Author Archives: AH Trimble

LifePO4 Battery SOC Charts

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Yup, those are actual LifePO4 battery cells with a Battery Management System (BMS) attached to the side. In other words…a LifePO4 battery…without a fancy case around it.

In my early days of solar system design and building I had questions about when batteries were charged or not…and how much life they had left in them. Generally speaking, the voltage of a battery gives you an idea of the battery’s State of Charge (SOC).

The state of charge (SOC) of a battery is the relative charge that is present in a battery relative to its total capacity. Like knowing the amount of fuel in your vehicle’s fuel tank. When using a voltmeter to test voltage to assess SOC, for this measurement to be trustworthy, the battery must have been “at rest” (neither charged or discharged) withing the previous 12 hours.

The best way to accurately measure battery DOC is to continuously monitor voltage, amperage, and ampere hours remaining. This is a complex calculation of the energy available, energy consumed, and the energy returned to the battery in charging. It also adds the important element of time to the equation.

And to make things a bit more exciting…there is “charging voltage” and “resting voltage” that both can mean 100% SOC. Yeah, go figure right. Resting voltage is the more accurate reading to use to know the true condition of the battery. And resting mean…12 hours without a charge or discharge taking place. And in most solar systems that simply doesn’t happen because the system is constantly discharging (i.e. 24-hours a day) and/or charging (i.e. 6 – 18 hours per day while the sun shines).

So the most accurate way to gauge SOC is the continuously monitor method…and that takes special instruments. But, not too special, nor too complicated.

And here is another curve ball…

  • a 12v LifePO4 battery is correctly/fully charged at 13.6v and at 12v the SOC is just about 9% and the battery close to being ruined.

  • a 24v LifePO4 battery is correctly/fully charged at 27.2v and at 24v the SOC is just about 9% and the battery close to being ruined.

  • a 48v LifePO4 battery is correctly/fully charged at 54.4v and at 48v the SOC is just about 9% and the battery close to being ruined.

So why do they call them 12v, 24v, and 48v batteries when they don’t actually run at those voltages? I have no idea.

And another curve ball…there are “16-cell” 48v batteries and “15-cell” 48v batteries. The 15-cell version of the 48v battery is not real common and generally a good indicator of a battery manufacturer trying to hit a better price point by building a battery with one less cell and still calling it, misleading as it may be, a 48v battery.

If you are gauging a 15-cell battery you would deduct 3.4v from the fully charged, at rest, voltage of a 16-cell battery. And do so for each % rating of the 16-cell version.

To maintain a battery in healthy condition you don’t want to drop its SOC below 20%. Dropping the SOC below 20% damages the battery, meaning you are reducing it usable lifespan. Dropping the SOC below 14% damages the battery, meaning you are seriously damaging the battery. Good news is…if the battery has a BMS it should turn off automatically before damage is done. Bad news is…the battery BMS may not be set right to provide adequate protection. Good news…you can also protect the battery by setting the inverter to automatically shut down at a given voltage.

Also, charging a LifePO4 battery to 100% SOC doesn’t do the battery any favors. To keep a LifePO4 battery healthy and happy it is a good idea to charge to about 95% and don’t discharge below 20%.

In the following charts it shows the “voltage chart” displaying the voltage “curve”. Notice that the voltage curve will stay fairly flat between 110% SOC (resting) and 20% SOC, there is only .8v difference. And that is one of the huge advantages of LifePO4 battery…stable voltages throughout the discharge curve.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Always refer to your battery manufacturer for specific data, voltages, SOC, etc. regarding your particular battery. The information provide is only general information regarding LifePO4 batteries.

Individual Cell SOC & Voltages –
12v Battery SOC & Voltages –
24v Battery SOC & Voltages –
48v Battery (16-cell) SOC & Voltages –

note: you can download each image by right clicking on it.

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DC Wire – Types, Size Chart, and Fusing

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One of the things that can get confusing, but is extremely important, is knowing what size of wire to use when working with DC circuits. And once you get the wire size figured out…then trying to figure out what size fuse should you use.

So I’ve included a wire sizing chart at the bottom of the page for you to download. And I will provide a couple of tips as well. Finally, I will provide a link to a great little sizing and fusing calculator that I think makes everything much easier when trying to calculate all of this. But first, some good information to know…Also, it is important to note that when dealing with DC currents in solar power systems (SPS) you need a high-quality wire with a good insulation rating; 105 degrees centigrade is commonly referred to as the standard. Voltage rating should be “600V”. Also, stranded wire is best when using wire in the DC side of SPSs…the more strands the better. But, a good measure would be as follows, with each strand being 30AWG wire…

6AWG – 260 strands
4AWG – 364 strands
2AWG – 624 strands
1AWG – 767 strands
1/0 – 975 strands
2/0 – 1196 strands
3/0 – 1547 strands
4/0 – 1950 strands

Most wire wire/cable will come with rubber or rubber-based insulation. Silicone-based wire insulation is generally considered superior to rubber-based wire insulation for a number of reasons, one being a higher heat rating, up to 200 degrees centigrade. Silicone is the most fire-resistant of common insulation material, it is also highly resistant to extreme environments. Then we also see silicone as being more flexible and more compression resistant. And yes, silicone is more suitable for outdoor applications, but when running wire outdoors it’s always best placed inside a protective conduit.

Aluminum wire should not be used…period. Copper wire is the standard for DC applications due to its high electrical conductivity. However, there is even better wire than standard copper wire, tin-plated stranded copper wire. Tin-plated copper wire is noted for its longevity because of its anti-corrosion properties. And, studies show that this variety of copper wiring is able to withstand adverse weather conditions and end up lasting far longer than the standard copper wires. It’s also preferred in applications where the wire will be exposed to a high degree of humidity. And lastly, tin-plated copper wire has more electrical conductivity as compared to other varieties of copper wires. And yes, it is more expensive.

