Adding solar to an old on grid homestead

[viking]

Today I checked the electrolyte levels in our new batteries and found them to be in excellent condition, all within normal levels, to old batteries needed checking once a month or more often, the charge voltage is just over 27 volts, the old batteries were only in the 25 to 26 volt range. We are glad to have gotten the new ones as the old set we had was what was considered a test set and on occasion went through some rough load tests due to back feeds on the circuits in the breaker panels, since figuring out what I need to keep separate, like the water heater and dryer circuits, I don't think I'll have any further problems with excessive amperage loads which I had on a few occasions, scary numbers, which thankfully the inverter took care of due to a very good design of protection circuits.

 

[Bacpacker]

Sorry about this, but I haven't dug back thru the old threads to search this out.

Does anyone use Renogy Solar gear?
What size charge controllers are you running vs what size panel grid?

Thanks in advance

 

[Hardcalibres]

Sorry about this, but I haven't dug back thru the old threads to search this out.

Does anyone use Renogy Solar gear?
What size charge controllers are you running vs what size panel grid?

Thanks in advance

I have a renogy panel in storage (as an eventual replacement for my solar fence energizer system which is using a 25 year old panel).

It looks good quality......

I use Epever MPPT controllers.

Tell us what panel wattage and battery Ah you want to run and we will tell you what size and maybe even model of controller you should get.

 

[Bacpacker]

Actually I'm looking at a sale on a 12/24v, 600w kit. It comes with a 60A controller. I'm considering it as a starting point to build out from as funds are available. No batteries or inverter included

 

[Hardcalibres]

Actually I'm looking at a sale on a 12/24v, 600w kit. It comes with a 60A controller. I'm considering it as a starting point to build out from as funds are available. No batteries or inverter included

That sounds OK - but all the package deals cheap out on the controller - so you will need to do your research on the item included.

You should really pick the batteries before the controller (although really good controllers can be programmed for any battery).

 

[UrbanHunter]

Sorry about this, but I haven't dug back thru the old threads to search this out.

Does anyone use Renogy Solar gear?
What size charge controllers are you running vs what size panel grid?

Thanks in advance

I am using them. I am using 2 60 AMP charge controllers, each managing an 800 watt solar array (2-400 watt strings in parallel with a diode on the positive) feeding a 1200 AH 12 V battery bank.

That is pretty much the limit (watt wise) for the 60 AMP units using a 12 V battery bank, but the 60 AMP units do handle 150 Volts.

If you were to set up using a 24V system you could put 1600 watts on a single 60 amp charge controller.

I had 2 of the 40 AMP units but they were limited to 400 watts with a 12 volt battery bank, but they were also limited to 100 Volts max and I ran into some over voltage issues using a 4 panel string.

Right now the renogy 60 AMP charge controllers are on sale starting at $299. Rover 60 Amp MPPT Solar Charge Controller

Read the specs closely. I have found the 60 AMP units to be much more informative than the 40 Amp units, they look alike, but the 60s are about 25% larger.

I have renogy 100 watt panels, and they work okay

The only product that I am not overly happy with were the inverters.

For my application I found a less expensive option that has been reliable and has a lower idle current draw.
https://www.amazon.com/SL-Euthtion-...pY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1

 

[Bacpacker]

Here is a link to the controller. It can handle various battery types. And a MPPT type as well

Rover 60 Amp MPPT Solar Charge Controller

 

[Bacpacker]

I am using them. I am using 2 60 AMP charge controllers, each managing an 800 watt solar array (2-400 watt strings in parallel with a diode on the positive) feeding a 1200 AH 12 V battery bank.

That is pretty much the limit (watt wise) for the 60 AMP units using a 12 V battery bank, but the 60 AMP units do handle 150 Volts.

If you were to set up using a 24V system you could put 1600 watts on a single 60 amp charge controller.

I had 2 of the 40 AMP units but they were limited to 400 watts with a 12 volt battery bank, but they were also limited to 100 Volts max and I ran into some over voltage issues using a 4 panel string.

Right now the renogy 60 AMP charge controllers are on sale starting at $299. Rover 60 Amp MPPT Solar Charge Controller

Read the specs closely. I have found the 60 AMP units to be much more informative than the 40 Amp units, they look alike, but the 60s are about 25% larger.

I have renogy 100 watt panels, and they work okay

The only product that I am not overly happy with were the inverters.

