everybody loves a good dump.especially a solar dump. im doing something like this but in my home. I have 2 tanks so 1st tank is now dc direct into a immersion coil then that tank dumps into the ac tank and takes very little to ac energy to top up the heat. Love this vid. giving me ideas for fishing hut we got that got panels on it too.
You can really tell Deb is doing better. Your color has returned to your face, and you have a bit of a glow. Great to see. We've been keeping you in our prayers. Great video, and also very handy for RV's We may have to try it with ours.
Thanks very much for this video. Do you have a vertical or horizontal water tank? I've been told that doing this in a vertical tank with the immersion heater located at the top (which is what I've currently got) will only heat the water in the top of the tank.
Quite an interesting vlog.... And another plus is that the immersion heater element should last a bit longer as it's not being driven as hard. All the best, Regards Steve
I’ve bern searching on how to use electric stoves and other apliances on the boat without having a gigantic battery which costs a lot. An electric induction stove uses 100Wh to boil 1L of water from 20C. (100-20)x1.16= 93Wh. But if you preheat the water to 40C, you just need 70Wh. And the heated water is much more energy dense than LiFePo4 batteries. 93Wh/kg vs ~75Wh/kg. And costs nothing.
No narrow boat, no solar, and don’t even live in the U.K., but I do like tech so I watched! What a great mod. I will say after a hot walk, I like a cool shower or a sit in front of a fan. 😉 ❤️🇺🇸
Hiya Mark and Debbie, this is very interesting, because I don't have a boat yet and the kind of thing you have been talking about to day. is this of a drawing, or something you just know.. because I might need a drawing,. now I have just learned from your report your drone crashed are you drome less, what sort of drone was it. Finally, I bought a drone my first one, no doubt its the cheepest but its solid and fast. 6KHD GPS With a drone pro camera. Did you replace yours yet? John in New Zealand into the sea
I got all the info from a Facebook group call "the 12 volts boating group" I ran the drone under a fast running tap to clean all the mud out, sprayed it with electrical cleaner and it worked fine the following day
Hi Mark I bought my 6 panels from Midsummer solar (foxes) they are currently in my sons garage but being fitted in August when I bought them I had the option to have a cable 35 quid and I have to fit a 12 volt heater in the calorifier. My question is do you run your inverter during the heating period? I will contact the 12 volt group as it may be with the low solar required for a 12 volt heater it may work on sunny winter days. Thanks for the vlog 👍 Lovely to see Deb looking so well. NB Fiddlesticks 😊🖐👏🏻👏🏻 PS now you’ve solved where the unused solar goes you could do one on where deleted emails go 👍😂😂
"So I save the washing up from lunch to test the water...!" Deborah does washing up!!!😂😂😂😂 You are so spoiled mate!!! Nice clear video. Answered a question I was thinking about. I'm seriously thinking about living on a narrowboat, so all the information was great. Thank you.... Deborah!,,👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻😂😂😂
@@welldeckdiaries5610 I have this problem with the Victron Multiplus inverter, the voltage regulator makes the inverter buzz loudly so I've aborted this setup. Apparently the Multiplus can't deal with chopped voltage
Forgive me I'm new to narrow boat knowledge, but could you do a solar dump to run an Aircon unit? As that would be pretty cool tbh.. free Aircon from the sun ⛅ yeah it sounds to good to be true I know..
I'm guessing your in the UK. Well hello from Oregon, USA. Came here looking for info on dump load from solar to water heater. Nice informative video. I'm not on a boat but in my RV. it's parked on some land. I have 30 shore power but wanting to unplug completely. I've got a 12v 300w heating element and a small temp sensor that I'm trying to figure out how to connect. There is 1200w in three panels on the roof connected to a Victron 150\85 and a CERBO GX with color monitor, they connect to the four 100AH bb lithiums and then there is the 2000w pure sine Xantrac inverter. It's a good working system.. just wana get this hot water immersion thing figured out.
if its not open vented, you have just invented a bomb and need to install pressure relief valves urgently, but I am sure this is not the case as you seem to have a good grasp on what you are talking about. IMHO for all these comments
I don't see the point. Why not just switch on the emersion heater on fall power, for half an hour or so. On a sunny day the batteries will change back up.
It takes around 2 hours to heat the water with the 1KW immersion heater, this hammers the battery bank and uses approx 160AH from the batteries. To replace that energy it could take over 6 hours of full sun ☀️ which is not guaranteed. The whole point of this was to use the available solar power once the batteries are fully charged the adjust the load so all of the solar energy then goes straight to the immersion heater without any drain on the batteries.
hi I have got all parts for solar dump but regulator has 2 sets of 3 terminals 12v group has fulll row is it possible for you to draw a wiring diagram for this installation thanks
The Solar panels feed the inverter, the inverter feeds the immersion, the controller adjusts the load of the immersion and the VSR protect the batteries from discharging 👍
If you expand the video description all the links for the equipment should be in there, just click on the relevant link and it will take you to the item 👍
Great video I love that you can trim down the wattage of the immersion heater to half to accommodate the size of your solar . So is all I need is a relay to capture the extra power after I reach 100 percent charge and how do you hook it to you computer to monitor and fine tune it does the relay replace my current charge controller or does it hook to it .Any information would be greatly appreciated Thanks Dale
If you join this FB group look in the files section and you will see a file called Implementing The Solar Dump facebook.com/groups/144684286108763/?ref=share
Excellent water heater power option! It's just a 12-volt system after all. Why wasn't this developed long ago? I know this vlog was produced two years ago, and I'm behind the times. 🙂Today, it's common practice to install such systems, but still Mark knew what the heck he was doing back then two years ago. I installed this same system on my old 1939 wood power cruiser here in the Pacific Northwest (Puget Sound) back in 2003. Solar has been around for many decades and it's extraordinarily wonderful to see that it is becoming more common.
