I don't have a black water tank (just a cartridge toilet), so I have no idea from personal experience, but an ultrasonic sensor might be smart for that one. Also, KUS makes the SHS series for this purpose, that has the float inside a protected tube. Zero experience with it myself, but one of those two options would be what I'd look at. Let us know how the sensor installation goes!Rob, I meant to ask you before. For the black tank do you have any issues with paper or "anything else" hanging on to the float whereby making it sink or hang up giving false readings?
Glad to hear the install went smooth. It definitely needs to be on the resistance side. I'd recommend calibrating it when it's actually full and actually empty. I think mine is around 37 ohms full and 235 ohms empty (from memory). Make sure you aren't flip-flopping empty and full! Also, the interface was a little wonky when trying to set the calibration points, it took a few tries.Rob, I got the sensors today and I couldn't wait to get it done. After a few hundred "@#$#^$%* *&s" and "#wx5trrk6gis" I finally got her done. The SHS sensor on the black tank worked like a charm. I filled it and watch the Pico as it went up and emptied it. The KUS sensor is giving me an issue. I filled the tank about half (i think) but it said 100%. The instructions for the sensor said "electrical" so I changed it to the voltage side of my ST107 and changed the settings on the Pico. Still not right and it got dark I figured I'll hit it again tomorrow. I wanted to ask you which side did you use voltage or ohms. Also what did you use as your calibration points 240-33? Thanks.
Rob, I installed the sensors and they are working great. Thanks for the advice.Glad to hear the install went smooth. It definitely needs to be on the resistance side. I'd recommend calibrating it when it's actually full and actually empty. I think mine is around 37 ohms full and 235 ohms empty (from memory). Make sure you aren't flip-flopping empty and full! Also, the interface was a little wonky when trying to set the calibration points, it took a few tries.
If you'er still having trouble, post the actual resistance (ohm) measurements when empty and full and we can hopefully figure out what's happenin'.
Rob
That's funny. So for SLAs like AGMs, the faster you draw current (higher amp discharge rates), the battery becomes less efficient. So typically the number you see advertised for an AGM is the C20, which is the capacity if the battery were drawn down from 100% to 0% in 20 hours. But if you draw it down faster, like over 10, 5 or 1 hours, the capacity decreases due to increasing inefficiency. My Fullriver 115 Ah AGMs have a C20 of 115 Ah, C10 of 104 Ah and a C5 of 91 Ah - so it's a pretty significant decline as discharge current goes up. The Pico (and every SoC monitor) has to compensate for how fast the discharge happens at different times (not just how much discharge total) to properly estimate remaining capacity. This effect is formalized as Peukert's law, if you google it you can see an actual calculation that may be the basis for the algorithm that SoC monitors use internally.Rob, I installed the sensors and they are working great. Thanks for the advice.
Now I'm working a different issue. I'm using a 260AH lithium battery but I can't find the C20/C10/C5 numbers the system requires. When I'm programing the system I get a whole range of % remaining and time remaining. I talked to the battery MFR (Greenlife) and they gave me one number, 1C. The rep said that is the only C rating for their batteries. Now I'm stumped.
You can do it either way, in the setup on the Pico you reverse it (in software settings)... I wired the shunts both ways, depending on which had cleaner/shorter wiring.In the manual it shows the the consumer going to the "out" side of the SCQ25 and the "in" goes to/from the battery.Is that right? It seems backwards to me.
While installing the Pico I redid some cabling; bought some bulk welding cable and a hydraulic crimper. Wired up 2 AWG to the inverter, 4 AWG to the rear and front sub panels and 6 AWG from the MPPT controller. The 4x 25 amp shunts on the SCQ25T module are nice, they can go up to 35A for 1 minute or 50A for 5 seconds, and can be run in parallel to double the rating if needed. In hindsight I wish I had paid a little extra for a ST107 and a SCQ25 to separate the quad shunt shunt module from the tank and temp module, as it was a pain to fit everything in such a small spot while I spent hours wedged under the bed in an awkward position, but I'm happy with how it came out.
Wired up the 0-90 ohm Rochester TS011 that's on the frame mount manchester 7 gallon LPG tank, and it was super simple to program, and works like a charm.
The KUS USA SSS 240-33 ohm level sensor was also a quick install onto the 16 gallon freshwater tank, just had to run to the hardware store for some nice self tapping screws, no silicone needed, and programming it into the Pico required just two calibration points (enter the level and corresponding ohms, it calculates the curve).
Attaching some pics, I'll try to get some better pics, the iPhone doesn't do so hot in low light.
Rob
I'm learning as I go! The KUS is stainless and rated for drinking water... we've been using it and we're still reasonably healthy and definitely alive It is a Chinese company, so a bit of a trust-me situation, if you were really concerned about that you probably can't go wrong with an ultrasonic sensor instead, but that probably bordering on paranoia. I personally wouldn't use the no-name asian imported senders in my drinking water, but they are probably identical to the KUS ones. So far the KUS has been working great!rob is this kus sensor ok to be in drinking water reserves? im considering going your pico route.
thanks for the knowledge
Yes, known-good quality cells are only assured from the top makers **and** a trusted supply channel.Starting to wonder if I shouldn't have gone the route of a DIY pack based on something like 4x of the CALB 200Ah LiFePO4 cells with a simple 200a BMS or so, for more capacity, better rates, more durable cells for less money.