Tag Archives: How To|Tricks

Guerrilla Warfare by Gen. Grivas – How to Part #3

Posted on by

 

This is a 3-part series of articles, if you haven’t read the previous article in this series I would suggest you do. Otherwise, this article, taken out of context, may make little, if any, sense to you. And you may misunderstand the intent of the article as well. Please read the “NOTE/DISCLAIMER” at the bottom of the page for clarification on why I wrote this series of articles.

< click here to read previous article >

PUBLIC SUPPORT:
  • Prime importance.
  • An oppressive force is rarely as large as the people they are oppressing. With the support of the public you will outnumber the occupying force.
  • With public support acts of “passive resistance” can be implemented, such as boycotts of anything related to the enemy force, attending enemy force public meetings, working at enemy force facilities, etc.
  • Boycotts can also create a sense of heightened patriotism uniting the public against the enemy. Each man, woman, and child can feel they are doing something, contributing to the cause of freedom and independence.
YOUTH MOVEMENT:
  • Prime importance.
  • School age boys and girls have tremendous energy, enthusiasm, and can be totally committed to a righteous cause.
  • There is a natural tendency among people, including occupying forces, to view children as non-threatening; and to give those children a much wider berth when dealing with them.
  • Boys, young men, of the age of 16 and 17 will prove themselves equal to or superior to mature men. They also have a determination of being more loyal to a cause.
  • Youth movement groups can also provide a supply of new members to more violent groups/teams as they get older.
  • Youth can easily develop a nationalistic ecstasy, and readily defy clubs, tear gas, and even bullets.
SABOTAGE GROUPS:
  • When fully staffed number they contain a maximum of 5 – 6 members.
  • They strike at targets of opportunity or well-planned, thought out targets.
  • Sabotage groups will conduct operations in urban areas where plenty of targets exist.
  • Enemy targets can be vehicles, infrastructure, or groups of enemy forces.
  • Effectiveness can easily be 100 to 1. Meaning a single member of a sabotage group can easily neutralize 100 enemy with proper planning and execution of a mission.
  • Destroying any infrastructure of the occupying forces can be a huge blow to their ability to operate and potentially a blow against their troop morale. Example: destroy their water supply, destroy their sewage facilities, destroy their kitchens, bomb their media centers while troops are present, etc.
  • Each group should have 1 – 2 missions planned for immediate execution, but held in reserve. These can be used at a moments notice as retaliatory strikes as needed.
EXECUTION GROUPS:
  • Can be as small as 1 – 2 members, seldom more than 3 – 4 members, a maximum of 5 – 6 members.
  • Target specific individuals such as military officers and non-commissioned officers, police officers, and traitors.
  • When torture by occupying forces is discovered, give warning to the occupying force leadership that it will not be tolerated and retribution will be swift and ruthless. Make the warning public with details of the torture methods and who is doing it, by individual name if possible. It is important for the public to know this is happening. Once the warning has been issued, target those doing the torture and any leadership personnel for execution. Make the execution public and widely known.
MEDIA:
  • Easily deluded.
  • Often ‘bought off’ by occupying leadership. When not bought off, they are often then intimidated into producing positive view of occupying forces.
  • Can be used by guerrilla forces to get out accurate information and form positive opinion of guerrilla activities. But this is often at great peril to the media personnel…including death.
  • Media is always used by occupying forces for propaganda and to spread it widely.
  • Propaganda can most effectively be battled by direct communication to the public and individuals via leaflets or word of mouth.
  • Using correct and appropriate wording to describe the enemy is necessary. Occupying forces are tyrants, murderers, oppressive, thieves, rapists, evil, etc., call them that in battling propaganda.
  • Inform the media of all defeats of the enemy, especially when the death of enemy forces are still present or the destruction of enemy resources are plain to see. This will humiliate and demoralize the enemy and sway public opinion in the enemy’s home country.