Here is a little tip for you…up-size wire recommendations one size. Yup, look up the recommended wire size…then go with one size larger. This gives you a measure of safety when deciding on your wiring. Better to have a wire/cable one size too large than one size too small. One size too small can result in more resistance and potentially melting the wire itself. And obviously, if you melt wire it is a bad thing, a very band thing…which could result in a fire.

And that brings me to another tidbit of information that should be, will be, important to you…protecting your wire from over-current. The reason you protect your wire from over-current to prevent melting wire/cable and the possibility of fire is plain and obvious. So you put a fuse in the circuit.

Quality equipment manufacturers (Tier 1 companies) will provide fusing and/or circuit breakers internally to the equipment to protect that equipment. It is the installer’s responsibility to protect the wire connecting the equipment with fuses and/or circuit breakers.

Looking at a fuse and its job is pretty simple…the job of the fuse is to melt its wire or plate element at a lower current (amperage) than the wire can handle. That breaks the circuit and stops the flow of electricity. If the fuse is rated for a higher current than the wire, then the wire become the fuse by failing before the fuse blows.

Here’s an example: 1AWG wire is rated to handle 150amps at a total circuit of under 15′ (up-sized one size). Now, if you wanted to protect that wire from failure and put a 200amp fuse in the circuit…the wire would theoretically fail at 150amps before the fuse “blew” (a.k.a. opened) at 200amps.

To avoid this problem in our example you would use a fuse of slightly less that 200amps…say 125 – 150amps. That way the fuse would do its job before the wire failed and caused a potentially serious problem.

And here is another thing to consider when deciding on the correct fuse to use…its different ratings. So take a 125amp/58v BF-2 fuse from Littelfuse. It is rated at 125amps, yes? But does that mean it will blow as soon as the current hits 126amps? No. If you review the chart that accompanies the fuse you will see it will maintain integrity for different lengths of time at different currents (amps).

At 100% of rating, in this case 125amps, the fuse will maintain integrity for 4 hours. If the current rises to 135% of its rating (169amps) the fuse will still be good for approximately 2 minuets before it opens/blows. At 200% of its rating (250amps) it will open/blow at about the 1 second mark. And at 750amps it will open/blow at about 1/10th of a second. So before you decide on the right fuse looks closely at its ratings.

In our 1AWG, 200amp wire circuit at a full 200amps of current, the 125amp fuse would blow in 2 – 3 seconds

Also, notice the fuse description in the example, “125amp/58v”, that means it is rated for 125amps only up to 58volts. Meaning, if you try to employ it in a circuit above 58v it will not function correctly…as in fail.

What???  And why is it rated at 58v, sounds strange, eh? That fuse is designed for 48volt solar power systems. So why the larger than 48 voltage rating? Remember that solar power system voltages can run as high as 56 – 58 volts +/- coming out of the MPPT charge controller.

Now, let’s return to the wire insulation rating. Remember I mentioned that wire should have at least a rating of 105 degrees centigrade? That means 220 degrees Fahrenheit. That is above boiling temperature of water before it fails. Silicone insulation can handle almost 400 degrees Fahrenheit before failure. So you can see one of the obvious benefits to silicone wire insulation. Now, that being said…if you are building a circuit counting on silicone’s ability to handle almost double the temps vs rubber-based insulation…you are building the circuit in dangerous country. Consider redesigning the circuit more for safety.

And there is one really misunderstood aspect of deciding on wire/cable size…the distance or length of the actual wire run. Most folks will look at the circuit and say there is 5′ between the pieces of equipment and then use that to choose the wire/cable size. WRONG!! You use the total distance of the run…round trip. The circuit is the round trip of the current. So 5′ between equipment is a 10′ distance/length.

OK, so here is the long awaited chart with one note before the displaying it…when looking at the “circuit type” use “Critical” and “3% voltage drop” and when looking at the distance, the distance is the maximum run. So when you see 15′, that means up to 15′ round trip. Notice the “round trip”…that means the wire going to AND from the two devices.

( This is a very large graphic chart. Click to enlarge or you can download it as well. )

< click here to download the DC Wire Selection Chart in PDF file format >

“Voltage drop”…don’t worry about it…just use “3%” when using the chart. But if you really want to know…voltage drop is the amount of voltage will be lost through “resistance” in the wire. Meaning the lower the quality of the wire, the more resistance, the more voltage drop, resulting in less energy being moved from one device to another. Yes, that is a bad thing, it’s a waste of energy. That is the reason to correctly size wire…to efficiently move current/power through the wire.

Now, let’s talk about the wire sizing and fusing calculator that is found on the “explorist.life” website. I like it…I like it a lot! You input the “amps”, the “voltage”, and the round trip length between the devices…then it shows you the recommended size of wire/cable to use to safely and efficiently carry that current. I like to reduce the “voltage drop” to 1.5% when using the calculator. That gives an extra margin of safety and efficiency.

There is also an option “Show Fuse Sizing Recommendations ” it gives you a great bunch of fuse information; 1)Minimum Fuse Size, 2) Recommended Fuse Size, 3) Max Wire Capacity, 4) Max Fuse Size. That is great, and critical, information to help guide you through making those design decisions. But again, I like to up-size the wire/cable one size just to be safe…and it allows for a little system expansion should the need arise.

The calculator link is https://www.explorist.life/wire-sizing-calculator/

And yes, https://www.explorist.life, run by Nate Yarbrough, has a lot of great information for you if you care to look around, including some very good videos.

TakeAways –
  • Use high quality, well insulated, stranded wire in DC circuits.
  • Up-size the wire by one size.
  • Use the right chart and/or calculator to determine the correct fuse size.
  • Ensure that the fuse rating(s) always are lower than the wire rating.
  • If you don’t understand all of this…then you shouldn’t be doing it yourself.
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My Christmas Story and Message

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I wanted to take a few minutes and share a Christmas message with you…4 days before Christmas. I hope you feel the spirit of my message…and follow through these last few days before Christmas.

