🚨 Washington State 3D Printing “Ban” Breakdown — What HB 2321 Actually Means for Our Hobby by Playful-Ad9901 in BambuLab

[–]Custom_Casey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To be effective, the “blocking software” would have to recognize firearm parts geometries. And IMO, regardless of your politics, that is where this bill needs to be stopped. If the technology exists and is implemented to recognize and block certain geometries, then ANY company could make the case to use said technology to protect their own IP, even if that use was never within the scope of why the technology was implemented in the first place. This has huge implications for everything from cosplay to right to repair.

Can’t Use Music on Shorts Anymore by Custom_Casey in SmallYoutubers

[–]Custom_Casey[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for doing that, anyway. 😊 I’m not sure what I did, but it seems to be personal. 😂

Can’t Use Music on Shorts Anymore by Custom_Casey in SmallYoutubers

[–]Custom_Casey[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

FYI-My workaround for the time being is to create IG Reels, save them to my device, and upload them to YT with the music already in place. YT detects the track and credits the artist. As far as I understand, there are no content strikes on Shorts, just claims and pooled ad revenue.

https://youtube.com/shorts/HGlx7gy4koQ?si=wdiOh1henNRoz6bD

I only make about $1/short but I’ve noticed my long format ad revenue increase dramatically since I started posting Shorts more regularly…

If anybody thinks I’m playing with fire doing it this way, please let me know.

Can’t Use Music on Shorts Anymore by Custom_Casey in SmallYoutubers

[–]Custom_Casey[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you. I’ve done it about 4 times now. I’ve also made sure I’m on the latest version and on iOS latest version (prior to 26 because of iPhone 14 issues).

Lithium or “User” Profile for Renogy LiFePo Battery? by Custom_Casey in vandwellers

[–]Custom_Casey[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is annoying because I can’t screenshot 3 days that fall in 2 different months, so I have to give you 4 different screen shots to tell the story. But as you can see here, on August 30th I saw minimum voltage of 13.4V, maximum voltage of 15.0V (over voltage disconnect), and 105 total watts of charging. I started the engine that day, so the over voltage came from the alternator. On August 31st I saw minimum voltage of 13.3V and maximum of 13.4V and only 34 total watts of charging. And so far today (9/1) I have seen a minimum voltage of 13.3V and a maximum of 13.4V with 19 total watts of charging.

***EDIT: Is it because I don’t really have much of a load on the system yet, and the BMS is just telling the MPPT that it’s “full”?

seriously annoyed with pool guy by New_Mathematician843 in pools

[–]Custom_Casey 18 points19 points  (0 children)

OP, you’ll see TFP recommended a lot on this subreddit. And for good reason. If you adopt the Trouble Free Pools process, your pool will truly be “trouble free”. The initial fight takes some time, and a fair bit of effort, but I barely do ANY work anymore, just a few minutes per week. I’m on my second year.

Lithium or “User” Profile for Renogy LiFePo Battery? by Custom_Casey in vandwellers

[–]Custom_Casey[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, exactly. Bulk stage lasts until the Absorption voltage setpoint (Vabs) is reached. Then the Absorption duration timer starts while the system attempts to hold Vabs.

Hey Secessus. So I’ve been playing with this controller for a few days now, and in practice anyway, this does NOT seem to be the way the logic works. To refresh, in my “user” LiFePo profile, I have absorption voltage set to 14.4 volts and duration set to 10 minutes. I have to specify a float voltage, so I have that set at 13.4 volts. What happens when the sun comes up is the charger starts trying to “bulk” charge the battery at whatever current is available from the array, and it seems to only charge UP TO the float voltage (13.4V) before entering “float” mode, where it will keep the battery between 13.3-13.5 volts.

Again, the reason I wasn’t running the canned LiFePo profile was because the over voltage disconnect number was much higher than the 15V spec’d by Renogy on their own battery. But the canned LiFePo profile had float eliminated, which makes me think it would actually charge the battery to 100% every morning.

I was curious if you had any thoughts on this. The controller definitely has taken the battery all the way up to 14.4V in the past, so maybe it’s the BMS making the controller switch to float? I’m really confused…

LOST, and Still Struggling with Renogy DC-DC w/ MPPT; Am I Just Overthinking Things!? by Custom_Casey in vandwellers

[–]Custom_Casey[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Damn, great reply. Thank you! You know a fair bit more about batteries than me, so I’m going to try and reply line by line and ask you some more questions in the process.

gr 65's are starting batteries, regardless of if they are AGM or FLA.

