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AliExpress experience?
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
... On Tue, 20 Feb 2018 09:36:39 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: These look interesting to use with solar/battery power: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...842967793.html I'd find another distributor who doesn't go through DHL if I were you. Some shippers gouge the spit outta ya while others don't. I strongly suspect the overseas shippers of taking baksheesh. Through Foshan Alpicool on Alibaba: https://is.gd/xj41FC Maybe call to see if they can set up shipping. $79-240. https://is.gd/CkmZjC Here's a brand new (smaller) C15 for $268 delivered. Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about them, or buying from AliExpress? I have purchased from 4 vendors through AliExpress and have had zero problems. Shipping can be as short as one week or as long as seven. I won't be bouncing it down rough trails, although the car is 4WD and has a 12V outlet in the back for a powered cooler. Sounds cool. groan I forgot to tell you that I talked with my friend Phil and his experience had been entirely positive with the compressor type. He inherited one from his FIL and it's still working for him 9 years later, so it's likely 12+ years old. He set it to freeze (it's one of the fridge or freezer types) and he says it stays at zero on 120vac or 13.5vdc. Also, most of the truckers he knows have had horrible luck with the peltier types, with few opting for the compressor style. Those all had positive reviews, too, regardless of the brand. Phil also said to look at the propane/12v style of RV fridges, which are spendy but reliable. I had forgotten they lived in SoCal for 3 months in their 5th wheel while the truck was repaired after a freeway accident. If I can't find an AC/DC powered compact refrigerator priced as reasonably as the AC-only ones I may be able to make the fridge thermostat turn the inverter on and off. The real issue is the APC1400 UPS inverter's 1.5A idle current, which consumes more battery capacity than the fridge does. My present simple answer is add more batteries and let the APC and fridge operate the way they were designed to. That's looking like it might be the safest and lowest cost solution too. The APC's default float voltage setting for sealed batteries also works for flooded deep cycle ones. It's below the hydrogen generation level though they recharge rather slowly. The fridge power cord could connect to the center contacts of a DPDT relay so that the NC side senses thermostat closure and the NO side applies 120VAC. I already have a clip-on current transformer to sense when the fridge turns off. The APC1400 can be turned on or off by serial port commands, except that it refuses ("NO") to turn on without AC present. Startup on battery is an abnormal condition that requires pressing and holding the On button until the buzzer sounds. I could probably wire to the switch and buzzer to do that with an Arduino controller if simpler, less intrusive methods fail. Internet comments suggest that the non-standard serial port pins also have control and status functions that might be useful, though battery 24V appears on one of them and a slip could destroy the unit. APC doesn't document the functions, which I suspect are for production line testing rather than some user accessory they sell. Yesterday I received this DB9 breakout adapter to probe or make safer, better insulated temporary connections to the port pins. It might be useful for tinkering with CNC controllers too. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WW6YU5G...oding=UTF8&me= Despite all the proclaimed concern about CO2 and alternate/renewable energy it doesn't seem like many people are DOING anything about them. -jsw |
AliExpress experience?
On Wed, 21 Feb 2018 11:22:46 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message .. . On Tue, 20 Feb 2018 09:36:39 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: These look interesting to use with solar/battery power: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...842967793.html I'd find another distributor who doesn't go through DHL if I were you. Some shippers gouge the spit outta ya while others don't. I strongly suspect the overseas shippers of taking baksheesh. Through Foshan Alpicool on Alibaba: https://is.gd/xj41FC Maybe call to see if they can set up shipping. $79-240. https://is.gd/CkmZjC Here's a brand new (smaller) C15 for $268 delivered. Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about them, or buying from AliExpress? I have purchased from 4 vendors through AliExpress and have had zero problems. Shipping can be as short as one week or as long as seven. I won't be bouncing it down rough trails, although the car is 4WD and has a 12V outlet in the back for a powered cooler. Sounds cool. groan I forgot to tell you that I talked with my friend Phil and his experience had been entirely positive with the compressor type. He inherited one from his FIL and it's still working for him 9 years later, so it's likely 12+ years old. He set it to freeze (it's one of the fridge or freezer types) and he says it stays at zero on 120vac or 13.5vdc. Also, most of the truckers he knows have had horrible luck with the peltier types, with few opting for the compressor style. Those all had positive reviews, too, regardless of the brand. Phil also said to look at the propane/12v style of RV fridges, which are spendy but reliable. I had forgotten they lived in SoCal for 3 months in their 5th wheel while the truck was repaired after a freeway accident. If I can't find an AC/DC powered compact refrigerator priced as reasonably as the AC-only ones I may be able to make the fridge thermostat turn the inverter on and off. The real issue is the APC1400 UPS inverter's 1.5A idle current, which consumes more battery capacity than the fridge does. Your fridge takes less than 20w? My present simple answer is add more batteries and let the APC and fridge operate the way they were designed to. That's looking like it might be the safest and lowest cost solution too. The APC's default float voltage setting for sealed batteries also works for flooded deep cycle ones. It's below the hydrogen generation level though they recharge rather slowly. It's time for all of us to upgrade to LIPO (or better), huh? LA is just not worth the effort and hassle. But 14kW goes for $6200 installed. I hope that price drops dramatically when the Giga Factory opens and gets up to speed, or when new tech hits the markets. My single kilowatt will likely not be enough to satiate it, though. The fridge power cord could connect to the center contacts of a DPDT relay so that the NC side senses thermostat closure and the NO side applies 120VAC. I already have a clip-on current transformer to sense when the fridge turns off. OK. The APC1400 can be turned on or off by serial port commands, except that it refuses ("NO") to turn on without AC present. Startup on battery is an abnormal condition that requires pressing and holding the On button until the buzzer sounds. I could probably wire to the switch and buzzer to do that with an Arduino controller if simpler, less intrusive methods fail. I'm guessing that you want to retain the computer control rather than just hotwirin' logic to the SOB? Internet comments suggest that the non-standard serial port pins also have control and status functions that might be useful, though battery 24V appears on one of them and a slip could destroy the unit. APC doesn't document the functions, which I suspect are for production line testing rather than some user accessory they sell. Has APC released pinout info? Yesterday I received this DB9 breakout adapter to probe or make safer, better insulated temporary connections to the port pins. It might be useful for tinkering with CNC controllers too. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WW6YU5G...oding=UTF8&me= Not a bad price, I guess. ($1.93 direct from China, 6wk dlvy time) DB9, wow. I remember waaay back when computers came with those! ;) Despite all the proclaimed concern about CO2 and alternate/renewable energy it doesn't seem like many people are DOING anything about them. Yeah, I've noticed that, too. 12v products are few and far between while being ghastly expensive. Ditto point-of-use inverters. For now, going 100% solar is really expensive and far too many places either won't let you on the grid, won't let you put up solar, or they REQUIRE you to be on grid with your panels. It's a mess. The sun just came out and the glare is horrible, what with all that snow out there. About 5" came down overnight and this morning. It's up to 35F so it should be gone soon. The storm should reach you by early next week. And if it snows here, you know it's going to be much heavier elsewhere. G'luck. -- However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. -- Sir Winston Churchill |
AliExpress experience?
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
... On Wed, 21 Feb 2018 11:22:46 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: If I can't find an AC/DC powered compact refrigerator priced as reasonably as the AC-only ones I may be able to make the fridge thermostat turn the inverter on and off. The real issue is the APC1400 UPS inverter's 1.5A idle current, which consumes more battery capacity than the fridge does. Your fridge takes less than 20w? It draws 80W but not continuously. The average is close to 20W although it depends too strongly on room temperature and how much I open the door to give one definitive answer. On the last 12 hour run the fridge used 230 Watt-Hours overnight, after supper to before breakfast, while room temp fell from 60F to 55F. The APC which was on wall power used 695W-h, 465 for itself plus the 230 to the fridge. It appears to draw the same ~40W idle power whether on 120V or 24V. There had been several short power dropouts and I ran the fridge from the APC UPS overnight as a precaution, not a careful test. My present simple answer is add more batteries and let the APC and fridge operate the way they were designed to. That's looking like it might be the safest and lowest cost solution too. The APC's default float voltage setting for sealed batteries also works for flooded deep cycle ones. It's below the hydrogen generation level though they recharge rather slowly. It's time for all of us to upgrade to LIPO (or better), huh? LA is just not worth the effort and hassle. But 14kW goes for $6200 installed. I hope that price drops dramatically when the Giga Factory opens and gets up to speed, or when new tech hits the markets. My single kilowatt will likely not be enough to satiate it, though. Flooded lead-acid easily beats everything else for initial cost per KWH and if treated right competes well on lifespan. I don't see the life from older Li laptop batteries that I can get from LAs. Here is an example of a salvaged EV Lithium that's 4x the cost of a 12V 105A-h SLI31MDC https://www.ebay.com/i/112562977502?chn=ps The APC1400 can be turned on or off by serial port commands, except that it refuses ("NO") to turn on without AC present. Startup on battery is an abnormal condition that requires pressing and holding the On button until the buzzer sounds. I could probably wire to the switch and buzzer to do that with an Arduino controller if simpler, less intrusive methods fail. I'm guessing that you want to retain the computer control rather than just hotwirin' logic to the SOB? Whatever works. I have a lot of experience designing industrial relay and digital logic control hardware, and writing control software. Despite all the proclaimed concern about CO2 and alternate/renewable energy it doesn't seem like many people are DOING anything about them. Yeah, I've noticed that, too. 12v products are few and far between while being ghastly expensive. Ditto point-of-use inverters. For now, going 100% solar is really expensive and far too many places either won't let you on the grid, won't let you put up solar, or they REQUIRE you to be on grid with your panels. It's a mess. Alternate energy is great to impose on others, as long as you don't have to put up with the inconvenience of it yourself. -jsw |
AliExpress experience?
"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message
... "Larry Jaques" wrote in message It's time for all of us to upgrade to LIPO (or better), huh? LA is just not worth the effort and hassle. But 14kW goes for $6200 installed. I hope that price drops dramatically when the Giga Factory opens and gets up to speed, or when new tech hits the markets. My single kilowatt will likely not be enough to satiate it, though. Flooded lead-acid easily beats everything else for initial cost per KWH and if treated right competes well on lifespan. I don't see the life from older Li laptop batteries that I can get from LAs. http://solarray.com/TechGuides/Batteries_T.php "Anywhere where weight is an issue, Li+ may be the best choice, but for stationary solar systems, they are still about double the total cost per kWh of lead acid batteries like the HUP Solar One." |
AliExpress experience?
