Peter Topp

Hi Stefan I have the same problem. The way it is wired will not allow al led light to switch off as there is a small current always present in the circuit. It will not do any harm if the light is permanently on and it does not use any more power as the same current flows in the old light.The only diffence is that the old light needs more current to light up. The only easy way to get around this if you dont want the light on permanently is to find a incandescent light that was the same as the old one.

Hi After reading the article on the 5KW Sunsynk cooling, I became interested in a method to help cool the 8KW Sunsynk or Deye inverter. After some investigation work on the internet, I found an interesting way. The method is to use four 92mm fans in a printed frame placed over the exhaust slits on the right side of the inverter to help extract the heated air coming from the heatsinks. I printed the 3d frame which I got from Thingiverse (thingiverse.com/thing:6468217). I purchased the four 92mm 12v fans from Bobshop. (92mm square fans X 25mm thick). 92mm fans are not that common and if you want to use 80mm fans you will need to print an adaptor from Printables (printables.com/model/191452-super-thin-fan-adapter-92-to-80mm-reduction) which is only 5mm thick. I also purchased a 12vdc 2amp power supply. I did not want to run the fans continuously and only when the temperature was greater than 45 degrees Celsius as the outside temperature can reach over 30 degrees. To achieve this, I also purchased a 12v temperature controller that was reasonably priced which can be obtained from Temu for less than R200.00. The beauty of this controller is that you can adjust the switch-on temperature and set the switch-off temperature at a lower temperature otherwise the controller will constantly be switching on-off when the fans switch on if the temperature is near the switching point. The controller also has two temperature probes and two control relays. I use the second one for the outside ambient temperature. I set the on temperature at 45 degrees and the off temperature at 35 degrees. The controller is an STC-3018 12vdc. I also printed a casing for the controller from Thingiverse (ithingiverse.com/thing:6136663)and printed four L brackets to attach the fan assembly from Thingiverse (thingiverse.com/thing:1933419) using one screw and double-sided tape. I placed the power supply inside the bottom compartment of the inverter and placed the switching temperature probe on top of the heatsink through one of the three holes on the top of the inverter. The other probe was attached outside to measure the ambient temperature. The 12vdc power supply input was connected to the 230vac output of the inverter. I hope this will help anyone who needs extra cooling for the 8KW Sunsynk or Deye inverter.

Hi A question What is the SOURCE OF THE WATER? To filter the water taste it would help to know the source to see what minerals are in the water. eg: If it is from a well or borehole it might be disolved iron which needs a different filter.

Hi With my borehole and filtering I decided to replace my ESpring filter as the filters are not cost-effective for me, about ( R3500/yr). In my previous post, I said I had an RO filter packed away. I decided to modify and use it. The Ultrafilter as bought is not as good as an RO system however with the addition of UV light, it is just as effective and with my modifications and cheaper to run. I reconfigured it as follows. 1. Changed the RO membrane for a Utrafilter membrane. This is done because I do not need a pressure tank and it does not waste any water or need a pump. 2. Added a 12W UV light. To kill any viruses and bacteria. 3. Added an empty small T33 cartridge which I filled with calcite just before the output. To increase the PH. 4. Reconfigured all the piping to suit the system. Sediment, CTO(Carbon Block), GAC(granulated Carbon), UF(Utrafilter 0.02 micron membrane which fits in the 1812 RO housing, 12W UV light, Small GAC filter for taste, and finally the calcite filter to up the pH. 5. I also purchased two T33 empty cartridges and one 10" empty cartridge to fill with calcite and granulated carbon when they need replacing. 6. I also mounted the system outside the Kitchen window and covered it from the elements and UV as it is primarily an indoor unit. This unit as all RO systems will take up all the under-sink cupboard space if fitted there. The advantages of the UF modifications are: No pump needed, no pressure tank, no water waisted, constant usable water flow, the UF membrane is much cheaper and the filter can be back washed if installed correctly, does not need to be remineralized, and remove all the needed minerals, empty cartridges can be refiled if needed to make it more cost-effective. The disadvantages: The UV light needs to be replaced once a year. (I am hoping LED UV strips with the right frequency come online soon to replace the UV light). It does not kill viruses and all bacteria without UV light, the water will sometimes warm if mounted outside but this can be overcome by running the water before using. I hope this will be of some help for someone wanting to install an RO filter or an Espring Unit. To end with something I find humorous. My wife refuses to drink the municipal or my borehole water after it has been tested and gone through all the filtering of about 17 filters. So I have to buy bottled water for her. This is what it takes to keep my wife happy.

