introverter

to make life easier for now you can 1) for new photos change the camera settings so that photos are captured as. jpg rather than .heic. Should be "settings" -> camera -> formats -> select "most compatible". 2) For photos already captured as .heic copying photos from the photos app to another folder in the files app should convert the photos to .jpg (more steps to this). First create a folder you can easily find: Open Files App -> choose "on my iphone/ipad" -> tap and hold in an empty area -> on the pop-up select "new folder" -> enter a name like JPEG -> tap "Done" Now select photos you want to copy to the folder you just created: Open photos app -> go to folder that contains the photos you want to convert ("Recents"?) -> when in correct album tap "select" button -> now tap on each photo you want -> then tap "share" button (bottom left ..little square with up arrow) -> select "copy photos" (photos are now "in" the clipboard). Now open files app and then go to the JPEG (or whatever name you chose) folder and open it. Tap and hold in an empty area of the folder -> from the pop-up choose "paste". The photos you selected should now appear here (but as jpg versions). Use these photos to upload/send/share 3) last resort is online conversion. THIS one seems simple and efficient

obviously depending what mood the bear is in, the temperature of the LED might be the least of your concerns... class, say with me.. bear...bare.. 😳

Assume the loopback test was done on the same PC and USB port as used for the inverter connection? (pretty sure you would have done it that way...but no harm in asking). The obvious uninstall and re-install the USB controller (device manager) ? Another too obvious one - antivirus/firewall present/updated too? Also too obvious (or practically not possible)... a different computer running standard software or your custom service connected to the inverter?

I have broken more things than I fixed so hopefully someone more qualified will be able to help you but I suspect there is probably a fault related to a transformer (the inverter is probably outputting the voltage of the 24V battery minus some losses for ineffeciency of converting DC to AC). By the way, it will possibly help other members if you include details like the make and model of the inverter, batteries etc.

Likely rhetorical question and by no means a representative sample but I checked the diffuser/cover temp on a 230V 5W GU10 that has been on for hours and got about 33 degree C. more than comfortable to touch with bear skin. Unless containing high quantities of chocolate I really wonder how many plastics/polymers etc. will degrade at that kind of temp. Guess the lamps could also be faulty and running much hotter.... Turns out LED "lights" are quite more complex than incandescent lamps (😉) and it is quite possible that what most people would consider the actual LED can discolour even in reaction to....... light (but probably more likely non-compatible materials used in LED manufacture or contamination of the LED components). Good insight here... with their conclusion for the lazy readers being: "VOCs emitted from materials used in the construction of LED based SSL systems can penetrate the silicone lenses and encapsulants of LEDs. These VOCs in the silicone can discolor when exposed to heat and high photonic energy of the LED. The result can produce significant loss of light output or color shift from the LED" And for the really dedicated have a look here If these are down lights you might find that the light spread is less than ideal and that they become much more pronounced spot lights I have no reason to complain about the Ellies GU10 LED down lights I have. Out of a group of 28 that are used most frequently and for extended times I have had 3 failures in about 3 or 4 years. "These" go for about R30 each at builder's (I say "these" because I would assume that by now there have been product/supplier changes). I have purchased (something else) from these guys and was happy with their service - see they stock GU10 LED bulbs strating at about R19 each

Possible to post a pic? I quite like mysteries but HATE unsolved ones and this intrigues me because I switched MANY GU10 downlights from the old halogen types to LED precisely because they run so much cooler (discovered that some rocket scientist decided rather than moving the light placement a couple of centimeters it will be a better idea to hack pieces out of the roof beams and have the nice hot halogen lamp sit snuggely against the wood...). Depending on the components I am curious whether it is the lamp diffuser/lens or the actual LED/LED lens that is discoloured. I find it difficult to believe that - if fitted - the lamp difuser will get discoloured by a LED.