On Thu, 22 Feb 2018 15:06:32 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message .. . On Wed, 21 Feb 2018 11:22:46 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: If I can't find an AC/DC powered compact refrigerator priced as reasonably as the AC-only ones I may be able to make the fridge thermostat turn the inverter on and off. The real issue is the APC1400 UPS inverter's 1.5A idle current, which consumes more battery capacity than the fridge does. Your fridge takes less than 20w? It draws 80W but not continuously. The average is close to 20W although it depends too strongly on room temperature and how much I open the door to give one definitive answer. On the last 12 hour run the fridge used 230 Watt-Hours overnight, after supper to before breakfast, while room temp fell from 60F to 55F. The APC which was on wall power used 695W-h, 465 for itself plus the 230 to the fridge. It appears to draw the same ~40W idle power whether on 120V or 24V. Yeah, those things are always warm, even if the computer is asleep or off. (feels TrippLite Internet Office UPS) Hmm, this one isn't. My APCs and CyberPowers were always 90F+. There had been several short power dropouts and I ran the fridge from the APC UPS overnight as a precaution, not a careful test. My present simple answer is add more batteries and let the APC and fridge operate the way they were designed to. That's looking like it might be the safest and lowest cost solution too. The APC's default float voltage setting for sealed batteries also works for flooded deep cycle ones. It's below the hydrogen generation level though they recharge rather slowly. It's time for all of us to upgrade to LIPO (or better), huh? LA is just not worth the effort and hassle. But 14kW goes for $6200 installed. I hope that price drops dramatically when the Giga Factory opens and gets up to speed, or when new tech hits the markets. My single kilowatt will likely not be enough to satiate it, though. Flooded lead-acid easily beats everything else for initial cost per KWH and if treated right competes well on lifespan. I don't see the life from older Li laptop batteries that I can get from LAs. Your (and probably my) definition of lifetime is likely considerably looser than that of others, who would consider a battery producing only 70% of new capacity to be a throw-away item. Here is an example of a salvaged EV Lithium that's 4x the cost of a 12V 105A-h SLI31MDC https://www.ebay.com/i/112562977502?chn=ps A "new" battery from 2015 Chevy Volt? Yes, expensive. https://is.gd/Pspy7V Trojan T105RE (made for solar/wind) are about $200/ea (6v) but are 225Ah, same relative cost as that lithium. The APC1400 can be turned on or off by serial port commands, except that it refuses ("NO") to turn on without AC present. Startup on battery is an abnormal condition that requires pressing and holding the On button until the buzzer sounds. I could probably wire to the switch and buzzer to do that with an Arduino controller if simpler, less intrusive methods fail. I'm guessing that you want to retain the computer control rather than just hotwirin' logic to the SOB? Whatever works. I have a lot of experience designing industrial relay and digital logic control hardware, and writing control software. Ayup. Despite all the proclaimed concern about CO2 and alternate/renewable energy it doesn't seem like many people are DOING anything about them. Some are volunteering to pay more to the electric company for power which is supposedly produced with alternative energy supplies. Wind, solar, geothermal, biomass (which burns something/adds to warming. I still don't get why the alarmists go with that.) Yeah, I've noticed that, too. 12v products are few and far between while being ghastly expensive. Ditto point-of-use inverters. For now, going 100% solar is really expensive and far too many places either won't let you on the grid, won't let you put up solar, or they REQUIRE you to be on grid with your panels. It's a mess. Alternate energy is great to impose on others, as long as you don't have to put up with the inconvenience of it yourself. Done right, it's almost invisible rather than inconvenient. -- However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. -- Sir Winston Churchill |
AliExpress experience?
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
... On Thu, 22 Feb 2018 15:06:32 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message . .. On Wed, 21 Feb 2018 11:22:46 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: If I can't find an AC/DC powered compact refrigerator priced as reasonably as the AC-only ones I ordered the Alpicool C20 for $239. It's small and light enough to use in the car, big enough to hold 6 days of breakfast, lunch and supper. Hopefully it can run all night on the jumpstarter type sealed battery pack I've been using with an inefficient thermoelectric cooler in the car. Maybe the combination can serve as a fridge with UPS, as long as the jumpstarter's charger can keep up without overcharging the battery. That's easy to test with my datalogging setup. If the built-in charger doesn't work out I have an HF 99857 1.5A 3 stage onboard charger to dedicate to the task. I don't leave my home made devices running unattended overnight. Sorry, the HF 99857 is "Not available for shipment to CA and OR." It's time for all of us to upgrade to LIPO (or better), huh? LA is just not worth the effort and hassle. But 14kW goes for $6200 installed. I hope that price drops dramatically when the Giga Factory opens and gets up to speed, or when new tech hits the markets. My single kilowatt will likely not be enough to satiate it, though. Flooded lead-acid easily beats everything else for initial cost per KWH and if treated right competes well on lifespan. I don't see the life from older Li laptop batteries that I can get from LAs. Your (and probably my) definition of lifetime is likely considerably looser than that of others, who would consider a battery producing only 70% of new capacity to be a throw-away item. I knew how much current the truck starter needed and could measure how much the battery delivered. When it got close I traded. Here is an example of a salvaged EV Lithium that's 4x the cost of a 12V 105A-h SLI31MDC https://www.ebay.com/i/112562977502?chn=ps A "new" battery from 2015 Chevy Volt? Yes, expensive. https://is.gd/Pspy7V Trojan T105RE (made for solar/wind) are about $200/ea (6v) but are 225Ah, same relative cost as that lithium. That's $200 for 1.35KWH versus $120 for 1.26KWH from a 12V 105Ah SLI31MDC. I looked at 6V deep cycle batteries and AGMs before buying more SLI31s last month. The initial cost for 24V is $800 for the 6V batteries, $240 for the 12V ones. Perhaps the T105 makes sense for daily cycling but I can't justify them for a backup system where the smaller batteries are adequate. They may see only a dozen cycles, mostly for capacity testing, before dying of old age. This winter we have had many near misses from ice storms. It rains and freezes but the buildup hasn't been heavy enough to bring down trees or wires. Another chance is predicted for tomorrow. The SLI31MDC I bought around 2007 or 2008 to run a winch is noticeably weakening. Alternate energy is great to impose on others, as long as you don't have to put up with the inconvenience of it yourself. Done right, it's almost invisible rather than inconvenient. If you know how, please share it. Most of my industrial battery experience was tending to the needs of Lithiums. -jsw |
AliExpress experience?
On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 09:26:14 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message .. . On Thu, 22 Feb 2018 15:06:32 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message ... On Wed, 21 Feb 2018 11:22:46 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: If I can't find an AC/DC powered compact refrigerator priced as reasonably as the AC-only ones I ordered the Alpicool C20 for $239. It's small and light enough to use in the car, big enough to hold 6 days of breakfast, lunch and supper. Hopefully it can run all night on the jumpstarter type sealed battery pack I've been using with an inefficient thermoelectric cooler in the car. Yeeouch on the price. Aren't those jumpstarters a 1.3Ah battery coupled with a capacitor? I mounted a 48w (Sears/China watts; actual draw 27w) on a 12v 1.3Ah battery and it's a helluva flashlight. One of these days, I'll have to test the lifetime. It makes a great worklight. Maybe the combination can serve as a fridge with UPS, as long as the jumpstarter's charger can keep up without overcharging the battery. That's easy to test with my datalogging setup. Let me know the startup and running current draws when you received it. Very curious here. I've never seen a 12/24vdc compressor. If the built-in charger doesn't work out I have an HF 99857 1.5A 3 stage onboard charger to dedicate to the task. I don't leave my home made devices running unattended overnight. Sorry, the HF 99857 is "Not available for shipment to CA and OR." That's extremely funny, considering the import point is Long Beach, CA. I wonder what inherent evil they house to require them to be warded from the Republik of Kalifornia and mostly-red Blue state of Oregon. It's time for all of us to upgrade to LIPO (or better), huh? LA is just not worth the effort and hassle. But 14kW goes for $6200 installed. I hope that price drops dramatically when the Giga Factory opens and gets up to speed, or when new tech hits the markets. My single kilowatt will likely not be enough to satiate it, though. Flooded lead-acid easily beats everything else for initial cost per KWH and if treated right competes well on lifespan. I don't see the life from older Li laptop batteries that I can get from LAs. Your (and probably my) definition of lifetime is likely considerably looser than that of others, who would consider a battery producing only 70% of new capacity to be a throw-away item. I knew how much current the truck starter needed and could measure how much the battery delivered. When it got close I traded. I believe you. (slowly shakes head) ;) Here is an example of a salvaged EV Lithium that's 4x the cost of a 12V 105A-h SLI31MDC https://www.ebay.com/i/112562977502?chn=ps A "new" battery from 2015 Chevy Volt? Yes, expensive. https://is.gd/Pspy7V Trojan T105RE (made for solar/wind) are about $200/ea (6v) but are 225Ah, same relative cost as that lithium. That's $200 for 1.35KWH versus $120 for 1.26KWH from a 12V 105Ah SLI31MDC. I looked at 6V deep cycle batteries and AGMs before buying more SLI31s last month. The initial cost for 24V is $800 for the 6V batteries, $240 for the 12V ones. Perhaps the T105 makes sense for daily cycling but I can't justify them for a backup system where the smaller batteries are adequate. They may see only a dozen cycles, mostly for capacity testing, before dying of old age. The better batteries have a lot more lead in them and their lifetime is extended (barring massive sulfation). In your case, the cost probably isn't warranted, as you say. The price is easily justified for someone with a chest freezer full of meat. This winter we have had many near misses from ice storms. It rains and freezes but the buildup hasn't been heavy enough to bring down trees or wires. Another chance is predicted for tomorrow. The SLI31MDC I bought around 2007 or 2008 to run a winch is noticeably weakening. That's an amazing lifetime for a DCLA. Most are rated for 3 years. Alternate energy is great to impose on others, as long as you don't have to put up with the inconvenience of it yourself. Done right, it's almost invisible rather than inconvenient. If you know how, please share it. Most of my industrial battery experience was tending to the needs of Lithiums. Many solar owners I've talked with spray off their panels (in the cool of the morning) and check/fill batteries twice a year. Others spend time optimizing the spit out of them, so it depends on the mindset. I thought BMSes did all the hard work on lithiums. According to Kim on LoveTesla and Richard on fullychargedshow (YT), the Powerwalls are plug and forget. -- However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. -- Sir Winston Churchill |
AliExpress experience?