For my application I found a less expensive option that has been reliable and has a lower idle current draw.
https://www.amazon.com/SL-Euthtion-...pY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1

Those are the kits I'm looking at. The 600w is in my price range and easily enough upgradeable to 800w. Putting those in parallel just doubled it.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Here is a link to the controller. It can handle various battery types. And a MPPT type as well

Rover 60 Amp MPPT Solar Charge Controller

Those are the kits I'm looking at. The 600w is in my price range and easily enough upgradeable to 800w. Putting those in parallel just doubled it.

When I started I had a 200 Watt basic set up with a 40 AMP charge controller. It was good for experimenting and to learn the basics. But, I wish I had started with something like you are looking at, as it has more legs. The other thing that I wish I had done was to find a good/reliable 24V inverter. Changing from 12 to 24 volts is like doubling the total capacity of the controller.

I looked at the kit you are aiming at, it has a few extras (like the wireless monitoring) that I just don't find that I need, but it also has all the basics like the inline fuse before the controller and the ANL fuse between the controller and the battery bank.

I am very happy with the battery backup and emergency power that my system is providing now. I think that you will be happy too if you learn from our mistakes... saves you a buck.

Have you laid out a plan for how you will use your system, clearly it is off-grid. Is it for stand by power or are you planning to use it for supplemental power? In either case you should figure out what your peak demand will be in watts and what your maximum utilization will be in watt-hours. These two things will set your targets for inverter and battery storage capacity

 

[Bacpacker]

When I started I had a 200 Watt basic set up with a 40 AMP charge controller. It was good for experimenting and to learn the basics. But, I wish I had started with something like you are looking at, as it has more legs. The other thing that I wish I had done was to find a good/reliable 24V inverter. Changing from 12 to 24 volts is like doubling the total capacity of the controller.

I looked at the kit you are aiming at, it has a few extras (like the wireless monitoring) that I just don't find that I need, but it also has all the basics like the inline fuse before the controller and the ANL fuse between the controller and the battery bank.

I am very happy with the battery backup and emergency power that my system is providing now. I think that you will be happy too if you learn from our mistakes... saves you a buck.

Have you laid out a plan for how you will use your system, clearly it is off-grid. Is it for stand by power or are you planning to use it for supplemental power? In either case you should figure out what your peak demand will be in watts and what your maximum utilization will be in watt-hours. These two things will set your targets for inverter and battery storage capacity

My goal at first is to build a system to power our freezers and fridge. Get them off line so I don't have to worry about power outages. Having a little excess to change phones, puters, kindles, etc would be nice.
I don't expect, actually I know there is more needed to put the system together, but for the money I feel like it's a good start. I'm going back and forth between these 2.

600W 12V/24V Monocrystalline Solar Premium Kit w/Rover 60A Charger Controller

800W 12V/24V Monocrystalline Solar Premium Kit w/Rover 60A Charger Controller

 

[UrbanHunter]

My goal at first is to build a system to power our freezers and fridge. Get them off line so I don't have to worry about power outages. Having a little excess to change phones, puters, kindles, etc would be nice.
I don't expect, actually I know there is more needed to put the system together, but for the money I feel like it's a good start. I'm going back and forth between these 2.

600W 12V/24V Monocrystalline Solar Premium Kit w/Rover 60A Charger Controller

800W 12V/24V Monocrystalline Solar Premium Kit w/Rover 60A Charger Controller

I looked at them both and to be honest you are only saving about $30 on the 2 extra panels, the prices have been bouncing from $95 to $115 per 100 watts, $200 or 200 more watts right now seems like a wash to me. With Christmas on-going you might want to spend what you save on making the boss happy...

The other thing is that batteries are as expensive as solar panels, about $12/watt-hour of storage

Freezers draw up to 1500 watts at startup and around 500 watts when running, but they only run about 30% of the time.

On a sunny day 600 watts for 6 hours will only give you about 3600 watt hours of energy, and your freezer will be looking for closer to 4000 watt hours. In the summer you have longer days, so it would cover it on a sunny day.... But I have learned that the sun does not always shine on me......

 

[Bacpacker]

Thus the delima, get what I can afford now and build out as I go. Or save and try to do a one shot. I'm thinking go smaller and add to as I go. I'll at least be getting hands on experience as I go. If I go that route I do plan to go with something that can grow in size as times goes on without having to start over.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Thus the delima, get what I can afford now and build out as I go. Or save and try to do a one shot. I'm thinking go smaller and add to as I go. I'll at least be getting hands on experience as I go. If I go that route I do plan to go with something that can grow in size as times goes on without having to start over.