I agree (but I am biased against any claims of PV gives "free" electricity or saves "huge" amounts of money...) I ramble too much so will try and keep it short. Looking at the case studies on the Elon Range web site I get the idea that an average 2/3 saving on energy required to heat water is what one should expect as a win (case study 2). I their case study for a 2 person family (targetting retirees?) in a one month period the energy required by the geyser was 180kWh. Over the past month my 2 person family's 3kW geyser required around 78kWh for water heating.... To my understanding I will be advised to use 3 x Solar modules in the 295-355W range for the greatest efficiency when using the Elon system to power my 3kW geyser element. 3 x 335W panels at R2450 (?) = R7350 (mounting structure, wire, disconnects, etc, installation and Elon Unit excluded). While moving house I misplaced my crystal ball but if we assume eskom gets an 8.5% increase every year, I start at a rate of R2.25 per kWh and assume an average 85kWh heating requirement I get the following (table shows just the theoretical 2/3 Elon based saving compared to using only grid power - intitial capital outlay is not included) So under close to ideal circumstances just the panels will have been paid for after about 3.5 years. When adding all the other costs, a world with clouds and the requirement to sometimes use water from the geyser after sunset, for our use profile it seems very unlikely that we will get to the "pay back in 2.5-5 years" mentioned in the FAQ section. While they also make mention of PV units lasting 30 years (?) the Elon unit self only has a 2 year warranty... For maximum geyser heating related saving while keeping outlay on PV panels to a minimum the Elon system is probably mostly suited to users who have: a) abundant sunshine almost all days , b) will be able to use warm water from the geyser only in the mornings. So while it looks like at some stage I could end up saving some money with an Elon setup I suspect PV Panels and inverter that power other loads and possibly dump excess power to the geyser somewhere around mid-day might give more bang for the buck (why buy a bakkie and use it only to drive to town?). The install manual indicates a max thermostat setting of 55 degree and the user manual indicates 60 while also advising that you should let the geyser get to 60 at least once a week which might require using the grid if weather is crappy - so total off-grid use is also questionable? The Elon 100 system savings/requirement calculations also work on a 6 minute 40 degree shower with a low-flow shower head....... I wonder what comparable saving one might achieve if doing 6 minute 40 degree low-flow showers without any other gadgets if coming from the starting point of many homes that probably still have their geysers cranked up to 70 while taking 20 minute showers under a hydrojet? I SPECULATE that in real world use it will often likely take most of the day to reach temp since the geyser element is probaly running off a lower supplied voltage? Btw fairly similar topic came up here .. (Elon also mentioned on page 2).

Don't know about zebo but think this Stove & Grate Polish might be similar if unable to source zebo.

I spend less time under a shower in cooler weather...then again I also close the water in between soaping/rinsing etc...

Assuming there is no obvious marking/info on the cell I am not sure if the question relates to 1) a general differentiation between18650 Li-ion cells on one hand and LiFePO4 on the other or 2) whether it is about differentiating the detailed exact chemistry for 18650 cells in general If question option 1....To my mind currently Li-ion 18650 cells are firstly divided into cells with a nominal voltage of 3.6V/3.7V on one side and on the other side of the iron curtain (?) cells with 3.2V nominal (which if nothing else will at least affect whether your exsiting charger will be suitable to charge them). At the risk of having high school science teachers and battery purists choke on their corn flakes if they read this I separate the world into Lithium-ion cells (>3.6V) and Lithium-Iron cells (3.2V).... So rule of thumb if the voltage is indicated on the cell as 3.2V it is LiFePO4 and any cells stating 3.6/3.7 are "non_LiFePO4". Other than the pink (Samsung) cells in the pic, all cells can be identified as "non-LiFePO4" because of the indicated voltage greater than 3.2V. The pink cells require some googeling (binging?) to get a spec sheet since no voltage is indicated and you should find multiple references of it being a 3.7V cell (again "non_liFePO4"). If the purple (?) cells (left most in pic) did not have the handy sticker I would be left ASSUMING they are 3.6/3.7V cells because there are no other info/identifying codes etc. on them and these are from a battery bank (the 3.6/3.7V cells are more common in consumer devices like battery banks and laptop batteries). I have a very strong suspiscion that question option 2 (exact chemistry) is actually what you are after. The pink cells and the black cells in the pic at least give some clues in the product code. "INR" on the pink cells and "NCR" on the black cells help to a degree to identify the chemistry but only if you like trying to decipher non standardised industry alphabet soup. Have a look here and here In the race to develop better cells, manufacturers use different chemistries in Lithium cells and the main unique chemistry components are then used when refering to different cells. A Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) cell having different characteristics from a Lithium Cobalt Oxide (LCO) cell.....Easy... right? Well it turns out no one can decide what specific parts to single out when referring to the chemistry component. Some manufacturers/suppliers/users/forum gurus will single out different elements of cells consisting of the same base chemistry. So NMC cells can also be NCM, CMN, CNM, MNC, MCN..... remember the alphabet soup... The pink Samsung cell is identified as INR18650 which is actually Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt cell... huh??? Turns out in the (samsung?) battery world the capital i ("I") should indicate "Lithium", "N" should indicate "NMC" as main chemistry and "R" should indicate Round/cylindrical (some sources claim the "R" as "Rechargeable"..). In the three letter "i-codes" the second letter should indicate: C - LiCo (ICR) ... also known as LCO or Li-Cobalt M - LiMn (IMR) ... also known as LMO or Li-manganese N - NMC (INR) ... also known as NMC (and the 128 variations of arranging the 3 letters) F - LiFe (IFR) ... also known as LiFePO4 or LFP The black cell in the pic has a NCR18650 indication... where did the "i" go? Don't know but this is likely a panasonic made/inspired cell with a Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum Oxide cell chemistry (also known as NCA.. a chemistry again different from LCO, NMC, etc.) Getting to the sony cell it seems that sony do not like to make life easy since they have very little useful info on the cells and also seem to have scrubbed the internet of their official battery info documents. It is easy enough to determine that it is a 3.7V cell (i.e. "non-LiFePO4") but the chemistry seems harder to pin down. At the very least that sony US18650GR cells appears to have started as a LCO type but the table here suggests that there are also NMC versions. Potentially the NMC versions will be newer cells? If looking for a fairly comprehensive collection of 18650 info to identify cells have a look here and maybe more specific to your question this part. PS. apologies to OP for heading slightly off topic..

