🔌 **Will Your DC Converter Cause a FIRE?** 🔌

[@mt-qc2qh]

Staring at 100% is the best advice in this case. Thanks. I kept looking for an inverter for my battery, but the inverter in my station can't be beat. Using the battery as the add-on is a perfect application.

[@TheOldJarhead]

True enough! They are often quite useful

[@daveslater]

60 degrees above ambient at steady state. Run in an 88 degree ambient instead of 68 it'll probably need a fan and run at 148 degrees. Semiconductors probably good to 70 C (about 165 F) . Fan probably good for lifetime of components and operation under heavier loads without the thermal safety putting the charge on hold while cooling off. Enjoyed.

[@TheOldJarhead]

Yup, fan would help, though it apparently shuts down like my gopro if it gets too hot

[@rccrashed]

I use one and bolt it to a piece of aluminum box tubing (about 2x4 and 4 inches long) no fan needed and it dropped the temp. Your comparison of 120 water to 120 deg surface temp isn't the same. Water will scald you long before a hot surface at the same temperature. Your comparison to the temp of the GoPro is spot on.

[@TheOldJarhead]

True, different temps affect different objects differently.

[@djrtime1398]

This and other reasons I’ve gone to 48v batteries for my expansion capacity for my power stations. No need for the converter and since voltages are virtually the same, the efficiency is way up there. Plus I can charge them with solar panels in series as long as the VOC is under 50v for a little safety margin.

[@TheOldJarhead]

Best way to go

[@davef.2329]

What do you suppose would happen if you were to use two (or more) of those bucks wired in parallel? Looked like during your test, the table was sinking some of the heat out of the base of the buck. Maybe if you mounted it (or them) on a block of metal, or a dedicated heat-sink, the problem would be mitigated, or resolved altogether. Thanks.

[@TheOldJarhead]

That's a good question. I'm not sure how it would work, but potentially, it was dar half the amps per DC Converter. I dis pit the converter on large nuts, getting it off the table bit, and it seemed to have no impact.

[@YouLookinAtMe-Bro]

I saw Jasonoid did exactly that on his channel, plus he added a fan.

[@TheOldJarhead]

Cool, did it work?

[@chucklaizure1442]

Tried using a 10A and 2A, nope, 2A shut down. Jasonoid used two of same Amps, but they got hot too. You can however use one for each input if there are more than one DC inputs available for the power station. Be sure to get larger Amperage rating booster than max. of power station input. From testing on mine.

[@TheOldJarhead]

Agreed -- higher rated amps than input would be best

[@TX_Nano.]

I'm currently building one with a 12-24 converter rated at 360 watts. I have a computer fan setup right above it on standoffs made from threaded rod and tied to the 12 volt side to keep it cool just to be safer.

[@TheOldJarhead]

Good plan, should work well

[@brushbum7508]

Good Evening ! Thanks Again. TAKE CARE..

[@TheOldJarhead]

Good morning! Thanks!

[@chucklaizure1442]

Hello Okanogan County neighbor! I'm probably 30-40 miles from you. I'm running a Bluetti AC300 with a 24V external battery. Tried using a 10A 24 to 48V buck booster but Bluetti wants 12A. Buck converter de-rated it's voltage to less than 48V as it's "protection" but still provided 12A for hours, while at about 115F. Replaced with 20A booster. Adding another external battery in parallel for larger storage capacity, and charging capacity with another charge controller and PV Array in a different location. Not limited by Power station charge controllers. Can control external battery on/off via BluTooth then dump into power station for use as needed. Lesson learned,,,,, just get a converter rated for more than your power station and run the converter under it's maximum rating. It should provide long, worry free, cool running life.

[@TheOldJarhead]

Hi and agreed! But how do you know where I am 😉

[@chucklaizure1442]

@@TheOldJarhead I think it was from one of the sawmill videos I watched a while back,, can't remember now. I may be interested in some sawmill work if you might like to discuss that privately.

[@theo.k.corral6895]

Plus any you tubber can be geolocated from where they video, actually down to a pinpoint. That is one of the faults of being a tubber.

