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Diversion heater load

Started by Yvon, September 08, 2022, 01:57:02 AM

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Yvon

Does the midnite kid require a relay or ssr switch for a diversion load? My understanding is that it’s built in? And is there a wiring diagram somewhere? I can’t seem to find one. A little background. I’m located in eastern Canada, where it gets pretty cold in the winter. I have solar and wind power in a cottage in the mountains. I want to put a DC heater in my shed where the batteries are to keep them warm in the winter. Hence the diversion load.

boB


The Kid has a 30 amp maximum DC load circuit that is supplied from battery positive (fuse on front) and the negative side is switched inside the Kid.

So, as long as your heater does not need more than 30 amps DC at battery voltage, that should work.

Then there is an auxiliary output terminal that is somewhat programmable but THAT output would require an SSR to operate your heater.

Others may also chime in here but that is the basics as far as I know.

boB
K7IQ 🌛  He/She/Me

Yvon

I am sorry but I’m somewhat of a neophyte at this. Could you please advise me as to where the wiring goes from the heater, i.e. to the battery, or inside the controller itself to the aux connections? And then the settings under diversion as to when you wanted to divert such as 15 V begin dumping and then quit at 14 V I guess? Thanks in advance.

ClassicCrazy

Quote from: Yvon on September 08, 2022, 05:59:44 PM
I am sorry but I’m somewhat of a neophyte at this. Could you please advise me as to where the wiring goes from the heater, i.e. to the battery, or inside the controller itself to the aux connections? And then the settings under diversion as to when you wanted to divert such as 15 V begin dumping and then quit at 14 V I guess? Thanks in advance.

You would wire the aux contacts to a SSR that is rated for the voltage and amperage of your load.
So 12v signal from your aux contact goes to coil of SSR - usually labeled 3 to 32v. The top contacts of the SSR would be where you would wire the load using that as a switch - so just one wire to you load gets broken by that.
You need to get an SSR rated for DC loads .
You would have a 12v heating element in your water heater. When the aux turns on , it switches that load on.
I forget all the settings for the Kid Aux terminals but you would have to select that setting that makes best sense.
In reality the amount of power you might get into the water heater might not really be worth the trouble unless you really have a lot of wind.
The heating elements available  might not accept very much power at 12v .
My water heater that I run on direct DC takes 3 kw to heat up the water in the summer . About the same in the winter but only heating about one third the amount of water .
I have a couple videos on my youtube channel where I tried to explain how I heat water with dc or ac via aux connectors. You wouldn't need the igbt that I talked about - a relay would work most likely for lower voltage. Anyway you may get some ideas from the video  I hope !
https://youtu.be/s7trVpHLts4
Larry
system 1
Classic 150 , 5s3p  Kyocera 135watt , 12s Soneil 2v 540amp lead crystal for 24v pack , Outback 3524 inverter
system 2
 5s 135w Kyocero , 3s3p 270w Kyocera  to Classic 150 ,   8s Kyocera 225w to Hawkes Bay Jakiper 48v 15kwh LiFePO4 , Outback VFX 3648 inverter
system 3
KID / Brat portable

Yvon

Thanks! It’s quite windy during the winter months where I live. We average close to 20 mph. So I’m hoping my turbine will produce lots of power.

ClassicCrazy

great - nice to have extra power !
Larry
system 1
Classic 150 , 5s3p  Kyocera 135watt , 12s Soneil 2v 540amp lead crystal for 24v pack , Outback 3524 inverter
system 2
 5s 135w Kyocero , 3s3p 270w Kyocera  to Classic 150 ,   8s Kyocera 225w to Hawkes Bay Jakiper 48v 15kwh LiFePO4 , Outback VFX 3648 inverter
system 3
KID / Brat portable

Yvon

I might have created a monster. Got there today and the midnite kid was shut down. The overcharged light was on. Lbd and hbd setting too high on turbine I wonder?

ClassicCrazy

Quote from: Yvon on September 10, 2022, 03:42:20 PM
I might have created a monster. Got there today and the midnite kid was shut down. The overcharged light was on. Lbd and hbd setting too high on turbine I wonder?
I don't know enough about your wind setup or wind power settings to be able to help you.

Larry
system 1
Classic 150 , 5s3p  Kyocera 135watt , 12s Soneil 2v 540amp lead crystal for 24v pack , Outback 3524 inverter
system 2
 5s 135w Kyocero , 3s3p 270w Kyocera  to Classic 150 ,   8s Kyocera 225w to Hawkes Bay Jakiper 48v 15kwh LiFePO4 , Outback VFX 3648 inverter
system 3
KID / Brat portable

Yvon

It’s an a Primus air 40. The charge controller is built int it. The factory set point is 14.1. It should shut down at that point. The kid settings are from 11.1 to 14.3.

K1SRC

My understanding of the KID and a diversion load is as follows:
Load limit is 30A, however, you can limit the amperage using a load limit (say 10A).  The diversion load should be resistive in nature and NOT capacitive such as an inverter.  However, I do NOT know if the KID will automatically shut the load off at a certain battery voltage without further configuration via the menus.  You could also wire a DC automotive relay (such as a Bosch 30A Black Ice) between the KID and your DC load.  There are other menu options such as diversion or PWM but you would have to test it.  I had planned on testing just a small 300W diversion resistor to warm up a very small area rather than using an inverter with an A/C 500w under the table heater.....this is my first post, so please be kind.
Classic 150 / KID / Brat controllers mainly for testing.  Been running Ham Radio station since 2015 on MNS products.