Unknown2012-08-14 03:45:20
Anyone done this sweet stuff before? I have an inverter connected to a 12v deep cycle battery but the inverter won't power on :( The negative one is unplugged in this picture of course.
Stangmar2012-08-14 04:00:15
How many aH does that battery store? What size of solar panel(s) are you running?
Up in our mountain property, we have solar energy. Our panels total out to about 5x15 by my estimation(i've never measured them). We get about 1000 watts an hour from them. They run into a controller which regulates it at 12v and charges our batteries. Up until last week we were using about 5 or 6 deep cycle batteries from Interstate Battery. Then we had a 2000w inverter. We use this getup to power our motorhome which we keep parked there. Does a good job of keeping the lights going, as well as the refridgerator and tv. The batteries we bought wore out pretty fast though, so we scrapped them and invested in 2 6v golf cart batteries. Of course, you wire 2 6V batteries in series to bring it up to 12V. They are roughly 235 amp batteries, we'll see how they do before adding more.
It's a real PITA. So far they haven't really paid for themselves yet, because the batteries wear out fast. We also set up a windmill, but that was a terrible idea. It's an inexpensive(relatively) 500w job. It doesn't have an effective mechanism to stop itself, and if the wind blows too fast it will burn up your windmill. Trying to stop the damn thing with the wind blowing is impossible. We tore it down last weekend.
Also, for maximum charge via solar panels, they need to be angled from the ground according to your latitude. We are at 37 deg. north, IIRC, so we have ours facing south at a 37 degree angle from the ground.
Up in our mountain property, we have solar energy. Our panels total out to about 5x15 by my estimation(i've never measured them). We get about 1000 watts an hour from them. They run into a controller which regulates it at 12v and charges our batteries. Up until last week we were using about 5 or 6 deep cycle batteries from Interstate Battery. Then we had a 2000w inverter. We use this getup to power our motorhome which we keep parked there. Does a good job of keeping the lights going, as well as the refridgerator and tv. The batteries we bought wore out pretty fast though, so we scrapped them and invested in 2 6v golf cart batteries. Of course, you wire 2 6V batteries in series to bring it up to 12V. They are roughly 235 amp batteries, we'll see how they do before adding more.
It's a real PITA. So far they haven't really paid for themselves yet, because the batteries wear out fast. We also set up a windmill, but that was a terrible idea. It's an inexpensive(relatively) 500w job. It doesn't have an effective mechanism to stop itself, and if the wind blows too fast it will burn up your windmill. Trying to stop the damn thing with the wind blowing is impossible. We tore it down last weekend.
Also, for maximum charge via solar panels, they need to be angled from the ground according to your latitude. We are at 37 deg. north, IIRC, so we have ours facing south at a 37 degree angle from the ground.
Unknown2012-08-14 04:05:55
Well, I haven't even gotten the solar panels set up yet. I want to get the inverter working first, and so far that hasn't happened :( The panel is really simple, just a 15 watt 1 amp panel. I am hoping to charge my cell phone and tablet off of it, it's mostly a hobby project.
I had the guys at autozone check the battery and it's fully charged, it sparks sometimes, but no juice to the inverter.
I had the guys at autozone check the battery and it's fully charged, it sparks sometimes, but no juice to the inverter.
Stangmar2012-08-14 04:24:55
Does the inverter have a built in fuse?
Unknown2012-08-14 04:32:55
No idea actually... it's this inverter though http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Duralast-1000-Watts-digital-inverter/_/N-255s?itemIdentifier=973845
Unknown2012-08-14 04:47:24
I managed to get it to give me an error message... The 12 volt DC power
supply voltage drops below 11±0.3volts
supply voltage drops below 11±0.3volts
Unknown2012-08-14 06:00:11
I seem to have it working now, thanks Stangmar!
Stangmar2012-08-14 06:32:13
So I take it it was the fuse then?
Unknown2012-08-14 08:00:07
I don't think it was that, I just had to move the connection cables from far along the little winch things on the nipples of the battery, to closer to the nipples and that increased the amount of electricity going to the inverter.