Mark im going from a theory here. If you trim your immersion down to 500w and leave it there left the switch in solar dump mode aslong as your inverter is on the system is in a sense automatic, so aslong as your batts aren’t charging say nighttime because the voltage is under the lower preset it won’t bother the batts ??. Inverter off all power will be dead anyway ??, I’m trying to implement the same thing but fully automatic on a victron system and it’s baffling my brain
In theory it should be ok. I know someone on a FB groups has made a proportional controller running through a raspberry pie computer so it auto trims up and down in line with solar input
@@welldeckdiaries5610 ahh brill, do you by any chance remember the group ?. I could do with having a chat with them.. ideally I’d like to not have to run the inverter and literally not even think or remember about it but I’ve not found a method like that yet. I can switch the inverter on or off remotely from anywhere so that’s not so bad
You're trying to be efficient by using a Rheostat to adjust the amount of dump.But that rheostat itself just converts the extra energy to heat. That doesn't sound very efficient.
Only thing to watch out about his micro cycling those batteries with a system like that. Otherwise a very cost-effective upfront solution. Maybe not so cost-effective when considering to reduce the lifespan of your batteries in the long run though. Perhaps something linearly controlled would be ideal. I know morning star do a diversion controller that can be set up this way
@@welldeckdiaries5610 any of the TriStar charge controllers can be configured for diversion mode. A lot of people use this when diverting excess power from wind turbines. You may need to get a heating element that can operate at 12 V DC but I might be wrong, the mains heating element you have might suffice, my knowledge is patchy in that part
This is the fist time I've viewed one of your videos, and I have to say, it was a great watch. All explained at a good speed aye without getting over technical. Just what I need! 😁 Thanks 👍
I may be a bit dense but it seems to me to be a bit of a pointless exercise, why not just put your immersion heater on via the inverter and when the batteries drain then the solar can make it up, trying to heat a tank of water with 500 watts instead of say 3Kw just takes 4 times as long or any multiple of the time 3Kw takes. Seriously I'm not trying to be snarky just needing a bit of convincing
A valid question 👍 Its a 1KW immersion that we have (most boats are the same) A 3KW immersion would be pulling 250A from the batteries. The whole idea of this project was to use the excess solar once the batteries are charged. What would happen if I heated my water drained my batteries and it then rained for the next 3 days.
@@welldeckdiaries5610 oh ok point taken, I made an assumption as a landlubber, well if the sun was shining when you had your shower then the solar would top the batteries up or run your engine, if it rained for 3 days then there would be no solar dump, but really this is one of those circular discussions, my problem was that I was looking for a logical reason that didnt create more points of failure, that is things that can go wrong in an environment that is already difficult work in without a really good payback, as a minimalist its always something I look out for.
I have been wanting to do something like this for ages but couldn't get info that seemed on a sensible solution. I've looked in the 12volt boating group files for solar dump info but can't find anything, do you think you could send me the link? Glad that Debs seems to have come through her treatment ok. Best Regards Geoff.
@@welldeckdiaries5610 Thanks, it seems to be a different group to the one I belong to which is run by Graham Mills. I've asked to join then I will be able to view their files.
Hi Mark, not sure if you are still responding to comments on this video but this looks like it’s exactly what I’m looking for ! Depending on your answers Is your immersion a dc or ac one ? At the start of the video you mentioned having to run some ac (230v) cables. With the programmable relay, how did you cable this up to see dc voltage from your battery & then the ac load @230v (if this is how you did it? Seen some diagrams but none of them explain it very well as they all connect back to the top connections if that makes sence ? :/ Hope you both are doing well and think I will be watching a few more of the videos :D
This is absolutely amazing how you upgraded your boat! I wish I could have the opportunity to come to England to rent a narrow boat and cruise for a couple months! A humble question, is it possible to automate the solar dump instead of manually switching it on?
This is so nuts you've done this!! I've been saying to Stu for ages..."we waste so much solar after 10.30am, there must be a way to use it?!" And here you are with this inexpensive and superb way to use it!!!! Thankyou thankyou!!!! Absolute game changer 🙌
Dont fully understand this but i like it 👍 im having a marine engineer in next week to renovate my old calorifier, mmmm I like this idea 💡 will watch this a few times and ask about it, another issue you may be able to advise on is fitting a tracker, i have a cheap one that trigers on movement/speed, but its not hard wired and doesnt hold a charge for long, i have a monimoto 7 and a data tag on my motorbikes, they are great for a static item but will be triggered by boat movement 😏, im gonna look around at Crick for any ideas for boats 🤔
Mark, that is one of your best.. ❤️ no seriously all your videos are great but this one was so well put together and so informative and put so simply! Maybe one day we’ll up our solar system and follow your instructions! Nothing like seeing something actually work after all the effort.. well done you and keep them coming! Debs you look amazing, so glad you are back to your smiley, happy, laughy self 🤗🤗❤️❤️ now off you go and have a right nice pint and a gin for Deb-or-ah ❤️❤️ xx Thank you
Ah, no Mark, when you say it won't work in winter ... indeed it will work in the winter, just depends on how much amperage you need to keep batteries charged, and then use the extra to heat water ... or heat the cabin ... or power the internet ... etc. And then there are options like purchasing stand-alone Jackery batteries to supplement these systems. They can be recharged on sunny days, etc.
