Tuesday, November 7, 2017
1994 Mustang GT TKO500 Tailshaft Leak Fix
The previous post talked about finishing up the TKO500 installation. At the end of which the tailshaft seal was leaking.
To replaced that seal I got the car back up in the air, removed the driveshaft and used a seal puller. I then put the new seal in so that it was flush with the tailshaft housing. Installed the driveshaft again and drove the car around. The seal was still leaking. The thought was that it was due to the driveshaft yoke.
I ordered a new driveshaft yoke. The part number is kind of hard to find. Lets talk about the yoke for a minute. Its a 31 spline, 4.5 inches from teh machine face to the end of the yoke. it takes 1330 style U-joints. The American Powertrain part number is DSUN-10001. Looking at the picture of the box, that part number is on it along with a Dana part number 2-3-6041x. I did some searching and found a reasonably priced new yoke on eBay and ordered that. I think I spent about 55$ shipped to my door. The yoke with the American Powertrain part number is about double the price. Newsfalsh - its the same yoke. I also ordered another new tailshaft seal - that part number is TCSJ1277.
I got the car up in the air and removed the driveshaft again. I also realized that the driveshaft bolts - socket cap bolts, were getting a little bit stripped out. Likely this was because of using a 3/8 hex instead of the correct 10mm hex. I headed to the hardware store and picked up replacement bolts. With the driveshaft out of the car, I removed the old yoke and installed the new one. I have a pretty serious Wilton machinist vice. I was able to use it like a press along with some sockets to get the U Joint out and swap the yokes. Next I headed under the car and removed the tailshaft seal with the seal puller again. this time, to install the new seal I made a seal driver. I wanted to be sure that it was seated correctly. This is when I learned that the seal should be installed with a seal driver. The last time the seal was flush with the tailshaft housing. This time the seal sat about 3/8 of an inch inboard of the tailshaft housing. Likely this is what was causing the leaking.
I replaced the driveshaft along with the new driveshaft bolts. I cleaned up underneath the car and proceeded to drive it a bunch of times. The leak was fixed!
Thursday, August 10, 2017
1994 Mustang GT TKO500 Installation
I finally got around to installing the TKO500 in the 1994 Mustang GT. This was a little bit more involved than I expected it to be. Read on to see what I went through.
Removal
With the help of my buddy Frankie, we got the car up on jack stands. The removal is pretty straightforward. First, disconnect the HEGO sensors and remove the mid pipe. Then pull the driveshaft - put it in gear and emergency brake on. Remove a bolt. Take it out of gear and emergency brake off, rotate the driveshaft, put it back into gear and the emergency brake on again, remove a bolt. Repeat for all 4. Then take the driveshaft out. At this point, we moved inside the car and removed the shifter nob, then the boot, then the two bolts to remove the shifter handle. Back to under the car. Removed the clutch fork cover and used a pry bar to release the tension on the clutch cable, and removed the cable from the clutch fork. Remove the cable from the bell housing. Disconnect the speedometer plug and reverse light sensor plug. This should be all of the wiring harnesses. Next we removed the 4 bolts that bolt the trans to the bell housing. Support the trans with a jack enough to relieve the weight from the crossmember, and remove the two bolts where the crossmember bolts to the chassis. At this point the trans can be moved backwards and taken out of the car. This took about 2 hours. Next we removed all the bolts for the bell housing and removed it along with the clutch fork.
TKO Installation, Part 1
The TKO500 requires a different bell housing. It has the same 10 spline input shaft as the stock T5, which is nice. We didn't have to mess with the clutch / disk/ flywheel at all. It's basically new / fresh as of last year so I didn't even inspect it. If a new clutch is in order, now would be the time to do it with a fresh re-surface of the flywheel. Remember to put thread sealer on the flywheel bolts. Another thing to note is that the two top bell housing bolts are shorter for the 94 / 95 bell housing. We installed the bell housing and new clutch fork. Then installed the new Steeda Tri-Ax shifter on the TKO and adjusted it (no handle yet). Then hoisted the transmission up into the bell housing. It was at this point that I realized there was an issue. The work stopped here this day.
Issues!!!