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
... On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 09:26:14 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: I ordered the Alpicool C20 for $239. It's small and light enough to use in the car, big enough to hold 6 days of breakfast, lunch and supper. Hopefully it can run all night on the jumpstarter type sealed battery pack I've been using with an inefficient thermoelectric cooler in the car. Yeeouch on the price. It's in the midrange for mini and compact refrigerators. I asked about Ali because the C20 is the largest Amazon offers. An unpowered, you-add-ice Yeti cooler of the same capacity costs $200. Aren't those jumpstarters a 1.3Ah battery coupled with a capacitor? I mounted a 48w (Sears/China watts; actual draw 27w) on a 12v 1.3Ah battery and it's a helluva flashlight. One of these days, I'll have to test the lifetime. It makes a great worklight. This one holds two 12V 18Ah AGMs. https://www.amazon.com/Century-BPIP-...ews/B00004TZKU Maybe the combination can serve as a fridge with UPS, as long as the jumpstarter's charger can keep up without overcharging the battery. That's easy to test with my datalogging setup. Let me know the startup and running current draws when you received it. Very curious here. I've never seen a 12/24vdc compressor. Sorry, the HF 99857 is "Not available for shipment to CA and OR." That's extremely funny, considering the import point is Long Beach, CA. I wonder what inherent evil they house to require them to be warded from the Republik of Kalifornia and mostly-red Blue state of Oregon. https://info.orrsafety.com/blog/new-...nuary-1st-2017 Are you still allowed to have fire or sharp-edged rocks? The SLI31MDC I bought around 2007 or 2008 to run a winch is noticeably weakening. That's an amazing lifetime for a DCLA. Most are rated for 3 years. Because they will die if left uncharged that long. The auto stores here try to recharge their stock after 18 months, or unload them at a good discount. Unfortunately they never have what I can use. Alternate energy is great to impose on others, as long as you don't have to put up with the inconvenience of it yourself. Done right, it's almost invisible rather than inconvenient. If you know how, please share it. Most of my industrial battery experience was tending to the needs of Lithiums. Many solar owners I've talked with spray off their panels (in the cool of the morning) and check/fill batteries twice a year. Others spend time optimizing the spit out of them, so it depends on the mindset. I thought BMSes did all the hard work on lithiums. According to Kim on LoveTesla and Richard on fullychargedshow (YT), the Powerwalls are plug and forget. Plug and ignore, because they are maintenance-proof. I saw the BMS data logs from some field-return Lithium packs show as much as 20% capacity loss in under a year. -jsw |
AliExpress experience?
On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 14:25:22 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message .. . On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 09:26:14 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: I ordered the Alpicool C20 for $239. It's small and light enough to use in the car, big enough to hold 6 days of breakfast, lunch and supper. Hopefully it can run all night on the jumpstarter type sealed battery pack I've been using with an inefficient thermoelectric cooler in the car. Yeeouch on the price. It's in the midrange for mini and compact refrigerators. I asked about Ali because the C20 is the largest Amazon offers. An unpowered, you-add-ice Yeti cooler of the same capacity costs $200. Aren't those jumpstarters a 1.3Ah battery coupled with a capacitor? I mounted a 48w (Sears/China watts; actual draw 27w) on a 12v 1.3Ah battery and it's a helluva flashlight. One of these days, I'll have to test the lifetime. It makes a great worklight. This one holds two 12V 18Ah AGMs. https://www.amazon.com/Century-BPIP-...ews/B00004TZKU Amazing. Century seems to make pretty good items. Maybe the combination can serve as a fridge with UPS, as long as the jumpstarter's charger can keep up without overcharging the battery. That's easy to test with my datalogging setup. Let me know the startup and running current draws when you received it. Very curious here. I've never seen a 12/24vdc compressor. Sorry, the HF 99857 is "Not available for shipment to CA and OR." That's extremely funny, considering the import point is Long Beach, CA. I wonder what inherent evil they house to require them to be warded from the Republik of Kalifornia and mostly-red Blue state of Oregon. https://info.orrsafety.com/blog/new-...nuary-1st-2017 Are you still allowed to have fire or sharp-edged rocks? I don't think so. Also, we (like CA) give lowest in-state pricing to known illegal aliens who wish to go to our colleges, and we register everyone (on visas/expired visas/illegals) to register to vote, too. God help us. We truly -have- to dump the Brown stain in Salem this next term. The SLI31MDC I bought around 2007 or 2008 to run a winch is noticeably weakening. That's an amazing lifetime for a DCLA. Most are rated for 3 years. Because they will die if left uncharged that long. The auto stores here try to recharge their stock after 18 months, or unload them at a good discount. Unfortunately they never have what I can use. No, I meant that nearly every article or guide I've read--about using marine deep cycle batteries for solar--says that their lifetime, being charged daily, is usually only 3 years. Rolls-Surrette and Trojan are good for about a decade. I'm not sure about the new RE-rated batts. Alternate energy is great to impose on others, as long as you don't have to put up with the inconvenience of it yourself. Done right, it's almost invisible rather than inconvenient. If you know how, please share it. Most of my industrial battery experience was tending to the needs of Lithiums. Many solar owners I've talked with spray off their panels (in the cool of the morning) and check/fill batteries twice a year. Others spend time optimizing the spit out of them, so it depends on the mindset. I thought BMSes did all the hard work on lithiums. According to Kim on LoveTesla and Richard on fullychargedshow (YT), the Powerwalls are plug and forget. Plug and ignore, because they are maintenance-proof. I was looking harder at the specs and pictures on the Tesla website yesterday and discovered that Powerwalls have built-in inverters. I saw the BMS data logs from some field-return Lithium packs show as much as 20% capacity loss in under a year. That's horrible! Tesla or Segway? What percentage of them? Same formula as current lithium ions? LI or LIPO4 (which I've heard horror stories about)? -- However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. -- Sir Winston Churchill |
AliExpress experience?
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
... On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 14:25:22 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message . .. On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 09:26:14 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: ... The SLI31MDC I bought around 2007 or 2008 to run a winch is noticeably weakening. That's an amazing lifetime for a DCLA. Most are rated for 3 years. ... No, I meant that nearly every article or guide I've read--about using marine deep cycle batteries for solar--says that their lifetime, being charged daily, is usually only 3 years. Rolls-Surrette and Trojan are good for about a decade. I'm not sure about the new RE-rated batts. I picked the SLI31MDCs for economical backup use, as I don't consider daily cycling to be practical here. I have to move the 100W Grape panels several times a day to dodge tree shadows, even in winter, and that's acceptable only for tests or during outages. We had another close call with icing yesterday, light freezing drizzle. I saw the BMS data logs from some field-return Lithium packs show as much as 20% capacity loss in under a year. That's horrible! Tesla or Segway? What percentage of them? Same formula as current lithium ions? LI or LIPO4 (which I've heard horror stories about)? That was at a company I don't think I've named here, that didn't make consumer products. The batteries had sophisticated management systems and were well designed to be very reliable, and mostly they were. I don't remember seeing any problems with Segway batteries other than old age and have no experience with Tesla. I've never seen a Lithium reach the 17 year life of my truck's battery, though I have some laptop packs that came close. I'm still using about half of the Ray-O-Vac Renewal rechargeable alkalines I bought in the 1990s. Some Xantrex inverters have a load sense function that idles them to reduce battery drain when they aren't needed, like late at night when the fridge is off and there are no other loads. I needed a larger freezer compartment more than a second pure sine inverter. https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/f...print/true.cfm "The datasheet shows 14.4W (about 1.2A) no load current, but this is in the "load sense" mode, which doesn't provide any power for things like the microwave clock, and other very small loads. In order for these things to work, "load sense" needs to be turned off. With "load sense" turned off, this inverter draws more like 60W (5A) with no, or little load." That's worse than the APC1400's no-load 40W. -jsw |
AliExpress experience?
On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 09:05:48 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message .. . On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 14:25:22 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message ... On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 09:26:14 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: ... The SLI31MDC I bought around 2007 or 2008 to run a winch is noticeably weakening. That's an amazing lifetime for a DCLA. Most are rated for 3 years. ... No, I meant that nearly every article or guide I've read--about using marine deep cycle batteries for solar--says that their lifetime, being charged daily, is usually only 3 years. Rolls-Surrette and Trojan are good for about a decade. I'm not sure about the new RE-rated batts. I picked the SLI31MDCs for economical backup use, as I don't consider daily cycling to be practical here. I have to move the 100W Grape panels several times a day to dodge tree shadows, even in winter, and that's acceptable only for tests or during outages. We had another close call with icing yesterday, light freezing drizzle. I saw the BMS data logs from some field-return Lithium packs show as much as 20% capacity loss in under a year. That's horrible! Tesla or Segway? What percentage of them? Same formula as current lithium ions? LI or LIPO4 (which I've heard horror stories about)? That was at a company I don't think I've named here, that didn't make consumer products. The batteries had sophisticated management systems and were well designed to be very reliable, and mostly they were. I don't remember seeing any problems with Segway batteries other than old age and have no experience with Tesla. OK. I've never seen a Lithium reach the 17 year life of my truck's battery, though I have some laptop packs that came close. I'm still using about half of the Ray-O-Vac Renewal rechargeable alkalines I bought in the 1990s. I was amazed at my ten years on the Tundra battery, so you should be in awe of the 17 years. The battery, charging system, and user were all in sync, a very unusual occurrence. Some Xantrex inverters have a load sense function that idles them to reduce battery drain when they aren't needed, like late at night when the fridge is off and there are no other loads. Probably some sort of sleep mode for the CPU, eh? Nice. I needed a larger freezer compartment more than a second pure sine inverter. I hear that. When I upgrade from the 2kw HF mod sine, it could be to one of these Taiwanese jobs: https://is.gd/n4nRNd 5kva 4000w 48V 230v Solar inverter off grid 80A MPPT solar LCD remote controller. and add at least 3kw more panels. Or, when I'm rich and famous, hang a couple Powerwalls on 10kw of panels and call it good. https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/f...print/true.cfm They mention the drawbacks of inverters, and in addition to LED bulbs of all shapes, I've been buying a few 12v items, like soldering iron, coffee cup immersion heaters, massive 160w car heaters ;), etc. Here are some others I'm finding: https://is.gd/RnBMEr hot water kettle https://is.gd/W1TVhu BB switch Still laughing at the last one. "The datasheet shows 14.4W (about 1.2A) no load current, but this is in the "load sense" mode, which doesn't provide any power for things like the microwave clock, and other very small loads. In order for these things to work, "load sense" needs to be turned off. With "load sense" turned off, this inverter draws more like 60W (5A) with no, or little load." That's worse than the APC1400's no-load 40W. A bit. You could buy a stable of panels and batteries for the price Xantrex wants for their stuff, too. -- Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear. -- Thomas Jefferson |
AliExpress experience?