[@TheOldJarhead]

I've shown it on a rough map once in a while too. As for sawmill work, I'm currently only doing it dor myself at least until I get some back and arm work done 😉

[@TheOldJarhead]

I believe that has to be in the video and I believe I set mine to not show it 😉

[@1GREATDANE]

I Found the Converters do get too Warm and Opted to Tap into My 24 Volt 100ah Battery Bank Buss Bars to Tinned Marine Grade 10/3 from My Well House to The Main Lodge Kitchen to Dual XT60 & XT60i Connectors for bringing My 4 Eco Flow Portable Solar Generators to Top Them Off at Night if needed. Re: 2 Delta EF3 Pro 1300's 1 Delta 2 Pro with Xtra Battery 1 River 2 Pro and No Heat Issues when doing so. Plus the 10K Battery Bank o 4 24 Volt 100ah Lithium Iron Phosphate Batteries have more than enough to Keep everything Happy ⛩

[@TheOldJarhead]

Good idea

[@douglashickman7725]

Could I ask about the ef river pro Is it acept 24v or just 12v Thanks

[@1GREATDANE]

@@douglashickman7725 both

[@TheOldJarhead]

👍

[@FewerOptions-mx7qt]

Think drilling holes in the heatsink fins might improve cooling. It will definitely increase surface area

[@TheOldJarhead]

No. The fins allow the heat to rise and dissipate

[@FlatOutFE]

I have a converter that looks exactly like that. The weird thing that happens in a fault/short scenario is the voltage drops massively. If you are using a DC circuit breaker the breaker clicks indefinitely and doesn't clear the fault. When I create a short with a Victron converter the breaker pops immediately.

[@TheOldJarhead]

Interesting, does it do that all the time?

[@FlatOutFE]

@@TheOldJarhead , yep. I can't get the thing to trip a DC breaker. I wonder if the internal protection cuts it down too low to trip it. The wires did warm up but I didn't try it long enough to see if they would melt the insulation while shorted. I just didn't like the fact that the 20 amp breaker wouldn't trip in a dead short. Mine is a step down converter rather than a step up converter. The housing and wire colors are identical though. Who knows?

[@TheOldJarhead]

Sounds faulty, my step down works great

[@Right_Hand_Watch]

can you add the dc converter to the solar panel to get more power? Thanks.

[@TheOldJarhead]

You can't get more power but more voltage perhaps

[@Right_Hand_Watch]

@@TheOldJarhead Anything extra is good.

[@TheOldJarhead]

It wouldn't technically 'be extra' but if you had a 100w solar panel at 20v and 5a a converter would change it to 48v and 2a so you wouldn't get extra. Only place I see this benefitting is if you actually have a solar panel that's coming in at 12v and 10a then you'd get 48v and 2.5a and at 48v it might charge on a power station that requires a minimum of 13v like the Oupes

[@FailFriendly]

Do you have the Amazon link for that converter?

[@TheOldJarhead]

Oops yes and forgot to include. One sec

[@TheOldJarhead]

There! Check the description and thanks for the reminder!!

[@thefpvlife7785]

A 12v to 24v Vs a 24v to 48v DC converter review wold be great. I have a 24v 100ah and thinking of the 24v to 48v DC converter to pump in 400+ watts into my EF D2. Oh and yes my GoPro 10 also shuts down when it gets to hot.

[@TheOldJarhead]

This one does 24v to 48v but what I'd say is either get a converter rated for 20a or a 48v battery.

[@junkerzn7312]

You are good to around 60C (140F). Above 60C the lifespan of the electronics will be significantly reduced. In anycase, if you get a fan, get a DC fan spec'd for the input voltage rather than an AC fan... no reason to burn AC on a fan. Large, slow fans are the quietest and can just be tied into the input DC going into the DC-DC and taped to the ridges of the unit (good to fuse it too). One can get a higher-voltage-spec'd DC fan and connect it to the lower DC voltage to run it even slower (but don't connect a low-voltage-spec'd DC fan to a high voltage source as this may burn out the windings). Good to get a grille for the fan too so it's all in one neat package. These fully-potted DC-DCs are generally not very high quality so the main thing is to protect the setup with a fuse and not pull too much power. Or just accept charging the power station at a slower rate or use a higher voltage battery as the source rather than 12V. -Matt

[@TheOldJarhead]

Great stuff!