Hi Jonna and welcome My question to you is the following. Do you need an electrical float switch in the tank? Use a mechanical float switch (like the old toilet filling valves) and T your irrigation system. The tank will automatically stop filling when full during irrigation. It will only affect the irrigation till the tank is full. If the flow is too high and affects your irrigation you can also throttle the flow to the tank with a gate valve. Regards Peter Topp

Hi Peetvstaden You can only run the Max 3KVA as this is the specification for that unit. The bypass relay is only safe for that load. It is designed so that should the power fail at any time it will handle the load at that present time. It would not be wise to run the inverter continually at full load. The way to get past this limitation is to install an appropriate bypass switch to isolate the inverter output when there is power, allowing you to manually switch over to the inverter output once you have lowered the load to accommodate the inverter. This would be done the same way you would use a switch for a generator.

Hi After reading up on the Heterotrophic plate count there are indications that the count should be less than 500 however, a larger count does not mean that the water is a problem as the bacteria could be harmless. If you want to eliminate and lower this you can implement the following. A UV light source would be the best bet as it damages the DNA in the microbes. Adding an activated carbon filter also helps. Using continuous chlorination, however, the chlorine will have to be reduced by carbon filters before it is drinkable and helps with the taste. Excess chlorine is not good for you. Doing reverse osmosis will also help to remove bacteria. You could also boil the water for consumption before anything else is implimented in you are worried which also works.

Hi Raiden 2912 After going through your report your water looks perfect for consumption. The only figure that is not in specification is the turbidity (cloudiness). This can be due to being a new borehole with still some solids and is common with newly drilled boreholes. This can be overcome just by putting in some filters to trap the solids. The turbidity should improve as the borehole is used over time. As far as the ph. goes you cannot get better as it is totally neutral ph7 which is not acid and not alkaline and will not damage anything. I don't know if a report analysis was attached. This is all I can see from the report. I am not an expert at this and I might have missed something. I suggest you should have the borehole checked again after a year or two as in my case the ph. had changed after a year. I think the HCO3 (bicarbonate) value would be the amount of carbon dioxide dissolved in the water which makes it more acidic and would be more prevalent in rainwater as it absorbs CO2 on the way down. I do not think it has any bearing on the report as the ph. is 7 (I could be wrong).

Done.

Hi The Tescom SSPro 5kva inverters do not have a pv input. Attached are the user specifications. 92114_PDF1.pdf

Hi The calculation was done on a 150mm diameter pipe for 3m so I believe the Boere myth is truly busted.

Hi A bladder tank not only does the things you mention above not only for the shock but also allows you to use about 50% of the capacity of the tank before the pump starts. I am not convinced the pipe will not be able to stop the frequent on/off cycles as it does not have the external pressure on the pipe to make much difference that a pressure tank has on the bladder. I see what you are saying there will be a little pressure from the pressure exerted on the pipe for it to expand from the water pressure as water cannot be compressed, then released when a tap is opened (only if you use a pipe that will expand and contracts and returns to form). However, it still does not compare to a pressure tank to stop frequent stop-and-start cycles. The mathematics says that to get a 10L difference which will need to expand 10mm over 3 meters to make a difference. I do not think a 115mm pipe would expand by a 10mm diameter and contract. 5mm for 5L etc.

Hi Scorp007 How will this work? as soon as you open a tap the pressure drops it will start the pump. A pressure tank works because of the two setpoints for the start and stop of the pump from the pressure switch, as well as the 1.8bar pressure on the bladder.