  • When a guerrilla force suffers a defeat, use the opportunity to inspire and motivate the public into greater support for the guerrilla cause. Incite widespread violent and non-violent reactions against the enemy.
  • When dealing with the media always be truthful, do not exaggerate information, good or bad, when providing information. Ensure that the media, and the public, learn to trust what you say.
  • Nothing must be released to the media that even hints at weakness of guerrilla leadership or forces.
INTELLIGENCE/SECURITY:
  • Each DL should know the IC by a different code name. This will push any intercepted intelligence/correspondence to sound as if it comes from a different person. This will lead the enemy to believe that there is more than one IC and orders come from multiple sources. Example: A DL will send a message to the IC addressed to “A” and the IC will respond to the message under signature as “B”. Another DL will address the IC as “D” in messages but the IC will respond as “E” and so forth.
  • When a traitor is discovered in the courier or intelligence network they are to be executed as quickly as possible.
MISCELLANEOUS:
  • When captured members can expect to be tortured for information. Members will breakdown eventually, virtually all do. There are roughly 3 categories of ‘breakdowns’; 1) fear after mild rough handling, 2) fear after severe rough handling, 3) members who breakdown and reveal information with false information and a few, but unimportant, truths to mislead their interrogators. The first two categories are subject to execution with direct proof, but not always depending if lives were lost or not. The third group is not considered to be traitors. Great care should be taken when dealing with these situations. Occupying forces may attempt deception that a prisoner revealed information or cooperated when they actually didn’t. This ruse is used to pit guerrilla forces against one another and sway public opinion.
  • Be weary of a crease-fire. This is often used by the enemy to redeploy forces, acquire fresh supplies and forces, gain intelligence, or regain strength and morale.
  • An occupying force leadership will either believe of the people they are oppressing, or attempt to instill in them, that it is the best interest of the oppressed people to place the strategic interest of their occupying force’s country above that of their own right to freedom. This must be battled with arms and propaganda.
  • Be careful of the cunning of diplomats, they can be dangerous. Example: A release of prisoners at Christmas time to sway pubic opinion and to prompt a cease fire while they resupply or plan a large far-reaching mission. Further, one of the released prisoners could have changed sides and now be an informer.
  • Be careful and wary of locals that provide goods and services to occupying forces. These could be farmers supplying food, unions providing skilled labor, etc. These locals will form a financial dependency on, and a vested interest in, the occupying force’s success. This could lead to them providing information on guerrilla activities and personnel for self-benefit.
  • Watch for “false flag” incidents carried out by the occupying forces against the public. They will make it appear that guerrilla forces carried out the mission to sway public opinion against the guerrillas. When these occur, quickly release messages to the public who carried out the mission and why, be as specific as possible. Have several sabotage groups immediately carry out missions as quickly as possible in retribution.
  • Be cautious of enemy’s provocations. These could be used to draw out groups to action where enemy forces are waiting to capture or kill. Enemy actions against civilians should be dealt with swiftly. However, retaliatory strikes can take place in an area other than where the attack against civilians took place. Just ensure that it is well-known that the retaliation is for the original strike against civilians.
  • Be careful of such enemy tactics as “Gun Buy-Back” programs. The enemy may offer huge sums of money to buy weapons from the local population. This has multiple defeating effects; 1) locals learn they can financially gain from the enemy, 2) the enemy can learn who was resisting them to begin with, 3) locals will be more willing to cooperate with the enemy going forward. The public should be warned by the guerrilla forces that no one must participate and those that do will be seen as traitors.
Final/General notes from AH Trimble –

