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Forum Index : Electronics : Voltage comparator, program instructions?

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Clockmanfr

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Joined: 23/10/2015
Location: France
Posts: 429
Posted: 07:56am 30 Jan 2018
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I have been testing several voltage comparators for the OzInverter projects.

This particular comparator gave me interest, it seems to do/promise what I want in its description. If it worked, it would be a simple cost effective addition board I could point folk towards.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/quality-12V-DVB01-Digital-window-voltage-comparator-voltage-measurement-discharge-over-v oltage-overrun-protection/32718271902.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.WkgMjD

But sadly the awful Chinese translation to English is just diabolical, although it had my tech savvy teenager boys here rolling around the floor with laughter.





Its a step through menu system with 4 push buttons, but sadly the normal logical steps for programming the unit is beyond my foolish comprehension.

Can any of you intelligent bright sparks here help?


Edited by Clockmanfr 2018-01-31
Everything is possible, just give me time.

3 HughP's 3.7m Wind T's (14 years). 5kW PV on 3 Trackers, (10 yrs). 21kW PV AC coupled SH GTI's. OzInverter created Grid. 1300ah 48v.
 
George65
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Joined: 18/09/2017
Location: Australia
Posts: 308
Posted: 09:07am 30 Jan 2018
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Normally there are tutorials and explanations of these boards on YT.
Had a look for you but came up empty.
maybe they are relatively new and no one else has been able to figure the things out yet either. :0)

You are right about the terrible translations. I have come across these boards and even the descriptions are totally and pathetically wrong as to what the thing does.

Surely somewhere in china thee must be like an interpreting/ copyrighting service that these manufacturers can send the description in Chinese and get a reasonable English ( or other languages) back.

I know the Chinese are the greatest race of penny pinching tightarses ever, but it would have to pay them back 1000 times in increased sales from people that knew what they were getting and what the product did.
 
renewableMark

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Joined: 09/12/2017
Location: Australia
Posts: 1678
Posted: 09:26am 30 Jan 2018
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http://www.ssigjern.dk/manuals/41000275_uk.pdf

Is that one any better?

clickable Edited by renewableMark 2018-01-31
Cheers Caveman Mark
Off grid eastern Melb
 
Tinker

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Joined: 07/11/2007
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Posts: 1904
Posted: 09:52am 30 Jan 2018
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Good find Clockman, I was looking for such a gadget too. I ordered one and think I can make some sense of the manual if I have the unit in front of me and experiment with the buttons a bit.

Look at it as a challenge , you should be able to re write the gibberish into something sensible to put in your inverter book.
Klaus
 
Clockmanfr

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Joined: 23/10/2015
Location: France
Posts: 429
Posted: 08:23pm 30 Jan 2018
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Thanks Guys.

Thanks Mark, that's a better translation than the one I have. I will give it another go for more fun and games.
I have set up a dispute with the seller saying that because of terrible programming instructions the product is useless, I await to see what alliexpress has to say.

I think the Chinese language is very different to English in its back tracking on the subject matter, hence the utter confusion.

Still have to smile with this below bit of translation from yours Mark !......

Kindy reminnder:
Controller will judge preset voltage V1 and V2, which one is the lower limit and upper limit voltage automatically according to the features. When user set the controller, no need to onsider the question which one is higher or lower and first or last.

Everything is possible, just give me time.

3 HughP's 3.7m Wind T's (14 years). 5kW PV on 3 Trackers, (10 yrs). 21kW PV AC coupled SH GTI's. OzInverter created Grid. 1300ah 48v.
 
renewableMark

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Location: Australia
Posts: 1678
Posted: 09:33pm 30 Jan 2018
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How are you intending to apply it?
Cheers Caveman Mark
Off grid eastern Melb
 
Clockmanfr

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Joined: 23/10/2015
Location: France
Posts: 429
Posted: 07:43am 31 Jan 2018
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Sorry for writing simplistically, but I understand there are a fair few people that are not as involved/knowledgable as our bright sparks on here, so hopefully my ramblings/jottings help others ?.

Mark, ..... Its for following my 48v battery system state of charge, and switching stuff in and out at a basic level.

Mad and Oztules have GTI control on the DC side of the GTI, ie they control what DC from the PV panels is going into the GTI, by looking at the state of charge of the battery.

My GTI control is done with 2 methods, firstly with the PJ boards from China, as my battery's filled up the batteries would push back and increase the 230vac that the OzInverter is creating, remember PJ boards only. The internal settings in the GTI will shut down the GTI if the AC voltage goes high.

On Our New Boards, OzControl, OzCooling and Power Board the AC voltage stays rock solid at what you set it, say 230vac. So we have to use a battery monitoring circuit to shut down our GTI;s.