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
... On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 09:05:48 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: I was amazed at my ten years on the Tundra battery, so you should be in awe of the 17 years. The battery, charging system, and user were all in sync, a very unusual occurrence. As batteries age they may require more than the normal vehicle charging voltage. http://shop.pkys.com/Battery-Equalization_ep_44.html I turn up my LM350 charger until the current reads 0.5 - 1 Amp, being careful not to go too high and damage any electronics. Usually 15V is enough for a road vehicle battery that still has enough capacity to start, the U1R in my garden tractor which gets less use sometimes needs 17V. After removing the vent caps I put clear packaging tape over the openings to control acid spatter. I can still see the electrolyte level and how much they are bubbling, or if one weak cell isn't when all the others are. When the current falls below 1% of the Amp-hour capacity at =14.0V I consider the charging complete. Those numbers vary somewhat among manufacturers. I've been given "dead" batteries that an automatic charger could no longer charge, but which recovered well and lasted several years when charged once at higher voltage. They weren't completely cured, they still needed a somewhat higher charging voltage each time, and monthly attention to prevent or recover from the high resistance condition called sulfation. I think this forced current, voltage-adaptive charging is the secret to long battery life. I needed a larger freezer compartment more than a second pure sine inverter. I hear that. When I upgrade from the 2kw HF mod sine, it could be to one of these Taiwanese jobs: https://is.gd/n4nRNd 5kva 4000w 48V 230v Solar inverter off grid 80A MPPT solar LCD remote controller. and add at least 3kw more panels. Or, when I'm rich and famous, hang a couple Powerwalls on 10kw of panels and call it good. I run a generator when I need a lot of power for a short time, like at meals. If not for the fridge's AC motor and 12A starting surge I could live with a 300W MSW inverter. The genny has a folding doghouse made from fireproof acoustic ceiling panels to quiet it and support corrugated roofing panels in wet weather. I should probably upgrade it to a more hurricane- and blizzard-proof model. -jsw |
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"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message
... As batteries age they may require more than the normal vehicle charging voltage.... Here is a good explanation: http://support.rollsbattery.com/supp...n-instructions " Eventually, the sulfate will cause a resistance to charge and a "false high voltage" reading will occur. The "false high voltage" is measured by the charge controller, which further lowers the charging current to maintain the voltage set point. This further increases the undercharge condition." "6. Once the specific gravity begins to rise, the bank voltage will most likely drop, or the charging current will increase." I've seen this on a battery that required 17V to initially force 50mA of current. As the battery recovered and its voltage fell below 15V the current rose to the limit of the LM350. It didn't harm my circuit but it needs to be considered. -jsw |
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"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
... On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 09:26:14 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: Let me know the startup and running current draws when you received it. Very curious here. I've never seen a 12/24vdc compressor. The DC compressors are German. Just search for "Gleichstrom-Verdichter". http://files.danfoss.com/TechnicalIn..._pk100c802.pdf |
AliExpress experience?
On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 16:52:41 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message .. . On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 09:05:48 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: I was amazed at my ten years on the Tundra battery, so you should be in awe of the 17 years. The battery, charging system, and user were all in sync, a very unusual occurrence. As batteries age they may require more than the normal vehicle charging voltage. http://shop.pkys.com/Battery-Equalization_ep_44.html The better solar controllers have both an auto and manually programmed EQ switch. What bothers me is that the default with the switch on auto is 2hrs of EQ every 2 days. Seems a bit too frequent, doesn't it? That's from the Midnite Classic 150. 96A (@12v), 150v max PV, MPPT, 12-72v battery bank. I turn up my LM350 charger until the current reads 0.5 - 1 Amp, being careful not to go too high and damage any electronics. Usually 15V is enough for a road vehicle battery that still has enough capacity to start, the U1R in my garden tractor which gets less use sometimes needs 17V. Low and slow amperage. No reason to upgrade to an LM338? After removing the vent caps I put clear packaging tape over the openings to control acid spatter. I can still see the electrolyte level and how much they are bubbling, or if one weak cell isn't when all the others are. Good tip. When the current falls below 1% of the Amp-hour capacity at =14.0V I consider the charging complete. Those numbers vary somewhat among manufacturers. How often do you check it? I've been given "dead" batteries that an automatic charger could no longer charge, but which recovered well and lasted several years when charged once at higher voltage. They weren't completely cured, they still needed a somewhat higher charging voltage each time, and monthly attention to prevent or recover from the high resistance condition called sulfation. I think this forced current, voltage-adaptive charging is the secret to long battery life. Interesting. (Saving this post.) I needed a larger freezer compartment more than a second pure sine inverter. I hear that. When I upgrade from the 2kw HF mod sine, it could be to one of these Taiwanese jobs: https://is.gd/n4nRNd 5kva 4000w 48V 230v Solar inverter off grid 80A MPPT solar LCD remote controller. and add at least 3kw more panels. Or, when I'm rich and famous, hang a couple Powerwalls on 10kw of panels and call it good. I run a generator when I need a lot of power for a short time, like at meals. If not for the fridge's AC motor and 12A starting surge I could live with a 300W MSW inverter. The genny has a folding doghouse made from fireproof acoustic ceiling panels to quiet it and support It's amazing how much sound comes from the engine itself, rather than from the exhaust, and baffles reduce both significantly. corrugated roofing panels in wet weather. I should probably upgrade it to a more hurricane- and blizzard-proof model. Indeed. Maybe go subterranean in a hillside with drain and a flat roof to muffle sound and defeat wind/snow? -- Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear. -- Thomas Jefferson |
AliExpress experience?
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
... On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 16:52:41 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message . .. On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 09:05:48 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: I was amazed at my ten years on the Tundra battery, so you should be in awe of the 17 years. The battery, charging system, and user were all in sync, a very unusual occurrence. As batteries age they may require more than the normal vehicle charging voltage. http://shop.pkys.com/Battery-Equalization_ep_44.html The better solar controllers have both an auto and manually programmed EQ switch. What bothers me is that the default with the switch on auto is 2hrs of EQ every 2 days. Seems a bit too frequent, doesn't it? That's from the Midnite Classic 150. 96A (@12v), 150v max PV, MPPT, 12-72v battery bank. I set my P20L solar controller to limit at the float voltage and never equalize. If the house batteries need it I'll take them outdoors and use a variable voltage charger. SLI31s are the largest batteries I can carry up and down stairs with one hand, the other free for the handrail or doorknob. I turn up my LM350 charger until the current reads 0.5 - 1 Amp, being careful not to go too high and damage any electronics. Usually 15V is enough for a road vehicle battery that still has enough capacity to start, the U1R in my garden tractor which gets less use sometimes needs 17V. Low and slow amperage. No reason to upgrade to an LM338? I think the order of LM338s I received was counterfeit. The limiting item is the 30V/3A current meter, which has much better voltage and current resolution than the 30V/10A model. I also use an LM317 that limits at 1.5A, and that is enough for the 105A-h SLI31s and everything smaller. When the current falls below 1% of the Amp-hour capacity at =14.0V I consider the charging complete. Those numbers vary somewhat among manufacturers. How often do you check it? A battery could be left on that topping-off setting for days because the current is low. I think this forced current, voltage-adaptive charging is the secret to long battery life. Interesting. (Saving this post.) I run a generator when I need a lot of power for a short time,... It's amazing how much sound comes from the engine itself, rather than from the exhaust, and baffles reduce both significantly. Fiberglass pipe insulation over the muffler outlet barely changed the sound. The acoustic tile box should be enough to conceal it from thieves driving by. I can't hear it from the street if a car is within 1/4 mile. corrugated roofing panels in wet weather. I should probably upgrade it to a more hurricane- and blizzard-proof model. Indeed. Maybe go subterranean in a hillside with drain and a flat roof to muffle sound and defeat wind/snow? I have a rock drill and a hillside in the right place, but not a blasting licence to cut in to it. This year's summer project is digging some exploratory holes and trenches. -jsw |
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"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
... On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 09:26:14 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: I ordered the Alpicool C20 for $239. Let me know the startup and running current draws when you received it. Very curious here. I've never seen a 12/24vdc compressor. The compressor draws about 30W, 2.2A at 14VDC. With the compressor off the controls use less than 1W. I cooled it to -20C and then connected a DC power meter and ran it 61 minutes (to shutoff), using 1.172 Amp-hours at 13.8V, or 16.1 Watt-hours, in my 56F basement. At that rate a 12V 105A-h battery should last 2-3 days. The cold plate is behind one wall of the food compartment, without a circulating fan. I'll have to experiment to find the right packing arrangement and temperature setting for frozen food. -20C is its lowest. -jsw |
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On Wed, 28 Feb 2018 15:35:45 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message .. . On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 09:26:14 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: Let me know the startup and running current draws when you received it. Very curious here. I've never seen a 12/24vdc compressor. The DC compressors are German. Just search for "Gleichstrom-Verdichter". http://files.danfoss.com/TechnicalIn..._pk100c802.pdf Cool. I saw a used (probably abused) unit on Ebay for $200 with $50 shipping, and new ones in the $500+ range. LOL -- Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear. -- Thomas Jefferson |
AliExpress experience?