The Incident Command System (ICS) is an excellent model to use for every aspect of this kind of organization. There are several series’ of articles that may help you to understand more.< click here to learn more >

For any country that has a strong Constitutional Republic intact, guerrilla warfare would never be needed. The ballot box with honest and reliable representatives would be the legal and correct route to go to make improvements/changes. Fortunately the USA was designed just that way some 250 years ago.

For countries suffering under a tyrannical, oppressive, violently repressive government…well, guerrilla warfare may be the only option left to their people when all other options have been exhausted. Guerrilla warfare is a proven and effective way to overthrow oppressors and/or occupiers. Colonial Americans did it in the late 1700’s, Vietnam did it, Iraq did it, Korea did it, Afghanistan has done it a number of times to world  super-powers, Somalia did it, Cyprus has done it, along with many other countries throughout history. It can be a highly effective option of last resort.

Turning to our own Founding Fathers would give a country’s people guidance as to when guerrilla warfare may be the option of last resort. According to the Declaration of Independence…when a country’s government has become destructive, oppressive, and abusive to its people. But guerrilla warfare carried out in the name of independence and freedom should not be carried out, or even attempted, for light and transient causes; and only after every other option has been tried to correct that oppression has been attempted and warning has been given to the government in question.

I sincerely hope that you enjoyed my observations, my book report, on “The Memoirs of General Grivas” by Georgios Grivas. I would think it would provide some entertainment as well. Another good book to read, a very short but powerful book, would be “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu. < The Art of War by Sun Tzu >

< click here to read previous article in this series >

 

Articles in this Series –
Related Articles –

 

- NOTE/DISCLAIMER -
Based on this day and age, in this stupid environment, 
I want to make it absolutely crystal clear that I am in no way condoning, advocating, or promoting; 
1)any violent action, 2) violence in any form, 3) or an uprising in any country anywhere in the world.
I am simply reporting on, relating, information and observations I made when I read the book
"The Memoirs of General Grivas" by Georgios Grivas.

 

EMP, CME, & Lightening Surge Protection – Part #1

Posted on by

Time to go technical…’high-tech’ to be exact…let’s talk surge protection.

For this discussion surge protection will include the concepts of lightening strikes (LS), Coronal Mass Ejections (CME), and of course, Electromagnetic Pulses (EMP). While they do differ, they all can be a threat to electrical and electronic equipment. Additionally, I won’t go into detail on protecting small devices such as handheld radios since I have already covered that in the past. I will concentrate on covering entire systems such as home AC electrical systems and solar systems (both AC & DC sides).

As with all my articles regarding equipment/gear I define the mission, or job, that I want that equipment/gear to accomplish. For this I define it as…

“Reasonably, effectiveness & economically, protect our home’s complete electrical systems from damage due to electrical surges regardless of their origin.”

Also, when you hear me refer to a SPD, I am talking about a ‘surge protection device’.

Now that’s done let’s talk about risk management. As I have previously written extensively about risk management, it is determining the probability of an event occurring, and if it does occur, how severe will the potential damage be. Once those two criteria are properly assessed then proper mitigation measures can be identified and undertaken.

In my original article “Will we really be hit with an EMP?”, written in 2015 and updated in 2019, evaluated and stated both the probability and severity values. I originally set the probability at ‘very low’ and the severity as ‘nationally devastating’. Numerically speaking now I would go with 4 – 5 for probability (moderate) and 9 – 10 for severity (nationally devastating).

For the purposes of this article I put the CME events at a ‘moderate’ in severity and ‘low ‘in probability. And then for lightening I go with ‘serious’ in probability and ‘devastating’ in severity. And then somewhere in here I have to inject a healthy dose of reality. I don’t it is feasible at all to ‘harden’ my entire house and all associated electrical and electronic items against all possible surge events. I simply don’t have them time, the expertise, nor the money to do so. And honestly, I don’t have the desire to. I want to live in reality and not acquire a bunker and/or siege mentality out at the fringes.

So let’s talk the most likely of the surges involved with the most potential of severe damage…EMP.

EMP’s are a result of a high-altitude nuclear detonation. Modern nuclear devices that would be used in an EMP strike consist of three waves of energy pulses; E1, E2, & E3. Now, I am not going into intense details…it would make everyone’s eyes glaze over. There are plenty of articles on the subject if you want to get that far into the weeds.

EMP information, generally speaking…

  • EMP devices are generally detonated high in the atmosphere so the damage can cover large areas of earth’s surface.
  • The detonation effects spread out in all directions but the earth attracts most of the energy pulses downward.
  • The higher the detonation the lessening of the pulse energy.
  • The further away from directly underneath the detonation the lessening of the pulse energy.
  • In North America the energy pulses are drawn more to the south of the detonation point due magnetic field and orientation to the equator.
E1 Pulse –

This first pulse of energy does most of the damage in systems. It is primarily high-voltage that does the damage. This first pulse of energy travels at about 90% the speed of light (about 168,000 miles per second) and peak energy is about at the 5 nanosecond mark.

Realistic Example: You are 250 miles from a EMP blast, that means it hits you in about 0.0015 seconds (15 thousandths of a second) but traveling at 168,000 miles per second, and once it hits you, the peak energy arrives in 5 nanoseconds. So once the energy hits you, the energy goes from 0% to 100% of peak withing 5,000,000,000ths of a second. And the pulse has passed you in about 100nanoseconds. Meaning you have to protect your systems quickly, approximately within a nanosecond, and for about 20nanoseconds.