I do not have any experience with the brand but love the sound of my keyboard so will dispense my 2 cents (VAT incl) worth With regard to the specfic model ("magma") it seems to be an all steel component stove - including the firebox. I wonder about the longevity of this (especially the firebox) as opposed to cast iron which I think is more traditional. The flue/chimney outlet is 130mm - when I had my stove put in it seemed that 150mm flue pipes/fittings etc. were easier to source (is a couple of years back though). The stove appears to rely mainly (only?) on radiation to distribute heat so I suspect the sides and back could possibly get very hot (relevant for how close other items/furniture etc can/should be around it). Maybe the natural stone lining will mitigate this (and possibly also prolong the life of the firebox). replacement availability for the stone liner though? (think stone will over time crack or to some extent erode) the dimensions (visually) make the ash drawer seem possibly a bit small (not fun if you have to empty it every day or even more than once if burning it for a whole day). Stove is (at least looks) very low to the floor - if you are married and need practice asking for forgiveness the extra kneeling when adding fuel (for the stove...) is handy, otherwise a stove that is higher might be nicer to run. No detail on the door handle. Some stoves have a relataively "cool touch" handle - while others require a glove to touch when the stove is going. (same as a cast iron skillet on a stove you WILL forget that glove at least once...)... little kids around.....shoo-shoo No axe to grind with the manufacturer (even less so seeing that they are local) but with (all) fireplaces/stoves the numbers should be approached with a fairly large pinch of salt (low sodium where possible). I see they quote a max output number but no nominal? How was the number determined? Here I suspect we (in South Africa) are waaayyyy behind the European countries where there are standards for stoves (NRS 097-2 or SANS 10142 for stoves basically...) In general I will advise 1) like for solar - first determine as accurately as possible what heat capacity you need (it is not that difficult to calculate total area, calculate some R-values/U-values for room material, use google/accuweather to get some historic weather info and calculate expected heat loss to get a sense what you are planning for). Too large a stove (output wise) could actually be worse that too small - as far as I know these stoves should not really be operated "choked down" (contributes to soot and creosote buildup in the chimney which has a fire risk). 2) budget for a proper install. Ideally stainless steel flue pipes - double walled AND insulated when entering the ceiling/roof space (relevant to reduce fire risk and helps flue operate optimally). Correct height of the flue (need certain clearances depending of pitch of roof, distance from top of roof, neighbouring big trees etc). The flue is a very big part of what makes these stoves operate well and efficient. Decent flashing (and someone skilled at actually fitting it) - watching water run down the flue is not as much fun as watching the flames dance.. 3) get a good supplier of wood (and then tell no one). Wood must be DRY (like in ideally at least 3 years since first cut). Lots of alien wattle around which burns quite well but to me it seems like bluegum has a greater energy density. Make sure the wood supply will fit in the firebox without touching the sides (logs should actually lie flat on a bed of coals - not the little pyramids that we seem so fond of). (if the stove is running optimally with good dry wood there should be virtually NO smoke visible exiting the flue). 4) look at things like minimum distances advised by the manufacturer from walls etc (peeling paint and cracked plaster - especially behind the stove is not unheard of) tldnr: no experience of the brand but plenty to say.