Hi Raidon2912 The question you asked about low municipal water use. Water usage is split into two. Water use and sewer. So, you pay twice for the water used. If you use no municipal water, you will definitely have questions asked and, or a visit. Even if you use no water from the municipality you need to pay the sewer fee. To overcome this, I have a parallel system and I throttle my municipal use to show some water usage. Most of my water is used for irrigation of my garden and I can use up to 60Kl a month. Irrigation water is only partially filtered and the household water from the JoJo tank is fully filtered and tested for consumption. I irrigate directly from the borehole pump which you can view from my other posts under sustainable landscaping. VSD pressure pumps are much better as using a pressure vessel with a standard pump needs to be checked and is like checking your car tires and is a hassle as the pressure tank needs to be empty with no water pressure when tested or pressurized. Setting the pressure switch can also be a hassle. VSD pressure pumps use less power, and the pressure can be set much easier with pump dry protection. This being said if you have the budget, and you already have a pump.

Hi Raiden2912 Seeing you have 10100 litres capacity I do not see any problems with the flow of water into the borehole as it filled the tanks. If your .75kw motor is not strong enough to pump the well so that the flow is reduced to just filling, the borehole tests I mentioned will not be able to be done with any meaningful results. The picture you request is I suppose for a bladder tank (pressure tank) which I have attached. The pressure tank will also need the appropriate switch on the pump to work correctly. The pressure tank can also be part of the motor assembly.Pressure-Tanks-2021-V1.pdfPressure-Tanks-2021-V1.pdfPressure-Tanks-2021-V1.pdfPressure-Tanks-2021-V1.pdfPressure-Tanks-2021-V1.pdfPressure-Tanks-2021-V1.pdf I have also attached my calculations on how I worked out my flow rate and borehole capacity. Borehole Capacity Test 26072022.docx

Hi Raiden2912 Just a suggestion. Before you decide to pump for a long time, make sure the borehole is filling enough to fill the borehole. You will need to know how much water your borehole actually produces. You can ask and pay to have this done or you could test this yourself by measuring the amount of water used over a specific period with an inline meter, eg, over an hour. You can also monitor the output over a long period that you want and see if the output drops. When the borehole is full (at the top of the water table) it will take time to empty the borehole to see the actual flow of water into the borehole. This is directly from the borehole pump not from the jojo. If the flow does not drop it would be great as this means that the borehole is filling faster than it can be pumped out. If the flow drops it can be measured again over a shorter period to determine the actual flow from the filling borehole. This is important as you can burn out your borehole pump if the borehole is pumped dry if there is no protection for this. Also adding another comment on VSD or DC pumps. If you do not use these pumps on the output of your JoJo tank, it would be advisable to put a bladder tank in line with the pump as cheaper standard pumps do not like to be started many times over a short period (shortens the lifetime of the pump). The bladder tank stops this by setting a lower switch on pressure for starting and a higher switch off at a set pressure. Depending on the size of the tank about 50% of the size of the bladder tank must be used before the pump switches on. This prevents switching on using small amounts of water usage. I have done these tests on my borehole and I can only pump for 1hr15min before my borehole is empty and my flow drops. I hope this helps.

Hi Tracsec I have had similar problems with many light switches. This problem for me I have found that the light switches in my house are in metal housings as it an old house. I suspect the metal housing which is earthed is shielding the signal. Some of my problems were overcome by not screwing in the switches on tight. This I found helped in most cases. I did remove the switches and made sure the electronic connections were good. In the beginning, I sent 3 units back to the supplier and found out after they were tested it was found there was no problem with the switches. These light switches were Eachen switches that do not require a neutral. I know how annoying it can be as at one stage I had four lights that switched intermittently. I cannot say this is your problem, but it might be worth a try.

Hi Sorry, it should have read 29.2v and 28.2, not 19.2v and 18.2v. Posted late last night and was tired.

