Hey everyone,
I have x4 12v 100w Monos in Parallel wired into my KID for Solar
Then I also have a Classic 150 inside a Pre-Wired VRD (Voltage reduction) Unit with a 3-phase 12v (AC Wild) 9-Blade 1600watt Freedom PMG Turbine wired in through Rectifiers (Aux 1) etc. (Don't ask- it was gifted to me from Missouri W&S due to a Mistake they made on my previous setup).
They told me I could wire them BOTH directly to my 12 volt Battery bank (x2 12v Battleborn LiFeP04 100ah Batteries in Parallel / 200ah Total) without any additional hardware, just as long as their "Settings" were the same.
Impossible? I say yes. But am looking for as many "disagree-ers" as possible.
I feel like I need a Shunt, at least. (I did order a couple Wiz Bangs).
But feel like there are too many Negatives on my battery.
ALSO- if anyone knows of a way these 2 machines can communicate to each other, or together via LAN, USB via MyMidNite App.
Your input is Much appreciated.
Thanks!
-JDub
The Classic and Kid won't be able to communicate with each other.
You would have to have two Classics or I think two Kids ( not 100% sure on the Kids ) but Classics would be better option to do Follow Me mode . And also Classic can report to My Midnite and other monitoring options ( see open source section of forums here ) . The Kid can't easily be monitored by software and has limited data info output.
Lot of good info here
http://www.midniteftp.com/support/kb/index.php
Not sure what you mean by too many negatives - keep in mind that the Classic can have it's negatives combined ( like from PV and Battery ) but the Kid the negatives must be separate ( PV and Battery not together )
When you get your wiring done you only want to have one negative going from your battery to one side of the shunt - all the other negatives will be on the other side of the shunt. Not sure how you do that with two shunts and two Whizbangs - I would have to think about that wiring. Not sure if Classic and Kid could share the same Whizbang ? That would be a question for Midnite techs. Somehow I think no .
Larry
A 1600 watt windmill is a problem for the Kid. The Kid can do 30 amps. There are times when 1600 watts would be over the 30 amp limit.
The Kids can talk using the "follow me," but only with each other. I do not know of a way for the Kid to talk to any other controllers.
It seems like the easiest way would be to use two classics, for now. Barcelona is coming in the future and it will be able to utilize two independent inputs. I do not know how it will do with clippers, but I am sure MNS has that worked out.
If you are going to "just connect them up to the batteries," The controllers are going to "see" the other controller's output as battery voltage and become confused as I understand it, giving you substantially less energy from your sources as the controllers switch to the wrong settings or mode.
I could be wrong, so I hope an expert shows up and lets us all know!
Quote from: ClassicCrazy on January 22, 2021, 10:13:55 PM
The Classic and Kid won't be able to communicate with each other.
You would have to have two Classics or I think two Kids ( not 100% sure on the Kids ) but Classics would be better option to do Follow Me mode . And also Classic can report to My Midnite and other monitoring options ( see open source section of forums here ) . The Kid can't easily be monitored by software and has limited data info output.
Lot of good info here
http://www.midniteftp.com/support/kb/index.php
Not sure what you mean by too many negatives - keep in mind that the Classic can have it's negatives combined ( like from PV and Battery ) but the Kid the negatives must be separate ( PV and Battery not together )
When you get your wiring done you only want to have one negative going from your battery to one side of the shunt - all the other negatives will be on the other side of the shunt. Not sure how you do that with two shunts and two Whizbangs - I would have to think about that wiring. Not sure if Classic and Kid could share the same Whizbang ? That would be a question for Midnite techs. Somehow I think no .
Larry
Thanks Larry for your input.
I guess what I meant by
"too many Negatives" was exactly what you were explaining in regards to
"only having ONE Negative going from my battery to one side of the shunt - all the other negatives on the other side"Because at this moment, I don't have a Shunt (except for each Controller's internal Shunt).