[@apr194828]

that KZbin that fried his power station crossed some wires I use a 24v to 15v 2a buck converter and it don't even get warm they are put in cars to power equalizer and don't go on fire it will short when connected wrong and everything will fry

[@TheOldJarhead]

Ahh, thanks for clarifying

[@billbraun6846]

I was thinking about getting a DC boost converter to extended the capacity of my Oupes Mega 2 but the heat issue has me worried. I think I'll spend $150 on a Percon DC 500 watt car charger for the peace of mind it gives me.

[@TheOldJarhead]

I was looking at those and thinking it would be good to test one

[@billbraun6846]

@@TheOldJarhead I think your viewers would like seeing that review.

[@TheOldJarhead]

You may be right!

[@Sylvan_dB]

Maybe could set a cup of coffee on it to keep the coffee warm. I'm not concerned. I do not overload my DC:DC converters. I prefer to keep less than 80% of spec, and won't run at 100% for very long.

[@TheOldJarhead]

lol that would work! Coffee warmer indeed! 😆

[@LilRedDog]

How do you regulate that? The converter is rated @480 watts and that is damn near what he got. I've seen other videos with 3A 12->24v converters (rated @70 watts) pushing 170 watts @24v because the charge controller was rated to 200 watts . How do you retard that?

[@TheOldJarhead]

That's a good question. I'd say get a converter rated above the expected draw or frankly a battery that doesn't need it.

[@LilRedDog]

@@TheOldJarhead I do not know where my comment went but the converters are not switching so getting the next available size is a 480 watt 10 amp 12->24v converter trying to shove 480 watts into my 200 watt Jackery plug. And, I hear, getting a 24v battery without the converter will overload the charge controller with too much amperage... You want to test that for us?

[@Sylvan_dB]

​@ Those theories are both wrong. Voltage is what "shoves" so as long as the voltage is acceptable, the appliance will "draw" only the amps and watts it can use. In other words, get the voltage correct. Then excess watts available simply will be unused, and excess amps will be unused. That is how your car battery which can supply hundreds of amps and watts will not burn out the dome light which only needs 5 watts.

[@Firephosure]

I would only boost from 12v to 24v or 24v to 48v. Jumping 12v to 48v is a bit much.

[@TheOldJarhead]

How so?

[@Firephosure]

@@TheOldJarhead Well if you're sending close to 10a to the Oupes, it has to be pulling 30a+ from the 12.8v battery which is why it's so damn hot. If you were doing it the same with a 24v battery, the amps would be cut in half. Those input wires look really thin to be pulling 30a+ from the 12v battery.

[@Firephosure]

I have a charger 1 from Bluetti and essentially it's doing the same thing pulling from a 12v/24v to 48v but you should see the input wires they included. It's 6awg wires. Those wires on that booster are what, maybe 16/14/12awg ?

[@TheOldJarhead]

That's a very good point. 10a at 48v is 40a at 12v and 20a at 24v

[@TheOldJarhead]

8awg but I agree too small for the 12-48v conversion though they did not get significantly hot

[@smorgknorl]

consider repositioning your camera to show what you are doing, I like pondering the open paneling and how effective that solar panel will be in its present position, but would rather see what your hands are doing

[@TheOldJarhead]

I've given this some thought and wondered: did you watch more than a couple minutes? I do show what I'm doing right down to where the thermometers getting the temp from. So I'm curious, are you just contrarian? Or impatient?

[@ssilver8240]

Please excuse My ignorance if you will, isn't this thing in an aluminum hard case, sealed with an impervious epoxy resin? A fan is nice, if you are paranoid and need serious cooling, submerge that converter into an antifreeze solution of water, it may take a while for that 5 gallon bucket to heat up, circulate the fluid into a branch radiator if you are ambitious. You might get creative.

[@TheOldJarhead]

It is an Aluminum shell with epoxy potting and waterproof IP68 - so technically it could be submerged but with the extrusion a fan should also work fine and it only gets hot when it's pushed to the max.