On Thu, 1 Mar 2018 13:43:49 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message .. . On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 16:52:41 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message ... On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 09:05:48 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: I was amazed at my ten years on the Tundra battery, so you should be in awe of the 17 years. The battery, charging system, and user were all in sync, a very unusual occurrence. As batteries age they may require more than the normal vehicle charging voltage. http://shop.pkys.com/Battery-Equalization_ep_44.html The better solar controllers have both an auto and manually programmed EQ switch. What bothers me is that the default with the switch on auto is 2hrs of EQ every 2 days. Seems a bit too frequent, doesn't it? That's from the Midnite Classic 150. 96A (@12v), 150v max PV, MPPT, 12-72v battery bank. I set my P20L solar controller to limit at the float voltage and never equalize. If the house batteries need it I'll take them outdoors and use a variable voltage charger. SLI31s are the largest batteries I can carry up and down stairs with one hand, the other free for the handrail or doorknob. Could weight be considered a negative in the LA chart of features? I turn up my LM350 charger until the current reads 0.5 - 1 Amp, being careful not to go too high and damage any electronics. Usually 15V is enough for a road vehicle battery that still has enough capacity to start, the U1R in my garden tractor which gets less use sometimes needs 17V. Low and slow amperage. No reason to upgrade to an LM338? I think the order of LM338s I received was counterfeit. So the cheap Chinese semiconductors are no good, or what? Why did you think they were counterfit? Low output? I haven't had the lid off my bench supply, a 0-30v, 0-5A current- limiting Chinese model, but I wonder what chip they use. The limiting item is the 30V/3A current meter, which has much better voltage and current resolution than the 30V/10A model. I also use an LM317 that limits at 1.5A, and that is enough for the 105A-h SLI31s and everything smaller. When you say "slow charge", you mean it, don't you? When the current falls below 1% of the Amp-hour capacity at =14.0V I consider the charging complete. Those numbers vary somewhat among manufacturers. How often do you check it? A battery could be left on that topping-off setting for days because the current is low. "float"? I think this forced current, voltage-adaptive charging is the secret to long battery life. Interesting. (Saving this post.) I run a generator when I need a lot of power for a short time,... It's amazing how much sound comes from the engine itself, rather than from the exhaust, and baffles reduce both significantly. Fiberglass pipe insulation over the muffler outlet barely changed the sound. The acoustic tile box should be enough to conceal it from thieves driving by. I can't hear it from the street if a car is within 1/4 mile. Yabbut, the bad guys have impeccable hearing and sense of smell. sigh corrugated roofing panels in wet weather. I should probably upgrade it to a more hurricane- and blizzard-proof model. Indeed. Maybe go subterranean in a hillside with drain and a flat roof to muffle sound and defeat wind/snow? I have a rock drill and a hillside in the right place, but not a blasting licence to cut in to it. This year's summer project is digging some exploratory holes and trenches. Oh, boo! That could have been =fun=. -- Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear. -- Thomas Jefferson |
AliExpress experience?
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
... On Thu, 1 Mar 2018 13:43:49 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: ...SLI31s are the largest batteries I can carry up and down stairs with one hand, the other free for the handrail or doorknob. Could weight be considered a negative in the LA chart of features? Only if I can't carry it upstairs. They rarely move. I turn up my LM350 charger until the current reads 0.5 - 1 Amp, being careful not to go too high and damage any electronics. Usually 15V is enough for a road vehicle battery that still has enough capacity to start, the U1R in my garden tractor which gets less use sometimes needs 17V. Low and slow amperage. No reason to upgrade to an LM338? I think the order of LM338s I received was counterfeit. So the cheap Chinese semiconductors are no good, or what? Why did you think they were counterfit? Low output? The printing matched Internet warnings, and one burned out too easily. The vendor refunded my money without any argument. The limiting item is the 30V/3A current meter, which has much better voltage and current resolution than the 30V/10A model. I also use an LM317 that limits at 1.5A, and that is enough for the 105A-h SLI31s and everything smaller. When you say "slow charge", you mean it, don't you? Replacing a month's self discharge doesn't take long. I can charge at 25A if necessary, or borrow a neighbor's 50A wheeled charger. A battery could be left on that topping-off setting for days because the current is low. "float"? A somwhat higher voltage. Most charger setting recommendations only specify voltage. Inexpensive Volt+Amp meters like this now make current monitoring practical, so I use parameters from battery data sheets that include current values for charger designers. They allow higher voltage if the current and/or charging time is limited. https://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-0-30V-0-...-/321772149729 ...The acoustic tile box should be enough to conceal it from thieves driving by. I can't hear it from the street if a car is within 1/4 mile. Yabbut, the bad guys have impeccable hearing and sense of smell. sigh Other people' generators are louder. I've never owned a chest-type freezer before and have to learn how to use it, like how much air space to leave, when/how to defrost and not letting things get stuck. I do have a Fluke thermocouple meter to measure temperatures around the compartment. -jsw |
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On Fri, 2 Mar 2018 18:57:20 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message .. . On Thu, 1 Mar 2018 13:43:49 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: ...SLI31s are the largest batteries I can carry up and down stairs with one hand, the other free for the handrail or doorknob. Could weight be considered a negative in the LA chart of features? Only if I can't carry it upstairs. They rarely move. I turn up my LM350 charger until the current reads 0.5 - 1 Amp, being careful not to go too high and damage any electronics. Usually 15V is enough for a road vehicle battery that still has enough capacity to start, the U1R in my garden tractor which gets less use sometimes needs 17V. Low and slow amperage. No reason to upgrade to an LM338? I think the order of LM338s I received was counterfeit. So the cheap Chinese semiconductors are no good, or what? Why did you think they were counterfit? Low output? The printing matched Internet warnings, and one burned out too easily. The vendor refunded my money without any argument. I bought some LM317s from China a while back. I'll go look for warnings on them, too. The limiting item is the 30V/3A current meter, which has much better voltage and current resolution than the 30V/10A model. I also use an LM317 that limits at 1.5A, and that is enough for the 105A-h SLI31s and everything smaller. When you say "slow charge", you mean it, don't you? Replacing a month's self discharge doesn't take long. I can charge at 25A if necessary, or borrow a neighbor's 50A wheeled charger. A battery could be left on that topping-off setting for days because the current is low. "float"? A somwhat higher voltage. Most charger setting recommendations only specify voltage. Inexpensive Volt+Amp meters like this now make current monitoring practical, so I use parameters from battery data sheets that include current values for charger designers. They allow higher voltage if the current and/or charging time is limited. https://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-0-30V-0-...-/321772149729 ...The acoustic tile box should be enough to conceal it from thieves driving by. I can't hear it from the street if a car is within 1/4 mile. Yabbut, the bad guys have impeccable hearing and sense of smell. sigh Other people' generators are louder. That only means yours will be the last to be stolen. Criminals are nothing if not persistent when they sense a gold mine. They work so hard to avoid work, I swear. I've never owned a chest-type freezer before and have to learn how to use it, like how much air space to leave, when/how to defrost and not letting things get stuck. I do have a Fluke thermocouple meter to measure temperatures around the compartment. That's good. I read that Danfoss catalog and was impressed at how much info they crammed in there. Wow! When I read "isobutane", I was fascinated and had to find out what other refrigerants they were using now. R600 is nButane and R290 is propane, used by two of the compressors they make. ASHRAE refrigerant properties link within first message he https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_the_difference_between_R134a_and_R600a_Can _the_domestic_refrigerator_which_originally_used_R 600a_being_change_to_R134a or https://is.gd/lpBUP3 -- Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear. -- Thomas Jefferson |
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"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
... On Fri, 2 Mar 2018 18:57:20 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: "float"? A somwhat higher voltage. Most charger setting recommendations only specify voltage. Inexpensive Volt+Amp meters like this now make current monitoring practical, so I use parameters from battery data sheets that include current values for charger designers. They allow higher voltage if the current and/or charging time is limited. This is what I'm doing with home-made metered voltage regulators that operate from solar panels. http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/a...a_power_supply The LM350 and a 33.00V / 3.000A meter are a good match. The meter reads to my LM350's 4.5A limit, at least briefly. (Short URL; there are other vendors) https://www.amazon.com/SMAKN-voltage.../dp/B00N9ME6TM ...The acoustic tile box should be enough to conceal it from thieves driving by. I can't hear it from the street if a car is within 1/4 mile. Including the car they are in. Yabbut, the bad guys have impeccable hearing and sense of smell. sigh Other people' generators are louder. That only means yours will be the last to be stolen. Criminals are nothing if not persistent when they sense a gold mine. They work so hard to avoid work, I swear. There are enough unstealable generators on concrete pads to blanket the area with omnidirectional engine noise. I think I can run mine for an hour or two at meal times and use the batteries between and overnight. That plan is based on bad weather more than theft risk. In good weather my 300W of solar panels may be enough. A KAW on the Alpicool C20 predicts it using 0.4 KWH per day, for $2.20 a month as a -18C .freezer. It ran 2:00 hours on a Whistler 'Mighty' Lithium jumpstarter that I can use for grocery shopping trips, on the deep cycle low battery voltage cutoff setting. The car battery setting cuts off at a higher voltage so the car will still be able to start. I've never owned a chest-type freezer before and have to learn how to use it, like how much air space to leave, when/how to defrost and not letting things get stuck. I do have a Fluke thermocouple meter to measure temperatures around the compartment. That's good. I read that Danfoss catalog and was impressed at how much info they crammed in there. Wow! I think the compressor may be a copy, it has an Alpicool label and the schematic is different. The blue metal-cased wattmeter recorded peak startup currents around 4~5A. So far I'm happy with it as long as it doesn't break. The car has a 12V outlet in the back and tie-down eyes.to keep cargo from sliding, which the motor cover grills might not stand up to very well. The cover was dinged when I received it. The C20 seems more suited to the 'burbs than the boonies. -jsw |
AliExpress experience?