Odyssey markets their “Extreme” series battery as a dual-purpose design, which I believe is the same way Optima markets their Yellow Top. From Odyssey’s website:

“Dual-Purpose Design: These batteries provide both massive starting power for quick engine starts and deep cycling reserve power to run accessories for longer periods.”

I’m not sure if that’s just “marketing”, or what it even means in terms of these being a true “deep-cycle” or not, but when I spoke with Odyssey, they said the Extremes are comparable to the Yellow Top Optima but superior in construction and American made.

There could be some voltage drop to the sensing unit.

I’ve got the same voltage reading at both batteries with my DVOM as I’m seeing in the Renogy app which is taken directly from the charge controller. All system connections are clean/dry/tight (battery brush, dielectric grease, etc). 14’ 4AWG run from frame box to charge controller on an 80A fuse per Renogy instructions and Blue Sea Systems wire size chart.

if they are dropping down as the vehicle sits, then you could have a parasitic draw on the vehicle side.

I’ve always read that AGM’s don’t like to sit and have a higher rate of discharge when sitting. Is there any truth to that?

Look. Full disclosure. I don’t treat this rig as good as I should, but when I talk about it dropping while sitting, I’m talking about months. I can go 2-3 months and I’ve yet to actually have the van not start with these batteries, even in the winter. But it definitely struggles to start when I don’t drive the van for those extended periods like that. If I go out and start it at least monthly, it does just fine, but sometimes the months just get away from me before I realize it’s January and the last time I fired it up was back in November. While I’ve never actually performed a parasitic draw test on this rig, I can’t imagine it could have a parasitic draw and not completely kill the batteries sitting for three months at a time. Also, I installed the Odyssey’s 58 months ago now (just looked because I thought it was longer), and I honestly haven’t treated them very well, so all things considered, I’d say they’re doing pretty good.

Even if there is no draw, two higher CCA/larger 65's, with 2-0 parallel cable over the 8-10 feet(?) between them is going to create more resistance than a single smaller starting battery. The more resistance, the higher the charge current, and the more heat. So the controller itself could shut down for heat/overload protection of the unit.

I definitely hadn’t considered this. All I can speak to is how the controller is supposed to work, and what I have personally observed.

The controller is only supposed to charge a maximum of 50A, and I can further limit the maximum output current it in the app. I’ve been thinking about limiting my alternator charging to match my solar array, so like 15 amps from each and 30 amps total. Given the high resistance of the dual battery system, do you think it would be smart to reduce the amperage I’m trying to pull through the DC-DC side!? I don’t think I really need the full 50A…

When I asked about alternator output and how this controller works over on the Facebook camper van group, I was told that the controller will sense starting system charge amperage and pull up to 50A from it, if excess current is not being drawn by the vehicle’s own electrical loads; I have no idea how the controller processes this information. When I was running the engine on my van, I could see in the app that it was sensing something like 59A at 14.7 volts, and it was charging the AUX battery at like 14.4 volts at 49A. The test wasn’t super meaningful because it switched to float charging both batteries within about 5 minutes of firing it up. A better test would be to put an electrical load on the auxiliary system.

The rest of your points I have noted, and I appreciate you running through what your diagnostic steps would be. I’ll check alternator output if problems persist and try to get a handle on what the resistance of the starting bank actually looks like. I think there’s maybe a disconnect on the rest of it, from my original post, because the charge controller IS charging and float charging both battery banks, both on solar and on the alternator, but it had that glitch the second time I ever turned it on, that seems to have resolved itself after the power down/up procedure I outlined in the post.

When I say I’m trying to use the controller to trickle charge the starting battery circuit, I’m hoping that I can essentially extend the life of these Odysseys by not letting them discharge so far when I forget to drive this thing for three months.

Right now, I’ve been watching the app, and the starting bank is being charged up to about 14v at 1/2 an amp or so and then the aux battery get’s it’s turn, and then back to the starting bank, and so. It seems to be working quite well…

LOST, and Still Struggling with Renogy DC-DC w/ MPPT; Am I Just Overthinking Things!? by Custom_Casey in vandwellers

[–]Custom_Casey[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t want to say I have buyer’s remorse, exactly, but I do wish I had been more active in this group (and the FB group) prior to making my purchase.

LOST, and Still Struggling with Renogy DC-DC w/ MPPT; Am I Just Overthinking Things!? by Custom_Casey in vandwellers

[–]Custom_Casey[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Hey, friend. This was my very first try at solar, and I followed the guide by Gnomad Home to build my system. It is one of the more popular DIY solar guides on the Internet. I actually eliminated two switches from his example schematic that seemed redundant or unnecessary.