The shifter handle looks like it's pointing to the passenger side A pillar. Looking at how the transmission is sitting in the tunnel - from the back of the car looking forward, it looks like it is clocked towards the passenger side of the car. Upon further inspection, the entire motor looks like it is clocked toward the passenger side of the car. It took a lot of checking and thought, but eventually I decided it had to be the motor mounts. I bought a set of used Prothane motor mounts. These are nice because they don't have that alignment 'nipple' that sits into the slot of the crossmember.
Motor Mount Install
I got the Engine crane back to my house. I used some axle tie down straps and wrapped them around two header tubes on the passenger side. I did the same thing on the drivers side. Then I used some towing shackles and attached the passenger side two loops to one side of another strap. Same thing on the drivers side. I removed the motor mount to K member nut on both sides and positioned the crane to lift from the strapping. It lifted the motor straight up. I won't get into all the details, but it was a basic remove / replace job. Take one motor mount out, put in the Prothane mount. Once the drivers side was done (this was the easy one) I moved to the passenger side, which was much more of a pain due to the starter and position, which is directly above the K member. After some time, I swapped that mount out for the Prothane. It was then that I realized that the motor mount that was on the passenger side was severely bent. I think that this motor mount came from a 'parts car' that was hit hard in the front. Anyway, those two old motor mounts went right into the trash. I used the crane and lowered the engine back down onto the K member. The engine sat perfectly level! I torqued the motor mount nuts and removed the crane and all the strapping.
TKO Installation Part 2
Back under the car, I loosened up the four bolts that connect the trans to the bell housing. I then twisted the trans towards the drivers side as much as it would go. This got the shifter to sit practically straight up. Finally! the next thing I had to address was the crossmember and spacing. I am using a stifflers cross member - configured for the TKO. There's also a TKO spacer kit that will sit between the transmission and the energy suspension transmission mount. I installed the spacer kit and was able to get the transmission to sit perfectly on the crossmember, with the crossmember bolted to the frame. The transmission is very close to the tunnel, but it works! The transmission did hit the metal part of the lower shift boot. I needed to notch the metal frame on that lower shift boot and re install it. I also glued the boot back to the metal frame where it was pulling apart. Next I connected the wiring to the trans, the cable to the clutch fork and the dust cover for the fork. I moved into the car and installed the shifter handle, shift boot, and the knob. Back under the car it was time to install the driveshaft and the driveshaft spacer that sits between the pinion flange and the driveshaft flange. Its the same dance as the removal, but this time using a torque wrench. I also bolted up the 'new to me' BBK X Pipe after swapping over the oxygen sensors. I mounted it up and plugged in the sensors.
After getting it down off of the jack stands and starting it / moving it around, I realized a few things. First was that there was a terrible exhaust leak where the mid pipe meets the header flange. I eventually fixed that with the help of a friend later. Next I noticed that the clutch pedal adjustment was way off. This was resolved by using the firewall adjuster and the maximum motorsports clutch cable spacer (MMCL-17). I fine tuned the pedal feel over the course of a few sessions driving the car. Finally, the tail shaft seal on the transmission was leaking. I did get around to replacing that seal, but it still leaks. Likely it is due to the transmission yoke. I'll either have to replace that or polish the yoke. I think replacing it would be best. I'll put up another post on the shakedown cruise!
Removal
With the help of my buddy Frankie, we got the car up on jack stands. The removal is pretty straightforward. First, disconnect the HEGO sensors and remove the mid pipe. Then pull the driveshaft - put it in gear and emergency brake on. Remove a bolt. Take it out of gear and emergency brake off, rotate the driveshaft, put it back into gear and the emergency brake on again, remove a bolt. Repeat for all 4. Then take the driveshaft out. At this point, we moved inside the car and removed the shifter nob, then the boot, then the two bolts to remove the shifter handle. Back to under the car. Removed the clutch fork cover and used a pry bar to release the tension on the clutch cable, and removed the cable from the clutch fork. Remove the cable from the bell housing. Disconnect the speedometer plug and reverse light sensor plug. This should be all of the wiring harnesses. Next we removed the 4 bolts that bolt the trans to the bell housing. Support the trans with a jack enough to relieve the weight from the crossmember, and remove the two bolts where the crossmember bolts to the chassis. At this point the trans can be moved backwards and taken out of the car. This took about 2 hours. Next we removed all the bolts for the bell housing and removed it along with the clutch fork.
