Solarphile

What do you think of your batteries so far? I have been running my two on and off for a few days now and I have to admit, they are impressing me so far. They are powering my backpack system that isn’t used all the time so I cannot tell long term what their performance will be like. Do you have any feedback? Regrets?

I get you. This would be an interesting and challenging project. Perhaps a series of relays. Some normally open, some normally closed. They would have to be cleverly set up that they will only allow power to certain plugs once the geyser turns off. I like this idea. This will be my next project.. 😁

I had one of these in my last house and it was fantastic. It has a rotating dial that has little grey tabs that you click to the left. Each tab represents 15 minutes. I used to be able to turn my geyser on for anything from 15 minutes upward. I used to have it on for 30 minutes in the morning and 1 hour 15 minutes in the afternoon. That was enough to have hot water all day long.

Wow that is nice! Simple installation, minimal wires. I like it. The only gripe I would have with this system is that I cannot see the SOC at a glance. But don’t get me wrong, this is a very nice piece of tech.

Exactly! The whole automated thing seems a little too “finicky” to me. I don’t have much trust in electronics. Mechanical is my thing. While others will disagree with me, I just feel safer with more simplistic mechanical devices. We stagger any heavy loads throughout the day and don’t run too many things at once. Swambo has a system where she has certain times to turn selected things on. The only thing that was a little tiresome for her was to have to walk downstairs to check if the geyser was hot or not. Now, thanks to your idea about the thermostat she is much happier. 😊

Well actually the idea came from what Richard said about the brass sockets at the back of the thermostat. However I reasoned that the light might then stay on permanently. The thermostat is a switch and I needed to get the wires behind the switch. Then after lots of thinking, I got the idea to push the bare wires into the female lugs of the element. I really wasn’t sure if it would work or not.. so I turned the geyser on and let it warm up. The whole time the light was on, I wasn’t sure if I had done it correctly. Only when the light turned off after an hour did I realise that the plan worked. I made a Macgyver 😂😂

I decided to order one and do some real life testing to see how accurate it is. If it is accurate within 10% I will be satisfied. I am awaiting delivery of the item. I am sure this comes at a lovely price too 😁 I suppose the Victron BMV is the best option, but at R2500 it is a little out of my budget right now.

I had to do something. I only have 6kw to play with, the geyser is 3kw and while it is on I am limited in what else I can do. If I want to wash and tumble dry I need to wait for the geyser to first switch off. To have to walk downstairs and check how much power the inverter is using is a chore. Now I can see straight away when it goes off. Also if Swambo forgets the geyser on, it will also serve as a reminder. 💡

Then you are doing something wrong. You have to learn how to lie honestly. 😂😂 Just what is it with women? They complain when there is no power to do washing. Then they also complain when you spend money on a system big enough to wash and tumble dry.. 🤔

Personally I don’t see this happening. The allocated funds will disappear as usual.

My thermostat didn’t even have those brass holes (sockets) at the back, but pushing the wire into the back of the element worked perfectly. The thermostat went in a bit tighter than normal, but I didn’t have to force it. I am really chuffed with how simplistic it is and it only cost me an LED globe and a globe holder, I used twin flex that was left over from a previous project. 😁

Thank you for the advice Richard, I just finished the job now and it works perfectly. I just pulled the thermostat out a little bit, slid the bare wire of the twin flex into the two female lugs of the element and pressed the thermostat back in place. I ran the twin flex to a small LED light mounted to my ceiling. Now I can tell when the geyser is on or off. 😁

Thank you for your replies guys. I like the idea of a small LED light connected to the back of the thermostat. It is simplistic and cheap.

I have a kwikot geyser that I run off my 6kw inverter which is downstairs in the garage. Being restricted to 6kw at a time I want know when the geyser is on without having to physically go downstairs to see on the inverter how many KW are being drawn. Is there a way to tell when the geyser is on and off via a light that I can hook up to the thermostat or element perhaps through a relay? The one option I had is to install one of these pictured below, but I want something cheap and simple...

Did anybody else get a good Black Friday deal?

Has anyone else got any good deals today?

Thank you Gandalf. I saw these guys operate in my own town. I went to see them and look what I got.... R36K for two of these 127AH LiFePO4 batteries. Yes, they are second life cells, but heck, I think this is a good deal. Black Friday rocks!!!

Any item by Victron should be good. I don’t think they make anything inferior.

Hi Guys I am looking for some feedback from those who have or have used this item below that Bain sells. I know it makes an estimated guess based on voltage, but how accurate are they really? Does anyone have one and what is it like at estimating SOC of lithium batteries?

Thank you 🙏🏻

What size panels are these? I want to get a few old panels to put up around my shop as demo units.

Another site to read also about lithium batteries (sorry, I am crazy about lithium batteries 😂) http://nordkyndesign.com/category/marine-engineering/electrical/lithium-battery-systems/ Many people also ask about wind turbines to supplement their solar, this is an informative article to read... https://scoraigwind.co.uk/category/vertical-axis-wind-turbines-vawts/

I thought so. I would also think the geyser not having EL would be an issue, but I am not a sparkie. I’m going to call a professional in. Thank you to everyone who replied. 👍

I can tell you that the first five trip switches that do not have EL include: Some lights, some plugs and geyser. The last three trip switches that are going through the EL first are: some other plugs and some lights mainly in the garage. During the rainy season of last year I had the same problem of earth leakage tripping randomly. I got a sparkie out to check and he could not find the problem. He added that something is Seriously wrong with the wiring, but he did not elaborate. It seems to happen every time there is a heavy rain.

I notice that the wire in question is a twisted cable. I’m not sure if this is normal/legal. This is the main feed coming into the house from Eksdom. I will check it to be sure.