The BRAT...????

[Westbranch]

Looks GREAT...  Now where is the info to be found on the MN site??? Search comes up empty

[TomW]

Looks GREAT...  Now where is the info to be found on the MN site??? Search comes up empty

Not the Midnite site but a pdf on it is over here:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/ecodirect_docs/MIDNITE/Midnite-Brat.pdf

There was a post with a link to the site I got this link from but I can't remember what it was.

Tom

[Westbranch]

HI Tom, ya, looks like they have it squirrelled away...??

Hmm Google is your friend... got it.

www.midnitesolar.com/pdfs/spec_sheet_brat_frontBack.pdf‎

I am thinking that it is the MN search function, it does NOT seem to pick up BRAT as a product if the name is for a PDF.

[dgd]

I noticed from the BRAT spec that input voltage up to 60v and nominal battery voltage 12v and 24v.
Since this is not an mppt controller that would be a lot of power being disposed of if there was that sort of voltage at a few amps.
No heatsinks or fans to assist?  Or is that 60v a special case?

dgd

[Westbranch]

A Hyper V number?  60v - 24v  = 36V (or ~ what you  need for a 24v battery)

[Robin]

I am impressed that Eco Direct took our preliminary spec sheet for the Brat and put it on their website. No harm done since Morningstar was one of the first competitors to pick up the brochure last year in San Francisco. We expect the retail price to be $110 to $119. Since Brad isn't yet done it is hard to say. I am planning on starting a new version of the plastic case today. I think it would be nice if you could nail this Brat to a tree and then flip the main part of it down on a hinge. The way it is now, you would have to unbolt it from the tree and then also remove 4 screws. I think that can be improved? The wiring is similar to the KID in that the terminal block is on the back. IT just works out that way to make all the features and price work. It isn't the most convenient I realize, but you hopefully only wire it once. We are planning on having a rubber gasket seal around all the wire entry holes to keep bugs out. There will be one switch accessible out the bottom. Don't know what it does though?
We think the Brat will be a widely used PWM controller. I don't think you can take a competitors unit and just nail it to a tree and expect it to survive. dgd, we want you to put a few of these on trees in Barbados! That is a pretty severe climate.
By the way, there is no heatsink because we are using extremely good transistors. The best available on the market. There are two thoughts on heat dissipation. 1. put a big heatsink on the parts or 2. use good enough parts such that they just don't get hot in the first place. The Brat has 6 really good transistors and no heatsink. The KID has 7 really good transistors with a very good sized heatsink, but no fan. The Classic has 8 really good transistors with a medium sized heatsink and three fans. The Big KID will have a ton of transistors, big heatsink and no fan. I think the KID is the best compromise for power. The Brat doesn't need a heatsink because it is switching at a very low frequency. Once you go to MPPT, you can no longer switch slow and therefore more heat is generated.
Make sense?
Robin

[Westbranch]

Robin, I see the EQ is Automatic every 28 days @ 15 / 30V. 

Can this be turned OFF?

[dapdan]

Robin,

Is dgd from Barbados or New Zealand? I am from Barbados and if you send me a couple i have a large tree that I can nail it up on  .

Cheers...
Damani

[dgd]

Robin,

Is dgd from Barbados or New Zealand? I am from Barbados and if you send me a couple i have a large tree that I can nail it up on  .

Cheers...
Damani

I think he was referring to you as it don't get near as hot here in NZ and the pernicious greenies here would have a fit if they saw a BRAT being nailed to a tree.
dgd

[DMJ72]

With the Kid and the Brat, I can bet there are some folks at Morningstar that are on Prilosec OTC right now ... lol 

[TomW]

With the Kid and the Brat, I can bet there are some folks at Morningstar that are on Prilosec OTC right now ... lol 

And / or Wild Turkey.

[laszlo]

TomW - at 8am in the morning with no caffeine in the system, your comment is just  hilarious! =)

[pechan]

Any updates on the Brat?

[Robin]

We are expecting our next and hopefully final PCB's any day now. I don't know how many were ordered? I am planning on reworking the plastic case design tomorrow. Rapid prototype clear plastic cases have proven to be invaluable, The first two versions looked cool, but they didn't work very well. I am hoping to have the next version in hand by the time we get the next boards stuffed in a couple of weeks. We will be getting only one or two sets of prototype enclosures though as they cost over $1000 each.
If we get it right this time (third time is a charm), we will send the files off to have the production tooling made. This means we may be able to have real prototypes in about 60 to 70 days. We will have another beta system here for all that want to test the Brat out.
The Brat does not have any heat sink because we use very good transistors. You can design power electronics a couple of ways.
1. Use crummy parts that are inefficient and require a heatsink or
2. Use really good parts that are much more efficient and do not get hot.
We chose number 2.
The 60V limit is actually 75 volts for the first 8000 Brats. We may keep it at that voltage? We do not expect anyone to run the PV array that high as it would be a bad design for a PWM controller. It does provide a fair amount of headroom though for those who plan on using this on Venus and Mars where it gets really cold in the morning.

[cpm]

News?