The voltage that actually reaches a maximum of about 50,000volts per square meter. Meaning, if you had a 1 meter square steel plate sitting on the ground directly beneath the detonation point the steel plate would absorb 50,000volts. If what was struck was a normal 3-wire household service cable 100’ long from the electric pole to the electrical service entrance it would absorb about the same 50,000volts. Ironically, the amperage would only be less that 50amps for that same area…but only for far less than a second.

As you can see it is the absorbed voltage that will do the damage but it occurs very, very quickly. And that is why normal residential, and even commercial, surge protectors simply won’t provide protection…they can engage/react quickly enough…about 500-1000 times too slow to react to the incoming energy surge.

E2 Pulse –

This is the next energy pulse to hit…about 1000nanoseconds after the E1 strike, and 900nanoseconds after the E1 is gone. And the reaction speed required is about a microsecond. Yeah, slowpoke!

To get a grasp of this energy pules you can think in terms of a lightening strike. And also think of it in terms of DC voltage. The power can reach 100,000 volts and 100,000amps when it hits…depending on your relative location to the detonation. And surge protection devices such as Midnite SPDs can handle this kind of strike..essentially a lightening strike.

Here’s the problem…that same SPD would get burned out by the initial energy surge…the E1…so it is no longer available to handle the E2 energy surge…and your system is pretty sure to now damaged.

E3 Pulse –

The final energy surge is just plain weird! The energy surge is produced by the earth’s magnetic field being heaved about. And that surge can last from 10 – 100’s of seconds. To get an understanding of this pulse…think DC current. Unfortunately household systems, including power stations and transmission equipment are designed to handle AC current not DC current. That gets you a whole lot of burned out equipment.

Once again E1 pulses normally burnout SPDs that could have handled this E3 power surge.

Pulses Summary –

Whew! I am glad that is over. But the summary is pretty simple, 3 different pulses of energy, all 3 can destroy equipment, and the first pulse is the worst and generally destroys any device (SPD) that could prevent damage from the 2nd and 3rd pulses. And yes, generally speaking almost all SPDs in use today can’t handle the E1 pulse. So you’re screwed right? Ah, no.

Remember, most common SPDs can’t protect against an E1 pulse…they burnout with all your other electrical/electronic gear. But, most common SPDs are fairly inexpensive…about $125 – $150 range for Midnite SPDs. The commercial grade SPDs can hit $300, but they still are too slow to protect against the E1 pulse.

That means something rather simple…You gotta find E1 protection if you are going to be worried about EMP protection. If you are going for less protection against energy pulses, such as lightening protection, then a Midnite Solar SPD or the more expensive Siemens FS140 are great options.

Next comes what I do!

NOTE: In Part #2 I will give links to various products that I personally use and believe in. And if you purchase a product through one of those links I will make a bit of money…from 2% – 15%. The money I make from any of those purchases will go towards a new battery for my solar system. And I can offer a $50 off coupon for the #1 EMP surge protection device!!!

< click here to read Part #2 >

Related Articles –

 

 

 

Great Solar Upgrade – Day #7 – IT WORKS ! !

Posted on by

Day #7 come and gone!

Started working this morning about 7am trying to figure out why I couldn’t get the Victron Quattro inverters programed correctly. On Saturday I did get the system up and running…but only using one inverter and only in single phase 120vAC. The problem was the programing. Yeah, the inverters have a computer inside of them…doesn’t everything nowadays!

So I could program each inverter individually with one software application. But I couldn’t get them programmed to work together because each inverter needed their firmware updated. And that took another application to accomplish. And that firmware update had a problem…my network cable. But a tender mercy helped me figure that out. Now all is good…the system is up and running!!

Here is a bit of a recap…

I started with version 3 of my off-grid system: 404ah LifePO Elite batteries, 1xVictron 150/70 MPPT, 1x Victron 48v/5kw/120v Quattro and kindof a mess that had been pieced together from versions 1 & 2)

I ended up with 634ah LifePO4 batteries (2xElites, 1xTrophy), 2xVictron 150/70 MPPTs, 2xVictron 48v/5kw/120 Quattros in split phase configuration. Much less of a mess and that should be cleaned up by the end of the week once I get the the wire ducts in.