I purchased my panels in pairs, put them in storage, as funds became available I purchased more using the same part number. Then when I decided to put it all together, I found I had 4 panels which were a slightly different size than the first 4! Thankfully I had 8 more panels in storage (for emergency planning) and I had just enough to make 2-800 watt arrays of uniform sized panels, but it really put me in a state of confusion for a while. It also forced me to use up my emergency backup panels. Looking at the price on the controllers today I might purchase one more and then try to save up for another 800 watts.

I was also thinking about setting up 2 panels from another supplier and comparing them with 2 of the renogy panels... My thinking was make a stand to hold 4 panels and setting them up in a XOXO arrangement so that each pair were getting the same exposure and feeding them into 2 charge controllers so I could monitor the performance of them side by side, apples to apples... in all weather conditions.... I have the 2 old 40 Amp charge controllers that I could use, I would have to obtain the solar panels and purchase some wires. I have been buying RougeRV wires and am quite pleased with them. If I were comparing 2 sets of panels I would want the wires to be identical to avoid any bias. I have been trying to get caught up enough to figure out where to place them so I could measure my cable runs, start building the array stand, and order the components. Always more to do than time or money allow.....

 

[viking]

The MorningStar 60 amp controller we are using is good for 1,600 watts, it's presently taking care of 1,560 watts of panels, eight 195 watt panels hooked series/parallel. The solar controller has very large cooling fins that barely get warm even on a full sun day of charging. The interesting thing that I have found out since adding a 6th battery bank when we replaced all of our GC-2 batteries is that I'm not having to add as much distilled water to the new set as I did with the old banks, the old battery system was 1,025 AH, new set is 1260 AH, it could be that the original batteries may have had some faulty batteries, or that since I changed out all the battery connecting wires to a much larger size, they are charging more evenly. With the original set of batteries there was always three batteries that continually were wet on their top surfaces from spewed out electrolyte. What is interesting is that the original battery banks went through some pretty heavy exercises in discharge and charge cycles, when I turned the system on in 2013 the batteries were charged by the inverter/charger, it wasn't until 2019 that I built the solar array, anyway I guess it could be said that the original setup was a test for me on how the batteries would work, there are times when I saw some very high discharge and charge amps, so that first set of batteries went through some heavy abuse, I have a feeling that the new set of batteries is going to last much longer, due to the batteries staying in higher levels of charge.

 

[Bacpacker]

Thanks for the updates on your systems folks. Much good information to learn from.
One thing Urban mentioned gave me pause however. The systems need 6 hours per day. The way our house sits, thru the winter I'd be hard pressed to get more than a solid 4 hours direct sunlight in the 2 locations I was planning on. Woke up at 3 am this morning with this running thru my head. I decided to hold off on a current purchase and do more planning at a different location, mounting method for panels. I was getting in a rush due to a sale deadline. Not condusive to making a smart decision on my end.
Gonna do more research on componenets, my best location to gather the light. Start buying a few items as I go.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Thanks for the updates on your systems folks. Much good information to learn from.
One thing Urban mentioned gave me pause however. The systems need 6 hours per day. The way our house sits, thru the winter I'd be hard pressed to get more than a solid 4 hours direct sunlight in the 2 locations I was planning on. Woke up at 3 am this morning with this running thru my head. I decided to hold off on a current purchase and do more planning at a different location, mounting method for panels. I was getting in a rush due to a sale deadline. Not condusive to making a smart decision on my end.
Gonna do more research on componenets, my best location to gather the light. Start buying a few items as I go.

I actually have my panel arrays in 2 locations (each has it's own charge controller), one array has a good south face, but it is shaded until about 09:00 and gets good sun until about 15:00 when it starts being shaded again. The other array faces west and is shaded until 11:00 and it charges till sunset. Both arrays provide a little charge while they are shaded, but only about 10% of rated. But on a sunny day the charge profile is almost a step function, when the first array kicks in I see the system jump from about 80 watts up to about 850 watts, then as the west array kicks in the system jumps up to about 1500 watts, then after 15:00 it drops down to about 900 watts and slowly declines till it is completely dark. Because I need to have my batteries fully charged at the end of the day to provide emergency power, I allow my mid-day (09:00-16:00) load to be about 1000 watts, from 16:00 on I limit the load to about 200 watts. I've been recording battery bank voltages of 12.7 Volts at dark and the Christmas lights draw it down to about 12.4 volts by 22:00 when they shut off. My early morning voltage has been at least 12.2, but the inverter is driving all the timers and stay's on 24 7.