TKO Installation, Part 1
The TKO500 requires a different bell housing. It has the same 10 spline input shaft as the stock T5, which is nice. We didn't have to mess with the clutch / disk/ flywheel at all. It's basically new / fresh as of last year so I didn't even inspect it. If a new clutch is in order, now would be the time to do it with a fresh re-surface of the flywheel. Remember to put thread sealer on the flywheel bolts. Another thing to note is that the two top bell housing bolts are shorter for the 94 / 95 bell housing. We installed the bell housing and new clutch fork. Then installed the new Steeda Tri-Ax shifter on the TKO and adjusted it (no handle yet). Then hoisted the transmission up into the bell housing. It was at this point that I realized there was an issue. The work stopped here this day.
Issues!!!
The shifter handle looks like it's pointing to the passenger side A pillar. Looking at how the transmission is sitting in the tunnel - from the back of the car looking forward, it looks like it is clocked towards the passenger side of the car. Upon further inspection, the entire motor looks like it is clocked toward the passenger side of the car. It took a lot of checking and thought, but eventually I decided it had to be the motor mounts. I bought a set of used Prothane motor mounts. These are nice because they don't have that alignment 'nipple' that sits into the slot of the crossmember.
Motor Mount Install
I got the Engine crane back to my house. I used some axle tie down straps and wrapped them around two header tubes on the passenger side. I did the same thing on the drivers side. Then I used some towing shackles and attached the passenger side two loops to one side of another strap. Same thing on the drivers side. I removed the motor mount to K member nut on both sides and positioned the crane to lift from the strapping. It lifted the motor straight up. I won't get into all the details, but it was a basic remove / replace job. Take one motor mount out, put in the Prothane mount. Once the drivers side was done (this was the easy one) I moved to the passenger side, which was much more of a pain due to the starter and position, which is directly above the K member. After some time, I swapped that mount out for the Prothane. It was then that I realized that the motor mount that was on the passenger side was severely bent. I think that this motor mount came from a 'parts car' that was hit hard in the front. Anyway, those two old motor mounts went right into the trash. I used the crane and lowered the engine back down onto the K member. The engine sat perfectly level! I torqued the motor mount nuts and removed the crane and all the strapping.
TKO Installation Part 2
Back under the car, I loosened up the four bolts that connect the trans to the bell housing. I then twisted the trans towards the drivers side as much as it would go. This got the shifter to sit practically straight up. Finally! the next thing I had to address was the crossmember and spacing. I am using a stifflers cross member - configured for the TKO. There's also a TKO spacer kit that will sit between the transmission and the energy suspension transmission mount. I installed the spacer kit and was able to get the transmission to sit perfectly on the crossmember, with the crossmember bolted to the frame. The transmission is very close to the tunnel, but it works! The transmission did hit the metal part of the lower shift boot. I needed to notch the metal frame on that lower shift boot and re install it. I also glued the boot back to the metal frame where it was pulling apart. Next I connected the wiring to the trans, the cable to the clutch fork and the dust cover for the fork. I moved into the car and installed the shifter handle, shift boot, and the knob. Back under the car it was time to install the driveshaft and the driveshaft spacer that sits between the pinion flange and the driveshaft flange. Its the same dance as the removal, but this time using a torque wrench. I also bolted up the 'new to me' BBK X Pipe after swapping over the oxygen sensors. I mounted it up and plugged in the sensors.
After getting it down off of the jack stands and starting it / moving it around, I realized a few things. First was that there was a terrible exhaust leak where the mid pipe meets the header flange. I eventually fixed that with the help of a friend later. Next I noticed that the clutch pedal adjustment was way off. This was resolved by using the firewall adjuster and the maximum motorsports clutch cable spacer (MMCL-17). I fine tuned the pedal feel over the course of a few sessions driving the car. Finally, the tail shaft seal on the transmission was leaking. I did get around to replacing that seal, but it still leaks. Likely it is due to the transmission yoke. I'll either have to replace that or polish the yoke. I think replacing it would be best. I'll put up another post on the shakedown cruise!
