NOISY Starlink Power Supply, DEAD Maxxair Motor Driver, WEAK Solar Charging

[@Independent_DIY]

Every 2-3 months I go through and re check all of our battery connections. You should look into finding an old automotive voltage regulator off of a Dodge or Chrysler. That might help protect all of your sensitive equipment from spikes.

[@dustyodyssey]

I will definitely be checking for loose connections more often now. I think most everything in my van has a regulator, it's just the fan driver that seemed to be overly sensitive to over volting

[@DavidHuffTexas]

Man, with all those electrical problems, you'd think you had a British car with Lucas Electric components... 😆 ("Lucas! the inventor of the self-dimming headlight!").

[@eriksporns710]

Your power spike sounds like a battery bms cutting out, because a single cell might have reached max voltage. Could be out of balance, as it wasent charged fully for quite a while. Bat cuts connections to the cells and the mppt has nothing to dump the power in and overshoots.

[@dustyodyssey]

That makes a lot of sense! Any ideas how I could fix the balance?

[@eriksporns710]

@@dustyodyssey I run different grades of batteries. in low quality ones, the cells _can_ have different characteristics and the tend to never balance on the internal bms. i have one such battery, the solution was to open it up, put balancing leads on it and charge it with a balanced charger from time to time. i guess you batteries are above that quality standard. in this case, repeatedly charing them full (this can take a few cycles) will bring them back in balance. sometimes there are notes in the battery manual. e.g. its expected to charge at least to 14,5V, because balancer only kicks in after 14,4 (just an example). also: can you check the input voltage on the noisy psu? bad connections def. can cause issues like that.

[@eriksporns710]

also, if your battery has bluetooth, you might be able to check cell voltages. (can be a hidden menu, pw is usually 1234 if pw protected)

[@dustyodyssey]

@@eriksporns710 Great tips! Thanks! Hopefully now that I can charge to 100% again it will balance out over time. I don't exactly have high tier batteries, no bluetooth or anything like that so we'll see how it goes 😬

[@posteroonie]

Won't the BMS cut power every time the battery hits full charge, even if the cells are balanced? Maybe the higher-quality charge controllers have a way to avoid producing a voltage spike when the BMS stops charging the battery.

[@anderss1293]

Really intressting, thanks for sharing. Good to see all aspects of vanlife, keep up the updates.

[@dustyodyssey]

More to come!

[@ciprianpavia]

Have you try to use a capacitor for the led lights? I had the same issue, and the capacitor solve the problem

[@dustyodyssey]

Ever sense I tightened the loose connection on my main breaker the lights have been steady. But I think you're right, a separate power supply/capacitor for the LEDs would do the trick

[@fletcherpeatross4220]

I know nothing about electrical issues but really enjoyed the video.

[@ThePlanet_L.I.]

Could the issue be the 12-v adapter u have in the 3d printed box

[@kamikazekunze]

I have the same setup. My issue is the router never seems to consistently connect with Starlink. Regardless of which I turn on first. I can spend upwards of 15m trying to connect. Super frustrating. Any tips? Thanks a bunch for your videos. I know it’s work but it is appreciated. 😊😊😊

[@dustyodyssey]

Well, I can tell you that is definitely not normal. I would say double check all of your connections, it can be easy to mess up those rj45 crimps. Also, if you got your power supply from Amazon I would recommend just replacing it. I ordered the Mean Well DDR-120A-48. Mean Well is a good brand for power supplies. I'd also look at obstructions. I didn't really think about it but my vent fan partially obstructs my dish when it's open. There's also a "Starlink Hacks" facebook group. It's toxic as hell, but some people in there really know their stuff and will have you pull your debug data and analyze it for you.

[@getliquified]

New subscriber. Loving the flow of your videos. Can't wait to watch them all.

[@dustyodyssey]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@jameshughes3014]

wait, are you running multiple of those DC to DC power regulators on one line? that will often lead to this kind of trouble (although I haven't tried those exact models). the cheap ones really don't like each other. I don't own a scope, so I'm not sure why, but I know that when I have two or more cheap switching DC to DC adapters connect to the same power source, they seem to fight with each other, like maybe the frequencies they use are setting up some weird resonance or something and messing up their outputs? I'd be tempted to try just one large inverter to run everything, just to see if thats the issue.

[@dustyodyssey]

Huh, that’s interesting. I do have two on the same power source. I will try pulling the fuse for the one powering my stereo and see if that makes a difference. Thanks!

[@jameshughes3014]

@@dustyodyssey Hope it helps. Gremlins can be a nightmare to track down

[@mictheflash]

It's really good that you know your stuff with electrical things, I think I'd be lost. It definitely seems you've picked up a Gremlin from somewhere? 🤔👾😳

[@dustyodyssey]

There's at least one gremlin living in this van 👹

[@plantstho6599]

Been dealing with electrical and refrigeration issues in my van for about 2 years now. Not sure if it will ever end.

