I think that 7 years is something very conservative just thrown out, they really last much longer. But
the industry jumped on it as a way to sell a lot more detectors. I measured mine, puts out a short 1
second beep exactly every 45 seconds. So I figure build a circuit that detects the 1 second pulse,
waits 44.5 seconds, then triggers a 2 second opening of the beeper circuit. No beep heard, but if
there is an output, it will start timing for the next 45 seconds. If there is a real alarm, it will not wait
45 seconds, and will not be blocked.
Will I be sued for publishing the circuit? May block low battery alarm, except mine gets
DC from a line source. Bruce Roe
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The 7 -10 year element life of a CO detector is sad..... Replacements seldom fit the original footprint. I've got a hardwired AC powered system in my house, all 18 (thanks kalifornia) of them interconnected, I'm about to have all the CO's expire and hope I can find models that fit the hardwire connectors !
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When I put the 5th wheel up for the season I simply opened the power center and pulled the fuse for the CO detector. I left the door opened to remind me to replug the fuse before heading back out on the road.Leave a comment:
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In my Vampire load hunting days, I found that my 120VAC CO detectors used 5 watts. So I
went out and bought a battery powered CO detector. But then I wired it into a very efficient
DC power supply system I had devised to run many such things.
Now it beeps because it is 7 years old. Stay tuned... Bruce RoeLeave a comment:
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CO2 detector? Wouldn't it go off every time I open a beer?
Perhaps a Carbon Monoxide (CO) detector would be a better idea.
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Yeah my CO2 is hardwired, i thought ab out turning off my main panel when i leaves but i looked at the sensor and its actually hard wired.
Ok ill install another panel first to one battery and if that dont work ill put in another batteryLeave a comment:
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Hard to say but I would think not much since they can usually be powered by a 9v battery for a long time. My guess is that yours is powered by the coach battery which can be a vampire drain.
Right now you do not know if your battery system is big enough. What you do know is that your 100w solar charging amps is not enough for a single battery. So fix what you do know first before you expand your system or you might just waste money.Leave a comment:
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With an 81Ah battery you should be charging between 8 and 10 amps. So your original CC should be enough. You will still need another 100 watt panel similar to what you already have. Wire them in parallel to the CC and then to just the Interstate battery for a balanced system.
Once you know your battery is getting back to 100% SOC then you can decide if it is big enough to keep your fridge control power satisfied. If not then you will need to probably build a bigger battery system and add more panel wattage for charging.Leave a comment:
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Looking on info for the battery's i have. The interstate one i have which is the green one is rated for 81 amp hours. According to what i can find the amp hours on the black battery i have is 80. So not far from the green one
I am not up on this whole calculation thing. So if my interstate is good for 81 amp hours what would I need from here??
PS also looking at another controller, i think its a PWM. I want just a simple controller that tells me input and what the battery's are at. So far this one seems to be not bad. I dot want to spend a small fortune either lolLast edited by Hoskinsp; 07-10-2019, 01:19 PM.Leave a comment:
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Having the panels wired in parallel works better for a PWM type CC (which the OP is using) but it yields about 33% less charging amps then an MPPT type CC due to how the CC works.
A higher input voltage does not provide any more reliability to allow your loads to run longer. It will allow you to charge a higher voltage battery which will allow you to reduce wire sizes due to less amps going through them. The problem with a different coach battery voltage then the starter and alternator voltage is not being easily able to charge the coach battery using the alternator. You would need additional equipment to get the alternator output voltage to allow you to charge the coach battery.
Again the OP should try to determine the Ah rating of that Interstate battery and work toward getting enough panel wattage to keep it charged. At this point going with more batteries or panels is a guessing game. Don't waste your money until you know what the battery needs first.Leave a comment:
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I am wondering the advantage to hook the panels in parallel vs. series for this application? I have been reading here for as much info as possible to build a system to keep my propane fridge running as well, and most of what I have discovered is that higher voltage than the battery bank would be ideal.Leave a comment:
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It would be hard to say what battery will work for your fridge without knowing the number of watt hours it uses each day. From there we can determine what size battery to get and how many pv panels to charge it. Remember no one gets the correct amount of sunlight 365 days a year so the battery needs to be size for multiple days of little to no sun which will allow it to power the load a few days even if it does not get charged back up to 100%.
My RV has a coach battery system that is about 215Ah at 12v ( 2x 6v 215Ah batteries) and it has provided the proper amount of DC voltage to keep my fridge going for days running on my propane tank. Although I have to recharge the battery system with the RV engine alternator every couple of days when it is not plugged in or those batteries will drain.
If I ever get my solar charging system up and running for the RV I would be using about 4 of those 100 watt panels wired in parallel to a 30Amp PWM CC. If I had an MPPT type CC I could charge my batteries using 3 of those 100 watt panel.Leave a comment:
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