1994 Mustang GT TKO500 install - shakedown cruise
I took the 94 on a shake down cruise last night. I wanted some confidence before taking it to work tomorrow. I hit some twists and bumps on the way to the highway, everything seemed to work fine. I get on the highway, and I notice that the RPMs are higher than normal at cruising speed. typically, they are like 2200 2300 for 80 MPH. I’m seeing 2600 to 2800 at 80mph now. This seemed strange to me. Then I realized everyone was driving really slowly. So I take out my phone and open the GPS dashboard to verify speed. Turns out, its ME that is going WAY faster than everyone else. The speedometer is off by 12-16 MPH slower. That means when I saw 80 on the dash… yeah… maybe closer to 95? creeping up on 100? Good part is that it was still pretty smooth at those speeds. Another thing that I noticed is that with the urethane motor mounts and transmission mount that I feel the vibrations more. Not a bad thing, just more noticeable. Lastly, the off-road X pipe is louder. Like I could scare someone walking down the street if I downshifted and got on it next to them.
More about the exahust - When I ‘get on it’ its really loud. Cruising down the highway its VERY quiet. The difference is night and day. The gear ratios in the TKO are similar to my t5, so that is not much different. The speedometer gear needs to change. My t5 is a 1994, so it has an 8 tooth speedometer drive gear. Stock driven gear is 20 tooth. I verified that since its sitting on the garage floor. I just pulled it out and counted the teeth.
https://lmr.com/products/Mustang-Speedometer-Gear-Calculator
I used the calculator online and entered my wheel /tire info: 255/45/18 and rear end gear info: 3:31. for the T5 8 tooth drive gear it states I need a 20 tooth driven speedometer gear. Which is exactly what I have. And the Speedometer WAS very accurate with the T5.
The TKO500 uses a 7 tooth drive gear for the speedometer. So changing the calculator from 8 to 7 tooth means I need a 17 tooth driven speedometer gear, which I ordered.
Note - changing to the 17x9 wheels with 275 40 17 tires needed a different speedometer gear again. Its close, but still a few MPH off.
Torque Specs for 5.0L and Ford 8.8 Part Numbers
I often come across questions about rebuilding an 8.8 rear. I've been keeping notes on the part numbrs. I thought it would be a good idea to have them all in one place.
Here are part numbers for reference. Prices are ballpark - likely out of date:
FMS-M-1225-B outer bearings and seals - 23.00
FMS-M-4700-C cobra carbon fiber clutch posi rebuild kit - 107.00
FMS-M-4700-B standard posi rebuild kit - 69.95
FMS-M-4210-B Ford Racing Ring and Pinion Installation Kits everything but the axel seals and bearings - $82.95
FMS-M-4210-C Ford Racing Ring and Pinion Installation Kits everything - includes axel bearings and seals. 99.95
RAT-3008K Ratech Deluxe Ring and Pinion Installation Kits - evertying - includes axel bearings and seals. 109.95
Ford Racing M-4204-F288 - Ford Racing Traction-Lok Differentials 28 spline 194.75
Ford Racing M-4204-F318 - Ford Racing Traction-Lok Differentials 31 spline 259.95
Ford Racing M-4209-F308 - Ford Racing Ring and Pinion Sets - 3.08 ratio 189.69
Yukon gear solid spacer kit with shims: YGA-55040
Yukon gear super shim set (clamshell) for carrier: YGA-55002
ARP 3 inch press in wheel studs: 100-7703
Press Studs (ARP 3 inch 100-7703 24$ x 2)
Gears - 3:55 M-4209-88355 175$ New
Pinion nut M-4213-A 10 for 20$
Pinion solid spacer - 5.99$ bought two. RMG-04-0011-1 (used Yukon kit instead)
Trick Flow® Differential Bearing Cap Stud Kits TFS-85101-1 39.99$
Fluid - Redline 75w90 full synthetic, no friction modifiers. 49$ for the gallon
8.8 spherical housing bushings - 2003-88 89.99$ (2003-POLY is the polyurethane is 39.99.)
Trutrac TT70P52670 or DTL-913A561
Axles Strange p3110
Pinion flange E9SZ-4851-A or M-4851-c 40.00 eBay
Pinion Seal Timken 3604 12$
Inner / outer pinion bearing and race
pinion outer race: TIMKEN M88010 3.43
pinion outer bearing: TIMKEN M88048 5.05
pinion inner race: TIMKEN M802011 6.82
pinion inner bearing: TIMKEN M802048 9.25
differential bearing and race TIMKEN SET36 11.06 need two
Cover: Ford DR3Z-4033-B
cover vent: 4R3Z4022AA
Cover bolts
ARP 612-1250 differential cover bolts 5/16-18 1.25 stainless
ARP 651-1250 5/16"-18" x 1.250" Hex Black Bolt - bought these
Pinion nut with solid spacer 125 lb ft
main cap stud kit 100 foot pounds
Typical Gear ratios
3.08, 3.27, 3.55, 3.73, 4.10, 4.30, 4.56
https://geargambler.blogspot.com/2019/04/setting-pinion-depth.html
1350 pinion caps 45 ft/lb
==========================================================================
5.0L Torque Specs - ft/lbs unless otherwise noted.