It has been a wild year, and the year has passed far more quickly than I expected or wished. So many things have happened…it seems the world is on fire and about to collapse, maybe it is and has. But not is all bad, nor is all lost…last Sunday reminded me of that.

My wife and I teach a Sunday School class of teenagers (15 – 16 year olds) twice a month at church since October. Each Sunday has been a good experience, some more good than others. Last Sunday was amazing! But let me set Sunday’s context first…

We were running a little late Sunday morning, so we felt a bit rushed. Also, we had a fair amount of snow earlier that week that hadn’t completely melted off. But it had melted somewhat each day during the day…then froze solid at night. We have a rather long and steep hill of gravel and cinders that is about a mile from our house that we travel to leave our little valley area, the slope faces due north.

Do you see it coming yet?????

As we pulled through the gate of our drive/road I felt the urge to take the back way out…a far easier hill, far less steep, but somewhat longer. But, I ignored that prompting and headed to the normal way out. In 4wd, 1st gear, I was about 75% of the way up the hill when I felt the tires start to spin and our forward progress stopped abruptly. No problem…I would put it in reverse and back down the hill…I’ve done that before. Ah, not this time.

As soon as I had applied the brakes the Explorer began slipping backwards down the hill. Somehow I managed to keep the Explorer on the road…till I couldn’t. We began to slip off the road and a huge Juniper tree loomed large in my rear view mirror. A couple seconds later we came to a gentle stop off the road, no damage to the Explorer, and the Juniper about 5’ from the back of the tailgate. We were safe…albeit stuck after a 150’ slide downhill.

To shorten the story…I walked back to the house, retrieved my truck, returned to the bottom of the hill, walked my wife down the hill, drove to church, and arrived 10mins before our class was to start.

A couple other teachers didn’t show up that day so we had our normal mid-teens plus the 12 – 14 year olds as well…a large class with a bunch of kids we had not had in class before.

It was an AMAZING class on the last 3 books of the Old Testament!!! I mean it! The kids were great, the class went really well, it was just an amazing spirit filled and fun 50 minutes!

We left church on a spiritual high…even with the experience earlier in the morning on the hill. The class proved to be a tender mercy from a loving Heavenly Father to be sure! We even got a text message from a 13-year old’s mother that evening who wanted us to know their child loved the class that day and he had told her so. A blessing on top of a blessing!

So the point of this message is this…

We have had tough times, all of us, and we are going to have more tough times, all of us…but there will be blessings, there will be tender mercies. Many of them, maybe most of them, will come from our children. But those blessings will come! Some of those blessing can also be from us to others.

This Christmas there are people who need us, they need our compassion, they need our love, they may even need our help…please give it. It may be a smile and a heart-felt hello in the next few days…or throughout the next year…give it. If you see a family struggling…help them. If you see a person stressing…help them. If you see a child with conflict…help them.

Just please, please help folks the best you can. Give service, give of yourself, give of your time, give of your substance if you can. I am just asking you to help others. There are a lot of folks who need help of one kind or another in this world right now…please help them in any way you can…in any way you feel prompted to.

Thank you!! I appreciate all you do more than you imagine. I know how tough this world is right now…and I know how bad it is going to get. But I also know there is great hope out there…some of it comes in the form of children…some of it can come from inside you.

Remember the reason for the Christmas season…Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He lived His entire life in service to us…please give even a small part of yourself doing the same…serving others as you feel prompted.

Please bask in the love of Jesus.

Thank you…and Merry Christmas!

 

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without expressed written permission from AHTrimble.com
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Donation for a Battery…? WHAT ?

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Yup, a couple folks asked me about the whole hidden “donation” thing. And they wanted to know more about what is was, and why I was doing it. They had found it tucked away hidden at the bottom of the Solar Home Page.

So here is the deal…my plan is to upgrade our solar power system here at the ‘glamstead’ to, as my wife puts it, upgrade our standard of living. Don’t get me wrong, we are doing just fine at this point, we just want to add more capability to power own “grid” that provides power to our place. Yes, meaning we are 100% off-grid when it comes to electricity…we produce and store own electricity via a solar power system.

So here is what the “donation” thing is all about…

Some folks have been very, very kind to me; they have understood the effort, time, and money that I have put into this website over the last 10+ years. A couple people wanted to directly help out financially with our solar system as kind of a way of showing appreciation. And, in their opinion, our fourth battery purchase seemed like the right place where they could help out.

The only major part of the solar power upgrade we have left to buy is the last (fourth) battery. The reason for the fourth battery is pretty simple; 1) we want to be able to store more power to last another day when it is cloudy outside (or during winter months) while we aren’t charging the batteries as fast as we are using the power, 2) we want to be able to run more/different appliances longer into the evening/night when the sun has gone down, 3) we also want to be able to power an RV or camper, or two, should folks show-up when times get tough.

The fourth battery will cost about $4,000 for the battery, shipping, and the wiring to hook it up. These very kind folks wanted to make a cash donation…and they suggested I do a “donation campaign” to raise the rest of the funds so we could get the battery sooner. They thought all the effort I have been putting into the website and the solar information was, could be, would be of value to folks who also appreciated what I do.

I was a little resistant at first, felt kinda like begging, but then I felt I should follow the encouragement of those folks. And it would be a huge blessing to my wife and I since we are now living on a fixed income and $4,000 is a whole lot of money to us. All things being equal, it would be sometime late next year till we had saved the funds to make that large of a purchase.

I want to thank everyone in advance for supporting the website and our efforts…regardless of whether you donate towards the battery purchase or not…thank you! You guys are the absolute best…and I am glad there are folks like you to help others.