When it's really overcast and raining I just shut off the larger loads. (I found some little inline switches that I placed after the timers that do the job nicely). Even under those conditions I am seeing charging currents going into the battery bank at around 5 amps.

I saw today that Amazon had the Renogy 100 watt panels for $88 and the 60 Amp charge controller for $259, which was pretty tempting....

 

[Bacpacker]

That might be my solution as well in the long run. My best spot is looking southwest. It'll start getting sun by noon give or take. Full sun until dark year round after it hits the panels. It is also located to have VERY short cable runs from the panel to where I would site the electronics and batteries.
The other spot I considered and is a distant second place is on our roof. 25-30' off the ground and faces east/southeast. It'll get sun probably by 8am, but would lose it completely by 1-2pm. And it would be triple the cable length or more.
One question just came to mind while typing this out. What would be the best gain by keeping a particular cable run shorter? For example, whats more critical, Panel to charge controller? Controller to batteries? Batteries to inverter? Inverter to the load? This answer possible could have a great impact for me.
Long term I want to build a storage shed for some equipment, camper, truck, etc. So it'll be decent size, maybe 24 x 40 or 50 at first thought. another option would be to mount panels on the roof of that building and face the roof as directly south as possible. Another option after the building would be to build a ground mount and put the panels on it. Possibly even fabricate a set up that would allow for the panels to be rotated thru the day.
Decisions, decisions.
I will be searching for panels and electronics from various vendors over the coming months. Try to have a plan worked out in the meantime.

 

[Hardcalibres]

That might be my solution as well in the long run. My best spot is looking southwest. It'll start getting sun by noon give or take. Full sun until dark year round after it hits the panels. It is also located to have VERY short cable runs from the panel to where I would site the electronics and batteries.
The other spot I considered and is a distant second place is on our roof. 25-30' off the ground and faces east/southeast. It'll get sun probably by 8am, but would lose it completely by 1-2pm. And it would be triple the cable length or more.
One question just came to mind while typing this out. What would be the best gain by keeping a particular cable run shorter? For example, whats more critical, Panel to charge controller? Controller to batteries? Batteries to inverter? Inverter to the load? This answer possible could have a great impact for me.
Long term I want to build a storage shed for some equipment, camper, truck, etc. So it'll be decent size, maybe 24 x 40 or 50 at first thought. another option would be to mount panels on the roof of that building and face the roof as directly south as possible. Another option after the building would be to build a ground mount and put the panels on it. Possibly even fabricate a set up that would allow for the panels to be rotated thru the day.
Decisions, decisions.
I will be searching for panels and electronics from various vendors over the coming months. Try to have a plan worked out in the meantime.

Make a simple circuit diagram of your panels, controller and battery bank.

Work out the current in each cable at peak performance. The cables carrying the largest currents should be the shortest or should have the heaviest cable to minimize loss.

That same analysis is what motivates people to use 24V or 48V setups instead of 100% 12V systems. The higher voltage parts of the system, drop the current (and potential loss if you use the same cable for both).

Don't rely upon cable current ratings. Those ratings are more about what the cable can carry without cooking to a dangerous temperature. Use of most cables at their maximum rated current will result in an unacceptable loss. Over time, heavier cables pay for themselves.

 

[UrbanHunter]

That might be my solution as well in the long run. My best spot is looking southwest. It'll start getting sun by noon give or take. Full sun until dark year round after it hits the panels. It is also located to have VERY short cable runs from the panel to where I would site the electronics and batteries.
The other spot I considered and is a distant second place is on our roof. 25-30' off the ground and faces east/southeast. It'll get sun probably by 8am, but would lose it completely by 1-2pm. And it would be triple the cable length or more.
One question just came to mind while typing this out. What would be the best gain by keeping a particular cable run shorter? For example, whats more critical, Panel to charge controller? Controller to batteries? Batteries to inverter? Inverter to the load? This answer possible could have a great impact for me.
Long term I want to build a storage shed for some equipment, camper, truck, etc. So it'll be decent size, maybe 24 x 40 or 50 at first thought. another option would be to mount panels on the roof of that building and face the roof as directly south as possible. Another option after the building would be to build a ground mount and put the panels on it. Possibly even fabricate a set up that would allow for the panels to be rotated thru the day.
Decisions, decisions.
I will be searching for panels and electronics from various vendors over the coming months. Try to have a plan worked out in the meantime.