Mark and Deb, great to see you both in good health and Deb a Refua Shlema (A complete Healing) from the fall and cancer. In Israel we use a electric water heater plus a water solar panel. If you add a water solar panel all of the suns energy heats the water and it circulates by drawing colder water at the bottom of the panel and when it heats it expands and forces the hot water out of the top so you don't need a water pump. The blacked out water panel has copper piping inside and the water boils under full sun. I have an eighty gallon tank and after three hours in full sun it heats all of it to boiling. Great for showering up to four people or one woman who loves long hot showers, LOL. There is more than one way to heat water with the sun but a solar water heater doesn't use any electricity and could supplement your existing system by using all of the suns energy to give you hot water from first light till dusk. Love the install and wiring, great job mate.
Hi another good vlog just thought I might say that friends of mine have been doing this for years but they use specially made multi element 12v immersion heaters and theirs work all year round but they also use wind turbines as well as massive amounts of solar
When you said about the 230v terminals needing to be insulated and covered and made safe I laughed so hard all my are exposed 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 mb mb ⚡, seems like most charge controllers could do the job of that voltage sensor ya got there
If anyone plans to run an immersion heater off an inverter get a dc rated one for the applicable voltage instead so more if the energy goes into the water
It is marvelous to see Deb looking so well. Prayers answered. 💕 We love your "How I do it" videos. Thanks for the effort it took to share this. Well done! Bill and Alice in Idaho USA.
Mark, I'm so impressed with all the details and work you put into the solar dump. I have to admit however and I'm afraid you will think less of me haha but most of what you said was gibberish to me. But as I said very impressive. And why shouldn't you have all the mod cons whilst cruising? All the best to you both. Stephen x
@@welldeckdiaries5610 what I did understand was that it worked and that's good enough. I'm one of those who would have to get a professional to install it. My mobility scooter stopped working the other day and I had to call someone out. I wish I was more like you, it would have saved me a fortune over the years.
Well Deck Diaries Is there any reason why you couldn't set the thermostat higher, utilising even more excess solar? For safety the outgoing water from the tank could go through a thermostatic mixing valve to reduce it down to a safer temperature. A small tank of 95 degree water would give you a fairly substantial increase in useable hot water without necessitating a larger tank.
Great idea and I would love to do this on our sailing boat as we have 1.2kw of solar. We are a 24v house bank of 440ah. However one thing I didn’t get from your video is how you get the remaining power from the solar panels to heat the element in the hot water tank, as the output from our solar regulator is 24v but the immersion heater element is 230v??? Are you just using you normal boat inverter? I have just installed a new Quick B3-40 hot water tank that has a 1200w element. Our old tank had a 500w element, and I was planning to buy a 500w element to swap them out. However that is better to heat off solar and our inverter (3kw) but then much slower when on shore power or running the generator. Your idea is great as it seems to give the best of both worlds…. 500w element for inverter/solar water heating, yet then also the option of 1200w for mains or generator power to heat the water. This would mean I’d run the generator for half toe time to get a tank of hot water. Fantastic Thanks a million
I will never say, "Oh no, not them again! Absolutely love watching you guys and seeing what you're up to. I also bought a 720 wash Eco Egg and am very happy with the results, although I must admit I do add a little bit of liquid detergent for heavily soiled wash loads. I use white vinegar instead of softener - it works great and helps maintain colour. Loved the solar info - very well done and informative. Happy cruising and Keep safe.
Thanks, we're loving the eco egg too, we haven't added detergent but a bit of fabric softener just to cut down on the ironing, any heavy soiled items pre treat the area and this has been working great. We got our daughter on too, so that will be the ultimate test with 3 active boys under 11
Can’t help but feel happy to see Deb looking happy and radiant! Bet Mark is over the 🌙 with happy Deb! It is great to see you both bubbly and smiling! The vlog is a bit too technical for me🛠🪛🔧. However great seeing Mark explaining the details. Stay radiant and happy 😃🌞🌚 always!
Could you not just use the virtual load output of your solar controller to drive a relay? I have the same as yours and you can set upper and lower voltage.
Wow.... what a brainy chap you have Debs!! Brilliant informative vlog, explained really well to both of us!! Thanks for filming this. Really helpful. Xx
Really enjoyed the video and very informative. This was something that breezed through me brain about five years ago but didn’t really follow it up to any great extent but your video have got the grey matter ticking over furiously. I’ve asked to join the 12V group but I’ve not heard anything back yet. My major query is that we have a 230V immersion heater so would the solar dump require that I change the heater coil to 12V? I see in your video the clever selector switch to change from 230V to 12V - how does this work requiring two different power sauces? I would be very great full for response.