Belhousing to engine bolts 28-38 ft/lbs
Camshaft sprocket bolt 40-45 ft/lbs
Camshaft thrust plate to engine block bolts 108-144 in/lbs
Crankshaft pulley to vibration damper bolts 35-50 ft/lbs
Cylinder head bolts
-1979-1992
--Step 1 55-65 ft/lbs
--Step 2 65-72 ft/lbs
-1993-up
--Step 1 25-35 ft/lbs
--Step 2 45-55 ft/lbs
--Step 3 75-85 ft/lbs
Differential shaft lock bolt 15-30 ft/lbs
Driveshaft U-joint to pinion flange bolts 70-95 ft/lbs
Exhaust manifold bolts 26-32 ft/lbs
Flywheel mounting bolts 75-85 ft/lbs
Front engine mount nuts 72-98 ft/lbs
Intake manifold to head bolts
--Step 1 96 in/lbs
--Step 2 16ft/lbs
--Step 3 23-25 ft/lbs
Intake manifold (upper intake to lower) 12-18 ft/lbs
Oil filter insert to engine block adapter bolt 20-30 ft/lbs
Oil pan mounting bolts
-1979
--Step 1 (Large bolts) 11-13 ft/lbs
--Step 1 (Short bolts) 7-9 ft/lbs
--Step 2 (Large Bolts) 15-17 ft/lbs
--Step 2 (Short Bolts) 10-12 ft/lbs
-1980 to 1987 9-11 ft/lbs
-1988 to 1993 6-9 ft/lbs
-1994-up 110-144 in/lbs
Oil pickup tube to main bearing cap nut 22-32 ft/lbs
Oil pickup tube to oil pump bolts
-1979 to 1987 10-15 ft/lbs
-1988-up 12-18 ft/lbs
Oil pump mounting bolts 22-32 ft/lbs
Pinion bearing preload 8-14 in/lbs
Pressure plate to flywheel bolts 12-24 ft/lbs
Rocker arm fulcrm bolts 18-25 ft/lbs
Spark plugs 7-14 ft/lbs
Timing chain cover bolts 12-18 ft/lbs
Vibration damper to crackshaft bolt 110-130 ft/lbs
Wheel lug nuts 85-105 ft/lbs
rear caliper to axle adapter plates 40-50 ft lb
differential cover bolts 25 ft lb
front and rear upper control arm bolts = 80 ft lb
front lower control arm to k-member bolts 148 ft lb
front ball joint retaining nut 129 ft lbs
LCA to axle 70-100
LCA to frame 80-105
rear Shock, Top 25-30
rear Shock bottom 45-60
Upper control Arm to axle 70-100
Upper control arm to frame 80-105
front strut to spindle 140 to 190 ft lbs
rear control arms 75 ft lbs
Thursday, June 8, 2017
2003 Terminator Upgrade - Compustar 901 Alarm
I don't post too often about the 2003 Cobra. It typically sits in the back of the garage with a car cover over it. It comes out on very nice weekends when we are taking a cruise. It has gotten a LOT more use recently since the 94GT has been on jack stands for almost two months - See the post about the TKO500 transmission install.
Before winter, the Cobra came out for a trip to Perona Farms. My wife and I were married there, and they have a Sunday brunch witch is OUTSTANDING. We go every year on our anniversary. I noticed when we got to Perona that when I armed the Viper alarm system, it didn't sound right. I unarmed it and manually locked the car. Then I forgot about it. Fast forward to a cruise to the Sawmill in Seaside Heights NJ with the NJ Venom Outlaws. The cruise was quickly approaching, and if we were going we needed to take the cobra since the 94 was still under the knife. I tested out the alarm system - rolled down the window, armed the system, and opened the door from the inside. The alarm tried to go off, but it was stuck in some fast chirp mode. I needed to unhook the battery and pull the alarm control module out of the car. This is the second time this alarm gave me trouble. First time was when the original remote failed.