The solar panel to charge controller will be someplace between 50 and 150 volts and the run from the charge control to the batteries will either be 15 or 30 Volts depending if you are running 12 or 24 Volt battery arrangements. based on the the voltage from the panels the AMPERAGE will be much higher after the charge controller (Watts = Volt * Amps) so you would want to keep the controllers close to the battery bank to keep losses to a minimum. Same reason transmission lines use KVs to keep the amperage reasonable.

The amperage will be much higher between the battery bank and the inverter, typically you will be using much heavier (~00) and more expensive cables in this location, so again you want to keep this run as short as possible. The cable run between the battery bank and the inverter will impact system performance the most so I tend to build in a good safety factor when sizing cables for this location.

The inverter to load will be 110 Volts AC and the amperage will be about 10% or 20% of what you are seeing between the battery bank and the inverter.

As for priority as to which runs should be kept short #1- Battery to inverter, #2 charge controller to battery, #3 solar array to charge controller. Since the distance from the inverter to the load can be variable (extension cords) I would rank it dead last.

From what I have read tracking systems are complex and expensive for the benefits. On my adjustable array I use a very simple tracking system to adjust a few times a year to keep a good mid-day angle on the sun.. Using a square draw a line on the frame, drive a nail in the line, when the sun's shadow is on the line you are perfect, for that time of year... I have found that to be "close enough" I only need to adjust it about 4 times a year....

 

[UrbanHunter]

I did notice that Wal-mart had some very inexpensive 24 Volt inverters on line, but I have to question anything that is too cheap...

My wife is upset with @Bacpacker , it seems like I ordered another charge controller and I am talking about making a small roof/array over my rain barrels to give me more mid-day power... I told her it was your idea

 

[Bacpacker]

Well tell your wife I'm sorry. LOL

For the tracker I mentioned I was thinking something manual, like a couple different size pipes. Lots to consider with that.

The Renova system i was looking at was a 24v system to reduce currents. 48v is worth looking at as well IMO.
I assumed the cables around the battery would be the biggest issue. For my location I could keep both sets of cables to 6' or so easily. I intend to feed the inverter to a breaker box and distribute to plugs from there. I want protection everywhere possible.

Thanks to you all for the info.

 

[Neb]

Well tell your wife I'm sorry. LOL

For the tracker I mentioned I was thinking something manual, like a couple different size pipes. Lots to consider with that.

The Renova system i was looking at was a 24v system to reduce currents. 48v is worth looking at as well IMO.
I assumed the cables around the battery would be the biggest issue. For my location I could keep both sets of cables to 6' or so easily. I intend to feed the inverter to a breaker box and distribute to plugs from there. I want protection everywhere possible.

Thanks to you all for the info.

A transfer switch will have breakers and allow dor quick changing from mains to standby. This the one I started to install.

Ben

 

[Neb]

I believe Engineer 775 used a converter mounted near the solar panels to change from DC to AC when there was a very long distance to get to the solar panels.

Ben

 

[Bacpacker]

Thanks Ned. I like that transfer switch idea. But my system won't be tied to our house circuit, at least not early on. It will be limited to running just a few items and a circuit for charging small items (phones, puter, and such).

The DC to AC inverter would likely be a good idea if we installed the panels in our field. We'd get much better coverage there, but with a 150' or so run to the house

 

[viking]

