Solar gen - first test

[MountainGirl]

I believe instant rice is just cooked rice that has been freeze dried, so the cooking part is already done and just adding water should work just fine.
Regular rice, I had it sit overnight and it was still crunchy.

Ah okay, that makes sense. Hmmm seems instant rice would be the kind to stock up on! Less resources to make ready to eat.

 

[no2gates]

Ah okay, that makes sense. Hmmm seems instant rice would be the kind to stock up on! Less resources to make ready to eat.

The only drawback is cost really. Also all rice should be put into containers to prevent moisture from seeping in. We have our rice (and other foods as well) stored in vacuum sealed bags to extend the lifespan. Another option is to store foods in 5-gallon pails with gamma lids with dessicant.

 

[no2gates]

Just a note, the rollup panels on top of the camper are rated for 1" hail. No idea on your hard panels. Fuel is not an issue for the generators, I run it off a pigtail from the propane tank.

I checked the rating on mine and it's as follows: 25mm (1”) diameter at 23 m/s (52 mph)

 

[red442joe]

Carts? If I may...
Everything In my garage, and in my house, is on wheels. I can't stand lifting, and dragging, shit!

For generator type stuff, I like center-pivot, single axle, type carts, with end casters to prevent grounding/tipping. Easy to spin, and maneuver. Think Home De-Bro flat carts.
I don't like casters for vibrating equipment, as they may fall apart.

Joe

 

[MountainGirl]

Carts? If I may...
Everything In my garage, and in my house, is on wheels. I can't stand lifting, and dragging, shit!

For generator type stuff, I like center-pivot, single axle, type carts, with end casters to prevent grounding/tipping. Easy to spin, and maneuver. Think Home De-Bro flat carts.
I don't like casters for vibrating equipment, as they may fall apart.

Joe

More good info, thanks!
I'm going with a hand truck & crates
I'll post a pic when it gets put together next week.

 

[MountainGirl]

More good info, thanks!
I'm going with a hand truck & crates
I'll post a pic when it gets put together next week.

@red442joe

 

[kbaxter60]

Thought of y'all on this one. Smaller unit, not gonna run your whole house, but handy size and just over $100. We use ours for charging USB devices mostly and I top it off using a 40W panel. Have hardly used the AC side, but it's there if needed. Oh, it's a refurb, if that puts you off.

EcoFlow RIVER 2 Portable Power Station 256Wh Generator LFP Certified Refurbished | eBay

EcoFlow RIVER 2---Power. Never Been This Easy. Q1:How long can the RIVER 2 power my appliances?. X-Boost can run devices that require up to 600W. However, it's best to test before use. 80%+ capacity after 3000 cycles.

www.ebay.com

 

[MountainGirl]

The Oupes 1800 had a BMS failure.
So far unable to find a fix or reset;
Will call the company later.
All things can and will eventually fail.
Much to think about, tired of this shit.

 

[baboon]

This was bought to run a fan?

Had a client that brought a fan to Africa because he claimed he could not sleep without the sound & the breeze blowing on him. What the dumb phuc didn't take into consideration was the different plug type in Africa.

 

[easy rider]

The Oupes 1800 had a BMS failure.
So far unable to find a fix or reset;
Will call the company later.
All things can and will eventually fail.
Much to think about, tired of this shit.

That's a shame.

 

[deemus]

@red442joe



View attachment 458975

Can you post a pic of that white rack at the top?

 

[MountainGirl]

That's a shame.

Yeah, tks. After I settle down some - I always start thinking about other methods, and am now exploring low-tech solar ideas. Low-tech = not much to rodeo on me.

 

[MountainGirl]

Can you post a pic of that white rack at the top?

It's a leftover basket thingy from a track shelf system, tie-wrapped on.

 

[no2gates]

It's a leftover basket thingy from a track shelf system, tie-wrapped on.

View attachment 461382

That was great idea !

 

[easy rider]

Yeah, tks. After I settle down some - I always start thinking about other methods, and am now exploring low-tech solar ideas. Low-tech = not much to rodeo on me.

I don't really know much about Oupes, because I don't think I saw one that had a 30 amp plug in at the time. While doing research Ecoflow was probably most on my radar, but it was rather expensive, so I was looking for reliable alternatives. There were several that were cheaper, but it was often hard to find reliability issues. Anker came into my research, and although they were fairly new to the solar generator game, They were an established company (mainly battery packs for charging things like phones). While cheaper than Ecoflow, Anker was still quite expensive, but the more I looked into the more I liked it. Things like type of batteries, size of unit, phone app for monitoring, and that it had wheels with a extended retractable handle, and of course the reviews were very positive. I was just lucky to find a Anker generator and expandable battery pack for close to the price of the generator alone, bringing it up to a total 4800 watts.

All that said, if I was able, I would probably set up a system that is more permanent, but space is limited and is also very expensive.