First proviso...I am no expert but the post seems to get many drivebys and no one stopping.. Your decision on inverter size is important for more than the size of load you can power - as far as I know if you want to add/combine units they must be of the same type/size (so if you start with 3kVA, the other 2 will also need to be 3kVA. There are also requirements in terms of processor/firmware similarity - so you will need to look at that in detail to make sure what you start with will be compatible with later additions. (the resident victron genie is @plonkster ... maybe he will swing by and smack me on the nose for invoking his name and spreading falsehoods about victron...) Like most forums the "which one is best?" type question often leads to very little fruitful conversation and mostly ends with at least one member banned.. Since you going the Victron route I will start with selecting at least what is part of their confirmed supported batteries (https://www.victronenergy.com/live/battery_compatibility:start) I will venture the following: it is too early to really know which brands are most reliable. The technology is not exactly new but we do not yet know whether these batteries really will for argument sake give the claimed 5000 or however many cycles. Maybe more importantly we do not yet know which company/companies will even be around to honour a warranty 10 years down the road (anyone can bring in a container of batteries from China, they can even be extremely good quality but 3 years later there could be a "glitch" where the bms starts giving intermittent problems - if the supplier is no longer around you may end up trying to get support from someone in China which can be good or non-existent. ). So with that said if I were to look at letting go of my money i will personally look at who at least appears to have a local foot print - even if just in terms of what most people are using so that there is a knowledge base and possible spares market to tap. My annecdotal observations of online forum discussions (for South Africa as market) and local online store stock carried will therefore steer me towards the pylontechs, BYD, and to have even more local support I will look at Freedomwon and Bluenova.. I am a big fan of lithium for backup power use in the Eskom load shedding scenarios but i also think at times the more traditional batteries have a place - especially when looking at costs. Being independent from eskom and saving money do not necessarily mix easily according to me so you may also need to more clearly identify your main goal.

Din rail (in one of the many available ready-made pool DBs). If looking at putting a timer on a samite board you may be able to use some adapter clips (https://www.cashbuildonline.co.za/products/adaptor-clips-sabs-samite)... for what it is worth I decided I will not put any of the consumer timers (majortech/CBI/hellerman) on my 3kW geyser. My uneducated opinion is that with a geyser the sustained high current draw is too close to the design limits and I suspect heat will be the major culprit leading to premature failure of the timer at best and possibly fire risk at worst. (the very high current on the pool pump startup is only a few milliseconds where after it drops quite low.... a 3kW geyser is very near the top limit and will be doing that for minutes (?) at a time).

I am a bit late to the party but I actually have a Majortech MTD8 switching my 1.1kW pool pump (twice a day, 7 days a week...).... touch wood it has been going for about 4 years now. (inrush on the pump is about 30A at 230V and running it draws about 6.2A...name plate of the pump indicates 7A). I find the setting procedure fairly simple - biggest gripe is that the screen can be very difficult to read in bright light. I also have some majortech plug point timers...they have never switched any thing over 100W and have only seen very intermittent short time use - one is still going also about 4 years on but another one died after only a few uses (when energised the relay sounds like a cell phone in vibration mode)..... An option that I am looking at but way more expensive is a sonoff that switches a contactor...

apologies for only replying now.. Not much to add really. The battery is used only as a backup power source for Eskom load shedding (I do not cycle it daily) so it has not seen any additional use in the past month or so. I did one load test which confirmed the capacity on the unit I received (200Ah) The battery was charged to 14.1V as per manufacturer spec. and then left without any load for about 12 hours. Then a known load was connected. Ambient temperature was about 20.5 degrees C for the duration of the test. The load consisted of a 230W tungsten security light and one small 4W LED bulb which at 230V gave a current draw of about 20A. The inverter was set to disconnect at 10V. Load was connected at 07:00 (battery voltage just before load was connected was 13.91V) and the inverter disconnected at about 17:03. Total time therefore just over 10 hours (10hx20A=200Ah). Data from the log also indicates that about 208Ah "left" the battery and when charging at 15A (standard rate) about 215Ah "went in". While discharging the battery voltage remained fairly constant until the last 30 minutes or so when it started falling of the cliff.