I am happy with disconnecting the AC side on the GTI's and this has worked well for the last couple of years. But its getting a simple circuit to monitor the Batteries DC state of charge.
There are many ways of doing this, but at present I am trying to find the most simple, robust and importantly cost effective way.

To complicate matters further I also have DC dump loads for my 3 wind turbines with a SSR on the dump side that can divert AC side to water/underfloor heating.
Now with this commercially obtained, Tristar/Midnite classic, controller I can use their internal battery monitor to tell me when it goes to dump to switch of the GTI's because the controller says the batteries are charged.

But again there are variables, no sun but the wind turbines are seriously kicking in DC to the battery bank, the controller diverts excess over a set limit, then this set limit is internally reset when the controller thinks the batteries are getting full.

I have tried an Arduino circuit that recognised that the controller had gone to float and was dumping by using battery voltage alone, but this needed time lags to ensure that the float was really at float and not just a dodgy mediocre day for RE energy input. So this was not really successful and had a habit of leaving the battery undercharged.

Hence me testing stuff that comes ready made, and can be easily incorporated into a simple system for AC GTI control. At present I have 4, eventually I will have 6 GTI's putting into, AC Coupling, with my OzInverter created mini grid.

We need to switch the GTI's in and out.

What would be nice to get/find, buy, is a simple controller that watches the batteries and can switch relays in and out depending on the battery's state of charge. With variable settings and time lag settings depending on your own particular size and type of batteries.

Then I could put this in the OzInverter Book and point folk towards it, as a general GTI control system for a 48vdc battery OzInverter AC Coupling power system.




Edited by Clockmanfr 2018-02-01
Everything is possible, just give me time.

3 HughP's 3.7m Wind T's (14 years). 5kW PV on 3 Trackers, (10 yrs). 21kW PV AC coupled SH GTI's. OzInverter created Grid. 1300ah 48v.
 
Madness

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Joined: 08/10/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2498
Posted: 08:51am 31 Jan 2018
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You could use the "waste not low" function in the Midnite controller on Aux 2 (not Aux 1 as it can not do PWM) to drive MOSFETs to regulate the GTI.

What it will do is supply 12V until Absorb or Float voltage is reached then it will apply PWM to the AUX which will make the MOSFETs regulate the output of the GTI. The circuit required is the same as Oztules GTI regulator but with no Arduino, instead the Midnite Classic will provide the signal required to the A3120 Opto isolated driver IC.

For most GTI's you also MUST isolate the MOSFETs and power supply to the A3120 IC, I have posted details in Oztules thread.
There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.
 
Clockmanfr

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Joined: 23/10/2015
Location: France
Posts: 429
Posted: 08:39pm 31 Jan 2018
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Thanks Mad I didn't know that about the Aux 2.

Will look into the classic, but its very complicated and has a very large manual, but at least I can read it, and it makes sense.
Everything is possible, just give me time.

3 HughP's 3.7m Wind T's (14 years). 5kW PV on 3 Trackers, (10 yrs). 21kW PV AC coupled SH GTI's. OzInverter created Grid. 1300ah 48v.
 
Madness

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Joined: 08/10/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2498
Posted: 08:56pm 31 Jan 2018
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Reason I know is that I read the manual, that way I can get the most out of anything I own.
There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.
 
Warpspeed
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Joined: 09/08/2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 4406
Posted: 06:48am 03 Feb 2018
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If you are looking for something like this that is a bit more "up market" check out the JLD5740. Its far more expensive though at US $37

http://www.lightobject.com/Programmable-4-Digit-Red-LED-ACDC-Volt-Meter-with-Dual-Control-Good-for-HHO-System-P408.aspx

What you get is four large digits with 10mV resolution up to 99.99 volts.
Two alarm relays each with changeover contacts.
And each relay has independent programmable pull in and drop out voltage.
It can also be calibrated (digitally) against a good reference voltmeter, although it comes already factory calibrated.

It can also be used to measure ac and dc voltages up to 500.0v

Plus, it is housed in a plastic enclosure that can fit into a front panel.
Cheers,  Tony.
 
Clockmanfr

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Joined: 23/10/2015
Location: France
Posts: 429
Posted: 08:51am 03 Feb 2018
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Thanks Warpspeed.

Although when I looked at the product reviews, 3/4 of the reviews were folk who were unhappy with the programming issues.

here's the latest.......