Make sure it the right group as there are 2. you want "the 12 volts boating group" volts with an s, the other group has no s on the volt. Every thing stays 230v as I only have a 230v immersion, the selector switches it to change from normal 230v to solar dump, still 230v but going through the VSR and variable load controller which enables me to dial the 1000w immersion down to to 600w
Very interesting, I have a good system too and would easily take a dump in the summer. In fact I use a kettle when the batteries are full and a microwave. I’ll find the group you mentioned on FB.
Hi, I’m not very good at expressing complicated issues in text. My experience with solar is not the same as yours. When my batteries are fully charged ANY load on the system will cause micro cycling. This is regardless if the load is above or below the incoming solar energy. The controller charges to 100% and stops, then loads reduce the battery voltage to a programmed state and the charger turns on again ( also powering the loads ) till 100% charge…and cyclical dance continues. I think the best system would “isolate” the batteries, redirect the solar panel output away from the controllers and dump the power into a DC water heating element. The dc element needs no regulation or cloud/sag protection. Also it completely spares ones controllers and inverters from high amp usage, along with saving battery longevity . At any rate you video is very useful for me. I humbly thank you for it and consider everything I learn essential.. thx !
Update: I’ve installed a 360 watt 72 / 12 volt step down regulator BEFORE the solar controller panel input. The device is turned on via a solid state relay as the device has and “ignition on” function. I control the SSR with a esp-8266 remotely. When the device is on solar panel power is consumed and charge amperage is reduced ( as the battery is already 100 % charged ). Last task is to automate this action via node red. What a journey…
![Tee Grizzley - Blow for Blow (feat. J. Cole) [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wNLN5xsx5dc/mqdefault.jpg)
everybody loves a good dump.especially a solar dump. im doing something like this but in my home. I have 2 tanks so 1st tank is now dc direct into a immersion coil then that tank dumps into the ac tank and takes very little to ac energy to top up the heat. Love this vid. giving me ideas for fishing hut we got that got panels on it too.
That is awesome!
You can really tell Deb is doing better. Your color has returned to your face, and you have a bit of a glow. Great to see. We've been keeping you in our prayers. Great video, and also very handy for RV's We may have to try it with ours.
Glad you found it interesting 👍
Would you please share your mobile tocon ext and get your services.
Thanks very much for this video. Do you have a vertical or horizontal water tank? I've been told that doing this in a vertical tank with the immersion heater located at the top (which is what I've currently got) will only heat the water in the top of the tank.
we have a vertical tank with an immersion at the bottom
😊👍
👍❤️
If we wasn’t retiring from Lyons boatyard I would now be offering you a job 👍 well done on that vlog, still owe you a pint come find us 👏❤️
Thanks 👍 🍺
Quite an interesting vlog....
And another plus is that the immersion heater element should last a bit longer as it's not being driven as hard.
All the best,
Regards Steve
I never actually though of that
Mark, isn't it a glorious feeling when you realize you're one step closer to being energy-free?
Deb, you've joined the Fuzzy Wuzzy club, yea you. \0/
👍
❤️
I’ve bern searching on how to use electric stoves and other apliances on the boat without having a gigantic battery which costs a lot. An electric induction stove uses 100Wh to boil 1L of water from 20C. (100-20)x1.16= 93Wh. But if you preheat the water to 40C, you just need 70Wh. And the heated water is much more energy dense than LiFePo4 batteries. 93Wh/kg vs ~75Wh/kg. And costs nothing.
That's a great idea!
No narrow boat, no solar, and don’t even live in the U.K., but I do like tech so I watched! What a great mod. I will say after a hot walk, I like a cool shower or a sit in front of a fan. 😉 ❤️🇺🇸
👍
New subscriber here. Thanks for the video. I am looking for ideas to do a solar dump when batteries are full.
Awesome! Thank you!
Hiya Mark and Debbie, this is very interesting, because I don't have a boat yet and the kind of thing you have been talking about to day. is this of a drawing, or something you just know.. because I might need a drawing,. now I have just learned from your report your drone crashed are you drome less, what sort of drone was it. Finally, I bought a drone my first one, no doubt its the cheepest but its solid and fast. 6KHD GPS With a drone pro camera. Did you replace yours yet? John in New Zealand
into the sea
I got all the info from a Facebook group call "the 12 volts boating group"
I ran the drone under a fast running tap to clean all the mud out, sprayed it with electrical cleaner and it worked fine the following day
Hi Mark I bought my 6 panels from Midsummer solar (foxes) they are currently in my sons garage but being fitted in August when I bought them I had the option to have a cable 35 quid and I have to fit a 12 volt heater in the calorifier. My question is do you run your inverter during the heating period? I will contact the 12 volt group as it may be with the low solar required for a 12 volt heater it may work on sunny winter days. Thanks for the vlog 👍 Lovely to see Deb looking so well. NB Fiddlesticks 😊🖐👏🏻👏🏻 PS now you’ve solved where the unused solar goes you could do one on where deleted emails go 👍😂😂
Our inverter is on 24/7
So much enthusiasm about the newly installed system, well enough explained,even I understood most of it!
Brilliant
Which type of heating rod you have used for boiling water???
900W kettle
"So I save the washing up from lunch to test the water...!"
Deborah does washing up!!!😂😂😂😂
You are so spoiled mate!!!
