fine but as you mentioned, require primers. A Primo backed by MultiPlus (small ones) shouldn't be too expensive

Runx:
I assume you installed Victronconnect v.5.2 of 2019-01-10 which support Smart Phoenix Inverter and Bluetooth dongle v.2.15
Do you mean 1. your cc can't wake up (LED light is blinking and not steady) or 2. No led lights are on?
...

It's 2. No LED lights are on. The CC is actually at cousin's place. I've had it lying around so I gave it out last year. Thought I'd fiddle with it on Monday since it had been going to float too soon.

No, I downloaded all Victron Connect apk files I could find from 1.5 to 5.5 and did a serial installations (quite time consuming) with a different phone (my primary phone is an x86 and I had been upgrading my Victron devices all along). Figured I'd extend the improvements to the Fangpusun as I'd read it's safe so long as one is offline.

The installation wasn't done by me so I'll troubleshoot on Saturday. I'll contact my supplier as well just to see if he's encountered this before.

EDIT: I just saw v5.6 and v5.7 are out. Will let you know how it goes.

Runx:
Let me guide you if you may, you need not be afraid to update. Go here: https://downloadapk.net/down_VictronConnect.html.
Download no: 22 which is VictronConnect 1.7 APK (2016-09-07). This is the update that require an update from v1.16 to v1.17. Download also no:17, 9, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 which is the latest version.
Now follow this sequence: You can update without a data connection, so SWITCH OFF your data connection of your phone. If you have an Android phone, go to settings, apps, find your Victronconnect app, then Data usage, background data - SWITCH THIS OFF. ( don't allow the app to run in the background.
Don't jump to v5.4 to update, do incremental updates starting from no: 17. Connect your phone to your device and when it ask for update do so with your data connection off. Work your update up until you reach v.5.4.
Very important: don't mess with the data settings unless your battery voltage and battery type. (I cannot emphasis this enough).
I am using Fangpusun 100/30 with v.1.39 and Fangpusun 702 BMV v.3.10 with no hassle.
Good luck.

I was playing with an old unit (100/50) I had and decided to use the Victron app, following your guideline. Currently, the device no longer boots (doesn't power on at all). I was offline as recommended. I did all the steps (offline and didn't change settings other than set absorb limits) and went further to install the latest app which upgraded my Bluetooth dongle to 2.15 while connected to my Victron Phoenix inverter. I connected it to the Fangpusun, powered down and came back up to see if any change was noticeable but it won't come on. Any suggestion on how to troubleshoot?

duwdu:
The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B is an incredible, nifty machine and is truly affordable. These will have to partially explain why many arrays of developers favour it so much as a platform of choice for apps and IoT stuff, majorly of the open-source types.

In this case, attached are four screen shots of the SolarSnoop/PCM60X Monitor app on the Pi, by a developer and in use with my charge controller. It's freely available on GitHub. It uses a browser interface and is thus available to be interacted with within the range of a WiFi network, or from anywhere on the Internet, on a browser.

I set up this my own particular install of the PCM60X Monitor to auto-refresh every minute, which interval is good enough for me.

Hope some of us who are not already using equivalent or better solutions to monitor/visualize their RE set ups, will be encouraged to find similar ones for own use.

........
P34c3
.....
...

I'd like to have something like this for the Midnites too. Sadly, the closest I came was with an Android App (though there's some German Raspberry Pi compiles which seem to work just fine).

GeorgeD1:
lolz. this is serious work oh. especially on this occasion when I'm at the countryside catching
nature's cool breeze

anyway, I'll attempt to answer some if not all your inquiries. apologies if I'm not detailed
enough.

1. number of batteries: 12 nos, 12v, 260ah, totaling 780ah
2. total nos of panels: 48 nos (24units 315w solarworld, 24units 330w canadian solar)
3. total load: this is a bit tricky but I'll try. btw 2500w to 3500w
4. inverter make and capacity: magnum ms4348pe, 4,300w capacity @48v

See? Now you've made him declare himself for what he is - a breathing, walking, talking power plant.

