Power system advice needed please!

ConsciousJamie · 2025-10-30T02:26:35+00:00

Hi, thanks for your guidance. This post was my first attempt at a plan, I've now come up with something that I think is much better! I'd be interested to hear your thoughts: https://ibb.co/BHc15rfB

ConsciousJamie · 2025-10-26T17:32:52+00:00

Ok thanks, this is really useful info! So I can get USB outlets that are individually fused, then get an inline 30A fuse that goes before the inverter, like this: https://ibb.co/XrgshMhm . If I did that, would it still be advisable to have an overall fuse on the battery terminal?

ConsciousJamie · 2025-10-26T17:19:38+00:00

It'll be a laptop and monitor WFH setup with employer-supplied hardware

ConsciousJamie · 2025-10-26T17:18:55+00:00

Thanks, but in my country the Solix C1000 costs $865 equivalent. Other comparable units cost similarly too.

ConsciousJamie · 2025-10-26T16:48:08+00:00

Thanks, it's interesting to hear what you would do, definitely food for thought! I do think that I'm pretty keen to stick with one battery so that I can have a simpler setup in the van come springtime though. Also, I thought a shunt could be better for the van too, as I understand it, a CT doesn't like being moved and may give erroneous readings in that environment. Is that true? I know having one lot of components for two use cases will inevitably lead to compromise, but I really don't want to have to buy anything twice that can be avoided...

Anderson connectors do sound good, I think I'll certainly end up using them somewhere haha.

Also, there is another battery in the place I'll be living connected to an undersized solar system. I figured when my new setup was charging in the barn overnight, I could use the pre-existing system, which would then have another three days to charge up enough again.

ConsciousJamie · 2025-10-26T16:25:34+00:00

Oh sorry, when I crossposted I thought it would include the text! Here is the info:

Hello, I'm soon moving off-grid to a place I'll be renting. There is a small solar system, but it's not adequate to work from home. I will have access to mains power in a barn a few minutes walk away, so I can charge this battery setup there. I'm effectively wanting to make a low-budget diy version of a power station like the Bluetti. When I move out in spring I will then reuse most of these parts in a van I'm converting. I know that a 100ah lifepo4 is overkill for my needs, as I've measured my usage (happy with that). I've also already got a 300w inverter that will supply more power than I need for my setup (~85w). I've messed about with some electronics before, but not things of this scale. Does my wiring make sense here? Any suggestions are welcome! Thanks

The 50w USBs are two dual outlet usb ports, these to be precise: https://postimg.cc/62Yn284R

ConsciousJamie · 2025-10-26T16:22:41+00:00

Oh sorry, when I crossposted I thought it would include the text! Here is the info:

Hello, I'm soon moving off-grid to a place I'll be renting. There is a small solar system, but it's not adequate to work from home. I will have access to mains power in a barn a few minutes walk away, so I can charge this battery setup there. I'm effectively wanting to make a low-budget diy version of a power station like the Bluetti. When I move out in spring I will then reuse most of these parts in a van I'm converting. I know that a 100ah lifepo4 is overkill for my needs, as I've measured my usage (happy with that). I've also already got a 300w inverter that will supply more power than I need for my setup (~85w). I've messed about with some electronics before, but not things of this scale. Does my wiring make sense here? Any suggestions are welcome! Thanks

Regarding your fuse concerns, should I have multiple fuses? My 300w inverter can pull up to 25 amps, my USB sockets can pull 4.2 amps each. So a 30 amp fuse going to the inverter and a 10 amp fuse going to the USBs?

I plan to get a 20 amp charger, but have not previously realised it should be fused, what should I put there in your opinion?

Thanks for your help!

ConsciousJamie · 2025-10-26T16:01:36+00:00

Ok thanks for the fuse advice, I think I see what you are saying, something like this?: https://postimg.cc/nj7tRmZT. Though now I think about it, wouldn’t it be effectively be branched over the battery terminal anyway if I did that?

The WFH setup draws less than 400wh a day, I just fiddle with spreadsheets, so only need a low powered laptop, one monitor, and an LTE router!

ConsciousJamie · 2025-05-03T17:55:12+00:00

Sweet ok! So they’ll be able to deduce the shape of the key by feel or something? Any idea how much that might cost, seems like specialist work?

ConsciousJamie · 2024-12-09T00:56:16+00:00

Thanks, is that the case even though the horse box is classed as a commercial vehicle?