On Sat, 3 Mar 2018 08:57:00 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote: ...The acoustic tile box should be enough to conceal it from thieves driving by. I can't hear it from the street if a car is within 1/4 mile. Including the car they are in. The driver may let off the thieves, and I have seen non-running, unlit cars drive past my house at night in the past. Pop the trash bag in the garbage can and then hear tire noise drifting by. Hmmm... Yabbut, the bad guys have impeccable hearing and sense of smell. sigh Other people' generators are louder. That only means yours will be the last to be stolen. Criminals are nothing if not persistent when they sense a gold mine. They work so hard to avoid work, I swear. There are enough unstealable generators on concrete pads to blanket the area with omnidirectional engine noise. I think I can run mine for an hour or two at meal times and use the batteries between and overnight. That plan is based on bad weather more than theft risk. In good weather my 300W of solar panels may be enough. Yeah, that's good. A KAW on the Alpicool C20 predicts it using 0.4 KWH per day, for $2.20 a month as a -18C .freezer. Not bad at all, but that's a pretty tiny box, only 0.7 c/f. It ran 2:00 hours on a Whistler 'Mighty' Lithium jumpstarter that I can use for grocery shopping trips, on the deep cycle low battery voltage cutoff setting. The car battery setting cuts off at a higher voltage so the car will still be able to start. I've never owned a chest-type freezer before and have to learn how to use it, like how much air space to leave, when/how to defrost and not letting things get stuck. That's the pits. When I buy family packs of meat, I always try to bag each item separately and freeze them so they don't stick together. Otherwise, it =all= has to thaw to separate them. I do have a Fluke thermocouple meter to measure temperatures around the compartment. That's good. I read that Danfoss catalog and was impressed at how much info they crammed in there. Wow! I think the compressor may be a copy, it has an Alpicool label and the schematic is different. The blue metal-cased wattmeter recorded peak startup currents around 4~5A. Pray for good cooler/comp lifetime. Running watts w/ w/o comp? So far I'm happy with it as long as it doesn't break. The car has a 12V outlet in the back and tie-down eyes.to keep cargo from sliding, which the motor cover grills might not stand up to very well. The cover was dinged when I received it. The C20 seems more suited to the 'burbs than the boonies. Bad packing or bad handling before boxing? G'luck with it. -- Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear. -- Thomas Jefferson |
AliExpress experience?
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
... On Sat, 3 Mar 2018 08:57:00 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: A KAW on the Alpicool C20 predicts it using 0.4 KWH per day, for $2.20 a month as a -18C .freezer. Not bad at all, but that's a pretty tiny box, only 0.7 c/f. That it is, which is why I asked about using AliExpress to order a larger version than Amazon offers, and made a model to experiment with. I think the 6-7 days of food it holds plus the same in the fridge is enough. Time will tell. Now that this one has run a while the evaporator tubes show as two lines of frost all the way around near the upper edge, so they do cool all four walls, and it's resting on the insulating foamcore footprint template from my model of it. I happened to have a wire grid the right size to raise the food slightly off the bottom and let cold air underneath. The area of the bottom is about twice that of a Coleman Oscar. I was satisfied with them for long trips because they fit in the rear passenger footwells where they are within reach without stopping. One needs ice, the other has a thermoelectric "cooler" lid. The C20 will freeze ice packs for the Oscar. I've never owned a chest-type freezer before and have to learn how to use it, like how much air space to leave, when/how to defrost and not letting things get stuck. That's the pits. When I buy family packs of meat, I always try to bag each item separately and freeze them so they don't stick together. Otherwise, it =all= has to thaw to separate them. Thanks, I'll try that. Pray for good cooler/comp lifetime. I bought the small fridge second-hand in the 1980's so its doom could be near. Running watts w/ w/o comp? 30-35W in Eco mode, 1 Watt at idle. On the high setting it pulled 45-50W. -jsw |
AliExpress experience?
On Sat, 3 Mar 2018 15:37:28 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message .. . On Sat, 3 Mar 2018 08:57:00 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: A KAW on the Alpicool C20 predicts it using 0.4 KWH per day, for $2.20 a month as a -18C .freezer. Not bad at all, but that's a pretty tiny box, only 0.7 c/f. That it is, which is why I asked about using AliExpress to order a larger version than Amazon offers, and made a model to experiment with. I think the 6-7 days of food it holds plus the same in the fridge is enough. Time will tell. Yup. Now that this one has run a while the evaporator tubes show as two lines of frost all the way around near the upper edge, so they do cool all four walls, and it's resting on the insulating foamcore footprint template from my model of it. I happened to have a wire grid the right size to raise the food slightly off the bottom and let cold air underneath. Good deal with the grid. If there were a flaw in the insulation, a piece of meat resting on the bottom could rot at that point and not be noticed until it was too late. I'd love to tour the plant where those are made. The area of the bottom is about twice that of a Coleman Oscar. I was satisfied with them for long trips because they fit in the rear passenger footwells where they are within reach without stopping. One needs ice, the other has a thermoelectric "cooler" lid. The C20 will freeze ice packs for the Oscar. There ya go. I've never owned a chest-type freezer before and have to learn how to use it, like how much air space to leave, when/how to defrost and not letting things get stuck. That's the pits. When I buy family packs of meat, I always try to bag each item separately and freeze them so they don't stick together. Otherwise, it =all= has to thaw to separate them. Thanks, I'll try that. Pray for good cooler/comp lifetime. I bought the small fridge second-hand in the 1980's so its doom could be near. Knock on wood. Running watts w/ w/o comp? 30-35W in Eco mode, 1 Watt at idle. On the high setting it pulled 45-50W. That's amazingly little power draw. How cool will it run on Eco with the t-stat low? -- Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear. -- Thomas Jefferson |
AliExpress experience?
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
... On Sat, 3 Mar 2018 15:37:28 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: ...I happened to have a wire grid the right size to raise the food slightly off the bottom and let cold air underneath. Good deal with the grid. If there were a flaw in the insulation, a piece of meat resting on the bottom could rot at that point and not be noticed until it was too late. I had noticed that food on the bottom of my 28F fridge wasn't quite frozen, so I bought a 2-for-$1 pack of wire racks and folded one to cover the bottom, with bubble wrap sandwiched inside. The thin 30-gauge thermocouple is very informative. I'd love to tour the plant where those are made. My Sprint 3G and 4G are down today and this dialup is too slow to find the photos I saw earlier of the Foshan Alpicool factory. I bought the small fridge second-hand in the 1980's so its doom could be near. Knock on wood. The loud squeaking when it started and stopped turned out to be from the electric skillet on top of it. Running watts w/ w/o comp? 30-35W in Eco mode, 1 Watt at idle. On the high setting it pulled 45-50W. That's amazingly little power draw. How cool will it run on Eco with the t-stat low? The lowest setting is -20C. I set it at -18C, the Euro standard, which is 0F. The thermocouple reads 5F ~ 10F at various places. It cycles on for 2-1/2 minutes, off for 5-1/2, at 60F room temperature. This summer I'll find out how well it likes roasting in a hot car, if it lasts that long. My oldest, weakest SLI31 is powering it right now, recharged from the 100W roof array. This morning I took it grocery shopping, powered by a Lithium jumpstarter in the shopping cart and the rear 12V outlet in the car. Five days of breakfast, lunch and supper fit in snugly. It's light and narrow enough to carry with one arm so I can open doors with the other. -jsw |
AliExpress experience?
"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message
... "Larry Jaques" wrote in message ... I'd love to tour the plant where those are made. My Sprint 3G and 4G are down today and this dialup is too slow to find the photos I saw earlier of the Foshan Alpicool factory. Sprint problems: http://downdetector.com/status/sprint https://alpicool.en.alibaba.com/comp...6c3e1c69fJeBcy |
AliExpress experience?
On Mon, 5 Mar 2018 14:30:11 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message .. . On Sat, 3 Mar 2018 15:37:28 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: ...I happened to have a wire grid the right size to raise the food slightly off the bottom and let cold air underneath. Good deal with the grid. If there were a flaw in the insulation, a piece of meat resting on the bottom could rot at that point and not be noticed until it was too late. I had noticed that food on the bottom of my 28F fridge wasn't quite frozen, so I bought a 2-for-$1 pack of wire racks and folded one to cover the bottom, with bubble wrap sandwiched inside. The thin 30-gauge thermocouple is very informative. Great value, those racks. I'd love to tour the plant where those are made. My Sprint 3G and 4G are down today and this dialup is too slow to find the photos I saw earlier of the Foshan Alpicool factory. I'll have to look. I have whopping 5mbps DSL. Hmm, found a couple on Google, but not actual assy pics. I bought the small fridge second-hand in the 1980's so its doom could be near. Knock on wood. The loud squeaking when it started and stopped turned out to be from the electric skillet on top of it. Oops. Fun to find, though, huh? Running watts w/ w/o comp? 30-35W in Eco mode, 1 Watt at idle. On the high setting it pulled 45-50W. That's amazingly little power draw. How cool will it run on Eco with the t-stat low? The lowest setting is -20C. I set it at -18C, the Euro standard, which is 0F. The thermocouple reads 5F ~ 10F at various places. It cycles on for 2-1/2 minutes, off for 5-1/2, at 60F room temperature. This summer I'll find out how well it likes roasting in a hot car, if it lasts that long. G'luck! My oldest, weakest SLI31 is powering it right now, recharged from the 100W roof array. Ex-battery life? This morning I took it grocery shopping, powered by a Lithium jumpstarter in the shopping cart and the rear 12V outlet in the car. Five days of breakfast, lunch and supper fit in snugly. It's light and narrow enough to carry with one arm so I can open doors with the other. I can just see the nightly Gnu Hamster news channel "Jim Wilkins was arrested today during an attempt to smuggle food out of grocery. The local bomb squad was called in to explode an unknown 'device'. Wilkins was thought to be attempting to cool the device with the frozen food so it wouldn't prematurely detonate." ducking -- Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear. -- Thomas Jefferson |
AliExpress experience?