In the build I used a Victron Lynx PowerIn as a busbar, added a Class-T fuse, then combined a Victron Lynx shut and another Victron Lynx PowerIn as a fused distributor. I even built 2 of my own busbars vs 4/0 cable connection. All of that made things much cleaned, much more organized and a lot more safe. Upgraded all my wiring and cabling. Added better circuit breakers, got rid of a weak fuse set-up, and balanced my 3 arrays between the 2 MPPTs.

The downside does exist:

  • While Victron equipment is Tier 1 gear, it can be complicated to work with. The MPPTs are Smart Networked which is nice, but they had to be programed individually via Bluetooth.
  • The Victron Quattro inverters are really great, very high quality, they were a pain to configure correctly. Eventually the process was: 1) upgrade the firmware on both units, 2) configure each inverter for its function, 3) then configure them together to work in split phase. Each step was a different computer program. That is a huge downside to otherwise great gear. Victron needs to get it together and have a single computer program that can do all the functions from that one program.
  • I am not 100% confident that the Lynx Shunt, inverters, and CCGX are working together correctly to give me an accurate SOC. I might have add back in my BMV 712 to accurately monitor the battery bank.
  • I am not sure how long it will take my batteries to balance with the addition of the 3rd battery. I am thinking at least a couple of weeks, maybe a month or two.

The upside:

  • I now have 240vAC vs 120vAC available to me.
  • I now have 10kw vs 5kw available to me.
  • I now have 57% more battery capacity available to me.
  • I now have more efficient PV charging for the system.
  • And it all works!!!!!!

Yeah, I know…I sound silly…but this has been 6 months in the planning stage and 8 days work in the shed…including 6 days running on generator. I am just thrilled!!

Once I get the wiring cleaned up I will post pictures.

 

Related Articles –

 

Great Solar Upgrade – Day #9

Posted on by

Day #9 come and gone!

Oh Boy! What a day #9 was…bitter/sweet.

I started in Saturday morning wanting to jump on first the circuit breaker upgrade that I talked about in my Day #8 post. I am using a 2-pole 50amp breaker for the inverter input side, and a 2-pole 35amp breaker for the generator (genset) input side. Why only 35amp for the genset?

I have a Champion 4kw/120vAC inverter generator that just is amazing! It is super dependable, relatively quiet, and fuel efficient. So that is my “go-to” alternative power source should our solar system go down. Just FYI…I’ve only had my system go down when I’ve shut it down, like the 6-days I shut it down to upgrade it. And I’ve used it twice to charge my battery bank after multiple days of clouds that prevented sufficient charging.

Now, the genset is 4kw, which is 33.3amps of 120vAC power. Generally speaking that is sufficient to run the house under normal conditions. But, that is running the genset at 100% of capacity and burning the maximum fuel. To keep the genset in the best running condition for the long-term and conserve fuel usage I have my inverter/charger set to only draw 20amps from the genset. That is 60% of its power generating capacity…keeping the wear & tear down and conserving fuel. At 60% is burns about 4 – 5 gals of fuel per day.

Back to the electrical numbers…So I am not going to draw more than 20amps…for now. But, to allow for expansion/upgrade in the genset I used 8AWG wire in the inlet that the genset plugs into that goes tot he inverter. The inverter can produce as much as 42amps, so 8AWG is plenty sufficient and I use a 50amp circuit breaker to protect the wiring. And yes, the 8AWG can handle 50 – 55amps of current.

The genset as I explained can produce as much as 33amps but I have it limited to 20amps. I wired the inlet for the genset with 10AWG which can handle 35 – 40amps. But, I wired the genset inlet for 240vAC input. So when the day comes when I can buy a 240v generator the inlet will be ready to convert. Yeah, that means it has a 120v inlet right now, but the L2 wire is sitting there waiting to be hooked up.

Why is all of that important? 10AWG wire can handle 35 – 40amps, but let’s be clear…I would only run 30amps maximum through 10AWG wire. But, at 240vAC that is 30amps on both L1 & L2 for a total of 60amps! Meaning I could use a 7200watt 240vAC genset…but that would be at 100%. In reality, I would probably buy a 12kW 240vAC generator and stick with my 60% rule. So all of that means…the transfer switch genset input circuit breaker is a 2-pole 30amp breaker.

That closes the book on the transfer switch upgrade. Next came some AC re-wiring.