Nice clear video. Answered a question I was thinking about. I'm seriously thinking about living on a narrowboat, so all the information was great.
Thank you.... Deborah!,,👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻😂😂😂
Thanks Phil 👍
Hi,
can you tell me if your inverter inverter is making a buzzing noise when you use this system ?
Not that I've noticed
@@welldeckdiaries5610 I have this problem with the Victron Multiplus inverter, the voltage regulator makes the inverter buzz loudly so I've aborted this setup. Apparently the Multiplus can't deal with chopped voltage
Forgive me I'm new to narrow boat knowledge, but could you do a solar dump to run an Aircon unit? As that would be pretty cool tbh.. free Aircon from the sun ⛅ yeah it sounds to good to be true I know..
If your solar setup matched the demand from your air con then this would work 👍
I'm guessing your in the UK. Well hello from Oregon, USA. Came here looking for info on dump load from solar to water heater. Nice informative video. I'm not on a boat but in my RV. it's parked on some land. I have 30 shore power but wanting to unplug completely. I've got a 12v 300w heating element and a small temp sensor that I'm trying to figure out how to connect. There is 1200w in three panels on the roof connected to a Victron 150\85 and a CERBO GX with color monitor, they connect to the four 100AH bb lithiums and then there is the 2000w pure sine Xantrac inverter. It's a good working system.. just wana get this hot water immersion thing figured out.
👍
Enjoyed watching always interested in things like this 😊
Glad you enjoyed
Blimey. I thought a Solar Dump was something to do with alfresco toileting!
😂🤣
Can you use this when not on shoreline? Would your inverter need to be on to supply power? Thanks
This is a total off grid system
if its not open vented, you have just invented a bomb and need to install pressure relief valves urgently, but I am sure this is not the case as you seem to have a good grasp on what you are talking about. IMHO for all these comments
The Calorifier has a PRV👍
I don't see the point. Why not just switch on the emersion heater on fall power, for half an hour or so. On a sunny day the batteries will change back up.
It takes around 2 hours to heat the water with the 1KW immersion heater, this hammers the battery bank and uses approx 160AH from the batteries. To replace that energy it could take over 6 hours of full sun ☀️ which is not guaranteed.
The whole point of this was to use the available solar power once the batteries are fully charged the adjust the load so all of the solar energy then goes straight to the immersion heater without any drain on the batteries.
hi I have got all parts for solar dump but regulator has 2 sets of 3 terminals 12v group has fulll row is it possible for you to draw a wiring diagram for this installation thanks
Message me on FB and I should be able to send something over 👍
You can only use this directly from the panel if I understand it correct? Then I understoox it correct😄
The Solar panels feed the inverter, the inverter feeds the immersion, the controller adjusts the load of the immersion and the VSR protect the batteries from discharging 👍
Hi, thank you for the link! Great resource.
Lynn on m/v REJOICE
Glad it was helpful!
Where did you purchase the controller and smart relay kind regards Richard
If you expand the video description all the links for the equipment should be in there, just click on the relevant link and it will take you to the item 👍
Oh no! Not them again! 🤙😷😷
It's a pity you can't get a temperature readout of your hot water heater to tell if you have enough for a shower.
Its something I could easily fit
So you wash the days dishes and both have a shower separately 😡 It's not that kind of show🙄 😂😂
😂🤣
What is the link to "12 volt boating group"? Please.
facebook.com/groups/144684286108763
Do you have a link to the file on the Facebook group. I can’t find it.
facebook.com/groups/144684286108763/?multi_permalinks=924824154761435
Great video I love that you can trim down the wattage of the immersion heater to half to accommodate the size of your solar . So is all I need is a relay to capture the extra power after I reach 100 percent charge and how do you hook it to you computer to monitor and fine tune it does the relay replace my current charge controller or does it hook to it .Any information would be greatly appreciated Thanks Dale
Theres a great Facebook group called the 12 volt boating group which has all the info and wiring diagrams for this
There’s a great Facebook group called the 12 volt boating group which has all the diagrams and info for this little project
They is a much easier way to do this but I'm not going to share my system 😂
😳
pretty cool; think they could of came up with a better name though.
😂🤣
Great stuff, makes so much sent to use all that excess solar for a hot shower :)
Yes indeed!
Shardlake and I think alike!
Hi have you got the wiring diagram for this project?
Its in the files section of the 12v boating group on Facebook
do you have a wiring diag of how you connected the change over switch?
If you join this FB group look in the files section and you will see a file called Implementing The Solar Dump
facebook.com/groups/144684286108763/?ref=share
Make sure your not microcycling your batteries
👍
Is legionella an issue?
Excellent water heater power option! It's just a 12-volt system after all. Why wasn't this developed long ago? I know this vlog was produced two years ago, and I'm behind the times. 🙂Today, it's common practice to install such systems, but still Mark knew what the heck he was doing back then two years ago. I installed this same system on my old 1939 wood power cruiser here in the Pacific Northwest (Puget Sound) back in 2003. Solar has been around for many decades and it's extraordinarily wonderful to see that it is becoming more common.