 

[MountainGirl]

I don't really know much about Oupes, because I don't think I saw one that had a 30 amp plug in at the time. While doing research Ecoflow was probably most on my radar, but it was rather expensive, so I was looking for reliable alternatives. There were several that were cheaper, but it was often hard to find reliability issues. Anker came into my research, and although they were fairly new to the solar generator game, They were an established company (mainly battery packs for charging things like phones). While cheaper than Ecoflow, Anker was still quite expensive, but the more I looked into the more I liked it. Things like type of batteries, size of unit, phone app for monitoring, and that it had wheels with a extended retractable handle, and of course the reviews were very positive. I was just lucky to find a Anker generator and expandable battery pack for close to the price of the generator alone, bringing it up to a total 4800 watts.

All that said, if I was able, I would probably set up a system that is more permanent, but space is limited and is also very expensive.

There's always a trade-off. On the mountain, I designed a big permanent system, with separate components: panels, batts, inverter, chg controller, monitors, etc..and it worked great, until the $4k Schneider inverter failed. Under warranty, eventually replaced. Here, 8yrs later, a solar generator was like Wow! So much easier, with everything in one unit! Only problem is, when one of the components fail, the whole thing is useless... and, along with their cheaper initial cost, that's the trade-off for plug&play convenience.

Likely y'all are tired of hearing about my living in a primitive manner, so I'll cut right to it. All I need to physically survive is a fan. Heat is no longer a problem; I've acclimated and actually enjoy it... mid-upper 90s when it's also low (<60%) humidity out there. So... the goal now is how to power a fan, in the simplest manner, with components that are unlikely to fail.

What I've come up with so far is: solar panel > power pack(s) > USB fan.

Any other ideas are more than welcome, and very much appreciated.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

There's always a trade-off. On the mountain, I designed a big permanent system, with separate components: panels, batts, inverter, chg controller, monitors, etc..and it worked great, until the $4k Schneider inverter failed. Under warranty, eventually replaced. Here, 8yrs later, a solar generator was like Wow! So much easier, with everything in one unit! Only problem is, when one of the components fail, the whole thing is useless... and, along with their cheaper initial cost, that's the trade-off for plug&play convenience.

Likely y'all are tired of hearing about my living in a primitive manner, so I'll cut right to it. All I need to physically survive is a fan. Heat is no longer a problem; I've acclimated and actually enjoy it... mid-upper 90s when it's also low (<60%) humidity out there. So... the goal now is how to power a fan, in the simplest manner, with components that are unlikely to fail.

What I've come up with so far is: solar panel > power pack(s) > USB fan.

Any other ideas are more than welcome, and very much appreciated.

I'm confused now, earlier you said your power was back, is it still and your just talking about the system, or what?

 

[Eastexasrick]

There's always a trade-off. On the mountain, I designed a big permanent system, with separate components: panels, batts, inverter, chg controller, monitors, etc..and it worked great, until the $4k Schneider inverter failed. Under warranty, eventually replaced. Here, 8yrs later, a solar generator was like Wow! So much easier, with everything in one unit! Only problem is, when one of the components fail, the whole thing is useless... and, along with their cheaper initial cost, that's the trade-off for plug&play convenience.

Likely y'all are tired of hearing about my living in a primitive manner, so I'll cut right to it. All I need to physically survive is a fan. Heat is no longer a problem; I've acclimated and actually enjoy it... mid-upper 90s when it's also low (<60%) humidity out there. So... the goal now is how to power a fan, in the simplest manner, with components that are unlikely to fail.

What I've come up with so far is: solar panel > power pack(s) > USB fan.

Any other ideas are more than welcome, and very much appreciated.

One of our ETX members and me were shooting on my range a few days ago. The range is an easement about 400 yards from any power.I did not feel lile dragging a generator out there.
Tall trees no wind, dead air, but shade. Rube Goldburg solution. A big marine battery, a cheapass inverter, a big box fan. Worked great. We finished up at 3 hours. This is a .90 aH marine battery so it did not pull it down very far. The fan pulls .75 amps. After were done I charged with a 250 watt solar unit, showed full charge at a little over 2 hours. Just speculating but two marine batteries, a cheap inverter, a 250 watt solar charger, and box fan that pulls less than 1 amp would cover one just about 24/7, in a pinch.

 

[MountainGirl]

I'm confused now, earlier you said your power was back, is it still and your just talking about the system, or what?

Power is back and still on; the Oupes was my go-to for a fan if/when the gens failed. This matter isn't a convenience of comfort; it's one of physical/medical survival...so I need to find a method I can bet my life on.

 

[MountainGirl]

One of our ETX members and me were shooting on my range a few days ago. The range is an easement about 400 yards from any power.I did not feel lile dragging a generator out there.
Tall trees no wind, dead air, but shade. Rube Goldburg solution. A big marine battery, a cheapass inverter, a big box fan. Worked great. We finished up at 3 hours. This is a .90 aH marine battery so it did not pull it down very far. The fan pulls .75 amps. After were done I charged with a 250 watt solar unit, showed full charge at a little over 2 hours. Just speculating but two marine batteries, a cheap inverter, a 250 watt solar charger, and box fan that pulls less than 1 amp would cover one just about 24/7, in a pinch.

That's worth considering; I could lose the inverter and use a 12v fan. Can you tell me more about the 250w solar unit you charged with?