At the risk of appearing condescending (definitely not intended). The basics: During a power outage you (may) need a battery that provides power to an inverter, the inverter converts the Direct Current (DC) electricity (like what is in a car battery, or AA battery) to Alternating Current (AC) electricity (like what normally comes out of the house wall plug - roughly 230Volt in South Africa) which will power the laptop/router. The battery capacity (often in Amp Hours or Ah) will be one factor that determines how long your backup power supply will last - it is sort of like a car's petrol tank (it will very much influence how far/how long you can drive). The inverter "size" (often indicated as KVA or W) will sort of determine how many things (or how big a total thing) you can connect at one time and give it power - it is sort of like the car's engine size (a 1 liter engine is not as "strong" as a 5 liter engine). How many things you connect at the same time will also influence how long the battery can provide power. Putting 14 people in a datsun Go will likely mean you use more petrol while you drive and empty the tank quicker. (the router is one person, the laptop another). Putting one sumo wrestler in the dasun Go will also use more petrol than when it is just the average (??) 70Kg person. If you connected an electric kettle (many electric kettles use about 2000W...) to the inverter it could be a sumo wrestler that drains the petrol tank too quickly or the datsun might not even be strong enough to move the sumo wrestler, so you could need a bigger engined car (in stead of 1000W inverter you get a 3000W inverter). So you need to determine how big a load you need to power (how heavy is the router and laptop) for "size" of inverter and for how long you need to power it (size of tank) for battery capacity. The router power supply and laptop power supply will likely indicate somewhere on it what their Watt ratings are (I have an ancient Dell which indicates it is a 90W power supply). If you add up the total wattages of the router and laptop power supplies you will know how "big" inverter you need. For JUST a router and laptop a 3000VA (which is sort of the same as 3000W) inverter is like likely waaayyyy more than you will need - but there is in essence nothing wrong with connecting a small load to a big inverter. If you know the size of the total load that you need to power you can multiply it by time (in hours) to get an idea of how big the battery will need to be. Assume the router and laptop combined are 100W and you use it 4 hours you will use 400 Wh. Then divide the W number by the battery voltage of the inverter system (it looks like the Voltons use 24V battery systems) to get the Ah needed (400W/24V=16.67Ah) So to power the 100W load for 4 hours, using a 24 Volt battery system you will need at least a 16.67Ah battery . To be safe, now divide the Ah by 0.85 (this gives a bit extra breathing room because when converting DC to AC electricity some of it is wasted). 16.67Ah /0.85 = 19.6Ah. Last part that can now get the rabbit hole to completely diverge in a deserted forest where no one hears a tree fall - it could help to know what type of battery is used in the inverter system because some batteries will last for a total shorter life time (the battery will "break" sooner) if you use more than 50% of their capacity at a time. In that case I would round up my 19.6 Ah to 20Ah and multiply by 2, which means I would get at least a 40Ah battery to power my 100W load for 4 hours with a 24V battery and not use more than 50% of it during that 4 hours.. If you knew all of this, my apologies, then I jump ahead - I unfortunately have no knowledge or experience of the Volton systems so have no idea about good/bad/quality/price etc. By the way, something that could be useful especially if you do not want to go overboard initially before you move, and if needing to externally power only the router - many routers operate on DC (5V, 12V etc.) - you may be able to get away with only using some version of a power bank (without any inverter) to power the router and do your best to have the laptop battery charged when load shedding starts, and turn down screen brightness/use the power saving features when running the laptop on the built-in battery to make it last as long as possible.

I suspect 2 options. 1) they manufacturer/repacker might mean you can, but should not since it could lead to a shorter total battery life (unhappy customer) 2) you can, but it will do something like damage the BMS since it is not designed to make provision for this (unhappy and/or damaged customer) and maybe a potential 3rd 3) "you can but we do not want to get sued when someone wants to charge their new battery bank @ 400A and turn their 25mm2 welding cable fastened with a lose fitting coroded washer to the battery terminals into what is initially the worlds biggest lightbulb fillament.." (unhappy relatives of very damaged customer) From my reading of the interweb it should boil down to a combination of 1 and/or 2 due to issues with cell balancing - which is already tricky with brand new cells (individual cell internal resistance being a major factor). With these repackaged batteries the individual cells probably already have more variance between them than would be ideal. In this case the BMS may play the role of conductor (like the orchestra kind, not a train or wire connected to a voltage source) and make sure the cells inside the individual case stay relatively balanced - BUT it has no way to communicate with the next door neighbour to syncronise their activities - which leads to individual cells in each battery becoming more unballanced and/or one battery being way out of balance with it's neighbour. The BMS may also rather just be bit of a club bouncer (just protects against over discharge etc.) and when parallel connected the variance in charge current is outside the design paramenters and just fries the BMS. For interest, the Blue Nova LiFePO4 "drop-in replacements" indicate that you can series connect them - BUT each one has a number on and you should only connect batteries in the same number series (114-1, 114-3 should be okay, but 114-1 and 116-3 not). Info on the battery also states "if want to parallel connect, contact supplier for advice". Freedom Won LiFEPO4 "drop-in replacement" info I have indicate parallel is okay if you do things like make sure the cable lenghts are LONGER than a certain minimum to reduce heat transfer, and charge currect must be set as if for a SINGLE battery (but parallel conection is not covered by the warranty if you do). Series connection MUST have a balancer added between each 2 batteries (and also not covered by warranty). These guys (https://www.aliexpress.com/i/33028232599.html ) for instance again state that you can series connect but only up to a certain voltage - or the BMS will go kaput. So the "CAN'T" parallel on the mecer is maybe not that strange. Even a 200W inverter can run of a 400Ah battery but I think putting 400A DC through almost any inverter will get interesting regardless of the cable thickness Definitely think the R/kWh value is good - but obviously with the gamble of whether you "won the lottery" with very closely matched cells, or got one wonky cell that slowly drags the entire battery down. The "out of pocket" amount was my deciding factor for the standby use I intend (not planning on cycling it every day, and will not try and murder it with high charge/discharge current unless called for) I would feel better if these batteries hand some of those nice yellow Winston (sinopoly?) cells etc. but i am not sure it matters too much. What I DO want though is the hopefully safer characteristics of LIFePO4 vs Li-Po etc. LIFePO4 do actually come in pouch format but it is still a prismatic cell (for instance https://shop.gwl.eu/LiFePO4-small-cells/Pouch/NPB-LiFePO4-Power-3-2V-100Ah.html ). Again, I do not know what these Mecer batteries contain (opening it up will be quite a mission - very decently sealed/glued etc on all edges).

