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Winter power cuts and broadband

It does not charge the batteries at all. It's not a charger unfortunately. I use a regular charger for that. And yeah, you can keep the charger connected while it's discharging ;)

and yep, it is pure sinewave. My cheap oscilloscope says it's cleaner than grid power :ROFLMAO:
I have a Novopal rated at 2000 watt and checked it as well on the oscilloscope and that was a perfect sinewave, much better than the mains supply. The mode of operation is interesting, as basically they are just an amplifier, taking a 50Hz tone and amplifying it, loads!
 
Odd. he shows it running a 2200W kettle but It wouldn't run his 1100W AC for some reason? (I'm guessing it spiked/surges but the kettle doesn't). There are people on amazon saying they've run 3000W kettles on it etc. But yeah good to know, I only have the 1000W one and it will run everything I tried on it that was < 1000W.

25A at 12V would be 250, did you mean 250A ?

Edit: Interesting comment on the video on YT:

"

Tony Yu
6 months ago
So, unfortunately your model doesn’t contain the high output terminals that are found in western ones. Looks like a limitation in the design of the unit you have and also the specification of the “3000W continuous” is more of a marketing note obviously under very specific circumstances.

"

I did wonder with him being in AUS ? if he has a different spec one to UK/EU.

and another comment:

Solution is get a renogy 3000 watt with the high output a/c terminal block like mine has and run 10/2 wire that can support the 25 amp output to a breaker box and run individual breakers to 20 amp outlets. This will allow you to run a full 20 amps on any one circuit and a full 25 amps over the entire system at the same time. That is how I had to set mine up in order to run my a/c in my off grid tiny house.
They don’t like inductive loads (power factor < 1.0). Resistive loads like kettles and heating elements are far more predictable in terms of amperage loads - which is the limiting factor for the switching FETs in these units.

Driving motors is also interesting due to the inrush / surge current, especially older induction motors. Need to de-rate them up to a factor of three or more sometimes.
 
According to press reports the government is seriously considering the possibility of power cuts in winter. Given the noises being made by some of the countries we depend on for imported power (Norway, France etc.) I think this is a realistic possibility.

I believe this is referred to as “load shedding” where different parts of the country will take turns at sharing the available power.

Do Openreach, Virgin or CitiFibre equipment have batteries in any of the street boxes? What is the liklihood that services would continue in the event of a power outage?

I’ve noticed a CityFibre site in Dewsbury (near to where I live) that looks to have some quite hefty generators in front of several portacabins.

I’m curious to hear peoples thoughts on which of the broadband infrastructure provides have batteries or generators??

Chris
All Openreach DSLAMs have battery backup , but it's limited to about 8 hours max, could be considerably less if the batteries are less than optimal condition, or none at all if they are faulty , stolen or otherwise inoperable.
End users will of course have to provide their own backup as well , be that for FTTC or FTTP.
 
Depends what’s prioritised in terms of load shedding, but large ‘non-critical’ loads will be requested nicely / asked (read hefty penalties) to step down their demand first to create a buffer if we’re too close capacity wise.

Emergency / unscheduled / unannounced load shedding would be far more problematic and the consequences more unpredictable - especially supply chains for distribution for things like food and groceries. But I don’t think most folks think or even understand the full consequences if the grid becomes unstable - it’s pretty bad and whole grid recovery from full system blackout can be very, very problematic indeed.

More worried about the consequences of that than my kids not being able to game for a few hours.
As was discovered when the UK had two simultaneous failures, which resulted in outages and broken trains. My UPS's frequency dropped to 48Hz. Recently part of London was in danger of an outage, and it was reported the grid had to purchase power at an extortionate cost from Belgium. In the old days there were local power stations, there is one in Guildford, though its used for something else now. With the new smr's being touted (one every year!!) perhaps we will be back to local generation?
 
They don’t like inductive loads (power factor < 1.0). Resistive loads like kettles and heating elements are far more predictable in terms of amperage loads - which is the limiting factor for the switching FETs in these units.

Driving motors is also interesting due to the inrush / surge current, especially older induction motors. Need to de-rate them up to a factor of three or more sometimes.
Agree with whether it's an inductive or capacitive load (instead of current as Phil2021 pointed out, I was just referring to a comment there but seems not right if the AC is 240V).
PS: Time for me to back high school and learn some physics!:p

Noted another comment in the video:
TICO 7 months ago BECAUSE THE A/C HAS A START CAPACITOR TO START THE MOTOR,OVERLOAD FOR INVERTER,THE HOT POT DOSENT HAVE A START PHAZE JUST HEATS UP USING WATTS AND AMPERAGE
 
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They don’t like inductive loads (power factor < 1.0). Resistive loads like kettles and heating elements are far more predictable in terms of amperage loads - which is the limiting factor for the switching FETs in these units.