Brilliant! Crank that sucka to eleven! 🌞 Cheers
Will do 👍
It is no use me asking any questions as I do not understand electricity amps, volts etc. So you can skip past this one. lol
😂🤣
Deb, you are looking fantastic. As always we love your vlogs
Thanks so much
Mark im going from a theory here. If you trim your immersion down to 500w and leave it there left the switch in solar dump mode aslong as your inverter is on the system is in a sense automatic, so aslong as your batts aren’t charging say nighttime because the voltage is under the lower preset it won’t bother the batts ??. Inverter off all power will be dead anyway ??, I’m trying to implement the same thing but fully automatic on a victron system and it’s baffling my brain
In theory it should be ok.
I know someone on a FB groups has made a proportional controller running through a raspberry pie computer so it auto trims up and down in line with solar input
@@welldeckdiaries5610 ahh brill, do you by any chance remember the group ?. I could do with having a chat with them.. ideally I’d like to not have to run the inverter and literally not even think or remember about it but I’ve not found a method like that yet. I can switch the inverter on or off remotely from anywhere so that’s not so bad
You're trying to be efficient by using a Rheostat to adjust the amount of dump.But that rheostat itself just converts the extra energy to heat. That doesn't sound very efficient.
Hi hope you are all well wat size hot water tank have u got Colin an sue
I think its about 60 litres
I did not click off and I have nun off those things
👍
Only thing to watch out about his micro cycling those batteries with a system like that. Otherwise a very cost-effective upfront solution. Maybe not so cost-effective when considering to reduce the lifespan of your batteries in the long run though. Perhaps something linearly controlled would be ideal. I know morning star do a diversion controller that can be set up this way
Have you got a link for this please?
@@welldeckdiaries5610 any of the TriStar charge controllers can be configured for diversion mode. A lot of people use this when diverting excess power from wind turbines. You may need to get a heating element that can operate at 12 V DC but I might be wrong, the mains heating element you have might suffice, my knowledge is patchy in that part
This is the fist time I've viewed one of your videos, and I have to say, it was a great watch.
All explained at a good speed aye without getting over technical. Just what I need! 😁
Thanks 👍
Welcome aboard!
Interesting
Is there a computer controller that automatically adjusts the amount of immersion heating?
I may be a bit dense but it seems to me to be a bit of a pointless exercise, why not just put your immersion heater on via the inverter and when the batteries drain then the solar can make it up, trying to heat a tank of water with 500 watts instead of say 3Kw just takes 4 times as long or any multiple of the time 3Kw takes. Seriously I'm not trying to be snarky just needing a bit of convincing
A valid question 👍
Its a 1KW immersion that we have (most boats are the same)
A 3KW immersion would be pulling 250A from the batteries. The whole idea of this project was to use the excess solar once the batteries are charged. What would happen if I heated my water drained my batteries and it then rained for the next 3 days.
@@welldeckdiaries5610 oh ok point taken, I made an assumption as a landlubber, well if the sun was shining when you had your shower then the solar would top the batteries up or run your engine, if it rained for 3 days then there would be no solar dump, but really this is one of those circular discussions, my problem was that I was looking for a logical reason that didnt create more points of failure, that is things that can go wrong in an environment that is already difficult work in without a really good payback, as a minimalist its always something I look out for.
I have been wanting to do something like this for ages but couldn't get info that seemed on a sensible solution.
I've looked in the 12volt boating group files for solar dump info but can't find anything, do you think you could send me the link?
Glad that Debs seems to have come through her treatment ok.
Best Regards
Geoff.
Try here Geoff
facebook.com/groups/144684286108763/files
@@welldeckdiaries5610
Thanks, it seems to be a different group to the one I belong to which is run by Graham Mills.
I've asked to join then I will be able to view their files.
Hi Mark, not sure if you are still responding to comments on this video but this looks like it’s exactly what I’m looking for !
Depending on your answers
Is your immersion a dc or ac one ?
At the start of the video you mentioned having to run some ac (230v) cables.
With the programmable relay, how did you cable this up to see dc voltage from your battery & then the ac load @230v (if this is how you did it?
Seen some diagrams but none of them explain it very well as they all connect back to the top connections if that makes sence ? :/
Hope you both are doing well and think I will be watching a few more of the videos :D
Dead smart idea....I would like to ask you have you ever come across a electric motored canal boat???(as in electric cars)...free fuel for canal life
Yes, a couple of narrow boats and a wide beam boat
@@welldeckdiaries5610 any chance you could catch them on video???...be really good to see the engine set up....I am amazed
So do a diagram of it all ,not everyone does Facebook or social media on a narrowboat a simple diagram wired .
Have all the parts .
This is absolutely amazing how you upgraded your boat! I wish I could have the opportunity to come to England to rent a narrow boat and cruise for a couple months! A humble question, is it possible to automate the solar dump instead of manually switching it on?
This is so nuts you've done this!! I've been saying to Stu for ages..."we waste so much solar after 10.30am, there must be a way to use it?!"