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
... On Mon, 5 Mar 2018 14:30:11 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: ... This morning I took it grocery shopping, powered by a Lithium jumpstarter in the shopping cart and the rear 12V outlet in the car. Five days of breakfast, lunch and supper fit in snugly. It's light and narrow enough to carry with one arm so I can open doors with the other. I can just see the nightly Gnu Hamster news channel "Jim Wilkins was arrested today during an attempt to smuggle food out of grocery. The local bomb squad was called in to explode an unknown 'device'. Wilkins was thought to be attempting to cool the device with the frozen food so it wouldn't prematurely detonate." ducking Habanitro sauce? The clerk asked me where she could buy one. I took the freezer in to see how much I could stuff into it, as I hadn't jammed in the more compressible empty boxes as tightly as possible. Usually I put cold food in soft-side insulated cooler bags in the shopping basket. They've told me I am the only customer who does even that much to keep food from thawing. We are in the middle of a major snowstorm, over a foot of wet sticky snow that bent down the tree branches, though we didn't lose power. New Jersey (Ed) got twice as much. I had the fridge and freezer on UPS power overnight. The DIY UPS for the DC-input freezer, a Radio Shack 13.8V 19A power supply charging a battery to 13.5V through a diode, ran at the rate of only $2.20 a month according to a KAWez. That PS reads 0.0W on the KAW without a load, 6W float-charging the battery and 36W with the compressor on. The PS overloaded and shut off when I tried to charge a battery directly with it. The series Schottky let it charge a battery discharged to 12.02V. The low resistance I put in series wasn't needed, but it might be with a more deeply discharged battery. I want this thing fully automatic in case the power returns in the middle of the night. -jsw |
AliExpress experience?
On Thu, 8 Mar 2018 08:16:06 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message .. . On Mon, 5 Mar 2018 14:30:11 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: ... This morning I took it grocery shopping, powered by a Lithium jumpstarter in the shopping cart and the rear 12V outlet in the car. Five days of breakfast, lunch and supper fit in snugly. It's light and narrow enough to carry with one arm so I can open doors with the other. I can just see the nightly Gnu Hamster news channel "Jim Wilkins was arrested today during an attempt to smuggle food out of grocery. The local bomb squad was called in to explode an unknown 'device'. Wilkins was thought to be attempting to cool the device with the frozen food so it wouldn't prematurely detonate." ducking Habanitro sauce? The clerk asked me where she could buy one. I took the freezer in to see how much I could stuff into it, as I hadn't jammed in the more compressible empty boxes as tightly as possible. Usually I put cold food in soft-side insulated cooler bags in the shopping basket. They've told me I am the only customer who does even that much to keep food from thawing. We are in the middle of a major snowstorm, over a foot of wet sticky snow that bent down the tree branches, though we didn't lose power. New Jersey (Ed) got twice as much. Over two feet north and west of us, but I'm close enough to the coast (6 miles to Raritan Bay) that we got only about ten inches here. There are lots of power lines down but, again, not here. And the snow blower started on the first pull, so I'm a happy camper. d8-) -- Ed Huntress I had the fridge and freezer on UPS power overnight. The DIY UPS for the DC-input freezer, a Radio Shack 13.8V 19A power supply charging a battery to 13.5V through a diode, ran at the rate of only $2.20 a month according to a KAWez. That PS reads 0.0W on the KAW without a load, 6W float-charging the battery and 36W with the compressor on. The PS overloaded and shut off when I tried to charge a battery directly with it. The series Schottky let it charge a battery discharged to 12.02V. The low resistance I put in series wasn't needed, but it might be with a more deeply discharged battery. I want this thing fully automatic in case the power returns in the middle of the night. -jsw |
AliExpress experience?
On Thu, 08 Mar 2018 08:55:36 -0500, Ed Huntress
wrote: On Thu, 8 Mar 2018 08:16:06 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message . .. On Mon, 5 Mar 2018 14:30:11 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: ... This morning I took it grocery shopping, powered by a Lithium jumpstarter in the shopping cart and the rear 12V outlet in the car. Five days of breakfast, lunch and supper fit in snugly. It's light and narrow enough to carry with one arm so I can open doors with the other. I can just see the nightly Gnu Hamster news channel "Jim Wilkins was arrested today during an attempt to smuggle food out of grocery. The local bomb squad was called in to explode an unknown 'device'. Wilkins was thought to be attempting to cool the device with the frozen food so it wouldn't prematurely detonate." ducking Habanitro sauce? The clerk asked me where she could buy one. I took the freezer in to see how much I could stuff into it, as I hadn't jammed in the more compressible empty boxes as tightly as possible. Usually I put cold food in soft-side insulated cooler bags in the shopping basket. They've told me I am the only customer who does even that much to keep food from thawing. We are in the middle of a major snowstorm, over a foot of wet sticky snow that bent down the tree branches, though we didn't lose power. New Jersey (Ed) got twice as much. Over two feet north and west of us, but I'm close enough to the coast (6 miles to Raritan Bay) that we got only about ten inches here. There are lots of power lines down but, again, not here. And the snow blower started on the first pull, so I'm a happy camper. d8-) Just over an inch on the ground here in the classic Central Ontario Snow Belt, after the warmest (by 2 degrees) Feb on record, where we set numerous record lows early in the month, and several record highs late in the month. If all the rain we got had come as snow we'd still be digging our way out. |
AliExpress experience?
On Thu, 08 Mar 2018 11:31:16 -0500, Clare Snyder
wrote: On Thu, 08 Mar 2018 08:55:36 -0500, Ed Huntress wrote: On Thu, 8 Mar 2018 08:16:06 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message ... On Mon, 5 Mar 2018 14:30:11 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: ... This morning I took it grocery shopping, powered by a Lithium jumpstarter in the shopping cart and the rear 12V outlet in the car. Five days of breakfast, lunch and supper fit in snugly. It's light and narrow enough to carry with one arm so I can open doors with the other. I can just see the nightly Gnu Hamster news channel "Jim Wilkins was arrested today during an attempt to smuggle food out of grocery. The local bomb squad was called in to explode an unknown 'device'. Wilkins was thought to be attempting to cool the device with the frozen food so it wouldn't prematurely detonate." ducking Habanitro sauce? The clerk asked me where she could buy one. I took the freezer in to see how much I could stuff into it, as I hadn't jammed in the more compressible empty boxes as tightly as possible. Usually I put cold food in soft-side insulated cooler bags in the shopping basket. They've told me I am the only customer who does even that much to keep food from thawing. We are in the middle of a major snowstorm, over a foot of wet sticky snow that bent down the tree branches, though we didn't lose power. New Jersey (Ed) got twice as much. Over two feet north and west of us, but I'm close enough to the coast (6 miles to Raritan Bay) that we got only about ten inches here. There are lots of power lines down but, again, not here. And the snow blower started on the first pull, so I'm a happy camper. d8-) Just over an inch on the ground here in the classic Central Ontario Snow Belt, after the warmest (by 2 degrees) Feb on record, where we set numerous record lows early in the month, and several record highs late in the month. If all the rain we got had come as snow we'd still be digging our way out. We haven't had much of our usual cold Canadian air here, either. The weathermen said that the lack of our usual cold air mass pushing down from Canada made the path of our nor'easter wobbly and uncertain. They usually have a pretty good handle on where the air masses will collide, and thus, they can predict snow lines more accurately. This time the sucker just moved up the coast unhindered, and then headed out to sea -- actually, up to Cape Cod and Maine. So we had wildly different snowfall amounts 20 miles in any direction. BTW, a "nor'easter" is just a storm that travels up the coast from the Southeastern US, sometimes from Florida, following the path of hurricanes that take the same route. They can be worse than hurricanes here. They have a tight cyclonic airflow and the flow is strongest when the eye is positioned such that we feel the wind coming from the northeast -- thus the name. One of them blew half the shingles off my house 30 years ago or so. -- Ed Huntress |
AliExpress experience?
On Thu, 08 Mar 2018 08:55:36 -0500
Ed Huntress wrote: snip Over two feet north and west of us, but I'm close enough to the coast (6 miles to Raritan Bay) that we got only about ten inches here. There are lots of power lines down but, again, not here. And the snow blower started on the first pull, so I'm a happy camper. d8-) It was in the 50's a week ago. Cold, snow again but just an inch or two the past few days. We'll keep passing it along to your way ;-) This article just ran in the paper. Kind of interesting when you have a minute or two: "Epic salvage effort saved 230 new Chryslers from U.P. shipwreck" (Nov 1926) http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/...ort_saved.html Don't think it would be handled quite the same way nowadays... -- Leon Fisk Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b |
AliExpress experience?
On Thu, 8 Mar 2018 14:37:13 -0400, Leon Fisk
wrote: On Thu, 08 Mar 2018 08:55:36 -0500 Ed Huntress wrote: snip Over two feet north and west of us, but I'm close enough to the coast (6 miles to Raritan Bay) that we got only about ten inches here. There are lots of power lines down but, again, not here. And the snow blower started on the first pull, so I'm a happy camper. d8-) It was in the 50's a week ago. Cold, snow again but just an inch or two the past few days. We'll keep passing it along to your way ;-) This article just ran in the paper. Kind of interesting when you have a minute or two: "Epic salvage effort saved 230 new Chryslers from U.P. shipwreck" (Nov 1926) http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/...ort_saved.html Don't think it would be handled quite the same way nowadays... That's quite a story. I used to hunt snowshoe rabbits near Copper Harbor -- in January -- and I can imagine what that was like. Frozen Hell is what is was like. g -- Ed Huntress |
AliExpress experience?
