 Notice. New forum software under development. It's going to miss a few functions and look a bit ugly for a while, but I'm working on it full time now as the old forum was too unstable. Couple days, all good. If you notice any issues, please contact me. |
Forum Index : Solar : PL20 + SSR 12V Solar Install - High Amps.
  Page 3 of 3 |
|||||
| Author | Message | ||||
KarlJ Guru  Joined: 19/05/2008 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1178 |
Ahh Phillm....... sent this thread to another dude doing same thing today, saved me alot of R&D into the specifics.... (knew it could be done just not exactly how) thanks. KarlJ Luck favours the well prepared |
||||
wallablack Senior Member  Joined: 10/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 164 |
With it all figured out (thanks Phill...) I had to add a fan to cool the already large heat sinks that I have the PL20 and SSR mounted to. I took some temperature the other day when the shed temperature was about 45 degrees and the SSR heat sink was at 52 degrees and the PL2- heat sink was at 64 degrees. The SSR was in full swing at this temperature which I would have expected but the concern was the PL20's running temperature as it will be working all day, unlike the SSR which will be on and off. I thought of switching the fan via the PL20 by voltage settings but this would have seen the fan running all of the time that the PL20 is working. The problem is not the fact that it will draw power as I think .2A is not a great concern it is more the fact is I seem to go through fans as they constantly ran. 
I had a 12V digital thermostat here that basically switches on heating or cooling mechanisms at your preferred temperature range (user settable), in this case it turns on a fan at 45 degrees and off at 35 degrees....this is usually quite a good cycle I have found. Also I have drilled a series of large holes in the top of the cabinet to allow the fan to push the heat out. I located the temperature probe (NTC) in the PL20' heat sink as this is the one I really want to keep cool....by the time the main bulk charging is out of the way the ambient temperatures are starting to rise. One draw back of this whole system is where I located the bus bars at the top. When you screw in or remove the multi strand copper wire in or out the securing screws do wear out the small copper fibers which allows the copper fibers to drop into the back of the PL20 or SSR if you are not careful. The worst that has happened so far is that I unscrewed one of the bus bar screws a bit too fay and it dropped straight down into the fan and shot past me like a bullet...  Foolproof systems do not take into account the ingenuity of fools. |
||||
fillm Guru Joined: 10/02/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 730 |
Hi Wally , Thanks for the feed back , I was wondering how you were going . Nothing worse than taking the time to help someone and the person buggers of and thats it and the last you here of them. I would not get to wound up about the heat , why not just put the fan on the SSR control t3 & t4, so its on when the SSR is . It also great to see someone do a nice neat job rather than having wires all over the place , after a bit you will not have to move any wiring so the munched up bits will not be a problem . Again .... Good to see some one doing something "hands on" and learning, rather than just posting links and moaning and groaning about whats wrong with the climate. PhillM ...Oz Wind Engineering..Wind Turbine Kits 500W - 5000W ~ F&P Dual Kits ~ GOE222Blades- Voltage Control Parts ------- Tower kits |
||||
| wallablack Senior Member Joined: 10/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 164 |
I understand what you mean...I want to keep going on this as I believe it would help others too...nothing worse than doing a forum search, thinking you have found what you are looking for and WHAMMO....post gone to the dogs before it ends. I like to keep things tidy...easier to see where problems are if they do arise, only good thing about a messy install is that cables don't warm up as they are not all together. I originally had it connected to the SSR but the SSR heat really is not a concern, I am concerned with the heat of the PL20, that is why I put it on a bigger heat sink to start with. It is mounted properly too which I double checked. With the SSR doing the bulk charging and turning on and off during the day it gets a chance to cool but with the PL20 running all day, and a lot of it at 20A it generates a fair bit of heat. Also having temperatures around 40 and being mounted in a cabinet which is in a tin shed encourages heat generation. The digital thermo works well but I need to get the settings right. It has a low setting and a high setting. It turns the fan on at the high setting and then turns it off at the low setting. Foolproof systems do not take into account the ingenuity of fools. |
||||
| wallablack Senior Member Joined: 10/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 164 |
Well.....after the heat wave last week it was a testing time to try and get the heat issue under control. We had temperatures as high as 48.6 degrees last week and I saw the PL heat sink as high as temp probe at 60 degrees with the fan running all day. I had a look at the PL20 and noticed the S- terminal had moved a far bit and the plastic around it had melted, then I was really concerned about the heat issue. Thinking I had better get onto this issue real quick I started to take the PL off the wall to re-solder the terminal back into it's spot I noticed that I had not tightened the S- terminal screw up.....not even a little bit....totally understandable now why S- terminal got so hot it dismounted itself slightly. 
Here is a good reason to go over your install and ensure everything is spot on before its use. Foolproof systems do not take into account the ingenuity of fools. |
||||
Madness Guru Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
I have seen a golf cart battery that had a similar problem which resulted in an explosion when the terminal melted and arced. There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
||||
yahoo2 Guru Joined: 05/04/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1166 |
Welcome to my world. repairing high resistance connections covers 90% of my emergency call-outs. I have been in sheds where every connection, switch, solder joint and fuse I put my hand on is hot. I'm confused, no wait... maybe I'm not... |
||||
| M Del Senior Member Joined: 09/04/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 155 |
Hi Yahoo Do you get people complaining about paying for cleaning/tightening/fixing those high resistance connections. One of the reasons I got off the tools (mechanic) is the resistance people have for paying for diagnosis when the fix ends up being remove/clean/reassemble. No parts, just fixing what is there. Mark |
||||
| Madness Guru Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
You must be too honest, replace the part charge them accordingly and see if that makes them any happier. That's what many do, no matter what you do some people won't be happy. There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
||||
| yahoo2 Guru Joined: 05/04/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1166 |
People get real angry when they call me out because their inverter is stuffed and I am fiddling around with battery clamps and looking at fuses. Perhaps you are right, swap out the inverter for $3500 make them wait for three weeks while it turns up $1000 for three visits labour, travel, battery charging, temporary inverter hire, ETC. Fix the real problem while they are not looking. and sell the old inverter for $2500. Six grand for tidying some wiring up. I look professional and I don't get yelled at! I'm hearing you, too honest and too stupid. I'm happy that wally has found the problem now, summer is the time to sort this stuff out. I'm confused, no wait... maybe I'm not... |
||||
| wallablack Senior Member Joined: 10/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 164 |
I went over the whole install thoroughly...three or four time before I kicked her in the guts. This loose terminal evolved when I searched for a temporary connection to test the fan....I loosened it and then changed my mind as to where to connect it...guess who didn't go back and tighten it. There must have been a fair bit of arcing and I am glad nothing bad came of it. Note: It was actually the BATT- terminal connection which delivers the charge to the battery bank, not the S- as I wrote. Foolproof systems do not take into account the ingenuity of fools. |
||||
| Page 3 of 3 |
|||||
 Print this page |