I have a few of these devices that in the review said poor documentation or no documentation and when I've gotten them I haven't been able to figure out how to program them not much good having something that you can't use because nobody will tell you how to program it I'm not going to buy this just because I see the reviews that say the documentation is so poor. Can't believe someone is selling a product and won't at least give information on how to hook it up so disappointed

Reply: We did post support document on our support forum. It has been used for so many years to support our customers without much complain. It should serve well if you know a little electronics. If not, you should consult others who has electronics background

by mark
on 11/10/2015 excellent battery charge or discharger controller

the instructions are very necessary when programming this device. i own 8 of them for various projects and still don't remember all the programming features by heart yet

by Tom
on 12/3/2014 Jld5740

Good product...yes it's difficult to use without good instructions... Here are some http://st1100ev.blogspot.ca How to use as bottom ballancer T
Edited by Clockmanfr 2018-02-04
Everything is possible, just give me time.

3 HughP's 3.7m Wind T's (14 years). 5kW PV on 3 Trackers, (10 yrs). 21kW PV AC coupled SH GTI's. OzInverter created Grid. 1300ah 48v.
 
Warpspeed
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Joined: 09/08/2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 4406
Posted: 08:20pm 03 Feb 2018
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Have to agree, programming does take a little time and some concentration.
But ANY of these devices all have the very exact same problem.
You have maybe about a dozen different features to select, and only usually four buttons, and you have to scroll through various menus, sometimes three deep, to get to what you want to change.

It all comes down to the quality of the documentation, and Chinese Engrish can be pretty funny sometimes, but not if you are not having much luck getting something to work.

I am going through all this myself right now with a gadget that is supposed to be able to clone computer hard drives. First sentence in the instructions, insert program installation disc into computer. No bloody installation disc came with it. On the box it says download from the internet, which I did. But I still cannot get it to do anything.

Some eleven year old computer whizz could probably get it working in two minutes flat.
Old age might bring patience, but at seventy, it still can be mighty frustrating to have one of these twenty dollar gadgets that should work but does not.
Cheers,  Tony.
 
Madness

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Joined: 08/10/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2498
Posted: 09:17pm 03 Feb 2018
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Is this the same as the manual you already have?
2018-02-04_071708_41000275_uk.pdf

Here is a detailed video. Edited by Madness 2018-02-05
There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.
 
Tinker

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Location: Australia
Posts: 1904
Posted: 11:54am 04 Feb 2018
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Thanks Mad, just looked at that video, it is excellent. For once an utube really showing the goods.
Klaus
 
Madness

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Posts: 2498
Posted: 12:03pm 04 Feb 2018
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I have found lots of good stuff on Youtube, like this video on how to build your own ESC. I know there are plenty though that don't tell you much or even nothing. One that sticks in my mind was couple doing a video about off grid battery maintnence and they were arguing with each other as to what right and wrong, both of them had no effing idea.
There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.
 
Clockmanfr

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Joined: 23/10/2015
Location: France
Posts: 429
Posted: 08:09am 05 Feb 2018
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Thanks Madness,

The manual is as Mark listed.

Thanks Madness regards the video. It has better explanations for fools like me.

At the beginning I started to fall a sleep, hypnotic drone.

About 5 minutes in the stuff is explained and we are seeing the operation and setting the thing.

At 15 minutes the time delay is explained.

Its still far to geeky for normal folk, just trying to work out how to make the instructions more understandable. ?

Everything is possible, just give me time.

3 HughP's 3.7m Wind T's (14 years). 5kW PV on 3 Trackers, (10 yrs). 21kW PV AC coupled SH GTI's. OzInverter created Grid. 1300ah 48v.
 
Madness

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Joined: 08/10/2011
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Posts: 2498
Posted: 08:56am 05 Feb 2018
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Maybe some matchsticks for your eyes will help.
There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.
 
hotwater
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Joined: 29/08/2017
Location: United States
Posts: 120
Posted: 12:52pm 08 Feb 2018
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Thanks for the info on that board. People ask me if there is something suitable from China. It still needs a bit of interpretation, like "relay sucks." Bit disappointing, any voltage relay without time delays is worthless.
 
Clockmanfr

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Joined: 23/10/2015
Location: France
Posts: 429
Posted: 08:25am 09 Feb 2018
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Yes the time delay is important so the surges and voltage sags to the batteries can be allowed for.

Like all things today I will let my 14 year old study the utube vid and give him one to play with, then ask him to jot things down so ordinary old geezers like me can get there small brain around it.

Its snowing like stupid here, I just got back from a 2 day London work trip between snow overs. Got the boys to there local town school today, luckily no big hills on route, we live half way up a mountain side of a valley, narrow single roads everywhere, and fortunately No loony small French made cars sliding everywhere. No public transport services running again, 5 days now, but at least me and my neighbour will not be winching the local school bus out of our ditch once more.
Everything is possible, just give me time.

3 HughP's 3.7m Wind T's (14 years). 5kW PV on 3 Trackers, (10 yrs). 21kW PV AC coupled SH GTI's. OzInverter created Grid. 1300ah 48v.
 
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