6am voltage readings have dropped recently

softdown
softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,896 ✭✭✭✭
in Off Grid Solar & Battery Systems #1
Guess I seen the food situation coming. But running six fridges and freezers does put a strain on the battery bank for sure. Used to wake up to 50.5V with normal refrigeration. Dropped to 49.6V with all these fridges and freezers. Been 49.4V very recently and I am wondering why.

Checked a bunch of batteries this morning. None are bad. So why the drop in voltage? Is running a little 4 amp battery charger overnight doing this? The battery bank is obviously. on the large side. 

Four of the freezers are in the garage where it is below freezing this time of year. So they don't strain the system as much as you might think. This is one of the coldest regions in the nation - ranked #24 nationally. A solar paradise but challenging winters to be sure. Without effective passive solar it may make little sense. 

Anybody else effectively using passive solar to lower their heating demands? 
First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,896 ✭✭✭✭
    #2
    Watching DVDs on a 65" TV was the biggest culprit. Running a 4 amp charger all night probably lowers system voltage from, say, 50 volts to ~ 49.94 volts. Something like that. Mostly the big TV and DVD player it seems. Was back up to 49.7 volts this morning. 

    Anybody know when Costco is going to start getting golf cart batteries again? They were told to "not even bother trying to order them" some time ago. Another current oddity for sure. 
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,896 ✭✭✭✭
    #3
    Costco may have quit carrying their golf cart batteries because the reviews indicate consistent problems with quality and longevity. They often last about a year while previous batteries had lasted up to six years.https://www.costco.com/interstate-6-volt-golf-cart-battery.product.100476406.html
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,896 ✭✭✭✭
    #4
    The Duracell batteries at Sams Club appear to be much better:https://www.samsclub.com/p/duracell-golf-car-battery-group-size-gc2/prod3590228?xid=plp_product_1

    4.4 star rating is not bad. 
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #5
    Running freezers to preserve food--An OK short term storage as long as you have power... Here in California with power around $0.40 to $0.50 per kWH, you have to take into account the cost of the freezer power:
    • 1.5 kWatt*Hours per day (average eff freezer) * $0.45 per kWH = $0.675 per day
    • 1.5 kWatt*Hours per day (average eff freezer) * $0.45 per kWH  * 365 per year = $246 per to "store a freezer full of food for 1 year"
    If the freezer holds 200 lbs of meat--That adds a bit over a $1 per pound for 1 year of storage... (not including costs of a freezer, space in your home for the freezer, etc.).

    Plus the costs of loss of food (freezer fails, power fails, cost of backup power, freezer door not closed, etc.--Been there, done that)...

    There is canning, freeze drying, drying, etc. of foods... There is lots of information on YouTube/etc. this days about food preservation. Freeze drying is not cheap (cost of freeze dryer, cost of power). Drying (if you use an electric dehydrator). And even canning takes energy to boil the water in the canner/pressure canner). And your time.

    Questions of "saving:" money (buying stuff in season/on sale and storing) vs "prepping" X days or Y months of food and water for (hopefully) short term supply interruptions (weather, supply chain, fuel shortages, etc.) of long term storage of (typically) dry goods (rice, beans, etc.).

    Lots of ways of addressing the question of food storage. What works best for you...

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,896 ✭✭✭✭
    #6
    Of course this wouldn't make sense in a normal environment. Most will agree that these as indeed "Troubling times in the kingdom".

    Plus this is a very cold region. So energy usage is minimized from ~ late October to late April. About 1/2 the year. 

    All one needs to do is listen to the utterances of Klaus Schwab/WEF loony tunes. That will likely send them scurrying to buy more food and a freezer. Plus we have Gates doing Gates stuff. Again.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk9Nd4uhJQg

    Few are ready for these insights. I chose vigilance. The road less comfortable for sure. 
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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