I stopped by a local shop - Direct Connection in Broadheadsville PA. I spoke to the owner, Marcus. He gave me some history on Viper, which he does not deal with anymore. Understandable when he told me about their history and product lines. The shop is a dealer for Compustar alarm systems. And after reading up on their products I was certainly a fan. I called Marcus on a Tuesday with the task of getting the old alarm out and the new alarm in before the end of the day on Friday. He told me that if I could have the car at the shop first thing Friday morning, it would be done. I got the car there, and he certainly delivered! I couldn't be happier with the work he did. The system installed is the Prime 901. I won't get into the details of the remote other than it has a range of about a mile. And believe me, that statement is pretty accurate! I couldn't be happier with the service and the product!
The cruise to the shore went great. At one point I even forgot to arm the alarm and really tested out the range. It did NOT disappoint!
Before winter, the Cobra came out for a trip to Perona Farms. My wife and I were married there, and they have a Sunday brunch witch is OUTSTANDING. We go every year on our anniversary. I noticed when we got to Perona that when I armed the Viper alarm system, it didn't sound right. I unarmed it and manually locked the car. Then I forgot about it. Fast forward to a cruise to the Sawmill in Seaside Heights NJ with the NJ Venom Outlaws. The cruise was quickly approaching, and if we were going we needed to take the cobra since the 94 was still under the knife. I tested out the alarm system - rolled down the window, armed the system, and opened the door from the inside. The alarm tried to go off, but it was stuck in some fast chirp mode. I needed to unhook the battery and pull the alarm control module out of the car. This is the second time this alarm gave me trouble. First time was when the original remote failed.
I stopped by a local shop - Direct Connection in Broadheadsville PA. I spoke to the owner, Marcus. He gave me some history on Viper, which he does not deal with anymore. Understandable when he told me about their history and product lines. The shop is a dealer for Compustar alarm systems. And after reading up on their products I was certainly a fan. I called Marcus on a Tuesday with the task of getting the old alarm out and the new alarm in before the end of the day on Friday. He told me that if I could have the car at the shop first thing Friday morning, it would be done. I got the car there, and he certainly delivered! I couldn't be happier with the work he did. The system installed is the Prime 901. I won't get into the details of the remote other than it has a range of about a mile. And believe me, that statement is pretty accurate! I couldn't be happier with the service and the product!
The cruise to the shore went great. At one point I even forgot to arm the alarm and really tested out the range. It did NOT disappoint!
Using Renewable Energy: MPPT Controller, Additional Panel
A lot has happened since the last update! I have upgraded to an HQST MPPT charge controller, 40A. I figured if 30A was good, a 40A was just better. It works fantastically! More on that in a moment.
I also added a third panel when I added the MPPT charge controller. I have the panels in series, thinking I should get about 36v out of them. The thought is that the higher the voltage, the lower the voltage drop over a long run of wire. To my surprise, the panels are putting out significantly more than 12v. They are closer to 20v. I've even observed 62v at one point! While the voltage is high, the amps are still on the low side. I don't think I've ever observed 3A. These numbers are from the display on the MPPT controller.
I also drilled a 3/4 hole to get the cable into my house. This makes it super easy to prop the panels against my shed in the backyard, temporarily, until I can get a more permanent solution in place.
The ExelTECH 600W inverter is performing flawlessly. I installed a rocker switch so that I can turn it on and off. It was set up with an internal transfer switch if the power was lost. To turn it on, one of the jumpers needs to be grounded. This made it pretty easy to put a rocker switch on it. From the inverter I run an extension cord to a power strip. this power strip has a bunch of chargers on it. We have charged: iPhones, iPads, Anker 10k and 21k portable battery banks, rechargable AA and AAA batteries - basically anything that can be charged we charge via that power strip. That means that all of these devices have been on clean solar power for a few months now. The only exception we have is when we are in the car when we use the car chargers.
To date the MPPT controller says that it has output 6 Kilowatt hours. Not bad for a small off grid system!
Plans:
Wiring - I'd like to clean up the wiring a bit and make it a little nicer. I bought some new wire to run from the panels to the charge controller.
Panel Mounting - I would also like to put something a little more permanent in place rather than have the panels propped against my shed. maybe something on the shed roof?