When we bought our MagnumEnergy 4,000 watt pure sine wave inverter/charger the owners manual had all kinds of great information on how to set the system up, it talked about having the shortest connection possible between the batteries and the inverter. As far as wiring from the solar array to the solar controller, I asked a lot of questions to Grape Solar in Eugene, Oregon, where we bought the solar panels and solar controller, they told me that I really didn't need to worry about adjustable array mounting, they said just set the panel angle to match the parallel we lived closest to which is 45 degrees, as for panel operating voltage, I did a lot of studying on that and came to the conclusion that it would be best to run series parallel for the factory panel rating of just over 70 volts for series connection, as it turned out the average daily full sun voltage was in the 80 volt plus range, the only thing I was concerned with was a large big leaf maple that could block mid day sun to the panels, ended up not making any. difference, I was amazed that I was getting solar charging up to sunset, the solar array is roughly 50 feet from the battery shed and any voltage loss amounts to nothing, the wires from the array to the controller are #6, main battery to the inverter wires are 4/0, battery bank connectors are 2/0 which is an upgrade from the origanal battery banks wire size. 4/0 wire cost me around $8 a foot, anything made with copper has really gotten expensive, the price of a 20 foot 30 amp generator connection wires the last time I saw one was over $80. We spent over $300 for 2/0 jumper wires and one 2 foot 4/0 wire for hooking up the new batteries. It does pay to have friends that have old welding cable laying around, that's where our first set of battery connectors came from.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Hi Guys, wanted to let you know that in 2023 there are a number of tax credits for solar and BATTERY STORAGE! The battery storage caught my eye as they are allowing for up to a 30% tax credit for battery storage over 3KWh capacity! It doesn't take much to exceed this threshold and could save you a big chuck of change, especially if you were planning to buy a dozen or so LiFePO4 batteries....

But I didn't see any exclusions for Lead Acid batteries either. I have not seen the details yet, I assume it will not be straight forward as it will be written up by the IRS tax lawyers....

 

[Neb]

Hi Guys, wanted to let you know that in 2023 there are a number of tax credits for solar and BATTERY STORAGE! The battery storage caught my eye as they are allowing for up to a 30% tax credit for battery storage over 3KWh capacity! It doesn't take much to exceed this threshold and could save you a big chuck of change, especially if you were planning to buy a dozen or so LiFePO4 batteries....

But I didn't see any exclusions for Lead Acid batteries either. I have not seen the details yet, I assume it will not be straight forward as it will be written up by the IRS tax lawyers....

I looked at those tax credits and only apply to the taxes owed unless the credits are spread across multiple years.

Ben

 

[Biggkidd]

You know this whole tax credit thing goes right in hand with the farm status and store membership clubs, just another way for TPTB to know exactly what you have, where and why. Thanks just the same I'll live without the discount or tax credit to stay as far under the radar as I can. Taking this a step further I'll drive 20 miles out of my way to stop at an ATM rather than using an ATM card to purchase animal feed or garden supplies or most anything just so I pay in cash and not traceable funds.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Okay, it's been a while and I have been using off grid to power my grow lights, but now summer is coming on and the wife is having trouble dealing with any heat, so I installed a window AC unit and decided to power it off my inverter and my solar charged battery bank... and all the sudden poof! The inverter wasn't working... I though perfect I blew an inverter... I had a spare but no workie either! Checked the power at the big fuse, seems the fuse was blown, but still no power to the inverter. I was using a buss bar after the fuse and discovered that an inductive amp meter was melted at the buss bar... upon checking I discovered that the cable was not properly crimped (it looked good and the heat shrink was in place, but it was making poor contact). I decided to remove the buss bar and replace with 1 length of 00 cable. So after spending the day re-arranging everything in my battery box I had the old cables out, holding the buss bar in one hand and pulling the cable with the other it pulled right out of the fitting (tearing the heat shrink) the cable was oxidized and had clearly been overheated.

Good news the inverter is still good, all the connections have been checked and everything is working again. Bad news is I spent money on a new 00 cable....

 

[Bacpacker]

Okay, it's been a while and I have been using off grid to power my grow lights, but now summer is coming on and the wife is having trouble dealing with any heat, so I installed a window AC unit and decided to power it off my inverter and my solar charged battery bank... and all the sudden poof! The inverter wasn't working... I though perfect I blew an inverter... I had a spare but no workie either! Checked the power at the big fuse, seems the fuse was blown, but still no power to the inverter. I was using a buss bar after the fuse and discovered that an inductive amp meter was melted at the buss bar... upon checking I discovered that the cable was not properly crimped (it looked good and the heat shrink was in place, but it was making poor contact). I decided to remove the buss bar and replace with 1 length of 00 cable. So after spending the day re-arranging everything in my battery box I had the old cables out, holding the buss bar in one hand and pulling the cable with the other it pulled right out of the fitting (tearing the heat shrink) the cable was oxidized and had clearly been overheated.

Good news the inverter is still good, all the connections have been checked and everything is working again. Bad news is I spent money on a new 00 cable....

Good find and good fix. It ALWAYS pays to triple check terminations. I've ran into that several times over the years