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Gallery of Installation pictures => Owner Installed system pictures => Topic started by: ClassicCrazy on January 19, 2016, 01:42:00 PM

Title: 48v Calb lithium system in Wisconsin
Post by: ClassicCrazy on January 19, 2016, 01:42:00 PM
I started putting together a new system using following components
16 Calb 100AH LiFePo4 lithium cells in series for 48v
Midnite Classic 150
Whizbang and shunt
Outback 3648  inverter
Midnite Mini DC  disconnect with 175 amp inverter breaker and two 63 amp battery and PV input breakers
2/0 wire to inverter and batteries ( oversized but had that wire laying around )
6 guage wire for Classic 150  PV input and charging

So far I have the mini DC panel wired up - only to a 12v battery for now so I could update the Classic Firmware  ( the Beta windows 10 firmware update software worked perfectly ) . I have not connected up the Calb batteries but have them placed in a battery box.

I toss in a photo of a wiring tangle behind the old 24v system I am replacing. I know it is a mess but everything is fused . There are ethernet wires, TV coax cable, ham radio coax, serial comm wires for weather station and ham radio stuff, 12v power distribution, etc. Lots of projects going on there !

Larry

Title: Re: 48v Calb lithium system
Post by: Westbranch on January 19, 2016, 02:45:15 PM
Larry, if I understand you WBjr set up, are you going to use it to monitor your inverter/charger?

ps I just have an inverter and separate charger, so your wiring is foreign to me at this time..
Title: Re: 48v Calb lithium system
Post by: ClassicCrazy on January 19, 2016, 03:44:12 PM
Yes , the Whizbang monitors everything going in and out of the battery which includes the inverter. There is only one connection from one side of the shunt to the battery . The other side of the shunt is basically the DC negative post for hooking up inverter and anything else.

You could do the same to monitor your charger with the Whizbang  if you connect the negative lead up to the shunt.

That is how I have always wired up everything as shown on the Midnite schematic that comes in the Mini DC box - makes wiring up things so much simpler.
Larry
(//)
Title: Re: 48v Calb lithium system in Wisconsin
Post by: ClassicCrazy on January 19, 2016, 04:16:03 PM
Westbranch,

This is the 24v  system I put together in 2012 but it shows the completed wiring better.
Black and red wires going straight down are going to the battery .
I did get rid of those screw tight wire lugs later after I got a hydraulic compression tool.

(//)



Title: Re: 48v Calb lithium system in Wisconsin
Post by: Westbranch on January 19, 2016, 04:40:12 PM
It was the red and blue connectors that caught my eye, then I had that ah ha moment...
Title: Re: 48v Calb lithium system in Wisconsin
Post by: ClassicCrazy on January 19, 2016, 04:52:10 PM
Quote from: Westbranch on January 19, 2016, 04:40:12 PM
It was the red and blue connectors that caught my eye, then I had that ah ha moment...

Oh yeah - I had those just hanging on there to make sure I had all the correct terminals for when I wire up the rest of it. 
Title: Re: 48v Calb lithium system in Wisconsin
Post by: mahendra on January 19, 2016, 06:11:43 PM
is there a bms other than the whizbang???
Title: Re: 48v Calb lithium system in Wisconsin
Post by: ClassicCrazy on January 19, 2016, 06:42:55 PM
No , I didn't get a BMS  .  Cniemand and others kind of talked me out of it. I am going to bottom balance .

Larry
Title: Re: 48v Calb lithium system in Wisconsin
Post by: mahendra on January 19, 2016, 06:47:17 PM
ok good luck
Title: Re: 48v Calb lithium system in Wisconsin
Post by: Cniemand on January 20, 2016, 02:07:04 AM
Brings a tear to my eye to see more Calbs out there in an off-grid setting!!  :) Way to go, Larry!

Looks a lot like my own setup between the MN Disco, Classic, and the Outback inverter.
Title: Re: 48v Calb lithium system in Wisconsin
Post by: Westbranch on January 20, 2016, 11:39:21 AM
Larry, what is going on with that neg connector at the shunt?  Is that corrosion?
Title: Re: 48v Calb lithium system in Wisconsin
Post by: ClassicCrazy on January 20, 2016, 12:38:25 PM
Quote from: Westbranch on January 20, 2016, 11:39:21 AM
Larry, what is going on with that neg connector at the shunt?  Is that corrosion?

Which photo ?  My original , or the one I put of my old system ? I don't see any corrosion and there is none.
Or do you mean the photo cniemand just posted of his system ?

Larry
Title: Re: 48v Calb lithium system in Wisconsin
Post by: Cniemand on January 20, 2016, 01:38:06 PM
WB : I am not seeing corrosion on either one of our posted photos. It looks like Larry is using aluminum terminals as I have on one of my negative leads. (The others are copper.) Different colored metals. No corrosion.
Title: Re: 48v Calb lithium system in Wisconsin
Post by: ClassicCrazy on January 20, 2016, 01:42:50 PM
Quote from: Cniemand on January 20, 2016, 01:38:06 PM
WB : I am not seeing corrosion on either one of our posted photos. It looks like Larry is using aluminum terminals as I have on one of my negative leads. (The others are copper.) Different colored metals. No corrosion.

No - those aren't aluminum - they are tinned copper . Better to use tinned  than bare copper because it doesn't oxidize or corrode as easily .

Larry
Title: Re: 48v Calb lithium system in Wisconsin
Post by: Cniemand on January 20, 2016, 01:45:20 PM
I stand corrected. The terminals being used are Tinned copper. :) Still. No corrosion.
Title: Re: 48v Calb lithium system in Wisconsin
Post by: Westbranch on January 20, 2016, 07:23:24 PM
Sorry Larry,  ::),  it was Clouds photo... http://kb1uas.com/mnsforum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=2875.0;attach=4376

And it sure looks corroded to my eye, all my tinned ones are a fair bit brighter...

note the brightness of Larry's last pic...
Title: Re: 48v Calb lithium system in Wisconsin
Post by: Cniemand on January 20, 2016, 08:09:40 PM
Ha! Not corroded in my view here in person. Suppose I could take some lemon pledge and a towel to it to polish it up a bit if I wanted it shiny-shiny. ;-) All my connections are clean, tight, and simple runs.

I only have one cable like that. It was made/given by a local solar installer that I purchased a 175 amp Midnite DC disco from. The others I made with Copper terminals.