Here is the button to do to the donation page…

Donate-3

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Third Battery Arrived – Trophy 220E-1

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note: This post should have been made 6 days after the initial post regarding the battery purchase, but it was delayed along with the first post.

Well, you know by my last post regarding my quest for a new battery was arduous but I pulled the trigger and bought a third battery for my system upgrade.

If you want to read about our solar power system upgrade you can read about here < click here >

If you want to read about evaluating and choosing the new Trophy Battery you can read about it here < click here >

If you are wondering why I didn’t buy two new batteries to round out the two I already had for a total of four batteries you can read about it at the bottom of the Solar HomePage < click here >

If you remember from the first post in this series about buying a new battery I had the batteries shipped to a friends business, his warehouse. It saved a considerable amount of money avoiding a “residential deliver” and a “tailgate lift fee”.

As soon as I got there I started popping the pallet straps, then I figured it would be good to have a video of what it looked like. Here is the video…

So the batteries (5 total – 3x110Ah, 2x220Ah) were well secured to the pallet, they shipping cases were all in great shape, no apparent damage. Trophy did a great job of designing the shipping cases. They also did a great job on shipping case placement on the pallet and strapping them down really well. And yup, FedEx handled them with care and delivered them a full day ahead of time…despite a snowstorm in the area.

I am thrilled so far…more evaluation to come!

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Ordered My Third Battery !

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note: this post was written on December 6th, posting was delayed for a number of reasons. As promised before, I am posting about my experience with Trophy Battery…and purchasing the third battery in a bank of 4 batteries. The fourth battery will have to wait awhile…we just don’t have the money for it just yet, the third one was expensive enough. Bummer! As I mentioned before, I researched a lot of battery options…watched numerous videos, read a ton of reviews, spoke to more than one manufacturer directly, and I even talked with a 20-year veteran of the solar business for advice. I looked at everything I could find about the different companies and their batteries. One thing was paramount…internal Battery Management System (BMS); and I wanted steel case, rack mount batteries from the very beginning. Oh, and no off-the-wall stuff like golf cart batteries. I looked into, researched, evaluated the following batteries:
  • EG4 LiFePOWER4
  • SOK
  • Jakiper
  • Ampere Time
I eliminated right away the following batteries:
  • FNS / Sacred Sun due to my prior experience with them.
  • Storz due to their high price tag.
  • Victron due to their high price tag.
Eventually I settled on Trophy Battery, the 220Ah beast to be exact. Their build was top notch, their capacity and voltages most closely matched my existing two batteries. I like the way they were designed, especially the built-in high current DC 175amp circuit breaker. I liked what I saw at every turn, more than any other battery or battery provider. Done…I would buy the Trophy Battery model 48V220C-1 48/51.2v, 220Ah. I talked with a neighbor/friend who is also a DIY solar guy to get his opinion and he thought the batteries were awesome. He wanted to order as well after we had talked for about an hour. And I am helping out a close friend and his wife who are kinda stuck in their DIY solar journey, I agreed to help them out and build their system, they needed batteries as well. Their situation wasn’t all that unusual, their system would be in an unheated Conex container. Ahhhhhhh, Trophy batteries have built-in heaters to keep them functional (i.e. charging) at below freezing temperatures. They were in as well…they wanted model 48V110C-1 48/51.2v, 110Ah…3 of them. At Trophy I spoke with Dan, the owner multiple times before placing the order. He was great and easy to work with and answered all my questions. I collected the money from the other two folks and placed the order. We did it together to save on shipping. Placing the order with Trophy was not without a minor issue. Their website locked my account and the cart would not function. Turned out to be a blessing…I placed the order directly with Dan and was pleased. The batteries shipped the next day and are due for delivery in less than a week…1 week after the order was placed. They are coming FedEx freight to a friend’s business to help save money. It saves money to have them delivered to a business vs a residence. I received multiple emails from Trophy keeping me advised of the order/shipping process. Some of the features I think are important to note:
  • 16 x EVE Power 230Ah cells
  • Heaters for charging in cold weather
  • Sophisticated programmable 200amp Battery Management System (BMS)
  • Soft start, automatic pre-charge of inverter capacitors to prevent damage
  • High current DC built-in circuit breaker
  • Front display screen for BMS
  • US based 24/7 support
  • 10-year non-prorated warranty
  • An owner’s manual…in ENGLISH!!
That is a 220Ah, 11.3watt battery for $3595.00! That comes out to 32cents per watt. Compared to many popular comparative 100Ah batteries at 34cents per watt…but the cheaper battery comes without the heaters, without the 200amp BMS,and without the internal high current DC circuit breaker! And it would take two of the 100Ah batteries and it would still fall short by 10% of the overall Ah rating…with less features. So far I am thrilled! I will keep you advised. < click here to ope a PDF file with Trophy Battery – 220E Battery Info >
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Our Solar System Upgrade

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There seemed to be a bunch of interest in the solar stuff I have been posting. And, I decided a couple months ago to upgrade our system. Seems like a perfect time to share more solar info, add to the solar book I am writing, and use it to double check what I am doing. I hope you get something out of it. And as always…ask questions, make comments, add suggestions, and do helpful critiques as you wish 🙂