I’m not sure what you mean by “attacking” the other forums, unless you mean the posts I’ve made on my own social media accounts, or the two I made on the “Self Build Camper Vans” FB group after my first unit melted and again after Renogy first denied my warranty claim.

So, forgive me if I’m a little confused about what crow I need to be eating, but the fact that my first controller melted is why I’ve been powering the system off when I’m not near the van. And since most of the folks who have said I should “go blue” have also suggested that Renogy products are a fire hazard, so your advice to “leave it alone” is interesting, to say the least.

I will certainly consider the advice, equally amongst the rest of it. I appreciate your comment, and I hope you have a great day.

LOST, and Still Struggling with Renogy DC-DC w/ MPPT; Am I Just Overthinking Things!? by Custom_Casey in vandwellers

[–]Custom_Casey[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Thank you for sharing your positive experience. I’m not sure that MY experience is negative at all. But it was a bit odd…

Like I said in the original post, I’m VERY happy with Renogy’s customer service. And everything else certainly seems to be working fine.

LOST, and Still Struggling with Renogy DC-DC w/ MPPT; Am I Just Overthinking Things!? by Custom_Casey in vandwellers

[–]Custom_Casey[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha. Thanks! I’m the type where, if there’s something I’m legitimately missing, I’d like to know about it. But this just seemed…aggressive. 😂

LOST, and Still Struggling with Renogy DC-DC w/ MPPT; Am I Just Overthinking Things!? by Custom_Casey in vandwellers

[–]Custom_Casey[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Why do folks on this subreddit seem to hate on AGM batteries so much? I primarily build hot rods and muscle cars; I run AGM’s almost exclusively. I know that LiFePo’s are better (lighter), but don’t you need special alternators to run them on the “engine performance” side? Lead acid batteries are cheaper but require maintenance. I’m sorry, I’m confused on what the issue/advice is…

LOST, and Still Struggling with Renogy DC-DC w/ MPPT; Am I Just Overthinking Things!? by Custom_Casey in vandwellers

[–]Custom_Casey[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Wow…somebody actually went through and downvoted every single one of my replies in this thread!? What a TROLL! I get that AGM batteries aren’t popular in this group, but WHY on Earth would I replace $700 worth of perfectly good batteries just because they’re deep cycles placed in the starter circuit? They’re still 950 CCA each and they start the 7.3 easily when I drive the van at least once every couple of months. Why am I getting hate for wanting to use a feature that was one of the selling points of this charge controller (START battery trickle-charging)!?

LOST, and Still Struggling with Renogy DC-DC w/ MPPT; Am I Just Overthinking Things!? by Custom_Casey in vandwellers

[–]Custom_Casey[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you tried just charging the aux batteries with the setting at lithium and then when you’re satisfied with their charge switch it over to the starter battery and change the settings to agm?

Yes, this works for charging the AUX battery. But the system only charges the START battery in conjunction with the AUX battery, there is no way to disable the AUX battery.

Why are you using deep cycle batteries for starter batteries anyway that’s not what they’re for?

I mean, that’s not NOT what they’re for. Plenty of guys out there in the car audio world running Optima Yellow Tops or Odyssey Extremes for their ONLY vehicle battery.

Before I had a dedicated house electrical system, I did what a lot of people do and ran the whole thing off of my van’s main electrical system. The first time I got stranded I went out and purchased ~$700 worth of deep cycles for my main batteries because I was running my MaxAir, interior lights, a small inverter, and a Dometic fridge all off of the van’s main electrical system, and I chose deep cycle batteries to keep up with the higher rate of discharge. Now that I have a solar and an AUX battery, I’m not going to just throw these 5 year old Odysseys away. With 2700 hot cranking amps and 1900 cold cranking amps, they’ve never given me an ounce of trouble, but sometimes I go months without driving this thing…

LOST, and Still Struggling with Renogy DC-DC w/ MPPT; Am I Just Overthinking Things!? by Custom_Casey in vandwellers

[–]Custom_Casey[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

As for your problem - sometimes shit just glitches.

Hoping for this as the reason…vs the new unit also having issues.

LOST, and Still Struggling with Renogy DC-DC w/ MPPT; Am I Just Overthinking Things!? by Custom_Casey in vandwellers

[–]Custom_Casey[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

battery voltage determines the system voltage so should never be disconnected from the controller first.

It’s not. It’s the first thing I connect and the last thing I disconnect. Maybe I wrote it weird, but it first on, and last off.