I will take a stab at this... PMP482305000 is the multiplus II 48V/3kW/35Amp charger/32 Amp rated transfer switch "1st edition". PMP482305010 is the multiplus II 48V/3kW/35Amp charger/32 Amp rated transfer switch new revised "2nd edition" ... I think the differences have more to do with meeting the long list of varying grid codes in Victron's markets than one model/revision being better/worse at their core function as inverter/charger. So from what I can tell for instance the UK grid code has new(er) requirements that the original muliplus likely no longer meet and they had to make actual hardware changes to make the MPii compliant. I think much of this is around the requirements to adequately disconnect when the grid fails (anti-islanding requirements). I doubt there will be any difference between the hardware revisions as far as "lowering eskom bill" type scenarios. But the multigrid (even the 12/3000) and multiplus ii both appear on the COCT list of approved equipment, the normal multiplus does not - so from a legal grid-tie scenario the multi-grid and multiplus ii will likely be a safer choice than the multiplus. (looking at the spec sheets there are some smaller "cosmetic" differences like bat/temp sense between the two versions) As far as the diagrams go.... 1st one has 6 triangles, second one has 5, and third one has 4.... 😉. I say this in jest and is waaayyyy above my knowledge level but am pretty sure the "triangles" will point to how they are setup internally in terms of relays/switches, which should make more sense when you look at what input/output you might want to have connected to which other input/output while the gird is connected and when it's not. The clever okes will hopefully pop in with corrections and more useful info...