Existing System –
  • 3.8Kw of solar panels (2 arrays of 1.5Kw, 1 array of 800w)
  • 1 x Victron Smart Solar MPPT 150/70 charge controller
  • 1 x Victron Quattro 48vDC/5000w/120vAC/70a inverter/charger
  • 1 x Victron Smart Shunt with BMV-712 Smart connected to a Victron Color Control GX
  • 2 x 202Ah LifePo4 batteries in parallel
  • On the usable house AC side we get 120vAC at approximately 41a
  • Our average power usage per day is 11.3kWh (last 12 months of history)
  • < click here to open the PDF file showing our current solar system >
Drawbacks to the Existing System –
  • We used our generator 3 days out of the last year due to low battery, approximately 40kWh.
  • We had the inverter cut out due to over discharge (drawing too much power) twice, once in June, once in July. Yup, we were using the AC’s at the time.
  • We have used two inverter style air conditioners for two summers and love them. But, we can’t run them past 10pm without risk of running the batteries too low. Fortunately, there aren’t too many nights that much AC is needed.
  • On cloudy days, or when the batteries start the day low, it is difficult to charge the batteries 100%.
  • This past year we experimented with using electric baseboard heaters during mildly cold days and evenings. They work fine, really nice. But, we can’t run more than 3 on at low settings, or two on high setting, without risking shutting down the inverter due to over discharge (drawing too much power) if/when we turn on something like the air fryer.
Proposed Upgrade to System –
  • Increase to 5.9Kw of solar panels (2 arrays of 2.235Kw, 1 array of 1.47Kw), 58% increase in power generation.
  • Add a second Victron Smart Solar MPPT 150/70 charge controller, 100% increase in potential PV to battery power generation. It will also balance the charging of the incoming solar panel power avoiding overloading a single MPPT system.
  • Add a second Victron Quattro 48vDC/5000w/120vAC/70a inverter/charger resulting in a doubling of available AC power, 100% increase. Giving us 10Kw/240vAC @ 82amps.
  • Add 2 x 220Ah LifePo4 batteries into existing battery bank, increasing our energy storage by 107%.

As a side-effect to the upgrade I will be “cleaning up” the wire layout, increasing the size of wire at strategic wiring points, improving the fusing and circuit breaker systems, and replacing important Tier 2 equipment with Tier 1 equipment. And for a major safety upgrade I will be putting up cement board (fire resistant) behind all the equipment vs the particle board I have now.

I will be posting as I go to show the “before”, what is planed for the “after”…and then what actually gets installed. Of course I will be glad to respond to any input or questions along the way.

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I came to my senses…maybe.

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Yesterday morning I was ready to post a great article (aren’t they all great!) concerning the nearly $14trillion drop in US household wealth so far in 2022. I tied it back to the increased use of credit cards to pay monthly bills, the historic drop in US household savings rate, and that 60% of US households have burned through their entire savings paying monthly bills. It painted a pretty pathetic doom & gloom picture.

But I couldn’t find the document with the article that I would move into the website software…I spent an hour looking for it…no luck, it was gone. So after pouting for a while I just didn’t post anything…and went to work getting the batteries for the folks I am helping with their solar systems. That was immensely satisfying!

So throughout the day I kept having this nagging feeling…nibbling at me all day…really doing a number on me mentally and spiritually. And that is the point of this post…or rather the outcome of all that mental and spiritual gymnastics is the point of the post. But let me explain a few more things first…the context of all of this.

My original goals for the website were four-fold –

1 – When I started the website originally (8 years or so ago) it was based on two things; 1) the website I was participating in at the time started to go sideways in many aspects, turning ugly at times, delving into the weird and nonspiritual, 2) a huge number of emergency preparedness “experts” that were completely incompetent, untrained, and ill suited who were providing seriously bogus information to unsuspecting people.

2 – I also wanted to do a “brain dump” of 40+ years of prepping experience and professional emergency management experience to help people. Yes, relay to folks what I learned from my training…but mostly what I learned from what works and what doesn’t work based on my own experience in the field on actual incidents.

3 – I wanted to test, assess, and evaluate equipment, gear, concepts, and processes in the real-world to help folks avoid following bad advice that was more than just abundant in the prepper “expert” website world.

4 – And I wanted to try and provide a more spiritual environment from from the ugliness that I saw in other prepper websites, especially the ones that claimed to be Christian oriented, but weren’t in practice.

Yesterday I was checking the website for “stats”, comments, and emails…as I try and do throughout the day. I try to keep up on what is happening on the site, answer questions, and respond to comments. For quite a while I have kept noticing the most consistently viewed and downloaded files are the ones related to Baofeng radios. And those files and posts are some of the oldest on the site. Those were posted at a time when I was focused on getting communications capability out to the prepper world…and it appears I still am.

As I was working on the detailed drawings and parts list for my upcoming solar system upgrade I did a little general current events research as well…and it all sucked!

This morning when I woke up I knew what to do…and that is where I am headed with this. My thought was simple…Who in the hell wants to hear what I have to say about the current state of the world?

Don’t get me wrong…I have some clear and strong opinions on the world and what is happening. And you should have a pretty clear idea of all that by now. So why in the world would I want to keep posting my opinions and supporting info every week? Seriously, if you come to this site you have your own opinion(s) about the state of everything. Why would I want to change or influence your opinion? What would that accomplish?

Bingo!

So I am going back to the roots of this website…my original four goals. Kinda like back to basics thing/effort.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I will take the opportunity from time-to-time to share things/events that I feel are important. Maybe in the form of a SitRep, maybe in the form of “head explosion”, maybe just an article. And I will continue to do the “Feedback & Comments” and “FAQ” posts when appropriate.

My interest right now is solar power. And a few months ago I was pondering a number of things that had been troubling me. The I received a clear prompting that I needed to help folks who were struggling with their solar systems…and do it for free. What!? Yup, I felt that if I helped folks get their system fixed, corrected, or finished I would be blessed. OK…fine…now what?

Within a week we were visiting with some new friends at our house. They saw our solar system and asked if I could help them with theirs. They had bought some equipment from a huckster but that was it…the project died. I agreed to help them. A couple of weeks later a person had seen a neighbor’s system that I had installed…he asked if I would help him with his upgrade. I agreed. Last week at our church Christmas dinner an older lady came up to me and said she heard I helped people with their solar…and asked for help. They too had bought some equipment from a huckster but that was it…the project died. 

