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Bicyclehub
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# Posted: 28 Feb 2020 06:48pm
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Completely new to off grid living and learning as I go. Is there an easy way to test my battery bank/inverter set up? I seem to be going through more propane than I should but everything seems to be working properly. I have a 8 Battery 48V 400 AH bank that needs to be charged four or five times a day it seems....
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ICC
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# Posted: 28 Feb 2020 08:40pm
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Can't really say much without knowing more about what you have.
What type batteries? Lead-acid? Flooded? AGM? or what?
How do you "know" the batteries need charging? What loads are being run? Is the charge only done by what sounds to be a propane fueled generator?
Do you have metering that measures energy consumed and/or energy put into batteries. The more you can tell, the more readily you might get answers that make sense.
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darz5150
Member
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# Posted: 28 Feb 2020 08:48pm
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More details would help. Lots of people that know a lot on here. But your questions raise more questions.
Is your generator propane? Or your bbq grill? What do you power with your set up? If you have to charge batteries 4 or 5 times a day.....that doesn't sound good. That sounds like you are constantly running the genny. If that is how you recharge.
Again.... more details.....and someone here might be able to help you. Good Luck.
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Bicyclehub
Member
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# Posted: 28 Feb 2020 11:44pm
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I am running a propane generator to charge 8 Deep Cell Batteries.
The entire house runs off the battery bank, fridge, lights, electronics, boiler etc.
The inverter reads a low DC and kicks the generator on to charge.
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ICC
Member
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# Posted: 29 Feb 2020 12:53am
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Then that sounds like there are two ways, maybe three, to make the generator run less.
1. Use less energy
2. Install solar
3. Install more batteries and use a bigger charger
How was the system capacity sized? Battery storage capacity and charging capacity.
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Brettny
Member
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# Posted: 29 Feb 2020 07:08am
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You still didn't give us much info. But anyway all this info is available online with a Google search.
You will need to know your loads.
Do you own a kilAwatt meter? If not buy one, there $20
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Steve_S
Member
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# Posted: 29 Feb 2020 07:41am
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Please list the equipment you have and the specifics.
Type of battery Make & Model.
Type of Inverter, or Inverter/Charger, brand, make & model.
Solar Charge Controller Brand & Model.
Solar Panels Make & Model and how they are configured.
Next, we would need to know what you are trying to run with our current system. What appliances & devices, what watts / amps they use as well.
If you cannot get the info from the appliance/device you may need to use a Kill-A-Watt type meter which plugs into the wall and you device is plugged into it, it will read the amount used by said device and display it.
At Home Depot USA $20, available on ebay & amazon too. There are several brands, some with different features as well.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Kill-A-Watt-Electricity-Monitor-P4400/202196386
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