And here you are with this inexpensive and superb way to use it!!!! Thankyou thankyou!!!! Absolute game changer 🙌
I know about this for 2 years but only just got my finger out of my .... and got round to doing it 🤣😂
Dont fully understand this but i like it 👍 im having a marine engineer in next week to renovate my old calorifier, mmmm I like this idea 💡 will watch this a few times and ask about it, another issue you may be able to advise on is fitting a tracker, i have a cheap one that trigers on movement/speed, but its not hard wired and doesnt hold a charge for long, i have a monimoto 7 and a data tag on my motorbikes, they are great for a static item but will be triggered by boat movement 😏, im gonna look around at Crick for any ideas for boats 🤔
Good vid. On a cloudy wintery day would it heat the tank and what sort of time and size is the tank please? 👍
Not on a cloudy day it won't, on a sunny day about 4 to 5 hours for a 55L tank
@@welldeckdiaries5610 cheers. 👍
What heck do you mean? "Even Deb managed to grasp some of it?" Mark! how rude! I really like you, but get a clue!
From a non expert, would it be better to install a 12v 500amp water heater element as I believe they have less resistance ...?? great vid and thanks.
Mark, that is one of your best.. ❤️ no seriously all your videos are great but this one was so well put together and so informative and put so simply! Maybe one day we’ll up our solar system and follow your instructions! Nothing like seeing something actually work after all the effort.. well done you and keep them coming!
Debs you look amazing, so glad you are back to your smiley, happy, laughy self 🤗🤗❤️❤️ now off you go and have a right nice pint and a gin for Deb-or-ah ❤️❤️ xx
Thank you
Thanks Becca, its one ive had planned for a while but only just got round to doing it. Debbie is doing great.
Enjoy your drinks 🍺🍸
Ah, no Mark, when you say it won't work in winter ... indeed it will work in the winter, just depends on how much amperage you need to keep batteries charged, and then use the extra to heat water ... or heat the cabin ... or power the internet ... etc. And then there are options like purchasing stand-alone Jackery batteries to supplement these systems. They can be recharged on sunny days, etc.
Mark and Deb, great to see you both in good health and Deb a Refua Shlema (A complete Healing) from the fall and cancer. In Israel we use a electric water heater plus a water solar panel. If you add a water solar panel all of the suns energy heats the water and it circulates by drawing colder water at the bottom of the panel and when it heats it expands and forces the hot water out of the top so you don't need a water pump. The blacked out water panel has copper piping inside and the water boils under full sun. I have an eighty gallon tank and after three hours in full sun it heats all of it to boiling. Great for showering up to four people or one woman who loves long hot showers, LOL. There is more than one way to heat water with the sun but a solar water heater doesn't use any electricity and could supplement your existing system by using all of the suns energy to give you hot water from first light till dusk. Love the install and wiring, great job mate.
I am familiar with these systems and have seen a couple of wide beam boats with those type of hot water solar panels fitted👍
Where did you get the programmable voltage sensing relay from ?
Bimble solar
@@welldeckdiaries5610 thank you
Oh no not them again!
Seriously though thank you for this video.
Hi another good vlog just thought I might say that friends of mine have been doing this for years but they use specially made multi element 12v immersion heaters and theirs work all year round but they also use wind turbines as well as massive amounts of solar
A dual element is another way also a big solar array helps
Hi Mark any chance you could fit a outside light for us 🤣🤣💙
😂🤣 Thats a bit to technical
@@welldeckdiaries5610 🤣🤣🤣
When you said about the 230v terminals needing to be insulated and covered and made safe I laughed so hard all my are exposed 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 mb mb ⚡, seems like most charge controllers could do the job of that voltage sensor ya got there
Deb you look amazing that long slog is over start living again . We did the solar hot water thing last year brilliant eh. Keep the blogs coming XX
Thanks so much.
Great to hear others have done the solar dump
If you had put a dump load solenoid on the system it would be automatic!?
There's a VSR (voltage sensing relay) which switches it on and off automatically at pre set voltages
I've got the programmable relay, with it was supplied a heavy duty solenoid,
Do you have an adequate size insulated storage tank for hot water? If so, what size?
Yes we do. I believe its 75 Litres
If anyone plans to run an immersion heater off an inverter get a dc rated one for the applicable voltage instead so more if the energy goes into the water
If you have space for extra tanks you could heat that water to later use the heat the cabin air. Just a thought but may not be worth the cost.
Hi guys, we sell a product that in a single easy to intall box does all of this!
It is marvelous to see Deb looking so well. Prayers answered. 💕
We love your "How I do it" videos. Thanks for the effort it took to share this. Well done!
Bill and Alice in Idaho USA.
Thanks so much You pair ❤️
Wow, I’m impressed. Excellent tutorial. Thank you for sharing. Time to hit the showers 🧼
Thanks for watching
Mark, I'm so impressed with all the details and work you put into the solar dump. I have to admit however and I'm afraid you will think less of me haha but most of what you said was gibberish to me. But as I said very impressive.
And why shouldn't you have all the mod cons whilst cruising? All the best to you both. Stephen x
I was hoping that even you would have understood Stephen 🤣😂
@@welldeckdiaries5610 what I did understand was that it worked and that's good enough. I'm one of those who would have to get a professional to install it. My mobility scooter stopped working the other day and I had to call someone out. I wish I was more like you, it would have saved me a fortune over the years.
Great explanation! Nice to see a green energy project. Enjoy those warm showers!👍✌️😊🙏🏼🛠🛠
Thank you! Will do!
How do you control the over heating of the hot water tank? Manual monitoring of the temp?