I have a 30amp 120vAC outlet outside of the utility room where all of this solar gear is installed. I use if for heavy load needs around the outside of the house or charging my tractor battery if/when it dies. I re-ran the wire for it and got it back into the main breaker panel. Then I rerouted the power/switch/outlet for the utility room light. Good day’s work so far…then I pushed it.

I had a little more time left, not much but some, and I wanted to get more wiring in the wire ducts. About 20 minutes into that I accidentally bumped into a circuit breaker…and it flipped off. Oh boy! The alarms started going off.

See the problem is..it was the circuit breaker that is between the power busbar and one of the MPPT charge controllers. And the problem with that…YOU DON’T EVER TURN OFF THE BATTERY POWER TO AN MPPT UNTIL YOU TURN OFF THE ARRAY POWER FIRST!

Why? Because you can ruin the charge controller and burn it out or over charge the batteries and burn them out. Thankfully I am using Victron equipment and they have a built in preventative relay that shuts down the MPPT quickly to prevent damage to either…usually.

I will shorten this down…2 hours of intense troubleshooting and research later my MPPT charge controller was back up and running…luckily. And I mean that…luck and great quality Victron equipment kept me from having a $500+ mistake/accident on my hands.

Being the risk mitigation guy that I am I was determined to prevent that from happening again. PROBLEM!

I knew I needed to cover the circuit breakers to prevent accidental bumps that would trip the breakers. But, there were no reasonably priced panels for the panel-mount breakers that I am using for that operation. After about 1.5 hours of research I found a solution that will work…a pair of paralleled 40amp 150vDC DIN mount breakers that I will mount in my Midnite Solar combiner box that I had pulled out of the upgrade design at the last minute. Those breakers will be in later this week…and get installed ASAP into the new box that will cover them and hopefully help prevent accidents/mistakes in the future.

So, if you have been following these system upgrade posts…this is the 2nd revision to the upgrade…in 2 weeks since I started.

Oh wait…I also noticed that I installed the Victron Lynx Shunt in reverse. And that explained why I was showing my batteries discharging when I was generating plenty of PV power. So now…I will have to figure out the right way to handle that.

So what the heck is my bottom line…when you go off-grid solar you are your own power company and you better have some skills…or you will have problems.

At the start of Day #9 –

At the end of Day #9 –

Here is the problem with the circuit breaker and MPPT charge controller…

Related Articles –

 

Great Solar Upgrade – Day #2

Posted on by

Day #2 come and gone!

Day #1 was without incident, problem, or even a hiccup…for which I am grateful. Day #2…not so much…but not bad at all.

First off let me explain that I had the project broken down into phases.

Phase #1 – Preparation: Getting all my parts and equipment purchased, on-site, any pre-work completed on them, get generator ready, gasoline purchased, and tools either purchased or centralized.

Phase #2 – Deconstruction: Remove all the old system components, organize, confirm that they are still serviceable, and replace/repair as needed.

Phase #3 – AC Re-Do: Replace the AC main disconnect fuses with circuit breaker, combine/join AC main panel, AC main disconnect, transfer switch into a single unit, rewire the generator to transfer switch wiring for later addition of a 240vAC inlet, and hook-up temporary fix to run generator.

Phase #4 – Construction: Add Hardee Cement Board to walls.

Phase #5 – Build Out DC: Literally rebuild the entire DC side of the system, including all the new gear.

Phase #6 – Configure: Charge up the new battery to same voltage as the existing two batteries. Using Victron software to configure and fine-tune the system.

Phase #7 – PVs (solar panels): Add another string (245w X 3S) to Array #2 and #3 and replace 8 x 100w PVs on Array #1 with 6 x 245w PVs (3S2P).

Phase #8 – Take a freaking week off and do nothing but enjoy the new system!

Phases #1 – #4 are complete, phase #5 is well underway. I did hit a snag and had to rebuild and relocate the AC main panel, AC main disconnect, and the transfer switch. That added an extra 2 hours to the process…rebuilding what had already been done. But, I had to move it to clean-up the layout and give proper access to the transfer panel and ensure the right clearance around Inverter #1. Other than that, the 13-hour day #2 went well.

I gotta post this, eat some breakfast, and get back after it 🙂

At the beginning of Day #2 –

At the end of Day #2 –

Related Articles –

Great Solar Upgrade – Day #3

Posted on by

Day #3 come and gone!