BATTERIES - The more I research batteries, the more I realize why more people are not going off-grid. It would be great if there was some kind of inexpensive energy storage solution, but there isn't. Maybe the industry will eventually come up with something efficient and cost effective but it really doesn't exist right now. The best bet is thousands of dollars in a battery bank. And to maintain the life of the bank, only use 20% of it.
I've learned a LOT so far. I also have a decent idea in my mind of what it would take to go entirely off-grid, which is a pretty sizable price tag mostly because of the batteries. This is why Net Metering is so popular. With Net Metering, the household gets credit for every single watt of power that is produced by the panels. No batteries are needed. With an off grid system, if the batteries are charged, and the house is not using all of the electricity the panels are producing, it's essentially a waste.
I'll post more once more progress is made!
I also added a third panel when I added the MPPT charge controller. I have the panels in series, thinking I should get about 36v out of them. The thought is that the higher the voltage, the lower the voltage drop over a long run of wire. To my surprise, the panels are putting out significantly more than 12v. They are closer to 20v. I've even observed 62v at one point! While the voltage is high, the amps are still on the low side. I don't think I've ever observed 3A. These numbers are from the display on the MPPT controller.
I also drilled a 3/4 hole to get the cable into my house. This makes it super easy to prop the panels against my shed in the backyard, temporarily, until I can get a more permanent solution in place.
The ExelTECH 600W inverter is performing flawlessly. I installed a rocker switch so that I can turn it on and off. It was set up with an internal transfer switch if the power was lost. To turn it on, one of the jumpers needs to be grounded. This made it pretty easy to put a rocker switch on it. From the inverter I run an extension cord to a power strip. this power strip has a bunch of chargers on it. We have charged: iPhones, iPads, Anker 10k and 21k portable battery banks, rechargable AA and AAA batteries - basically anything that can be charged we charge via that power strip. That means that all of these devices have been on clean solar power for a few months now. The only exception we have is when we are in the car when we use the car chargers.
To date the MPPT controller says that it has output 6 Kilowatt hours. Not bad for a small off grid system!
Plans:
Wiring - I'd like to clean up the wiring a bit and make it a little nicer. I bought some new wire to run from the panels to the charge controller.
Panel Mounting - I would also like to put something a little more permanent in place rather than have the panels propped against my shed. maybe something on the shed roof?
BATTERIES - The more I research batteries, the more I realize why more people are not going off-grid. It would be great if there was some kind of inexpensive energy storage solution, but there isn't. Maybe the industry will eventually come up with something efficient and cost effective but it really doesn't exist right now. The best bet is thousands of dollars in a battery bank. And to maintain the life of the bank, only use 20% of it.
I've learned a LOT so far. I also have a decent idea in my mind of what it would take to go entirely off-grid, which is a pretty sizable price tag mostly because of the batteries. This is why Net Metering is so popular. With Net Metering, the household gets credit for every single watt of power that is produced by the panels. No batteries are needed. With an off grid system, if the batteries are charged, and the house is not using all of the electricity the panels are producing, it's essentially a waste.
I'll post more once more progress is made!
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Using Renewable Energy: The Move to 24v Part2
The move to 24v part 2.
In the first part I listed some reasons to go to 24v and the plan. The plan included an additional solar panel and a decent inverter. I picked up both and went to work.
The first thing I did was to configure the battery bank to 24v. I started with two batteries and wired them in series. Then did the same for the other two pair. This gave me, essentially, three 24v batteries. I then connected the three 24v batteries in parallel. This gave me one large bank of 24v. Here is essentially how the 6 batteries are configured:
I did some testing with my multimeter for voltage. Everything looked good! I connected the charge controller to the right most parallel positive post and the left most parallel negative post. The charge controller read the pack at 24v. This was good!
Next step was to hook up the two panels in series. The first thing I did was disconnect the positive lead going from the existing panel to the charge controller. I left the negative of the panel connected to the charge controller. I put the two panels side by side and connected the positive lead from the existing panel to the negative lead from the new panel. Then I connected the positive lead from the new panel to the charge controller. I brought the panels outside and they began charging the battery pack! While the panels were outside, I connected them with a couple hinges. This made moving them around much easier.
