Retreat Design Part 4: Adding a battery bank to an existing Auto-start Generator

[dangledog]

That is an awesome system!

[dsarti1]

why would you use partical bord in the basement and not 3/4 in fire board for fire proofing? Looks like flamables are stored in that basement

[Timisso1337]

I'll be chillin' in the stone age. :/

[Alpineprepper]

I wish I was a millionaire...

[MrWafflesMonster]

Can you run the diesel generator with bio-fuel?

[FrontCortex]

Man I wish you lived next door to me! Awesome Work, Exciting!

[jbhelix108]

Do you experience much voltage drop from your solar panel to the charge controller?

[SuperOffgrid]

@jbhelix108 I have a solar system, off grid like this one, except no utility power. My solar panels are wired in series, provide a load voltage of approx. 78 volts at 600 watts.  The high voltage keeps current low on the d.c. line from panels to charge controller, charge controller steps voltage down to 24 volts for batteries. Low current from solar panels keeps line loss down. I'm using #8 copper line for this run.

[ssdwellah]

2 people disliked this because they work for Exxon Mobil

[kalif151byccrew]

how could 2 people possibly dislike this video. this troll crap is getting out of hand. 775 you honestly have inspired me to hit the books and relearn allot of stuff I thought was useless back in the day. Bravo 775!

[ChrisPCrunchy]

When will you get to the important stuff in prepping. Like prepper homebrew or home moonshine stills?

[engineer775]

@ChrisPCrunchy Ironhead41 has got that covered! : )

[AppalachianFreedom]

Top-Notch! Thank you for sharing Sir!

[autobahn101driversed]

Lovely set up! Great idea for those of us who are considering back-up power!

[sappha58]

I've been thinking lately that it might be more efficient to convert the house to 12v - like an RV is - than it would be to run an inverter. There are stoves and refrigerators and televisions and radios all made for RVs. Use LED lighting. Then you're not hitting your generation capacity as hard. What do folks think of this idea?

[NzMaze]

@sappha58 great idea, alot of the good quality 12v systems ie fridge/freezer are alot more efficent in there designs than conventional 120v Usa or 240volt Australia. Their insulation is also alot thicker which prevents loss of cold better. Not sure about stoves but ive heard of a few dairy farmers in New Zealand running methane wells to run the farms. Alot of methane in NZ land as its is volcanic active area

[voices01]

Even though I may not fully understand all of what you're doing, I really do appreciate you posting these types of videos. Thanks!

[SturmKorps]

You talked about EMPs in your conference, what if? Is your grid protected?

[wpkxr99]

Cant add a recepticle inside the gen because of ground loop violations. :)

[wyattoneable]

Nice set up. 

[kphifer1]

Would YOU mind...

[kphifer1]

Would I mind coming 2 my house and doing a little prepping on it?

[ferebeescott211]

In your opinon which style of alternative energy is more cost affective ... solar or wind? I'm sure you've been asked that question before but I've never heard of an advantage of one vs another.

[honeybees1]

I'd love to see something on Enphase micro inverters and see youR wind TURBINE.

[engineer775]

@honeybees1 I have a video up where we took an Enphase system and added an battery backup up. We treated the AC from the Enphase like a backup generator and added a transfer switch. My focus is on battery backup systems so we don;t see a lot of enphase as that is not the way to go for backup systems.

[engineer775]

@honeybees1 I will be posting a wind video soon.

[OBXSOLWIND]

Very Nice my Friend. That setup is a lot like mine. Keeping your generator off is the key. If you are looking for block heaters HOT START is a great source for diesel block heaters.

[engineer775]

@OBXSOLWIND Thanks for the lead. I am checking it out now. I was just going to go to NAPA and buy one! I should have check with you first! Thanks!

[Chris1760]

Thats really nice but that gen had to cost a mint

[engineer775]

@Chris1760 It was 15k. A lot but not for that genset. It was a left over ARMY spec'd genset that if I bought something comparable it wouls be at least 20K.

[mdr8088]

I'd love to see your designs for a Faraday cage, if I spelled that right. I've seen mylar and tinfoil used, but have no idea if it would work. Great Vid!

[engineer775]

@mdr8088 My approach is simple - $25.00 Galvanized trash cans from Lowes lined with cardboard. There are many high tech solutions but I will not share until they have been tested or meet some reliable military spec.

[CTOL1]

Great info and highly inspirational! I'd love to be able to do this line of work

[engineer775]

@CTOL1 After you do a few it starts to click! Thanks for watching!

[BigBosley]

Good stuff.

[engineer775]

@BigBosley Appreciate it!

[Iam1uglyguy]

NIce Set up!

[engineer775]

@Iam1uglyguy Thank you kind sir!