[@wanderingzythophile9083]

One thing to try, and I should say I don't know if this would 100% work, but - maybe set your target voltage for absorbsion on your solar charger down a bit. Your battery *can* go up to 14.6v but the difference between that and, say, 14v is negligable, capacity-wise. Your solar controller, when it's pulling in power, will push that higher voltage into your system as a whole when your battery is near full, and that might be causing some issues.

[@dustyodyssey]

It seems like that is exactly what is happening. As erik mentioned I may have a cell balance issue because I have not been charging to full. If I keep getting power spikes I will definitely lower the absorption target (when I can borrow a windows machine).

[@wanderingzythophile9083]

@@dustyodyssey I read that convo too; and yes that's possible, but it's not necessarily super-related, I don't think. Related in the sense that your solar controller pushing higher volts into your nearly-full battery is more likely to trip a single cell overvoltage limit, so lowering your absorbsion voltage would likely help with that. And yes, if your battery is servicable, you could open it up and try and do a manual balance. What battery is it you have? Does the BMS have a balancing feature? Usually they're passive, and set to enable at a certain minimal voltage, high at the end of the charge curve, and often there's a setting to only balance when receiving a charge.

[@dustyodyssey]

@@wanderingzythophile9083 I have two of the "Power Queen 12V 200Ah PLUS." Unfortunately, very little documentation, not sure if the BMS has balancing at all, and unfortunately the battery is not technically user servicable. It did come with a separate manual that is not available online that recommended a charge voltage of 14.6, but the online specs seem to recommend 14.4 +/-0.2, so it does seem like I am charging right at what would be considered the maximum. Will definitely lower that 0.1V the next time I get a chance. Good call!

[@wanderingzythophile9083]

@@dustyodyssey 14.6v is the most you should push into these cells. I'd put it at 14.2v. That will steer a bit more clear of any overvoltage limits, balanced or not. Might be worth googling a bit to find out if indeed that battery's BMS has any sort of balancing function. Chances are, I fear, it does not. This is one advantage to building one's own batteries; one gets to choose one's own BMS :D Edit: Looking at the PQ website and that battery... it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility to open up that enclosure, tear out the guts and replace it with a better BMS. The JBD units that Overkill Solar rebrands are fine units. You'd get Bluetooth control and low-temp cutoff (very crucial IMHO) to boot.

[@fluxgame]

How has that motor controller held up on the fan? Thinking about doing the same to mine so I can avoid using a 12v converter on my 24v van build.

[@dustyodyssey]

So far so good. I’ve used a lot of these motor drivers and every once in a while I’ll get a bad one, but for $2 I don’t mind swapping in a new one.

[@fluxgame]

@@dustyodyssey Thanks for the reply! Do you mind sharing a link the one you're using?

[@dustyodyssey]

@@fluxgame www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07L74P6B3?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

[@dustyodyssey]

It’s worth mentioning that if you’re driving a 12v fan motor with 24v you could very easily damage the motor. Even if you don’t exceed 50% PWM you’re still giving the motor 24v so I’m honestly not sure what would happen if you did that. I think to be safe you will still need a step down converter.

[@fluxgame]

@@dustyodyssey I came to the same conclusion. I was recalling that buck converters operate via PWM, so I was thinking this would work similarly, but I guess they also have a circuit to smooth the output. Maybe I'll try an adjustable buck converter. Anyway, thanks for the idea!

[@kareno5159]

OMG, Max, what a pain! Not that I understand 99% of what you were talking about, but I do hope you are able to get things squared away soon. Best of luck! 🤞

[@blueron827]

goodness such a complicated mess of issues. In my very limited knowledge the only thing I could suggested is to look at one system or component at a time. Hopefully you can isolate the issue or issues that way. Start simple and then add stuff until a problem occurs. But you probably have done that already. Anyway, good luck, it appears you have some very good suggestions already.

[@dustyodyssey]

Thanks! I think I mostly have things sorted, or at least I know the problem thanks to the very helpful comments here.

[@BankruptGreek]

I am supposed to be almost done with electrical engineering and I feel like I know nothing, am I wrong to assume the buzzing is an unstable current through the wire that has some pattern with a frequency similar or equal to the buzzing of the magnets? Current flowing through a conductor causes magnetic field so changes in that should make a magnetic field that fluctuates so magnets near it vibrate.

[@dustyodyssey]

I think you are exactly right!

[@BankruptGreek]

​@@dustyodyssey I do really know nothing about practical electrical circuits. I googled it and the magnetic effect of wires gets canceled by twisting the positive and negative wires together and also shielding it, like a data wire. Not sure why but that should already be the case for your wire, could it be that starlink has a voltage regulator that smooths the powerspikes on the return wire, with that said would an additional (google says any power supply should have one) voltage regulator potentially help?