On Thu, 08 Mar 2018 12:26:29 -0500, Ed Huntress
wrote: On Thu, 08 Mar 2018 11:31:16 -0500, Clare Snyder wrote: On Thu, 08 Mar 2018 08:55:36 -0500, Ed Huntress wrote: On Thu, 8 Mar 2018 08:16:06 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message m... On Mon, 5 Mar 2018 14:30:11 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: ... This morning I took it grocery shopping, powered by a Lithium jumpstarter in the shopping cart and the rear 12V outlet in the car. Five days of breakfast, lunch and supper fit in snugly. It's light and narrow enough to carry with one arm so I can open doors with the other. I can just see the nightly Gnu Hamster news channel "Jim Wilkins was arrested today during an attempt to smuggle food out of grocery. The local bomb squad was called in to explode an unknown 'device'. Wilkins was thought to be attempting to cool the device with the frozen food so it wouldn't prematurely detonate." ducking Habanitro sauce? The clerk asked me where she could buy one. I took the freezer in to see how much I could stuff into it, as I hadn't jammed in the more compressible empty boxes as tightly as possible. Usually I put cold food in soft-side insulated cooler bags in the shopping basket. They've told me I am the only customer who does even that much to keep food from thawing. We are in the middle of a major snowstorm, over a foot of wet sticky snow that bent down the tree branches, though we didn't lose power. New Jersey (Ed) got twice as much. Over two feet north and west of us, but I'm close enough to the coast (6 miles to Raritan Bay) that we got only about ten inches here. There are lots of power lines down but, again, not here. And the snow blower started on the first pull, so I'm a happy camper. d8-) Just over an inch on the ground here in the classic Central Ontario Snow Belt, after the warmest (by 2 degrees) Feb on record, where we set numerous record lows early in the month, and several record highs late in the month. If all the rain we got had come as snow we'd still be digging our way out. We haven't had much of our usual cold Canadian air here, either. The weathermen said that the lack of our usual cold air mass pushing down from Canada made the path of our nor'easter wobbly and uncertain. They usually have a pretty good handle on where the air masses will collide, and thus, they can predict snow lines more accurately. This time the sucker just moved up the coast unhindered, and then headed out to sea -- actually, up to Cape Cod and Maine. So we had wildly different snowfall amounts 20 miles in any direction. BTW, a "nor'easter" is just a storm that travels up the coast from the Southeastern US, sometimes from Florida, following the path of hurricanes that take the same route. They can be worse than hurricanes here. They have a tight cyclonic airflow and the flow is strongest when the eye is positioned such that we feel the wind coming from the northeast -- thus the name. One of them blew half the shingles off my house 30 years ago or so. The counterclockwize rotation around the low pressure causes the north-east wind to suck moisture out of the atlantic and drop it on the leading edge of the storm as the low travels north. Hense the old saying "when the wind is from the east it is fit for neither man nor beast" Here in central ontario those easterlies drag the moisture out of lake ontario and dump it on us when the lake isn't frozen. The prevailing westerlies pick it up off Superior and Huron, dropping MOST of it to the west uf us. Something has changed in the weather patterns and Kitchener/Waterloo, Elmira, and Statford get a LOT less snow in recent years - and where Elmira used to get significantly more than waterloo (only 14km apart), both now get significantly less than areas both to the east and west - almost like we are in the shadow of something - - - |
AliExpress experience?
On Thu, 8 Mar 2018 08:16:06 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message .. . On Mon, 5 Mar 2018 14:30:11 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: ... This morning I took it grocery shopping, powered by a Lithium jumpstarter in the shopping cart and the rear 12V outlet in the car. Five days of breakfast, lunch and supper fit in snugly. It's light and narrow enough to carry with one arm so I can open doors with the other. I can just see the nightly Gnu Hamster news channel "Jim Wilkins was arrested today during an attempt to smuggle food out of grocery. The local bomb squad was called in to explode an unknown 'device'. Wilkins was thought to be attempting to cool the device with the frozen food so it wouldn't prematurely detonate." ducking Habanitro sauce? The clerk asked me where she could buy one. I took the freezer in to see how much I could stuff into it, as I hadn't jammed in the more compressible empty boxes as tightly as possible. Usually I put cold food in soft-side insulated cooler bags in the shopping basket. They've told me I am the only customer who does even that much to keep food from thawing. I do that, too. Wally World had them for a couple bucks a handful of years ago, so during the summer, I fill in-store and refill after the self-checkout. Milk is extremely susceptible to early death without being kept at 40 or below, so I use them for all cold and frozen foods. In the winter, the truck is cool enough not to need it for the (5 minutes, 3.5mi) drive home. We are in the middle of a major snowstorm, over a foot of wet sticky snow that bent down the tree branches, though we didn't lose power. New Jersey (Ed) got twice as much. Did I just hear a "yet?" at the end of that first sentence? Another storm is hammering Seattle right now, given the yellow features on the radar screen on Wunderground, the last one over ID right now. We've had drippy rain all day, and there is a 45mph wind advisory up. The real rain will get here tomorrow, it appears. I had the fridge and freezer on UPS power overnight. The DIY UPS for the DC-input freezer, a Radio Shack 13.8V 19A power supply charging a battery to 13.5V through a diode, ran at the rate of only $2.20 a month according to a KAWez. That PS reads 0.0W on the KAW without a load, 6W float-charging the battery and 36W with the compressor on. Not bad at all. The PS overloaded and shut off when I tried to charge a battery directly with it. The series Schottky let it charge a battery discharged to 12.02V. The low resistance I put in series wasn't needed, but it might be with a more deeply discharged battery. I want this thing fully automatic in case the power returns in the middle of the night. Indeed. You don't want dueling PSes on your hands. -- Silence is more musical than any song. -- Christina Rossetti |
AliExpress experience?
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
... On Thu, 8 Mar 2018 08:16:06 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: ... The PS overloaded and shut off when I tried to charge a battery directly with it. The series Schottky let it charge a battery discharged to 12.02V. The low resistance I put in series wasn't needed, but it might be with a more deeply discharged battery. I want this thing fully automatic in case the power returns in the middle of the night. Indeed. You don't want dueling PSes on your hands. The intent is for them to cooperate, with the higher of the two outputs, PS or solar, charging the battery. The series diode keeps higher voltage from backfeeding into the 13.8V PS and solar controllers are built to accept battery voltage on their output when their input fails. I tested the concept with an old taper charger to which I added a Variac to adjust the output, on a hazy day when the solar couldn't quite keep up. The soft voltage/current knee of the taper charger allowed the battery to drop more than the well regulated switcher does. Perhaps today will bring enough sun to test the circuit before more snow arrives. The Alpicool freezer current appears to average a bit below 1 Amp, though the power meters I have now are sized for the 50A max of the APC1400 and don't measure low currents accurately. The blue meter like you have can be off by 0.2A. This is on order to hopefully make more accurate Amp-hour measurements on lower powered devices and small batteries such as Lithium 18650s. https://www.amazon.com/Yeeco-Voltmet...ct_top?ie=UTF8 -jsw |
AliExpress experience?
On Thu, 8 Mar 2018 14:37:13 -0400, Leon Fisk
wrote: On Thu, 08 Mar 2018 08:55:36 -0500 Ed Huntress wrote: snip Over two feet north and west of us, but I'm close enough to the coast (6 miles to Raritan Bay) that we got only about ten inches here. There are lots of power lines down but, again, not here. And the snow blower started on the first pull, so I'm a happy camper. d8-) It was in the 50's a week ago. Cold, snow again but just an inch or two the past few days. We'll keep passing it along to your way ;-) This article just ran in the paper. Kind of interesting when you have a minute or two: "Epic salvage effort saved 230 new Chryslers from U.P. shipwreck" (Nov 1926) http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/...ort_saved.html Don't think it would be handled quite the same way nowadays... Nope, not the same at all. Collectors would be heading the effort, out there saving all the priceless old '26es this time. ;) -- Silence is more musical than any song. -- Christina Rossetti |
AliExpress experience?
On Fri, 9 Mar 2018 08:19:07 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote: "Larry Jaques" wrote in message .. . On Thu, 8 Mar 2018 08:16:06 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: ... The PS overloaded and shut off when I tried to charge a battery directly with it. The series Schottky let it charge a battery discharged to 12.02V. The low resistance I put in series wasn't needed, but it might be with a more deeply discharged battery. I want this thing fully automatic in case the power returns in the middle of the night. Indeed. You don't want dueling PSes on your hands. The intent is for them to cooperate, with the higher of the two outputs, PS or solar, charging the battery. The series diode keeps higher voltage from backfeeding into the 13.8V PS and solar controllers are built to accept battery voltage on their output when their input fails. How does this differ from the diodes attached to most solar panels nowadays? You chose the exact schottky voltage you wanted? I tested the concept with an old taper charger to which I added a Variac to adjust the output, on a hazy day when the solar couldn't quite keep up. The soft voltage/current knee of the taper charger allowed the battery to drop more than the well regulated switcher does. Perhaps today will bring enough sun to test the circuit before more snow arrives. Got preps? Somebody turned the storm cycle back on. Prolly that nasty AGWK stuff, which means OMIGODWEREALLGONNADIE! The Alpicool freezer current appears to average a bit below 1 Amp, though the power meters I have now are sized for the 50A max of the APC1400 and don't measure low currents accurately. The blue meter like you have can be off by 0.2A. This is on order to hopefully make more accurate Amp-hour measurements on lower powered devices and small batteries such as Lithium 18650s. https://www.amazon.com/Yeeco-Voltmet...ct_top?ie=UTF8 Added to my list. This is one of the few times that Amazon ($18.56) vendors beat Ebay vendors ($23.35). The extra precision is needed for the little guys, I see. -- Silence is more musical than any song. -- Christina Rossetti |
AliExpress experience?
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
... On Fri, 9 Mar 2018 08:19:07 -0500, "Jim Wilkins" wrote: Indeed. You don't want dueling PSes on your hands. The intent is for them to cooperate, with the higher of the two outputs, PS or solar, charging the battery. The series diode keeps higher voltage from backfeeding into the 13.8V PS and solar controllers are built to accept battery voltage on their output when their input fails. How does this differ from the diodes attached to most solar panels nowadays? You chose the exact schottky voltage you wanted? https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/tex...hing-circuits/ Figure (d) shows a diode switch that passes the higher of battery or power supply voltage to the load while isolating them from each other. The diode in series with the lower voltage source is reverse biased. I have the battery directly connected to the load and use diodes to select the higher of power supply or solar controller voltage. The power supply provides 13.5V through its diode, the solar controller limits itself at 13.9V if there's enough sun. The solar controller's series diode is internal, to keep battery voltage out of the panels and wiring. That diode shorted in my HF controller. On a partly cloudy day like today the solar controller supplies whatever current the panels can produce and the power supply provides the rest of the load's demand. I can watch the power supply's input wattage rise and fall on a Kill-A-Watt as the sun dims and brightens. Sometimes the KAW Watt display goes to 0.0 and the system is purely solar powered, although the power supply is still connected and turned on. When neither the solar panels nor the grid can provide power it reverts to the battery, all automatically. -jsw |
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