[BiggKidd]

Red finally had her calf today. It’s been up and about several times but I didn’t have the phone to get a picture then. Proud mamma and pappa standing over it tooo!

[Hanidu-Acres]

It never gets old.

[BiggKidd]

Wish I had the phone with me today to get a pic. Calf is getting around and doing fine if skinny. Looks like it’s bigger framed every time I see it. Red looks like she’s carrying five gallons of milk easy! Wish someone wanted to milk her. I personally hardly ever use milk. Her bags are huge and here teats are too. Dawn hardly had any I couldn’t have imagined trying to milk her but Red on the other hand would be a handful!

[BiggKidd]

This calf is growing fast!

[BiggKidd]

ROTFLMAO

Just got an email from the AI tech I contacted back in 19.

Funny guy just got back to me about breeding my dexter heifer’s from where I contacted him in Sept 2019 Think he may be a little late, like 4 years late!

I scratch my head wondering why he contacted me now?

[BiggKidd]

When you’re strapped for cash and blow a hole in a tractor tire. Ya stitch it up patch the tube and stick a band-aid between the tube and the split in the tire. So far it’s still holding air, for now… BTW that’s a full size tire iron holding the split open for the picture.

[BiggKidd]

Been sifting and spreading wood ash on the crop and garden ground. It raises the ph much like lime but also has a whole slew of other nutrients. First we separate all the charcoal out and save it for other things in this case it’ll get mixed with chicken litter and manure and used as a soil amendment. Trying to get about 1000-1500lbs of ash per acre but I only have enough for about 1.5 to 2 acres which means I’m short by about the same amount. So those areas may have to make do with lime this year.

[BiggKidd]

Have any of you heard anything about these yet? I’ve been running an Aims 2000 watt inverter / charger for over ten years but it’s time to step up the power a little.

https://www.renogy.com/48v-3500w-solar-inverter-charger/?utm_source=criteo&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=lowerfunnel&cto_pld=tQonlX_GAACqrkc36-m0OA

renogy.com

48V 3500W Solar Inverter Charger

Renogy's 3500W 48V Solar Inverter Charger combines solar charging, AC/generator battery charging, and battery inverting into one convenient solution. Free shipping

[Indiana_Mike]

I did see one review.

https://youtu.be/YcKO4ZhjJlk?feature=shared

[BiggKidd]

Great thanks I should have figured Will had done one!

[BiggKidd]

Not what I’d call a promising review! But it was two years ago.

[Hippocrates_Garden]

I consider Renogy a decent, budget, but throwaway brand. I’ve not heard a whole lot of good re: any service. I use Renogy charge controllers and so far no problem, but not using them real hard, and not in big systems. That all-in-one is just another rebranded one. It boils down to how much you need to depend on it. If it is truly critical, then I’d stick to the well-known, decades-proven brands. Schneider, Victron etc.
After that, who has U.S.-based support, either direct to manufacturers or established dealers?
For not really -that- important systems, or just testing, trialing, learning, amazon.

Thus far I have:
Batteries: EG4 48v rackmount (6), Epoch 48v waterproof (4), LiTime 12v 100ah (4), one diy LiPo and 8 6v deep cycle lead acids.
Charge Controllers: Victron (mppt), Renogy (pwm and mppt)
Inverters: Victron, Harbor Freight
All in One: EG4
and various panels, cables, racks, etc.

[BiggKidd]

Well I am on a tight budget. I’ve been running Aims 2000 watt inverter / chargers for about a dozen years and they’ve worked well but now I need more power on a regular basis so the 3500 should work even 3000 would be okay I think. Seeing as equipment like this tends to run it’s most efficient at 80-90% loaded this would be close with a little overkill but not much when all the major stuff is running.

[BiggKidd]

Sounds like a killer system @Hippocrates_Garden

[BiggKidd]

I’m seriously starting to think I should look in to wind power. Three seasons a year we have a fair bit of wind. Generally it gets on my nerves and does nothing useful just stops me from working on things but if it was making me some power then it wouldn’t be so bad. Today it gusting up in the 20’s to the 40’s from the way things are acting.