GeorgeD1:
brother, there's no other secret to my agms longevity besides doing the basic things.
coming into renewables over 10yrs ago as a green horn, I had a steep learning curve. using
4 units of 200ah batteries, I went quickly from a locally made inverter that nearly set fire to
the house I was living in, to a chinese made inverter that died on me suddenly one cool
morning, to another chinese inverter before finally deciding that enough is enough.
in all it didn't take me long to realise that the backbone of any solar system is the batteries.
when you size your battery bank properly, give it enough charge to keep it happy everyday,
it will last for a very long time - and that's what I did.
all the learnings I gathered from my first set of batteries, I put them into good use when I
was preparing my replacement battery bank.
proper load audit, a battery bank size to match my expected load and the right solar array
size to give enough juice to make my battery bank happy.
and it has paid off for me several years down the road.

I think I've developed a penchant for trying things out, thus my expensive RE. I believe I should soon sell off a lot of my new or nearly new gear I've acquired over the past 5 years. Time to free up some space in my RE storehouse. Should have used Yingli and JoySolar PV for sale soon. Maybe a few CC and Inverters. Two in-the-box Victron inverters too.

NoMoreTrolling:
Wow, 6 years on an AGM battery? That is uber impressive!!

Honestly, with batteries in Naija, solar can sometimes feel like Rocket Science, lol.

The last batteries we got (from JiJi) were babied and put through a C0.1 discharge, but still couldn't get past about a 100 cycles before they began massive degradation. All this while not going past the so called 50% limit on lead acids and fully going through a complete three stage charging regimen every time they were recharged.

So what is your secret with your AGMs? Is your discharge lower than C0.1? Did you oversize your bank? Are you sure that you still have the same capacity you did as day one? or have they degraded, but still possess enough capacity for your needs?

btw, how is your solar system doing? Last time I read your posts, you were generating upwards of 25kwh per day which just blows my f**king mind.

My current FLA USB L16 batteries are discharged from 6pm at 3.3A - 4.7A (C/40) and naturally show no performance degradation even though I push to C/10 at times during the day, no noticeable degradation yet (they're about clocking 10 months). They've only once been discharged below 80% (met it at 79% on a morning and yes, I check daily). Most days, I wake to 82% - 88%. Why do I bother, I've discovered I'm spending way more on RE than I ever did on diesel and petrol. True, there are numerous other benefits but it's about time I add economy to those benefits.

The leftovers from my Trojans T105-RE are still doing fine (say 90% of installed capacity) despite routine 50% discharge now.
My dad's USB L16 are still alive after 3.5 years of thorough abuse (60 - 80% discharge on at least 4 days of any given week).
FLA are a great pain but do well on cycle life above the current AGM, particularly some brands being touted as great.

If we could get GeorgeD1's Zenith types, even I would crossover to AGM in an instant.

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Please who has installed and used SunPower panels or has any experience with them?

How well do they live up to their Tier1 panel claims? I am being offered 3.6kw of these at a juicy discount compared to my beloved Canadian Solar, if they are able to give me equivalent performance as my Canadian Solar array then it would be a very good deal indeed.

I am about to take my 11kw array to ~15kw (end goal) and need to choose

Bros, I'm unable to optimally utilise my 3kW. So efficient are my home devices that I run 2 freezers, a fridge and opportunistic loads (water pump, water heater, washing machine and some others) without crossing the 8kW utilisation on most days. Even with the occasional AC use, I rarely cross 10kW. What on earth do you plan to be doing with a 15kW array?!

It also implies you'd have a battery bank of perhaps 48V 1,000AH. Or more. That's a small factory sir.

NoMoreTrolling:
I will post the testing when the installation is complete. Although I do not intend to put them through such rigors like a 100amp draw.

Testing will mainly be on the capacity after a few charge cycles.

With lead acid, you notice a capacity drop, sometimes as soon as after only two charge cycles, although minimal.

Properly manufactured FLA "build" capacity over the initial few cycles (up to 100 cycles) before they begin their true life.

DMerciful:
I would like to know the advantages of 340W panel over 250w or 300w considering the price difference

Space.
The 240W - 265W panels are the best bang for money. Have always been. Probably will remain so for some time to come.
If you need higher power with fewer panels in series, you might be compelled to go for the larger panels.