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PL 700 Pro Build
- Thread starter George S.
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Im using a 24 volt maximum point power tracker unit which Produces 230 volts from an array of 100ah deep cycle batteries. I charge it during the day when the sun is shining, but I manually control it and use charge power from the mains socket. The house has a 5kw solar system and separate fronius inverter. It produces up to 43kw per day in the summer.
I can hook up solar panels to the mppt if I wish, and you can tell it to prioritise charging from solar, the mains or a combination of both.
I like using battery power for listening, its the cleanest power feed. Although the voltage is lowered from 240 to 230, no big deal. I tend not to run the amp hard from the batteries anyway. Rarely do I push it, my speaks wont take that much power.
I can hook up solar panels to the mppt if I wish, and you can tell it to prioritise charging from solar, the mains or a combination of both.
I like using battery power for listening, its the cleanest power feed. Although the voltage is lowered from 240 to 230, no big deal. I tend not to run the amp hard from the batteries anyway. Rarely do I push it, my speaks wont take that much power.
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I initially had 6x 100ah deep cycle batteries, but 2 of them aged faster than the others, possibly due to over charging and the limits of having the batteries in an array, they can't be individually managed during charging. The 6x batteries ran the whole house including lights, fridge, stereo and computer during the night for a couple of years, and I would charge them during the day. I was using less power at night (which costs because the sun isn't shining on the house solar panels). Now I run the 4 which are still healthy (but old). Its enough to run the stereo and tv for about 6-8 hours, but not the PC anymore.
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A work colleague had an argument with the power company and went off grid for about 1 year, he had a whole room dedicated to batteries and any other equipment required to run the house (generators etc). Even modified the wiring in the house he was renting. I was offered the unit cheap including the cables, so I bought it and then saved for batteries. Not only is it handy for power failures (rare in these parts) but good for when an electrical storm hits and you want to isolate your gear from the mains.
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Nice thought, but I have bigger electrical issues I need to deal with first. Like a additional 100 amp sub panel in the garage to power welders and air compressors, and additional 20 amp dedicated outlets to power the sound system. I need to get busy this next summer and find the wire and do it. Big issue is the power meter is at the other end of the fairly large house from the garage. Will eventually get to it.
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derek92994,
Years ago (as in pre-solar panel era) there was a gentleman who wrote extensively about how he chased the dream of a sound system that had the best dynamic range possible. Sure, he had the loud end covered with plenty of quality throw-weight (thinking K-horn or Infinity Beta-level air moving capability) ...but what really intrigued me was the effort he put into a quiet listening room + quiet (clean) power feeding into his system.
It all started with his preamp - after extensive listening tests, comparing the sound of it plugged into the normal 120v AC wall outlet vs. running it off a bank of automotive batteries (for the preamp I wanna say he configured it with (2) +12v car batteries in series for +/-24 vdc into the preamp) ...the sound out of the preamp was demonstrably better when on the isolated DC power. (Primarily due to the lower noise floor.)
It seems that during the day at work he would recharge the batteries off of the grid, and then when it time to do his pleasure listening, he would disconnect the charger from his bank of batteries & power his pre-amp thusly. Storage capacity wasn't a problem, he could go several days between recharging...but given his focus, somehow I don't think he suffered from a sloppy recharging schedule. :0)
****
Unfortunately I lost track of this guy during all the excitement post 9-11. (Rejoining my unit & then generating aircraft was all-consuming, no time for pleasure interwebbing for about a year there. :0)
Anyway, don't know if he had put the same effort into a max-effort 'Superreg'-type power supply for his pre-amp if he couldn't have achieved the same end result...but his unconventional approach was really intriguing & thought provoking.
Apologies for the length, but your post made me think of that pioneering dude who was charging from the grid while he was at work...so that he could disconnect from the grid at night in order to have really *quiet* power for his listening sessions. Your value-added is that you are using today's technology to do this with solar power.
Very cool.
Years ago (as in pre-solar panel era) there was a gentleman who wrote extensively about how he chased the dream of a sound system that had the best dynamic range possible. Sure, he had the loud end covered with plenty of quality throw-weight (thinking K-horn or Infinity Beta-level air moving capability) ...but what really intrigued me was the effort he put into a quiet listening room + quiet (clean) power feeding into his system.
It all started with his preamp - after extensive listening tests, comparing the sound of it plugged into the normal 120v AC wall outlet vs. running it off a bank of automotive batteries (for the preamp I wanna say he configured it with (2) +12v car batteries in series for +/-24 vdc into the preamp) ...the sound out of the preamp was demonstrably better when on the isolated DC power. (Primarily due to the lower noise floor.)
It seems that during the day at work he would recharge the batteries off of the grid, and then when it time to do his pleasure listening, he would disconnect the charger from his bank of batteries & power his pre-amp thusly. Storage capacity wasn't a problem, he could go several days between recharging...but given his focus, somehow I don't think he suffered from a sloppy recharging schedule. :0)
****
Unfortunately I lost track of this guy during all the excitement post 9-11. (Rejoining my unit & then generating aircraft was all-consuming, no time for pleasure interwebbing for about a year there. :0)
Anyway, don't know if he had put the same effort into a max-effort 'Superreg'-type power supply for his pre-amp if he couldn't have achieved the same end result...but his unconventional approach was really intriguing & thought provoking.
Apologies for the length, but your post made me think of that pioneering dude who was charging from the grid while he was at work...so that he could disconnect from the grid at night in order to have really *quiet* power for his listening sessions. Your value-added is that you are using today's technology to do this with solar power.
Very cool.
Hi Darcy
You are not really running from clean battery power...It goes through multiple switch mode power based conversions to get to the 230V that you see at your outlet.
I run my computer on a big UPS that kicks in when power line blips occur but the power line is far cleaner than the AC the UPS produces. A computer is digital junk so it doesn't care since it just goes through yet another multiple set of switch mode conversions (PFC boost then down conversion) in its power supply to get down to processor voltages.
If you were really running directly on DC battery power like some preamps and phono amps do, then yes. That is not the case though. Your lights and refrigerator don't care much about their source of energy or how dirty it is as long as it is the right voltage and frequency (motors).
You are not really running from clean battery power...It goes through multiple switch mode power based conversions to get to the 230V that you see at your outlet.
I run my computer on a big UPS that kicks in when power line blips occur but the power line is far cleaner than the AC the UPS produces. A computer is digital junk so it doesn't care since it just goes through yet another multiple set of switch mode conversions (PFC boost then down conversion) in its power supply to get down to processor voltages.
If you were really running directly on DC battery power like some preamps and phono amps do, then yes. That is not the case though. Your lights and refrigerator don't care much about their source of energy or how dirty it is as long as it is the right voltage and frequency (motors).
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- Joined
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- Halfbiass...Electron Herder and Backass Woof
- Joined
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- Halfbiass...Electron Herder and Backass Woof
- Joined
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- 74,825
- Location
- Gillette, Wyo.
- Tagline
- Halfbiass...Electron Herder and Backass Woof
- Joined
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- Gillette, Wyo.
- Tagline
- Halfbiass...Electron Herder and Backass Woof