Hi Last year my daughter needed an inverter for her flat due to severe load shedding. She only needed lights, the Internet and the TV. I advised her to buy a small inverter with a lithium battery pack. Not wiser she settled on the GENTECH GPP1600 trolly inverter (which is an Axpert 2000vA inverter rebranded) as it is an all-in-one. 7 months later the batteries have given up. I had a look at the default settings and this is what I found. The default Low Cut Off Voltage is set to 19.8v for a 2x 12v in series (24v). This value is ridiculous as the battery is completely dead at this value. The 25% value for gel batteries is about 24V. The value cannot also be set higher than 23.8v. The warranty of the batteries in the unit is only for 7 days and can be seen below and on their website. I advise to anybody wanting to buy this type of unit to avoid it as you will lose your batteries. I have replaced the batteries with lithium batteries. The only problem is the bulk charging (CV voltage) voltage which should be set at 19.2v can only be set to 18.2v maximum. GENTECH POWER 1600-WATT SOLAR HYBRID INVERTER SYSTEM SKU: GPINVERTER2 1600-Watt Solar Hybrid Inverter Head I 12 Months Warranty I Gentech Power Gel Battery I 7 Days Limited Warranty DISCLAIMER: Flat batteries and or reduced running time are not covered by the manufacturer’s warranty. Should you experience a reduction in running time please recharge the batteries for ± 48 hours or consider purchasing new ones. Premature damage to the battery due to improper use is not covered by the manufacturer warranty. It must be noted that lead acid, AGM and gel batteries are not ideally suited for frequent, long, and deep discharges as currently experienced with load shedding. These types of batteries require a minimum of 48-72 hours of uninterrupted charging after each discharge to ensure they perform as specified. Load shedding directly reduces the capacity, performance and life span of these batteries which are beyond the manufacturers control. The Gentech Power Battery charge cycles are rated to last as follows: 100% Depth of Discharge = +- 350 Charge Cycles 80% Depth of Discharge = +- 520 Charge Cycles 50% Depth of Discharge = +- 730 Charge Cycles Due to the current and continuous load shedding, these cycles can be depleted between 3 to 6 months. Once these charge cycles are depleted, the battery will have reached its “end of life” and will need to be replaced immediately. We recommend that during Load Shedding Stage 3 – 6 that the inverter power switch is turned “OFF”. Only use the inverter when urgently required. Battery Warranty Disclaimer: Due to excessive load shedding this battery carries a limited warrantee of 7 days only. It is designed to perform as specified. The lifespan of this battery is pre-determined by the amount of charge and discharge cycles it will undergo over a period. These cycles are considered normal “wear and tear” and are not covered by the manufacturer warranty policy. Regular charging / discharging cycles will have a direct impact on the performance and or running time of this battery. Please refer to the performance and discharge data below. Please charge for 48 hours prior to use.

Hi There is another thing I noticed is that in old houses the switches are in a metal housing which has caused problems for me. If I tighten the Eachen switch too tight I have problems with the lights going intermittently. I also think the metal housing acts as a shield for the wifi signal.

Hi You must install the capacitors or the system will not work at all.

Hi Guy It depends on which meter you have. Some meters cannot distinguish whether you are using power or giving it back and in this case, you will pay the same as using power. There is nothing you can do about this. The only way to stop this is to stop feeding back altogether to the grid or if you have an inverter with a ct like the Deye or Sunsynk inverter you stop the power from feeding back. Other meters as I have will turn backward and will reduce your consumption. The newer electronic meters have a sign on them with a rachet gear to show you cannot feed back to the grid. Some people use the excess power to heat their geyser elements and other devices if they have an auxiliary output on their inverter. Unfortunately, I do not know of any easy fix if there is no auxiliary output or ct on the inverter.

Hi To answer your question. The resistance in ohms in the cable is the same for ac or dc voltage/amps running in the cable. Resistance in a cable is usually measured as resistance (ohms) per meter. So the formula is the same for dc and dc. If you buy the correct cable for an installation the volt drop over the length of the cable should be neglectable. A wrong cable (a cable that cannot handle the amps) will get hot and have a large volt drop and also can be dangerous if it melts the insulation.

Hi Today I installed an alternative to the mechanical pressure switch which is used on most pumps with a pressure tank. These switches need to be able to set for a low-pressure pump switch on and a high-pressure pump switch off. I have replaced the mechanical pressure switch twice. The switch I found to replace this is a digital switch with a digital led readout. It is larger however was easy to fit and programming was relatively easy. The best feature for me was that it has a pump dry cutout that can be set. The switch is a Coelbo Switchmatic 2 which I purchased on special from DIY Direct SA. The pressure switch does not come with the full instructions only a quick setup. I have posted the full instructions here. switchmatic12_en.pdf SWITCHMATIC.pdf