I just have Battery Pos + and Neg - going to EACH Controller - and I read somewhere in the Classic's Manual, that I don't need to wire a Negative to it from my Battery, just as long as I ground Battery Negative somewhere in the wiring scheme.
The KID and the Classic are NOT wired together in any way, except through the Batteries. And I don't have a Battery Shunt. This is where I felt I had
"too many Negatives".
So you answered that part of my question, so
thank you. But yeah, I ordered 2 Wiz Bangs because, I too, am not sure if the KID and Classic can "Bang" Each other. LOL (share one)
Quote from: Highflyer on January 23, 2021, 12:50:03 AM
A 1600 watt windmill is a problem for the Kid. The Kid can do 30 amps. There are times when 1600 watts would be over the 30 amp limit.
The Kids can talk using the "follow me," but only with each other. I do not know of a way for the Kid to talk to any other controllers.
It seems like the easiest way would be to use two classics, for now. Barcelona is coming in the future and it will be able to utilize two independent inputs. I do not know how it will do with clippers, but I am sure MNS has that worked out.
If you are going to "just connect them up to the batteries," The controllers are going to "see" the other controller's output as battery voltage and become confused as I understand it, giving you substantially less energy from your sources as the controllers switch to the wrong settings or mode.
I could be wrong, so I hope an expert shows up and lets us all know!
Thanks
Highflyer for your reply.
I only have
FOUR 100 watt 12 Volt Solar Panels wired into the KID (parallel).
Then, separately,
I have a
"1600 Watt Turbine" going through a VRD (Voltage reducer) which is wired into a Classic 150 using Aux 1. The whole thing (excluding the KID) comes pre-wired from
Missouri Wind & Solar: https://mwands.com/midnite-classic-mppt-wind-turbine-charge-controller-board (https://mwands.com/midnite-classic-mppt-wind-turbine-charge-controller-board)
Both the KID and the Classic
are wired directly into my 12v Battery Bank. So the last part of your reply, is right on. That's what I'm having a hard time with.
I'd like to thank you (and
'ClassicCrazy' aka:
Larry) for the clarification as to whether or not I can hook a KID and a Classic together for Communication's Sake. That's what I figured, but it's worth a try ;D.
Very helpful.
Appreciated.
When you get your shunts you will have a couple options of how to wire them.
If you want your Classic to see both the output of the Classic and also of the Kid , then you will wire battery negative to one side of shunt, then wire all other negatives to the other side of the shunt( on that side not exactly on the shunt ) . One of those negatives will go to the second shunt and on the other side will be the battery negative output from the Kid. So whatever you see in Classic as System amps ( on charging ) you would have to subtract what the Kid is putting out.
If you want to see both Kid and Classic outputs separate - you would have two negative wires coming from the battery - one going to Classic shunt and the other going to the Kid shunt .
I think the first option is better since you can monitor the Classic with various programs - windows , android, Pi , etc and could tell what output is from both controllers .
Larry
Quote from: ClassicCrazy on January 23, 2021, 03:59:15 PM
When you get your shunts you will have a couple options of how to wire them.
If you want your Classic to see both the output of the Classic and also of the Kid , then you will wire battery negative to one side of shunt, then wire all other negatives to the other side of the shunt( on that side not exactly on the shunt ) . One of those negatives will go to the second shunt and on the other side will be the battery negative output from the Kid. So whatever you see in Classic as System amps ( on charging ) you would have to subtract what the Kid is putting out.
If you want to see both Kid and Classic outputs separate - you would have two negative wires coming from the battery - one going to Classic shunt and the other going to the Kid shunt .
I think the first option is better since you can monitor the Classic with various programs - windows , android, Pi , etc and could tell what output is from both controllers .
Larry
Thanks Larry! Duly noted.
That makes sense. I will give that a try and update my findings here.
I specifically have a Pre-Wired VRD (Voltage reduction) Unit with a 3-phase 12v (AC Wild) 9-Blade 1600watt Freedom PMG Turbine wired in through Rectifiers via Aux 1
-jdub