Now that the battery pack and panels are configured for 24v the next step is to work on the inverter. The inverter is an Exeltech 24v 600watt. It was originally used as a transfer switch. It was hooked up to AC power, an AC Load and to the battery bank. If the AC Power was lost, it would switch to battery and provide the AC in less than 50ms. My guess is that this was used in the medical equipment field. While the transfer switch is a great feature, I don't really need it. The inverter does not come with an on/off power switch (that's automatic when used as a transfer switch) but it does have a RMT lead. The RMT lead, when grounded to the negative Battery, will turn the inverter on. I installed a rocker switch in between the battery negative and the RMT. Now when the rocker is 'on' the RMT is grounded to negative and the inverter turns on. It works perfectly. I now had a way to turn the inverter on without using it as a transfer switch!
Here is the inverter before I configured it with the on / off switch. Notice the two gray wire clusters for AC Utility and AC Load. That small red wire is the RMT.
Spring can be a tricky season. The amount of clouds we are getting doesn't really help the output of the panes. It does charge the battery pack though. My wife and I are still charging our smartphones and tablets via the pack. One day when it was really nice / sunny out, I put the panels in direct sunlight. I was charging two devices off the USB on the charge controller, and running the stereo in the garage using the inverter. The battery pack never fluctuated, which tells me that the panels provided more than enough power to keep the battery pack topped off, charge the two devices and run the inverter / stereo.
Plans!
The next step is going to be an entry panel to get the wire into the house without having to have a door open (or garage door closed on the wire). I ordered an 'entry panel' for exactly this purpose. It will be time to punch a hole in the wall of the garage somewhere to get a wire to come though. More on this once the entry panel arrives!
I would also like to upgrade the charge controller to something better, like an MPPT 30A controller. That will leave room to expand, I could feed that controller with up to 90v and it will recognize 12 or 24v battery pack. It's just a 'smarter' controller. And the increased voltage will allow me to use a longer run of 10 AWG wire.
I also ordered a 'kill-a-watt' meter. This way I can plug the power strip in my office into it (or anything with an electrical plug) and measure how much power the office is pulling. If it stays under 600watt, I may try and run the office off of the panels / pack during the day.
Stay tuned for the next update!
In the first part I listed some reasons to go to 24v and the plan. The plan included an additional solar panel and a decent inverter. I picked up both and went to work.
The first thing I did was to configure the battery bank to 24v. I started with two batteries and wired them in series. Then did the same for the other two pair. This gave me, essentially, three 24v batteries. I then connected the three 24v batteries in parallel. This gave me one large bank of 24v. Here is essentially how the 6 batteries are configured:
Next step was to hook up the two panels in series. The first thing I did was disconnect the positive lead going from the existing panel to the charge controller. I left the negative of the panel connected to the charge controller. I put the two panels side by side and connected the positive lead from the existing panel to the negative lead from the new panel. Then I connected the positive lead from the new panel to the charge controller. I brought the panels outside and they began charging the battery pack! While the panels were outside, I connected them with a couple hinges. This made moving them around much easier.
Here is the inverter before I configured it with the on / off switch. Notice the two gray wire clusters for AC Utility and AC Load. That small red wire is the RMT.
Spring can be a tricky season. The amount of clouds we are getting doesn't really help the output of the panes. It does charge the battery pack though. My wife and I are still charging our smartphones and tablets via the pack. One day when it was really nice / sunny out, I put the panels in direct sunlight. I was charging two devices off the USB on the charge controller, and running the stereo in the garage using the inverter. The battery pack never fluctuated, which tells me that the panels provided more than enough power to keep the battery pack topped off, charge the two devices and run the inverter / stereo.
Plans!
The next step is going to be an entry panel to get the wire into the house without having to have a door open (or garage door closed on the wire). I ordered an 'entry panel' for exactly this purpose. It will be time to punch a hole in the wall of the garage somewhere to get a wire to come though. More on this once the entry panel arrives!
I would also like to upgrade the charge controller to something better, like an MPPT 30A controller. That will leave room to expand, I could feed that controller with up to 90v and it will recognize 12 or 24v battery pack. It's just a 'smarter' controller. And the increased voltage will allow me to use a longer run of 10 AWG wire.
I also ordered a 'kill-a-watt' meter. This way I can plug the power strip in my office into it (or anything with an electrical plug) and measure how much power the office is pulling. If it stays under 600watt, I may try and run the office off of the panels / pack during the day.
Stay tuned for the next update!
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