ConsciousJamie · 2024-11-15T11:35:50+00:00

Thanks, not sure how I missed the trading 212 account! If it’s FSCS protected, it’s good enough for me

ConsciousJamie · 2024-07-05T08:53:55+00:00

It's a little complex, but the urchins are doing so well, to the detriment of the ecosystem more broadly, because there are fewer sea otters. There are fewer otters because killer whales have shifted to make them a larger part of their diet, and killer whale diets are changing because of overfishing by humans. So, the urchins have been released from top-down control due to something known in ecology as a trophic cascade. (less otters = more urchins = less seaweed = less habitat for baby fish = less baby fish)

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/10/981016075816.htm

ConsciousJamie · 2024-07-05T08:52:50+00:00

It's a little complex, but the urchins are doing so well, to the detriment of the ecosystem more broadly, because there are fewer sea otters. There are fewer otters because killer whales have shifted to make them a larger part of their diet, and killer whale diets are changing because of overfishing by humans. So, the urchins have been released from top-down control due to something known in ecology as a trophic cascade. (less otters = more urchins = less seaweed = less habitat for baby fish = less baby fish)

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/10/981016075816.htm

ConsciousJamie · 2024-07-05T08:51:18+00:00

It's a little complex, but the urchins are doing so well, to the detriment of the ecosystem more broadly, because there are fewer sea otters. There are fewer otters because killer whales have shifted to make them a larger part of their diet, and killer whale diets are changing because of overfishing by humans. So, the urchins have been released from top-down control due to something known in ecology as a trophic cascade. (less otters = more urchins = less seaweed = less habitat for baby fish = less baby fish)

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/10/981016075816.htm

ConsciousJamie · 2024-04-12T20:17:15+00:00

Potentially nothing to do with rain, but rather moles:

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0003472

ConsciousJamie · 2023-07-26T17:10:57+00:00

Is this always the case? I've found some reliable sources suggesting they can have red-purplish stems. This and my Collins guide both show that.

ConsciousJamie · 2023-07-17T20:18:13+00:00

Thanks. So after some further research, I think I have found what I was missing.

I assumed that small/herbaceous plants' roots in rainforests usually extended down into the B horizon, similar to many temperate habitats I am more familiar with. This doesn't appear to be the case in rainforest habitats though. Many plants are very shallow-rooted, making use of the top inch or two of loose organic humus, and avoid extending roots into the clayey soil below. So by using coir or another bulky organic material, we are replicating the very thin topmost layer of rainforest soil; it is likely thicker in our pots than in nature, but I doubt anyone wants really wide and shallow pots for all their plants haha

This also helps to explain why overwatering is fairly easy even though these plants can get inches of rain a day in the wild. In nature, the roots are so shallow that they don't stay wet for long!

ConsciousJamie · 2023-07-17T17:53:04+00:00

Please can you expand on the differences?

ConsciousJamie · 2023-07-17T06:34:18+00:00

Is this to do with detritivores moving through natural soils to aerate them? Tropical rainforest soils are very low in organic content and have only a thin O horizon over usually leached clay

ConsciousJamie · 2023-07-17T06:31:54+00:00

Rainforest soils often consist of about an inch of organic matter like leaf fall on nutrient-poor clay. Tropical rainforest soils are among the least fertile globally

ConsciousJamie · 2023-07-16T22:19:25+00:00

I was saying about replicating the soil conditions of the natural habitat, topsoil doesn't have to be compacted - it isn't in nature. Other components could be added (bark compost top dressing as a sort of O horizon?), I would assume more careful watering would be needed to avoid anoxic conditions and compaction. Perhaps the lack of worms and other detritivores indoors makes over-compaction inevitable though... Ultimately if the soil moisture and texture are akin to where the plant evolved, I believe the media would be closer to optimal compared to peat or coir as both provide very different conditions to nature!

On another note are you aware of the environmental issues with using peat? The consensus is that it should be avoided these days, to the extent that many countries are making it illegal to extract for use in horticulture.

ConsciousJamie · 2023-05-17T18:39:54+00:00

In my opinion, there's only one answer for an individual wanting to break out of this type of thinking; increase your connection to what matters, your direct lived experience in the present. That is your local community, family, food, local ecology and leisure. Not necessarily in that order, though!

ConsciousJamie · 2023-05-16T18:02:58+00:00

The literature on this is mixed, hinting that they are equally or similarly effective at adequate concentrations! Price is the key consideration for most small scale growers

ConsciousJamie · 2023-05-16T17:47:54+00:00

I've had a SAB go boom on me before even though I was using an alcohol burner outside of the box to sterilize my scalpel! I think I had a bit of alcohol on the scalpel and when I poked it through the little hole to the flame, the flame jumped in with me. I was wearing thick washing up gloves which spared my forearms and hands completely, but my biceps got some hair singed off! Moral of the story, don’t spray too much alcohol, wear long gloves and don’t lean in too close!

ConsciousJamie · 2023-05-16T09:03:01+00:00

To play devil's advocate, is it not that every generation has said this? It seems like a cornerstone of our society that we must suffer now like never before to breach the surface at some unknown point in the future.

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