Posted by Jim Wilkins on January 11, 2014, 8:44 pm
> "During prolonged charge deprivation, however, the amorphous lead
> sulfate converts to a stable crystalline that deposits on the
> negative plates.
Amorphous means without form or shape. At the molecular level it means
jumbled, not organized into a crystal. You could think of amorphous
lead sulfate as a loose pile of jigsaw puzzle pieces and the
crystalline form as the solved, assembled puzzle. The loose pieces are
very easy to move around, while the assembled puzzle takes some effort
to break apart.
jsw
Posted by twnick on February 1, 2016, 2:34 am
I'm new to this Google Groups thing. It looks like this thread had died out
a while ago. But by the comments I've read here, you guys know what you're
doing.
My question here is, I have an old "Mallard" mobile home trailer type thing
that I use as a summer camp. I just got a small solar panel, battery, and
inverter system hooked up to it. The lights that are used are all hooked up
to a 12v car/deep cycle type of battery system. I want to go at least 24v
to make it more efficient. But the downside to this is, the light system it
has is only for 12v. What can I use to step down the voltage for the light
s?
Also, I had a generator hooked up the electrical system and when I plugged
the power to the generator, the generator started going overtime like it wa
s struggling to keep on until I unplugged it. What can I do to fix that? A
neighbor said to install thinner power cords to the trailer but I feel like
that won't really do much.
Any help is appreciated!
Posted by Jim Wilkins on February 1, 2016, 1:52 pm
I'm new to this Google Groups thing. It looks like this thread had
died out a while ago. But by the comments I've read here, you guys
know what you're doing.
My question here is, I have an old "Mallard" mobile home trailer type
thing that I use as a summer camp. I just got a small solar panel,
battery, and inverter system hooked up to it. The lights that are used
are all hooked up to a 12v car/deep cycle type of battery system. I
want to go at least 24v to make it more efficient. But the downside to
this is, the light system it has is only for 12v. What can I use to
step down the voltage for the lights?
Also, I had a generator hooked up the electrical system and when I
plugged the power to the generator, the generator started going
overtime like it was struggling to keep on until I unplugged it. What
can I do to fix that? A neighbor said to install thinner power cords
to the trailer but I feel like that won't really do much.
Any help is appreciated!
======
Assuming you know something of electricity, the essential tool for
diagnosing electrical problems is a meter like this:
(Amazon.com product link shortened)
or whatever you can buy or borrow locally. If you don't understand
basic electricity you should find someone local who does rather than
asking distant strangers on the internet.
I don't own that particular model but I just bought their UT61E and am
quite impressed with it. I prefer industrial-quality US-made
electrical test equipment when I can find it in second-hand stores.
The web page at least shows the proper type of equipment for
troubleshooting.
You close the pliers-like clamp around -one- of the two AC wires to
measure the current through it safely. You can isolate the wires by
removing a section of the outer jacket from an extension cord or
(safer) buy a "line splitter" which separates either one or ten turns
of one side of the line. If you clamp around both wires the current
coming back cancels the current going out and you won't see anything.
The page for the $3.99 splitter says it has receptacles for the meter
probes to measure AC line voltage, a risky procedure I was taught to
do one-handed.
That meter also measures DC volts on the battery and solar panels. It
doesn't measure DC current, the clamp only detects AC although some
more expensive clamp-on meters can read both. In my experience their
DC current readings drift rapidly and significantly with temperature
changes, requiring frequent re-zeroing. Otherwise measuring DC current
requires the knowledge of how and where to insert the meter into the
circuit without risking damage. Short circuiting a battery can make
wires explode.
-jsw
Posted by clare on February 1, 2016, 6:31 pm
On Mon, 1 Feb 2016 08:52:26 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
>I'm new to this Google Groups thing. It looks like this thread had
>died out a while ago. But by the comments I've read here, you guys
>know what you're doing.
>My question here is, I have an old "Mallard" mobile home trailer type
>thing that I use as a summer camp. I just got a small solar panel,
>battery, and inverter system hooked up to it. The lights that are used
>are all hooked up to a 12v car/deep cycle type of battery system. I
>want to go at least 24v to make it more efficient. But the downside to
>this is, the light system it has is only for 12v. What can I use to
>step down the voltage for the lights?
>
>Also, I had a generator hooked up the electrical system and when I
>plugged the power to the generator, the generator started going
>overtime like it was struggling to keep on until I unplugged it. What
>can I do to fix that? A neighbor said to install thinner power cords
>to the trailer but I feel like that won't really do much.
>
>Any help is appreciated!
>
>======
24 volts works better for running invertors becuse the DC current is
cut in half, but for running 12 volt accessories you are further ahead
to stay with the existing 12 volt system.
When you say you plugged the generator to the electrical system, what
else was supplying the electrical system? On an AC system it is
extremely impractical to connect 2 power sources to the same syatem
unless one is a "grid tie" inverter.
A "grid tie" inverter can suppy power to an AC system connected either
to the "grid" or to a generator, but cannot provide AC without being
connected to either one - which makes it impractical for your use. The
problem comes from attempting to "synchronize" the sine wave output
from 2 AC sources. Out of synch, they just fight each other (as your
generator so plainly showed)
Posted by Vaughn Simon on February 1, 2016, 1:58 pm
On 1/31/2016 9:34 PM, twnick@alaska.edu wrote:
> I'm new to this Google Groups thing. It looks like this thread had died out a while ago.
>But by the comments I've read here, you guys know what you're doing.
> My question here is, I have an old "Mallard" mobile home trailer type thing that I use
>as a summer camp. I just got a small solar panel, battery, and inverter system hooked up
>to it. The lights that are used are all hooked up to a 12v car/deep cycle type of battery
>system. I want to go at least 24v to make it more efficient. But the downside to this is,
>the light system it has is only for 12v. What can I use to step down the voltage for the lights?
They do make something called a "DC to DC converter" that will do what
you want. That said, I suggest that you reconsider going to a higher
voltage with such a small system. Why not keep things simple? Besides,
any conversion will involve some loss, so that will reduce any gain that
you get from increasing the system voltage. You can parallel two or
even more similar batteries for more storage.
You didn't mention anything about a charge controller above. You do
have one don't you? Without one, I guarantee you will eventually ruin
your battery by overcharging.
>
> Also, I had a generator hooked up the electrical system and when I plugged the power to
>the generator, the generator started going overtime like it was struggling to keep on until
>I unplugged it. What can I do to fix that?
There really isn't enough information here for me to give you a useful
answer. In short, you need to find out where all that current is going.
Unplug everything. If that fixes the problem plug things in one at a
time. Perhaps the answer will suggest itself.
Alternatively, there is a short circuit somewhere in the system. Are
there any homemade power cords?
A neighbor said to install thinner power cords to the trailer
No!
Regards
Vaughn
> sulfate converts to a stable crystalline that deposits on the
> negative plates.