These look interesting to use with solar/battery power:
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Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about them, or buying
from AliExpress?
I won't be bouncing it down rough trails, although the car is 4WD and
has a 12V outlet in the back for a powered cooler.
-jsw
I bought one thing through AliExpress. They acted like a broker, and
did not release the funds to the seller until I said it was ok. That
was several years ago.
I'd find another distributor who doesn't go through DHL if I were you.
Some shippers gouge the spit outta ya while others don't. I strongly
suspect the overseas shippers of taking baksheesh.
Through Foshan Alpicool on Alibaba:
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Maybe call
to see if they can set up shipping. $79-240.
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Here's a brand new (smaller) C15 for $268
delivered.
I have purchased from 4 vendors through AliExpress and have had zero
problems. Shipping can be as short as one week or as long as seven.
Sounds cool.
I forgot to tell you that I talked with my friend Phil and his
experience had been entirely positive with the compressor type. He
inherited one from his FIL and it's still working for him 9 years
later, so it's likely 12+ years old. He set it to freeze (it's one of
the fridge or freezer types) and he says it stays at zero on 120vac or
13.5vdc. Also, most of the truckers he knows have had horrible luck
with the peltier types, with few opting for the compressor style.
Those all had positive reviews, too, regardless of the brand. Phil
also said to look at the propane/12v style of RV fridges, which are
spendy but reliable. I had forgotten they lived in SoCal for 3 months
in their 5th wheel while the truck was repaired after a freeway
accident.
Credit card I think. Its been a long time. I do not think they process
PayPal. Or atleast not back then. No real issues. Just took a couple
weeks to get my item.
I bought several small things four or five years ago and had the same
experience. Small enough to come in US mail in a padded envelope. I
think they were alibaba back then. Everything was satisfactory and as
described.
I have bought a number of small things from vendors on AliExpress. Usually
anything you find on Ebay will also be available via Alli at a lower price
. Not always true, but generally so. Have two things coming now. One is
a flashlight, and the other is some security screwdriver bits.
Dan
If I can't find an AC/DC powered compact refrigerator priced as
reasonably as the AC-only ones I may be able to make the fridge
thermostat turn the inverter on and off. The real issue is the APC1400
UPS inverter's 1.5A idle current, which consumes more battery capacity
than the fridge does.
My present simple answer is add more batteries and let the APC and
fridge operate the way they were designed to. That's looking like it
might be the safest and lowest cost solution too. The APC's default
float voltage setting for sealed batteries also works for flooded deep
cycle ones. It's below the hydrogen generation level though they
recharge rather slowly.
The fridge power cord could connect to the center contacts of a DPDT
relay so that the NC side senses thermostat closure and the NO side
applies 120VAC. I already have a clip-on current transformer to sense
when the fridge turns off.
The APC1400 can be turned on or off by serial port commands, except
that it refuses ("NO") to turn on without AC present. Startup on
battery is an abnormal condition that requires pressing and holding
the On button until the buzzer sounds. I could probably wire to the
switch and buzzer to do that with an Arduino controller if simpler,
less intrusive methods fail.
Internet comments suggest that the non-standard serial port pins also
have control and status functions that might be useful, though battery
24V appears on one of them and a slip could destroy the unit. APC
doesn't document the functions, which I suspect are for production
line testing rather than some user accessory they sell.
Yesterday I received this DB9 breakout adapter to probe or make safer,
better insulated temporary connections to the port pins. It might be
useful for tinkering with CNC controllers too.
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Despite all the proclaimed concern about CO2 and alternate/renewable
energy it doesn't seem like many people are DOING anything about them.
-jsw
Your fridge takes less than 20w?
It's time for all of us to upgrade to LIPO (or better), huh? LA is
just not worth the effort and hassle. But 14kW goes for $6200
installed. I hope that price drops dramatically when the Giga Factory
opens and gets up to speed, or when new tech hits the markets. My
single kilowatt will likely not be enough to satiate it, though.
OK.
I'm guessing that you want to retain the computer control rather than
just hotwirin' logic to the SOB?
Has APC released pinout info?
Not a bad price, I guess. ($1.93 direct from China, 6wk dlvy time)
DB9, wow. I remember waaay back when computers came with those! ;)
Yeah, I've noticed that, too. 12v products are few and far between
while being ghastly expensive. Ditto point-of-use inverters.