pleasure! 😀

I took a chance and bought a 200Ah one. The Wh number on the comx site is wrong when you do the math and you can see that someone edited a 180Ah manual to indicate 200Ah - which makes it seem very dodgy - BUT the included manual that I received have numbers that make sense. (it seems that there are 180Ah and 200Ah units. 180Ah was out of stock with mustek/mecer when I enquired) Overall outer condition seems fine (the battery shell is plastic, but no obvious dents/cracks/scratches - shell actually looks 100% - no idea what the inside looks like and will not take to opening it up...yet). battery terminals had no sign of use/tool marks etc. Specs indicate it weighs "approx. 23Kg" - mine weighs 23.4Kg (google suggest the specific energy of LiFePO4 to be 90-120Wh/Kg. So while not knowing the exact weight of the cells, the numbers should get you at least past 2000Wh (160Ah for 12.8V nominal) at the lower spectrum ...I guess it could contain only 4 cells and some lead bars...) My cheap multimeter showed a voltage of 13.19V before hooking it up for the first time (probably fairly meaningless for a lithium, but at least it did not arrive @ 10V) I charged it with a Multiplus inverter/charger @ 35A (the manual indicates standard charge as 15A and maximum as 100A) - I was keen to have it charged as I knew we were in for load shedding later the day. It took close to exactly 3 hours before indicating "absorption". Multiplus held absorption for another 1 hour (current tappering off). By my math (which is worse than my spelling) using info from my VRM log, by the time absorption was reached the battery "accepted" about 105Ah and absorption probably added another 15Ah. As far as I know lithium batteries are shipped at about 50% charge. So assuming the shipping charge state and the known charge cycle the math would suggest that it probably is in the 200Ah range. While charging nothing felt warm (my hand being the closest to a scientific instrument for temp testing). When load shedding takes a break I might see if I can get a more definitive answer on the capacity with a sustained fixed load. The battery has been used this past week and seemed to happily power the very modest average 200W load for 2 hours, then charge @ 15A and be ready at least an hour before the next load shedding session commenced, and repeated this cycle another 2 times per day for 4 days in a row. (I lowered the charge rate to 15A to "baby" the battery when possible, but if we hit stage 6 load shedding I will up the charge rate again). The battery has done momentary (couple of seconds) discharges @ >250A (NOT a typo) and so far nothing has melted/tripped/caught fire. The manual indicates maximum continuous discharge as 100A - no information on pulse current. How well the BMS does what it is supposed to do (or whether it is even there...?) I do not know and have no intention to short out the terminals, or charge it to 16V to find out. The "manual" is 1 piece of A4 paper, but at least it is double sided, glossy, in colour and not written in the worst dialect of Changelese. Probably the biggest issue is one part of the page indicates a charge voltage of 14.6V, and another 14.1V - I suspect the 14.6V is probably the high cut-off. (I set the voltage at 14.1V) Whether the battery will give me 1500 cycles (this I assume is to another 80% capacity loss) I do not know. Should you consider one, or more, of these keep in mind (according to the manual): You can NOT parallel connect to get 400Ah, but you can series connect to get 24/48 "Bulk"/absorption voltage is 14.1V (float @ 13.6V) for 12V system "Bulk"/absorption voltage is 28.2V (float @ 27.2) for 24V system "Bulk"/absorption voltage is 56.4V (float @ 54.4) for 48V system

keep in mind if it is a laser printer they draw a fair bit more power than inkjets and this will be relevant to your peak load calculations (your wife printing something quickly while you switch on the washing machine type scenario). out if interest I have two Bosch "AAA" fridge/freezers which draw about 160W if you average it out - but somewhere in the chill/defrost etc cycle the two combined have done 1300W (only a second or so..but stil) - this meant a 258A momentary current draw from my 12V battery. So far all seems well. AAA front loader washing machine sitting doing nothing ("Stanby") = 2.6W, adding water/agitating (rotate drum left/right slowly) = 20-130W, Spinning @ 1200RMP = 275W, BUT heating water to 40 degree C = 2005W .... So like @plonkster said.. if you need to wash, the cold cycle should be okay even on a smaller system. .... things that make warm = draw lots of power. Relevant for inverter size and if wanting/needing battery backup for these kinds of loads means bigger battery (i.e. if budget is relevant you might want to consider driving with your head out the window rather than the hairdryer 😉). Depending where you live (especially the scale down option), keep in mind calculating how long you may need to be independent (the grid is not always there to help out). I only very recently started looking at solar to add to my load shedding backup - I live in an area with often 3-5 days of overcast weather. I purchased two small panels to test... granted it might not apply to different makes of panels etc. but with fairly thick cloud conditions seems like most I will get from solar is 5-15% of the rated power - If I want to size my solar to cover these conditions I need to run a iron forge or something on sunny days to utilise all that solar energy. The biggest advantage I saw while looking at my system - now with 20/10 hind vision - is that 48V could give me 3 things comparwed to my 12V 1) more easily power bigger loads (3kW inveretr as opposed to 1.2kW) 2) if looking at lithium type batteries the pylontech type batteries seem to be much better value from a Rand/kW perspective compared to 12/24V lithium 3) keeping in mind what I said about local weather and adding solar . My calculations suggest that for my use scenario, 48V batteries should charge quicker than 12V.

Takes a bit more time but think it can give more flexibility and fit for purpose result. I think many of the off-the-shelf solutions are meant to cater for single grid failures only now and again (my house alarm backup battery did quite well, until we hit stage 4 and 6 where after it would not power the alarm for even 10 minutes). When I looked at my initial load shedding solution I very hastily only looked at powering a load for the duration of Eskom being missing but did not give much thought about being ready for the next session (at that time we have not yet gone past stage 2 load shedding) and that is where something like the Flexopower falls short for my needs - recharge time. (by the way, I made a typo in my post, the Flexopower lasts about 2.5-3 hours on that 120W load). When heading towards multiple load shedding sessions in a single day the 6 hour charging time became a problem. So remember for load shedding specifically to look at both charger and battery ability to, within the timeframe required, put back what you took out of it.