The immersion heater has its own thermostat set to 65 deg C
@@welldeckdiaries5610 ok that makes sense
Well Deck Diaries Is there any reason why you couldn't set the thermostat higher, utilising even more excess solar? For safety the outgoing water from the tank could go through a thermostatic mixing valve to reduce it down to a safer temperature. A small tank of 95 degree water would give you a fairly substantial increase in useable hot water without necessitating a larger tank.
Very informative, just the subject we needed, thank you.
Debs you're looking so well, big hugs for you 🤗 💜
Thanks so much
I hope Deb is healing well after her fall. Safe travels
She's had an X-ray today and all is well 👍
Great idea and I would love to do this on our sailing boat as we have 1.2kw of solar. We are a 24v house bank of 440ah.
However one thing I didn’t get from your video is how you get the remaining power from the solar panels to heat the element in the hot water tank, as the output from our solar regulator is 24v but the immersion heater element is 230v??? Are you just using you normal boat inverter?
I have just installed a new Quick B3-40 hot water tank that has a 1200w element. Our old tank had a 500w element, and I was planning to buy a 500w element to swap them out. However that is better to heat off solar and our inverter (3kw) but then much slower when on shore power or running the generator. Your idea is great as it seems to give the best of both worlds….
500w element for inverter/solar water heating, yet then also the option of 1200w for mains or generator power to heat the water. This would mean I’d run the generator for half toe time to get a tank of hot water.
Fantastic
Thanks a million
I will never say, "Oh no, not them again! Absolutely love watching you guys and seeing what you're up to. I also bought a 720 wash Eco Egg and am very happy with the results, although I must admit I do add a little bit of liquid detergent for heavily soiled wash loads. I use white vinegar instead of softener - it works great and helps maintain colour. Loved the solar info - very well done and informative. Happy cruising and Keep safe.
Thanks, we're loving the eco egg too, we haven't added detergent but a bit of fabric softener just to cut down on the ironing, any heavy soiled items pre treat the area and this has been working great.
We got our daughter on too, so that will be the ultimate test with 3 active boys under 11
Can’t help but feel happy to see Deb looking happy and radiant! Bet Mark is over the 🌙 with happy Deb! It is great to see you both bubbly and smiling! The vlog is a bit too technical for me🛠🪛🔧. However great seeing Mark explaining the details. Stay radiant and happy 😃🌞🌚 always!
Thanks ❤️
How will it work in winter
It won't
Could you not just use the virtual load output of your solar controller to drive a relay?
I have the same as yours and you can set upper and lower voltage.
Wow.... what a brainy chap you have Debs!! Brilliant informative vlog, explained really well to both of us!! Thanks for filming this. Really helpful. Xx
Glad it was informative
Very useful for summer time hot water, I'll be looking into this. Thanks and it's great to see Deb's look so well and happy xx
Cheers Alex
is the currant rating of the switch ok??
Yes
@@welldeckdiaries5610 cool had to sort a light once, two 120 w dimmers with 5 50w halogens on each. the owner complained the switch got hot lol
What a good idea free hot water in the summer, great vlog, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it
very interesting
Glad you think so!
Love you guys, always so positive. ;¬)
Thanks 👍
I'm going to to subscribe just for that opening 😘
Good to see you both looking so well. Does the immersion have a thermostat so it doesnt get to hot?
Yes it does. Set to 65 Deg C
Really enjoyed the video and very informative. This was something that breezed through me brain about five years ago but didn’t really follow it up to any great extent but your video have got the grey matter ticking over furiously. I’ve asked to join the 12V group but I’ve not heard anything back yet. My major query is that we have a 230V immersion heater so would the solar dump require that I change the heater coil to 12V? I see in your video the clever selector switch to change from 230V to 12V - how does this work requiring two different power sauces? I would be very great full for response.
Make sure it the right group as there are 2.
you want "the 12 volts boating group" volts with an s, the other group has no s on the volt.
Every thing stays 230v as I only have a 230v immersion, the selector switches it to change from normal 230v to solar dump, still 230v but going through the VSR and variable load controller which enables me to dial the 1000w immersion down to to 600w
Nice vid. Thinking of doing the same project. Well explained by your good selves. Thank you.
Thanks 🙏
Very interesting, I have a good system too and would easily take a dump in the summer. In fact I use a kettle when the batteries are full and a microwave. I’ll find the group you mentioned on FB.
Glad you enjoyed it
Hi, I’m not very good at expressing complicated issues in text. My experience with solar is not the same as yours. When my batteries are fully charged ANY load on the system will cause micro cycling. This is regardless if the load is above or below the incoming solar energy. The controller charges to 100% and stops, then loads reduce the battery voltage to a programmed state and the charger turns on again ( also powering the loads ) till 100% charge…and cyclical dance continues. I think the best system would “isolate” the batteries, redirect the solar panel output away from the controllers and dump the power into a DC water heating element. The dc element needs no regulation or cloud/sag protection. Also it completely spares ones controllers and inverters from high amp usage, along with saving battery longevity . At any rate you video is very useful for me. I humbly thank you for it and consider everything I learn essential.. thx !
Update: I’ve installed a 360 watt 72 / 12 volt step down regulator BEFORE the solar controller panel input. The device is turned on via a solid state relay as the device has and “ignition on” function. I control the SSR with a esp-8266 remotely. When the device is on solar panel power is consumed and charge amperage is reduced ( as the battery is already 100 % charged ). Last task is to automate this action via node red. What a journey…