For now, going 100% solar is really expensive and far too many places
either won't let you on the grid, won't let you put up solar, or they
REQUIRE you to be on grid with your panels. It's a mess.
The sun just came out and the glare is horrible, what with all that
snow out there. About 5" came down overnight and this morning. It's
up to 35F so it should be gone soon. The storm should reach you by
early next week. And if it snows here, you know it's going to be much
heavier elsewhere. G'luck.
It draws 80W but not continuously. The average is close to 20W
although it depends too strongly on room temperature and how much I
open the door to give one definitive answer. On the last 12 hour run
the fridge used 230 Watt-Hours overnight, after supper to before
breakfast, while room temp fell from 60F to 55F. The APC which was on
wall power used 695W-h, 465 for itself plus the 230 to the fridge. It
appears to draw the same ~40W idle power whether on 120V or 24V.
There had been several short power dropouts and I ran the fridge from
the APC UPS overnight as a precaution, not a careful test.
Flooded lead-acid easily beats everything else for initial cost per
KWH and if treated right competes well on lifespan. I don't see the
life from older Li laptop batteries that I can get from LAs.
Here is an example of a salvaged EV Lithium that's 4x the cost of a
12V 105A-h SLI31MDC
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Whatever works. I have a lot of experience designing industrial relay
and digital logic control hardware, and writing control software.
Alternate energy is great to impose on others, as long as you don't
have to put up with the inconvenience of it yourself.
-jsw
"Anywhere where weight is an issue, Li+ may be the best choice, but
for stationary solar systems, they are still about double the total
cost per kWh of lead acid batteries like the HUP Solar One."
241043_32842967793.html
I have bought a couple hundred things through Ali. Been ripped off a few ti
mes, and gotten meh stuff a couple more, but mostly okay to great value if
you can wait or are willing to shell out for courier + brokerage. Buying do
mestically in China I have had even better experiences Ali sellers know wit
h an international transaction it will be prohibitively expensive for you t
o ship it back.
Also domestic shipping in China is super fast and cheap. The courier phones
you when they are close and if you don't answer (in *very* rapid Chinese,
of course) they don't attempt delivery.
I don't think I would buy that particular item on Ali- I would look for the
same item shipped from a local-ish seller.
I have bought a couple hundred things through Ali. Been ripped off a
few times, and gotten meh stuff a couple more, but mostly okay to
great value if you can wait or are willing to shell out for courier +
brokerage. Buying domestically in China I have had even better
experiences Ali sellers know with an international transaction it will
be prohibitively expensive for you to ship it back.
Also domestic shipping in China is super fast and cheap. The courier
phones you when they are close and if you don't answer (in *very*
rapid Chinese, of course) they don't attempt delivery.
I don't think I would buy that particular item on Ali- I would look
for the same item shipped from a local-ish seller.
==========================
Thanks.
Amazon lists only the 15 and 20 liter Alpicool models. I made a
foamcore model of the 20 liter one and have been experimenting with
filling it with emptied frozen food boxes and storing it various
places in the car and kitchen. It can hold 6 days of frozen breakfast,
lunch and dinner, probably several more if I pack my home cooking in
zipper bags.
Although I wouldn't mind having a larger unit that Ali offers I just
ordered the C20, due March 1 or 2 with free shipping. That's pretty
local-ish.
It won't automatically switch from AC to DC if the power fails like
the $700 Whynter, but I should be able to run it from a battery with a
float charger to get the same result.
-jsw
Yeah, those things are always warm, even if the computer is asleep or
off. (feels TrippLite Internet Office UPS) Hmm, this one isn't. My
APCs and CyberPowers were always 90F+.
Your (and probably my) definition of lifetime is likely considerably
looser than that of others, who would consider a battery producing
only 70% of new capacity to be a throw-away item.
A "new" battery from 2015 Chevy Volt? Yes, expensive.
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Trojan T105RE (made for solar/wind) are about
$200/ea (6v) but are 225Ah, same relative cost as that lithium.
Ayup.
Some are volunteering to pay more to the electric company for power
which is supposedly produced with alternative energy supplies. Wind,
solar, geothermal, biomass (which burns something/adds to warming. I
still don't get why the alarmists go with that.)
Done right, it's almost invisible rather than inconvenient.
I ordered the Alpicool C20 for $239. It's small and light enough to
use in the car, big enough to hold 6 days of breakfast, lunch and
supper. Hopefully it can run all night on the jumpstarter type sealed
battery pack I've been using with an inefficient thermoelectric cooler
in the car.