On a fairly fixed budget (R10K) for 250W odd for 2 hours focused on load shedding I would consider: LiFePO4 570Wh (44Ah)12V battery - battery should keep up with the load AND happily charge at a rate that allows being ready for the next load shed AND hopefully not be dead after doing this 500 times. (bluenova or freedomwon - BN bit cheaper on the big online purchase store where u take a lot more than you need - not sure what the forum policy is on linking prices etc.). Make this R4500? Victron Multi 12/500/20 charger/inverter. Will function as a UPS, power the load AND later recharge the battery with some capacity spare without u having to intervene (you will just need to get someone to setup the charge profile on the multi via VE Config...) make this R6500? A local solar/battery shop to make you up some nice beefy battery cables with a Fuse on the Pos (+) battery cable. otherwise, replace the multi with a phoenix 12/500 inverter . R3000? BlueSmart IP65 15A charger permanently connected to the battery. R2700? (with this option you may need some manual intervention like connecting your load to the inverter when Eskom goes bye-bye, but the charger has a LiFePO4 setting and you can set it via Bluetooth from your phone). until you know exactly what you NEED, what you want will make you keep on adjusting your budget UP to where the practical benefit MAY not correspond to financial implications. Do you NEED the 250W or can you still shave a bit? - for instance if this is a TV/decoder type setup... that flat screen potentially is very thirsty... during load shedding, if I REALLY want to use the TV I turn down the backlight intensity/use the energy save function..... the panel alone without power saving draws about 100W, minimum power save draws about 80W, Medium draws about 60W and Maximum draws about 40W...). If this is some medical device for instance then I would definitely go bigger on battery capacity... The ready-made solutions (for me) come generally at a price premium and capacity deficit vs. doing some DIY (sourcing and maybe "assembly") (I bought a flexopower about 18 months ago... my TV/AV amp/MiBox/Router combo draw about 120W and will just make it through to about 3.5 -4 hours total .... and then charging time is AT LEAST 6 hours.... this is now relegated as the emergency emergency backup) .... see point 1...

some times I drive past a very small plattelandse primary school (total of two buildings, 3 cars in the staff parking area, the shade of the big blue gums being more attractive to the children than the multi-coloured klim-en-klouter play area..) on the entrance gate from the tar road a sign that says "kom in om te leer" ... think a similar slogan is apt for a forum like this and the knowledge that people like yourself freely share...👍 ..that boat has already left the harbour.. any case, as per original topic/question, answer is that ESS is unlikely to on any practical level reduce battery lifespan.

..."bulk" is also proudly displayed on the inverter icon of my *cough* raspberry/Venus *cough* when the multi is chugging along to get the battery to absorption before the next loadshedding kicks in 😉 (after doing my homework on how to hopefully not turn a lithium battery into a small fission device through overcharging AND having to use VE Configure to set voltages etc, since the battery is less intelligent than others and not officially supported, it is difficult to get away from the terms) Thank you, I accept that. My pedantic voltage questions are because I prefer to try and understand/know how something works but it also leads into the next question which is around calculating potential realistic AC load that can be run when using a specific PV array size + MPPT spec. Knowing that ESS is unlikely to turn my battery from a "10 year wonder" into a 6 month "has been", removes a potential con from the pro/con list. All of this should help me decide whether spending money on an MPPT and solar panel/s will add real value to what I have (despite the allure of ESS just seeming like an awesome setup) To test my understanding of battery charging and the working of ESS: 12v multi with max charge current set at 20A, absorption voltage set as 14.4V, and Float as 13.5V. MPPT 100/30 .After an early evening loadshed the battery was happily charged from the grid during the night to 14.4V, followed by 1 hour absorption until the multi indicates "Float". The next day when the sun is sufficient, ESS will potentially have available (13.6V x "up to max amps MPPT+panel+conditions allow") to power a load on the AC side? e.g. if there is a 200W load on AC side, ESS will provide roughly 17.3A @ 13.6V from the MPPT to power the AC load and because the battery is in any case "full" with a very low self discharge rate, the battery will not draw/"accept" the 17.3 A. As it is a 100/30 MPPT there is a theoretical "surplus" of 12.7A or the ability to power an additional 135W on the AC side... .... show your calculations: (200W/13.6V)/0.85 = 17.3A If however there was another loadshed early morning, and the multi started charging the battery just as conditons were ideal for the PV side, then: ESS will push (14.5V x 20A) from MPPT to charge the battery and at the same time if PV allows have 14.5V x 20A to power a load on the AC side?