Okay, it’s getting old. Yup, working 12 hour days is getting to me and I am ready for quiet. Yes, the generator has been a blessing, without we would have no power…but it is noisy and I worry during the night that it will run out of gas or just stop. But, it doesn’t…it is a hardy generator.

Day #3 was essentially without any problems or really any big issues at all. Just tedious running of wire…after measuring, cutting, stripping, crimping, and installing.

I have held off installing the wire duct (a.k.a. wire raceway) until the end. I wasn’t 100% sure of all of my wire run placement so I didn’t want to “redo” that. Also, if I have to do troubleshooting it is easier without all the wires hidden in the ducting.

So check out the “after” picture…a wire mess. But, it should should much neater when I am all done…you will just have to wait and see for that. So be patient 🙂

And FYI…I have been watching the Credit Suisse bank issues. They got a big bailout from the Swiss central bank. Some folks think that is great…I find it troubling.

In the solar shed today I finished up the AC side, wired up all of the arrays through the combiner box into the charge controllers. The hooked in the charge controllers through the circuit breaker disconnect box to the Victron Lynx PowerIn that I have converted into a fused distributor. And finally, started building my 2/0 cables for the Victron Lynx PowerIn to Inverter #1. Along the way I also added some ground wire as well; I am using 8AWG ground wire just to be on the say side.

Yes, my AC wiring from the inverters into the transfer switch is in flex-conduit.

Did you notice the 2 heavy wires that looks like black & red spiral? Yup, didn’t have black wire, just red. When it came time to run black wire…rather than run out and buy more expensive wire…just used the wire I had on hand and with black electrical tape identified it as the negative (black) side of the circuit.

At the beginning of Day #3 –

At the end of Day #3 –

 

Related Articles –

 

Great Solar Upgrade – Day #4

Posted on by

Day #4 come and gone!

OK, yesterday I was whining about it getting old, me being ready to move on…and especially getting rid of the generator sound.

Well, it is the morning of Day #5 and the generator is still running and yesterday wasn’t another 12-hour day…was a 13-hour day! The good news is…I actually slept almost 7 hours last night. Oh, and do you have any idea how heavy 205ag LifePO4 batteries are!!!!

So how did it go yesterday? Oh man, it sucked!! The project ground to a snail’s pace.

I did get my inverters wired in early and without a problem. Then I added the Victron Lynx Shunt to the Lynx PowerIn that I had converted into a Distributor. That was very easy other than having to move the combined unit down about 4 inches to allow for more wire duct space.

Then came the 2nd Victron Lynx PowerIn that I am using as a busbar. But, between that unit and the Lynx Shunt that it gets added to I installed a Class-T fuse for high over-current protection. And I loved how that turn out…tight! And I built my first “bar-style” connection vs using 4/0 cable with terminals…loved it!

Then everything came to a complete stop. I moved 2 of the 3 batteries into position and was working at the placement of a circuit breaker box…and found out I had bought the wrong breakers. The breakers in my hand were polarity sensitive…not suitable for use as I had intended. How in the world did I make that mistake?????

I went back to the website where I purchased them, the product description clearly stated they were not polarity sensitive. Multiple phone calls later…and 1-1/2 hours of delay…I can’t used the breakers. Then a trip to town to visit with the solar shop I do contract work occasionally…1/2 hour later…not viable/affordable option on the shelf. So back to my place with “Plan B” 🙂

Well, I started making the cables for the 2 older batteries…yeah, the cable lugs I was going to use ended up being to wide for the battery terminals. My 2/0 cable between the batteries and the PowerIn busbar ain’t going to work. But, parallel 2AWG cables from the battery to a battery switch, then 2/0 cable to the PowerIn busbar will work.

Spent a couple hours figuring it out and building 4 sets of cables…exhausted, dinner waiting for me. A great supper by my loving great wife!

Did I mention that my two LifePO4 batteries are heavy? Yeah, 209.5 pounds each. They were a pain to get into place. Not to worry…only 1 to move today. But, I should have the system up and running today…maybe by noon.

At the beginning of Day #4 –

At the end of Day #4 –

Related Articles –

 

Great Solar Upgrade – Day #5

Posted on by

Day #5 come and gone!

One of those days!

So I slept in a little and got a late start…6am building cables. About 2 hours later I realized that I no longer had the right terminal lugs since I had to go to Plan B yesterday. Or was it Plan C? In any event I didn’t have the right number or size of lugs. I swore I had more lugs…but couldn’t find them if I did.

