ace

This looks very interesting, are you running the geyser directly from batteries?

I'm not familiar with this at all, so I'll def check it out before I proceed. Thanks for the info.

Thanks Hoohloc. A straight up answer from someone who has actually done this is invaluable. I still can't quite understand why not more people do it like this. Some are saying there's not be a big advantage (power wise) over just running the geyser directly from the inverter, but as far as off-grid solar is concerned, I feel that every little bit counts. And although my inverter should be able to handle the load of a geyser (I think geyser is 3kw). I feel the less stress put on my budget synapse inverter, the better. I personally prefer not to risk it damaged by my wife accidentally using the microwave & my daughter the hairdryer together while the geyser is on.

Thanks again for your input. I agree, DC can be a beast & should be handled with care. There are geyser kits are out there are already, doing the same thing just in a different way, sending high current dc to an element from an mppt. So Im just trying to understand why that method instead of the way Im considering.

Ah, thanks. Thats something to consider & makes lots of sense. Thank you, also valuable input. I do understand what most are saying about the negligible benefit, and while that is something to take into account, Im really looking for technical reasons why it shouldn't be done in the way I was considering vs the whole extra mppt & panels are recommended.

Thanks for the input. The geyser is literally right above the room the inverter is in. Thanks again, no offence meant at all here, but apart from it being a negligible benefit, are there any specific reasons why it shouldn't be done?

Apologies, they are 3 x 48v 100ah with 7.2kw inverter. The 5kw I refer to is my panels.

The wiring is all still there, but the idea here is to be efficient & I'm not too keen on my inverter running the geyser.

Hi everyone, as the title suggests.... I'm looking for some input regarding a way that I am "thinking" of powering a dc geyser element. Before I start, I think some basic info is probably a good idea: I am completely off-grid, have about 5kw of solar, 3x100ah Lithium Batteries, gas geyser, gas stove & oven, energy efficient appliances (tv, fridge, washing machine etc.), lights all converted to 12v led (supplied by high efficiency meanwell dc-dc converter). My average consumption ranges from 350-450w after sundown (according to the inverter anyway). My batteries are at about 49v in the morning & hit float (51.5v) at about 12 each day. I feel I'm in a very good space regarding my power situation (although I've read that I perhaps should discharge my batteries a bit more for better longevity - input on that is welcome too). Anyway, I have been thinking about putting my traditional geyser to use, considering that the for at least half the day, the majority of my solar power is pretty much wasted. I am considering using a 48v 1500w geyser element to heat up water in the geyser prior to the gas geyser. Now I have seen the commercial geyser kits which includes a mppt controller & panels etc & connect to a dc geyser element. However I struggle to see any reason why one could not simply buy & hook up the dc element directly to the battery bank (obviously with the correct thermostat etc). I already have a mppt charging my batteries, the batt's already have a bms built in, the bank is more than capable of providing the voltage & current required. So why not just connect the element directly? Why don't more people do this? It seems logical, is there something I'm not taking into account? So just to clarify.... I want to hook up the dc geyser element directly to my battery bank, this will only be turned on during the day after batteries have hit float voltage & will be turned off again after sundown. Does anyone know a valid reason for this not to be done in this way? Does anyone foresee any potential issues? Any knowledgeable input will be greatly appreciated.

Im interested. Contact details please.

Are you still selling this?

Is this still available? If so, price please.

So it's been about 2hrs now. The rest of the batteries seem to be ok. They have all come down a bit from 13.4v/13.5v & settled on 13.2v Looks like I only have to swop out 2. As soon as I get a chance I will get someone in to load test all of them.

Im just going according to what the inverter is telling me the charge current is at. But I'm definitely getting an average of 1.6kw from the panels. So I'm not sure why the current is so low. I know the batteries take more current when I use the generator. It adds with the panels, then I see about 30A

You're right. But the inverter shows the correct wattage from the panels?

Really? I thought what i was getting was correct, coz the inverter showed 1.6kw

8 x 265w JA Solar 4 strings of 2 in series

Yes, one in the top string & one in the 2nd from top. Not really too sure coz the inverter has been going into float from about 10am. But I've seen the inverter show charging from panels at about 18A Also if I switch my panels off then on again, it seems to reset the mppt. Then the inverter has shown between 1.6 - 1.7kw

I paid R1200 per battery, was selling them for R1399 ea (got a discount coz I took 16). He said he'll replace any that are faulty. He won't refund me though. I'm just waiting to see if any of the other batteries drop in voltage before I go exchange them

The batteries are sealed

And these were the ones I could hear slight bubbling from when I put my ear to it!!

I just finished disconnecting all the batteries. I think I found my problem. 2 of the batteries are way low compared to the rest. One is at 10.8v the other one is at 10.5v!! All the rest measure between 13.4 & 13.5v (does 0.1v difference between them mean anything?) I know I haven't let them rest for an hour but I'm thinking that low voltage of the 2 indicates a problem. I hope this is what was causing my issues.

I honestly have no clue what I should be looking for when it comes to these. I actually thought the 702 was to monitor 2 banks (slaps forehead)

Ok, update. Just got off the phone with the guy I bought the batteries from. After a rather heated discussion, this where things have ended. His take on this is that there is possibly a faulty battery that is causing the voltage to drop overnight even though there is very little load . He said to take them off charge & separate them. Wait an hour or two & measure each one. Any faulty batteries will be significantly lower. He has agreed to replace any batteries that I find to be faulty. There's no way I will be able to get a refund. He says the batteries are functional and he is prepared to swop out any that are faulty, so here's no valid claim for a refund. I told him, I bought them under the impression that they were deep cycle, the answer was... they are! They are sold as deep cycle multi purpose batteries, If I look after them I will get my monies worth!! Unfortunately in my desperation to get the best bang for my buck, I went the cheapest I could get. I actually went looking for reviews on these batteries before I bought them, they were rated quite well on a 4x4 forum. They were used with inverters for camping & caravan fridges etc... so I thought it would work. Seems like I'm getting what I payed for Fortunately he is prepared to swop out any batteries that are faulty. I never thought I'd want to find faulty batteries before, but now I really hope I do. Seems like if I can be at the 50v mark by sunrise (10% DOD) I can use this until I get myself a decent set of batteries. I'll let you know the outcome by the end of the day. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that has given their input & guided me so far. You've already helped me more than you know. Here I was, thinking it was a charger setting!!

Thank you Chris!!