Maybe the combination can serve as a fridge with UPS, as long as the
jumpstarter's charger can keep up without overcharging the battery.
That's easy to test with my datalogging setup.
If the built-in charger doesn't work out I have an HF 99857 1.5A 3
stage onboard charger to dedicate to the task. I don't leave my home
made devices running unattended overnight.
Sorry, the HF 99857 is "Not available for shipment to CA and OR."
I knew how much current the truck starter needed and could measure how
much the battery delivered. When it got close I traded.
That's $200 for 1.35KWH versus $120 for 1.26KWH from a 12V 105Ah
SLI31MDC. I looked at 6V deep cycle batteries and AGMs before buying
more SLI31s last month. The initial cost for 24V is $800 for the 6V
batteries, $240 for the 12V ones. Perhaps the T105 makes sense for
daily cycling but I can't justify them for a backup system where the
smaller batteries are adequate. They may see only a dozen cycles,
mostly for capacity testing, before dying of old age.
This winter we have had many near misses from ice storms. It rains and
freezes but the buildup hasn't been heavy enough to bring down trees
or wires. Another chance is predicted for tomorrow.
The SLI31MDC I bought around 2007 or 2008 to run a winch is noticeably
weakening.
If you know how, please share it. Most of my industrial battery
experience was tending to the needs of Lithiums.
-jsw
Yeeouch on the price. Aren't those jumpstarters a 1.3Ah battery
coupled with a capacitor? I mounted a 48w (Sears/China watts; actual
draw 27w) on a 12v 1.3Ah battery and it's a helluva flashlight. One
of these days, I'll have to test the lifetime. It makes a great
worklight.
Let me know the startup and running current draws when you received
it. Very curious here. I've never seen a 12/24vdc compressor.
That's extremely funny, considering the import point is Long Beach,
CA. I wonder what inherent evil they house to require them to be
warded from the Republik of Kalifornia and mostly-red Blue state of
Oregon.
I believe you. (slowly shakes head) ;)
The better batteries have a lot more lead in them and their lifetime
is extended (barring massive sulfation). In your case, the cost
probably isn't warranted, as you say. The price is easily justified
for someone with a chest freezer full of meat.
That's an amazing lifetime for a DCLA. Most are rated for 3 years.
Many solar owners I've talked with spray off their panels (in the cool
of the morning) and check/fill batteries twice a year. Others spend
time optimizing the spit out of them, so it depends on the mindset.
I thought BMSes did all the hard work on lithiums. According to Kim
on LoveTesla and Richard on fullychargedshow (YT), the Powerwalls are
plug and forget.
I use paypal to pay for all china direct purchases.Several years ago I
bought something on a Friday and paid for it with a visa card. On
Monday the visa card people called me about the motorcycle someone was
trying to buy in Sanfrancisco with my credit card.
It's in the midrange for mini and compact refrigerators. I asked about
Ali because the C20 is the largest Amazon offers.
An unpowered, you-add-ice Yeti cooler of the same capacity costs $200.
This one holds two 12V 18Ah AGMs.
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Are you still allowed to have fire or sharp-edged rocks?
Because they will die if left uncharged that long. The auto stores
here try to recharge their stock after 18 months, or unload them at a
good discount. Unfortunately they never have what I can use.
Plug and ignore, because they are maintenance-proof.
I saw the BMS data logs from some field-return Lithium packs show as
much as 20% capacity loss in under a year.
-jsw
Amazing. Century seems to make pretty good items.
I don't think so. Also, we (like CA) give lowest in-state pricing to
known illegal aliens who wish to go to our colleges, and we register
everyone (on visas/expired visas/illegals) to register to vote, too.
God help us. We truly -have- to dump the Brown stain in Salem this
next term.
No, I meant that nearly every article or guide I've read--about using
marine deep cycle batteries for solar--says that their lifetime, being
charged daily, is usually only 3 years. Rolls-Surrette and Trojan are
good for about a decade. I'm not sure about the new RE-rated batts.
I was looking harder at the specs and pictures on the Tesla website
yesterday and discovered that Powerwalls have built-in inverters.
That's horrible! Tesla or Segway? What percentage of them? Same
formula as current lithium ions? LI or LIPO4 (which I've heard horror
stories about)?
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