[BiggKidd]

Still debating the inverter… BUT

Sometime in the next thirty or so days I should no longer have battery woes! I have 32) 280 AH 3.2 volt cells coming. This an entire battery bank replacement. Taking out 650ish AH of old OLD AGM type cells and replacing them with 560 AH of NEW LifePO4 cells. These should out last me by a few years. They have a 8000 cycle lifespan, which is pretty much 22 years at once a day charging. My excysting bank had a usable 165 AH of storage roughly using the top 25-30%, the new cells will essentially double that using the middle 60% of their capacity which will give me about 335AH of usable power. The downside is the new cells need to be in a moderately controlled climate. So I’ve got that little (HUGE) technical difficulty to overcome. I’m thinking maybe dig a tiny basement under the power building by going right through the floor. Anyone else have any ideas? I could move them inside the house but I’d really rather not for a number of reasons. The main one being serious lack of space and the fire danger. Another option is to simply put them in an insulated box with thermostat controlled heaters. But that’s not going to help any with summers heat plus it uses valuable power to run the heat…

[Hippocrates_Garden]

Questions:
what is the dc voltage of your system? 12/24/36/48

What is the rating for your inverter, and what is the largest load you need to run, evern for a few minutes?

The reason I ask is, one if the significant differences between lithium and lead based, is the lithium has a bms, even if diy. Those bms’s are rated at 100 or 200amps generally.

1300W on a 12volt system (I used 13 vdc for the calculation) is 100 amps. Meaning, if you ever, much less routinely have total loads over 1300W, you need either a 200amp bms, or two batteries with 100amp bms’s

on a 24vdc system, then 100 amps (using 25vdc for calculation) is about 2500W

Just something to think about. Lead is made to surge hundreds of amps for a few seconds, Depending on the bms and cells, a lithium may go 50% over rated capacity, so a 100amp might go 150amps for a few seconds, then shut down.

It’s not just about the size of the cells, sometimes one needs multiple “batteries” for the amp load.

[BiggKidd]

You make very valid points my friend. My system is 48 volts and soon will be 51.2 volts. LOL The BMS I plan to run is a Daly 200 amp so no problems there at all… The working voltage will be mostly be between 52 and 53 volts since I will likely keep the cells between 20 and 80 percent charge for the longest cell life. Right now my inverter is an Aims 2000 watt but I’m looking to move to a 3500 or 4000 later this year but still no problem. The cells will be configured in a 2P 16S arrangement.

[Hippocrates_Garden]

Perfect!

[BiggKidd]

Thank you sir…

[Hippocrates_Garden]

I’m considering doing another diy battery for the shed to classroom I’m getting delivered. I’ve done one small 12v battery but looking possibly at something more your level. Not sure if I want a bms that has the can or rj485 connections to communicate directly to an inverter or charger directly or not. Been watching OffGridGarage, and his exploits with some of the more feature rich bms’s.

[BiggKidd]

I’m not that into it and don’t keep up with the latest or greatest. I just want a system that works as it should for a reasonable cost. I’ve done well at that for the last 15 years and hopefully that will continue with the new system. I am NOT a fan of having all my stuff linked to the net or any of that and try not to let it be if at all possible.

[Hippocrates_Garden]

While I’d prefer not to be internet-connected for many reasons, at the moment, it is a necessity, as I’m not able to be on my property that much, but need to know what’s going on. Fo instance at the moment, I have two small solar arrays. One goes through a Victron charge controller, and one goes through an “all in one” inverter/charger. I can see what’s going on with the All in One via ‘Solar assistant” (and even have some real-time control), and it should be giving me the best state of charge of the batteries, as they batteries talk directly to the all in one, however, all energy in and out of the battery rack also goes through a Victron Smart Shunt, which currently doesn’t talk to Solar assistant.

The first pic is the current status of the all-in-one, including the battery state of charge (Grid = generator)

The second pic is the Victron side, with combined solar, generator, etc going into the batteries.

• This reply was modified 10 months, 1 week ago by  Hippocrates_Garden.

[BiggKidd]

Nicely done and perfect for your circumstances.

[BiggKidd]

6/28/23 Still planting very late garden this year.

I finally made it out a little after 7am It’s almost 11:30am now so a tad over 4 hours was all I could take. When I uncovered the chicken litter a timber rattler greeted me. Rattle Rat tat rat tat rattle rattle and so on. The 1911 appeared in my hand somehow BUT I didn’t shoot on account of the cinderblocks behind it. I didn’t want to eat any lead or cinderblock! So I hollered for Anna to get me the shovels and she spent the next ten minutes screaming then finally got the shovels and I managed to take it’s head off without firing a shot. But I knew if I moved and lost sight of it a highly pissed off rattler was going on the prowl! It now has parts in the bottoms of a few planting holes. Waste not want not!!!!!!!!!!

It’s warm out there and bright & sunny… Think I’ll soak up AC for awhile!

[BiggKidd]

My new homestead transport runs on solar and pedal power. So far my longest ride on a single charge has been 41 miles. It has full suspension, dual motors AWD, hydraulic disk brakes, headlight, turn, tail, brake lights and a horn. I’ve had it just over a week and already has 168 miles…