Now, the blessing part…for about 6 months I have been feeling the need to increase our power production and storage…but equipment, especially lithium batteries, are pretty expensive and we didn’t have any extra money laying around. Well, last summer a local solar company owned by a friend asked if I would be willing to take on a project at his company regarding logistics and organization. I agreed and in return bartered for all the equipment I needed for the power production upgrade. Then just before Thanksgiving he asked me to handle a project for his equipment yard and off-site storage facility. I agreed and the money from that will just about cover one of two batteries I need to add to the system. So…the prompting was real!! Following promptings like that work…if they are from the right source.

In the coming weeks, maybe months, I will be concentrating on providing information on solar power systems.

Before I close this post I want to share a couple things from my heart:

» The world has turned perverted with things such as drag queens performing for young children, abortions/killings of babies, and medical professionals (i.e. doctors) performing sexual mutilations on children.

» The federal law enforcement agencies are 100% corrupted and must be stopped (within Constitutional bounds) before they begin to look entirely like 1930’s Nazi Germany, 1920’s Communist Soviet Union, or present day Communist China.

» Social media, main stream media, and big-tech companies are simply extensions of the US federal government doing their fascist and authoritarian bidding, especially spying and influencing.

» The economy, US and world, is in dire straights beyond that which any single person can completely comprehend. There are forces at work that have a single intent…elevate the rich elites to am unassailable position of control and authority while turning everyone else into nothings more than serfs…while killing off as much of the world’s population they can along the way.

» The world is full of fake, fraudulent, and counterfeit “experts” that will lead you astray in every possible aspect of life. So beware…and the only thing/person that can prevent you from being led astray is you…and that includes that still small voice that can, and will, guide you…if you allow it.

» Both political parties, virtually 100% of all politicians, virtually all government employees…are corrupt, especially as it applies to rights, liberties, and freedoms. As you look at them and their actions they are interested in only two things; 1) power, 2) money. And gaining as much of both as possible…at your expense.

» There is no violence-based answer to solving the problems in the world today…NONE! Yes, you can defend yourself and you must defend your family. But, the larger problems, the real problems, the ones that will crush humanity can only be saved through one source, through one avenue, through one process…turning to God and His son Jesus Christ…then following them the best you possibly can.

Folks…please, please prepare everything you need to be self-reliant in every aspect of your life; 1) physically, 2) mentally, 3) and spiritually. The most important being spiritual preparedness, spiritual self-reliance.

Remember what you can change, where you have influence:

  • Yourself
  • Your family
  • Your neighborhood
  • Your congregation
  • Your community

I can honestly say this…I love you guys…I really do. I would love nothing more than for all of you to come to the glamstead, with burgers on the grill and plates full of food while we enjoy each other’s company on the green lawn enjoying a fresh spring day. Maybe one day…

 

 

 

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Trump called for what??

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Well, time to be objective and honest in what we believe, in our core values…are you ready? We are talking about Trump. And yes, we are talking about his written comment on Truth Social regarding the Constitution. And yes, I am bringing it up. And of course I want to explore the concept of “principles vs politics”…if you are ready. And yes, this is over a week old issue; I’ve purposely waited on commenting/asking for 9 days to see how this played out and if there was a meaningful or substantive follow-up by Trump or his team. So first thing we have to ask ourselves what exactly did Trump write/post. You have to ignore headlines because they tend to be “click bait” regardless of the media format. And 60% of the headlines that I reviewed were wrong in what was actually said by Trump. Oddly, they were wrong slightly favoring Trump. I find that interesting. To be honest in this situation we have to go to his exact words…specifically what Trump said…not what someone else says Trump said. So here are the words that Trump wrote on December 3rd, 2022…

“So, with the revelation of MASSIVE & WIDESPREAD FRAUD & DECEPTION in working closely with Big Tech Companies, the DNC, & the Democrat Party, do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION? A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution. Our great “Founders” did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!”

This is the actual screen print for reference… The key part in question…

“…allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”

Continuing to boil this down we have to ignore everything but what he actually said…forget the controversy, real or fake, that is the context…namely a fraudulent election.

The crux of the matter is simple…Do we want someone in the political arena, and potentially a President, advocating for the termination of all of the parts of the Constitution? Yes, that is the question at hand. And yes Trump called for ALL of the Constitution. Read his words again…

“…allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”

Those are Trumps words…not any interpretation of anything…not an opinion of what he said…not anything but his exact words. So, I go back and ask again it again slightly differently…”Do we want to support, or defend, a politician that calls for the termination of the Constitution?”

Take his words as he said them…don’t try and justify, don’t try and explain, don’t try to reword, don’t try to do anything but believe what he said…it was simple, plain, direct, and exactly what he said.

For me…I support the Constitution 100% and I don’t support anyone who doesn’t support the Constitution…especially politicians.

Now, let’s add back in “context” to give this issue a fair hearing…

Trump raised the question of the legitimacy of the 2020 Presidential election…rightfully so. I am not qualified to provide a competent judiciary-based decision on the legitimacy of the 2020 Presidential election. I can provide an opinion, but it is only my opinion, nothing more. Now, I can say that factually no court found that the 2020 Presidential election was either fraudulent or illegitimate…not a single court, not anywhere. So for fact-based, evidence-based, conversation I say it is only right that we go with that.

Again, based on the above paragraph, was Trump justified in his call for termination of the Constitution? For me the answer is an easy one.

Now, let’s take another path on this discussion…let’s say that the 2020 Presidential election was fraudulent. Would Trump be justified in his call for termination of the Constitution? For me the answer again is an easy one.

For me I have to review what I hold in the highest regard…the Constitution vs do I value politics over principles.