So off to town…first stop Ace Hardware then the local solar shop whose owner is a dear friend of mine. Lugs purchased, but wrong size hole…no problem, a drill would solve that. I was almost home, after 1-1/2 hours, and I got this call from my neighbor…he stuck his truck and needed help. Well, you can’t turn down a neighbor in that kind of need…can you?

He had been out looking for his lost dog, was coming out of a big sandy wash and slipped into a “rut” and couldn’t get out even with a big ‘ole 4×4 GMC with 20” tires. Well, as I came rolling up on him…let’s say it was more like a canyon he had dropped the entire left side of his truck into. He was sitting on the frame, dented fuel tank, buried “pumpkin” and the front end was buried as well. He needed a professional recovery vehicle…but no money to pay for one.

Three hours later with a front loader 60hp Kubota tractor, 2 shovels, and a pick we had him hooked to the Kubota ready to pull out. It work smooth as silk…my wildland firefighting and off-road 4×4 days paid off.

As we were ready to take off he got a call…someone might have spotted his lost dog. So my wife, my neighbor, and myself all headed the 4 miles to look for the lost dog. No luck, it wasn’t him…after an hour looking.

Back home, late lunch, back to work…at 3pm…worked will 7pm. Last of the cables built, battery switches mounted…but none of them hooked up, I was just too tired and didn’t want to make mistakes. I will do it all in the morning. But I had to take pictures first for this post and later articles.

Oh, and guess what? I found the missing terminal lugs. So out of a 13-hours work day…6 hours of actual work. Way behind…and a most frustrating day! But maybe Day #6 will be the day it all comes together!

At the beginning of Day #5 –

At the end of Day #5 –

Related Articles –

 

Victron Lynx PowerIn – Class T Fuse & Battery Switch

Posted on by

In a recently installed solar system I use a Class T fuse between the Trophy battery bank and the inverter. A Class T fuse is a fast-acting, high amp rated capable fuse.

I installed a 300amp fuse based on the anticipated current draw for size inverter that the system has (6kw, 50aAC, 150aDC max). The fuse is placed directly after the Victron PowerIn that is the busbar for 3 x 105ah LifePO4 batteries connected in parallel. The Class T fuse can handle a 20,000aDC inflow without failing. Do not confuse this with the 300a interrupt rating of the fuse. The 20,000aDC inflow rating means that the fuse will maintain its integrity even at 20,000aDC. You can’t get that with a fuse such as an ANL and most DC circuit breakers.

I did not use a ‘lug’ style connection point with the PowerIn because cost was a factor, the Class T fuse holder is a mechanical version…a used one I had access to. Meaning, the insulation stripped cable goes to the fuse holder is placed into a mechanical lug which is tightened down. I did however use a feral to keep the cable end from deforming and losing connection integrity.

But, this installation presented a bit of a problem…an exposed PowerIn connection point with exposed lug. No way you want an exposed high current connection point such as this. Just think about a young child, or yourself, touching the exposed lug and completing a circuit! Or dropping a tool that makes contact with both points. Yuck!

Fortunately there is an easy fix to this situation…wire trays, wire raceways, wire ducts, etc.; they go by a number of different names. But they are simple is concept…plastic constructed boxes to protect wires.

In the picture below I simply cut a very short piece of wire duct to fit between the PowerIn and the Class T fuse holder. With the wire duct cover in place a person, or tool, can’t come into contact with the exposed end of the busbar or the wire lug.

The Class T fuse hold comes with a protective cover preventing contact with the fuse, its connection points, etc.

And, if you looked at the picture close enough…you see an exposed lug going into the battery switch. Once the switch is permanently mounted I will cut another piece of wire duct to cover it as well.

Speaking of the battery switch…why do I have one?

Yes, each battery has a circuit breaker…I know that. And each circuit breaker is designed to cut off the flow of power from the battery…I know that too. But, me personally, I like to be able to completely and assuredly disconnect any power flowing between the inverter and the battery bank. And yes, that battery switch is not only rated for the current that will be flowing…it is ‘marine grade’ which is a full step up from normal and common battery switches.

Related Articles –

Donate-3

 

Third Battery Arrived – Trophy 220E-1

Posted on by

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!

Related Articles –

 

Donate-3