[@BankruptGreek]

​@@dustyodysseyan oscilloscope would be really handy with seeing power changes of that nature, if you happen to have one 😂

[@dustyodyssey]

@@BankruptGreek As a former mechanical engineering student I know that feeling. Like you said, the power supply should smooth out those power spikes, but they are not for some reason. I read a little bit about noise attenuation through DC buck converters and it was waaaay over my head. That said, I'm hoping a high quality power supply will smooth things out. Also, fixing that loose terminal lug quieted things down significantly.

[@dustyodyssey]

@@BankruptGreek Dude, the number of times in the last few weeks that I wished I had a little o-scope with me... Ridiculous to have in a van, but it would be super interesting.

[@EricPeelMusic]

Should never have 12v components running directly from solar. Always have a regulator (DC-DC converter) between solar and 12v components. You might also have a bad breaker. They heat up a long time before cutting off and depending on your load, this heat causes the mechanism to have a connection that can become unpredictable.

[@dustyodyssey]

Most 12V stuff is designed to run on charging voltages so I don't necessarily agree that a big DC-DC regulator is needed. Breakers are running cool. As others have suggested, I think I am over-charging my batteries causing the BMS to cut and the SCC has no where to dump the power so the voltage spikes briefly.

[@EricPeelMusic]

@@dustyodyssey Not a big, big one. Just a 20amp or so, enough to run roof fan, lights, charge phone etc. The regulator would have saved you from improper charge controller settings and those spikes, and any other unexpected problem before it. The one I’m thinking of looks just like the sealed ones you already have, from eBay or Amazon. Sounds like you feel like you feel you’ve solved it though and idk how many others are armchairing here so I’ll leave you alone. Thanks for sharing your progress!

[@RomansSeven7]

do you have a pure sine inverter? i think its your inverter gone bad. just get rid of 12v power. use an inverter to power everything. youve got good batteries so you dont need 12v power.

[@EricPeelMusic]

Running things off solar in winter and the efficiency of 12v makes a big difference. Some days you cannot have enough solar even with 1000w on the roof like I have.

[@RomansSeven7]

@@EricPeelMusic yes im offgrid. your batteries were half full and it didnt seem to worry you. if your just running low power items you could last a week on 400ah,12v or 200ah,24v. little or no sun. look into server rack batteries 48v. one of these would last a long time. and look into all in one inverter. every thing in one box. battery charger/charge controller/battery monitor/bluetooth/. no wires everywhere. compact ,you can plug into a mains power outlet and fully charge a 100ah 48v in a few hours if desperate then last a week. that starlink would use heaps more power than a mobile phone hotspot. sell it, cancel your subscription to them and use the money you save to upgrade your power. every bill you stop paying is a pay rise.

[@EricPeelMusic]

@@RomansSeven7 I think you’re missing the point. The most heavy usage thing during winter, if one isn’t running electric heat, is the fridge. A 12v fridge uses a lot less electricity than a 120v not only because a 12v can bypass the inverter entirely but also because 12v fridges are designed with high-efficiency in mind. They can do a lot more with a lot less. Lights are typically the next heaviest thing. Again, 12v LEDs are much more efficient than 120v since no inverter is needed. They can be run directly from the battery or through a 97% efficient DC-DC converter. Much better than a typical 85% efficient inverter. Not to mention the inverter uses a lot of energy alone even while not powering anything. Usually 20-60watts.

[@RomansSeven7]

@@EricPeelMusic my upright fridge and deep freezer use 45w each. i know the power usage of everything i use. i have led lights, split system aircon , im not saying be more efficient. im saying get more battery storage . and the energy the inverter uses turns into heat, great for winter heating. summer wont matter. higher voltage is better many ways too. better on battery life. and if its that cold in winter leave your fridge outside and use no power, lol win win.

[@EricPeelMusic]

@@RomansSeven7 Yeah, 45wh is a lot when I can only generate 150wh per day for a week straight ( even with 1000w of solar) when it’s super cloudy and rainy in the depths of short winter days in Seattle. Even with a 5kwh battery, there is just not enough solar radiation poking through the clouds to charge the battery. And using 120ac is just too inefficient. Gotta try vanlifing through a Seattle winter and you’ll understand. I agree, summer doesn’t matter. Can run AC off solar 24/7. The battle is about winter. Heating is not an issue with 2” of XPS foam and body heat, even down to the teens. For charging phone, running computer, induction, fridge etc, perhaps a windmill would be a good option since with the rainy weather comes strong winds. Always trying new things and adapting and staying up north a bit longer each year and still not bothering with nasty propane or gasoline generators. I think we’re on the same page, but I’m not sure to understand the brutality of a Seattle winter when it comes to solar.

[@thomasucc]

Why not just get a power bank