If the 2020 Presidential election was fraudulent and had been found to be so in a court…then it is up to the court to decide what to do about it. And ultimately it would have ended up in the Supreme Court for a decision. And there is precedent for that. In December of 2000 the Supreme Court, Bush v. Gore, ruled (5-4) that Bush won the Florida election and awarded the state’s electoral votes to Bush. So there exists the ability for the US legal system to deal with Presidential election issues. The key here being…the US legal system. And since the Supreme Court was heavily slanted to Republicans in 2020 there would be little doubt as to it fairness.

So now, two years into Biden’s reign, let’s say that it is clear that the 2020 Presidential election was found to be fraudulent…what is the correct course of action? According to the Constitution there is no clear option on how to deal with it. However, there exists a clear path on how ALL legal issues are to be handled…due process through the US legal system. Hence, if Trump wants to pursue his claim through a cause of action he should take it to the courts…and then the court(s) deal with it…up to and including the US Supreme Court. Then the court(s) can make a determination on what to do about it legally.

In my opinion…the absolute wrong way to handle it is to terminate the Constitution…or even call for that to occur. That flies in the face of our Founding Fathers, it denigrates their entire effort of providing a Constitution given to us to legally guide and direct the affairs of the United States. If we would allow one President, rather former President, to somehow terminate the Constitution…then what are we left with? We are left with the same situation that the American Colonies found themselves in 250 years ago…the tyranny of a King.

For me…I will value principles over politics…I will value the Constitution over an individual’s desire or their edict. And I will not support anyone who calls for the termination of the Constitution…PERIOD!

And just a little food for thought…If the American people in general, as a whole, thought the 2020 Presidential election was fraudulent, that Biden was an illegitimate President, and they wanted to do something about it…then why did Republicans lose seats in the Senate and barely, just barely, take control of the House, and lose Governorships?

And then ask yourself…If the 2020 Presidential election was fraudulent in any significant way, then why didn’t at least one court at some level somewhere rule so…and thereby start it elevating to the Supreme Court?

FWIW…I 100% feel that the 2020 Presidential election was tampered with, interfered with, maybe worse. And how so? At the hands of the FBI and Department of Justice. If you want to place blame, if you want action taken, if you want things corrected…then look at the real perpetrators of the real problem with the 2020 Presidential election. Yes, the ones who are really destroying the Constitution and driving this country out of existence as a Constitutional Republic…they should be held accountable.

Please, please, figure out your core beliefs, what exactly your unshakable principles are…and then make the decision to stick with them no matter what.

Principles over politics.

Personal note: For those of you that want to lash out with cries of “Never Trumper”…shut up. If you want o call me a “Trump Hater”…shut up. I voted for Trump twice, albeit holding my nose. If you are wanting to deride me…try checking your attitude and looking at your values, beliefs, and principles.   
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Conversation with Ron…EXCELLENT !

Posted on by

Back on 12/6, just mere days ago, I posted something that I had been sent from someone else: ”Seems there is a little frustration…” It was a fairly interesting read but the point was that the person was very frustrated with what they were seeing in the country, who was to blame, and challenging people to post their words for more folks to see. I jumped on the bandwagon because I thought it was worth sending out for one and all to read…and forward to others.

And let me be clear…there is tremendous frustration in America today among those who love the Constitution, who love rights, freedoms and liberties…and who are sick and tired our government turning tyrannical, our politicians betraying us and the Constitution…and fed up with this dumb-ass “woke” crap like weird, creepy, and degenerate drag queens trying to pervert our children. And that frustration and anger is beginning to boil over.

In response to that post of mine Ron replied, made a comment. Now, I personally never had heard from Ron before that I remember, and I personally don’t know who Ron is. And let me tell you, he started out his comment 100% correctly and very intelligently, “I agree with everything you said…” Come on, how much better could he get!?

Well, let me just post his comment/reply here for you to read for yourself…

“I agree with everything you said and with your comment THINGS NEED TO CHANGE!

Now I have a question for you: What are YOU going to do to change things?

We know the soap box doesn’t work. We also know the ballot box doesn’t work. The final option is the cartridge box, and we know THAT isn’t going to work. That is one of the reasons (they) are doing what they are doing, to get us to START something, so they can come down on us like a ton of bricks.

I could have written this letter a long time ago, but I didn’t, because without some kind of solution, you’re just complaining. I don’t have a solution either. No, that is wrong, I do have a solution, for ME. I just keep increasing my stored food supply. I keep practicing with my ham radio. I keep working towards becoming self sufficient in power and water supply. I keep trying to get others to see what is happening and to prepare their own family for what is coming. I keep my head down and work at being that gray man.

I hope by writing your letter you got it off your chest. I hope you are preparing for the fact that things “are” going to change, but it will NOT be for the better. It is going to get MUCH worse, before is gets better. Now go back to being that gray man. Stop worrying about things you absolutely cannot change. Enjoy the good things in your life that bring you pleasure, spend time with family and make good memories with them. You CANNOT fix the world, you can only fix you. Don’t let what is going on in the world, make you depressed or bitter. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Live life……. ”

I couldn’t really find fault with anything he was saying. He was really spot on with a number of points:

  • We know the soap box doesn’t work.
  • We also know the ballot box doesn’t work.
  • The final option is the cartridge box, and we know THAT isn’t going to work.

  • That [the cartridge box] is one of the reasons (they) are doing what they are doing, to get us to START something, so they can come down on us like a ton of bricks.

Now, I honestly didn’t think Ron was directing his comment to me personally…at least I didn’t think so. But, when I feel I am challenged, especially on the website, I feel an urge to respond…if nothing else, simply for clarification. There were a few points he made that I felt maybe challenged me just a bit:

  • What are YOU going to do to change things
  • I hope by writing your letter you got it off your chest.
  • I hope you are preparing…
  • Now go back to being that gray man.
  • Stop worrying about things you absolutely cannot change.
  • Enjoy the good things in your life that bring you pleasure, spend time with family and make good memories with them.
  • You CANNOT fix the world, you can only fix you.
  • Don’t let what is going on in the world, make you depressed or bitter.

  • Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Why did I feel challenged? My immense insecurity, my extremely low self-esteem, my copious amount of anxiety, my…wait a second…

Okay, so maybe “challenged” isn’t the right word…more like threatened. Okay, not that either 😉

I just wanted to respond in case, on the outside chance, he was referring to me…but I didn’t think he actually was because anyone reading my posts/articles for any length of time would know what I am doing personally and what I advocate to do. So, I responded with this…

“Ron,
I am not sure if you are writing your reply to me or to a generic “you”…and that makes a big difference in my reply.

I will take the easy one first…the generic “you”…that is up to each individual how they deal with it and I am fine with it. Also, I don’t mind if people voice their opinion even if it is whining or just complaining. Maybe if they hear themselves enough then they might finally be motivated to do something about it.

Now, if you were referring to me personally as “you” then all you need to do is read my articles for the past 7 years that this site has been up and running. I have explained what I am doing and made suggestions to folks on what they night do as well.

And now time to disagree with you just a little due to my differing perspective…

I know the soapbox works because I get feedback from my site visitors. Some have changed a little, some dramatically. And they attribute some portion of that change to something they read on my site. So I keep on.

The ballot box does still work to a degree. The Republicans did take back the House and have promised action. Let’s give them a chance to see what they will do. Is the ballot box perfect? No. Is there corruption in the ballot box? Yes. And according to the Constitution it is the best option for change…or restoration.

And I do agree that the cartridge box will not work in the sense that the price would be terrible… and I don’t think the outcome would be like 1700’s…more like the 1800’s. And yes! They are trying to bait us.

Also, let me remind you…the first sentence of the post…”This was sent to me. I have no idea who wrote it. But it is powerful in that you can sense the frustration of this person. ”

And you are spot on…it has to start with the individual person doing the best they can, then spread that to the family…then maybe outward locally from there.

Hope this helps clear things up a bit,
AH”

Did I show restraint or what! In my old days I would have flamed Ron. But, Ron seemed like a decent guy and I liked all the time and effort he put into his post. Yup! I like to hear back from folks…makes me feel like people are reading, thinking, and willing to engage…and that is priceless! And I was hoping Ron would respond in our virtual conversation…and he did. His response…

“Sorry, AH, I didn’t make myself clear. I was NOT writing back to you.

I read your site religiously every time there is a new post comes out. First thing I read. In fact you are the one that helped me get past the feeling that things are hopeless and there is nothing we can do. You always say, or at least imply that’ “you can’t fix the world, but you can fix you”.

As far as the cartridge box is concerned, I myself know we can’t shoot our way out of this, but I do store ammunition and components to make my own, and I do believe we will need to use them in the future. As for giving the Republicans a chance, I will give them their chance, not because they will do something with it, but because that’s how things work, but they have proven over and over and over that they will do whatever the Democrats tell them to do. They cave in “every” time.

The only bright spot I could see in this past election was in Wyoming where the people threw Liz Chaney out, but when looking at the full picture, Liz Chaney was/is a sideshow. I await to see what the people of Utah do with Mitt Romney. Personally, I think they will re-elect him. If the Republicans in that state hadn’t changed their own laws so he could buy his way into that seat, I would have a little more hope for them, but the people are too in love with the “BIG NAME Mormon Republican” to see what he is doing to them. After all they kept electing Orren Hatch time after time. He was a RINO in sheepskin.

I have moved from Utah to Oregon, and Oregon has it’s own set of problems. Everyone considers Oregon to be a “liberal” stronghold, but it’s not. Portland is a liberal stronghold, and a couple of the larger cities are, but the vast majority of the rest of the state are conservative. That tells me that the people that live in Portland are stupid people. They have voted the downfall of their city into office and keep them there, and seem to like it.

My response to your post was to everyone who complains that “things are getting so bad I just want to scream”, but are doing nothing to prepare for what they know is coming. I realize that most of the posts I reply to, look like I am pointing them at you, for that I apologize. Your site is literally the only place on the internet that I visit, where my ideas will get viewed, so it is the only place that I actually reply to, and it is to try and reinforce what you teach. YOU ROCK!! Ron”

Now come on…we could sum it all up with his final comment…yup, I rock! Nicely, and accurately said Ron 🙂

Okay, seriously, did you read Ron’s reply? This man knows how to think, how to reason, and how to engage…and I love him for it! This is the kind of person we need on our side…we need to find more Ron’s and bring them into our circle of trusted friends and battle-buddies. All of his points are good and deserved to be read…but here are some of the points he made that are great…please read them and ponder:

  • you can’t fix the world, but you can fix you
  • They [Republicans] cave in every time
  • the people [in Utah] are too in love with the “BIG NAME Mormon Republican”
  • My response to your post was to everyone who complains that “things are getting so bad I just want to scream”, but are doing nothing to prepare for what they know is coming.

And he brought out something that a lot of folks might not know…all of Oregon is not flaming, out-of-control, insane liberal like Portland. Eastern Oregon is actually pretty dang conservative. Yup, working and country folk live out there in eastern Oregon, just like eastern Washington. And ironically enough…those are some of the most active areas that want to secede from their dumb-as-a-rock crazy Progressive state-mates.

It was great to hear from Ron, not just to clear up any misunderstanding, but to hear what he has to say…to get to know him a bit better. There are whole lot of “Ron’s” out there…heck, most of the people who will read this post are another “Ron”…regardless of their first name.

And let me wrap this up with a very strong suggestion…link up with “Ron’s” as soon as you can…we are all going to need folks like that. I am serious, very serious…go find them and create a bond that will help you deal with the “here & now”…but mostly…for what is coming.

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Seems there’s a little frustration…

 

 

 

 

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