Driving motors is also interesting due to the inrush / surge current, especially older induction motors. Need to de-rate them up to a factor of three or more sometimes.
Yeah understood. But this is why they have a surge rating. 3000W continuous but 6000W absolute peak for a few seconds etc. ;) My PIP4048 handles anything. Inductive/resistive, if it's under 4kW it will do it. It's happy running a fridge which is inductive and has a high spike current.

There are a multitude of different reasons why in that video his inverter might have cut out. Not the least of which is that it looks like he's using the standard cables that come with it, which are not at all good enough for powering 3kW. Also it appears that Renogy make different versions of the same thing.

As I mention earlier too, several people seem to suggest that there's one with high output terminals on it ? Anyway, If we look at the reviews nobody seems to be having that issue with the UK supplied 3kW ones. I guess if it didn't work it's easy to send back anyway. The only reason I picked this inverter is because of it's UPS/Transfer switch.

Sounds like I'm shilling for Renogy now haha. Just happy with mine I guess.
 
Yeah understood. But this is why they have a surge rating. 3000W continuous but 6000W absolute peak for a few seconds etc. ;) My PIP4048 handles anything. Inductive/resistive, if it's under 4kW it will do it. It's happy running a fridge which is inductive and has a high spike current.

There are a multitude of different reasons why in that video his inverter might have cut out. Not the least of which is that it looks like he's using the standard cables that come with it, which are not at all good enough for powering 3kW. Also it appears that Renogy make different versions of the same thing.

As I mention earlier too, several people seem to suggest that there's one with high output terminals on it ? Anyway, If we look at the reviews nobody seems to be having that issue with the UK supplied 3kW ones. I guess if it didn't work it's easy to send back anyway. The only reason I picked this inverter is because of it's UPS/Transfer switch.

Sounds like I'm shilling for Renogy now haha. Just happy with mine I guess.
To be fair I didn’t watch the video. Terrible I know. Just my general experience and comments on portable electronic DC to AC inverters.
 
To be fair I didn’t watch the video. Terrible I know. Just my general experience and comments on portable electronic DC to AC inverters.
Any hint to know if such an inverter can handle good inductive (not capacitive, typo previously) load or not (without actually testing the unit)?
 
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Any hint to know if such an inverter can handle good capacitive load or not (without actually testing the unit)?
What particular capacitive load did you have in mind?

Bear in mind heavy draw appliances, motors etc are usually more inductive with a lagging power factor.
 
What particular capacitive load did you have in mind?

Bear in mind heavy draw appliances, motors etc are usually more inductive with a lagging power factor.
Sorry my typo!
I do mean inductive loads, e.g. motors like fridges, fans, vacuum cleaners, induction hobs etc.
 
Sorry my typo!
I do mean inductive loads, e.g. motors like fridges, fans, vacuum cleaners, induction hobs etc.
The specs should indicate what the maximum and temporary boosted output should be. In reality they will simply auto cutout at the limit.

Even if you’ve measured the appliance / device current draw with a clamp meter, it’s sometimes a bit of trial and error to see what they will successfully start and run.

Motors are usually the hardest, as the start up current can be significantly more than the run. Cap start motors are better. I would always over spec as much as possible, for these loads, by a factor of two or three and not rely on the boosted output figures.
 
I would always over spec as much as possible, for these loads, by a factor of two or three and not rely on the boosted output figures.
Hard agree

There are some inverters which are normally targeted for narrow boat / camping usage which have much, much higher peak loads.

You have to remember that some companies will massage both the sustained and peak loads as more like an "up to" and any slightly sustained peak (few seconds on some units) can cut the unit out.

I'm using a Photonic Universe unit similar to this:
because their surge supply is good, they support UPS mode (how I'm using it) and the unit has been solid.
 
Realistically the chance of a prolonged powercut due to a shortage is low to very low compared to powercuts from weather related incidents.

However if there was to be power shortages then it may show how resiliant the FTTP/digital voice network is to power failures andif there are issues then it would be better to discover them while FTTP/digital voice is in its early days as opposed to when its almost everywhere.
 
Realistically the chance of a prolonged powercut due to a shortage is low to very low compared to powercuts from weather related incidents.

However if there was to be power shortages then it may show how resiliant the FTTP/digital voice network is to power failures andif there are issues then it would be better to discover them while FTTP/digital voice is in its early days as opposed to when its almost everywhere.
Most people would scream blue murder when their mobiles stopped working if there are long lasting and widespread mast power outages.

Again as you note highly unlikely.
 
Hard agree

There are some inverters which are normally targeted for narrow boat / camping usage which have much, much higher peak loads.

You have to remember that some companies will massage both the sustained and peak loads as more like an "up to" and any slightly sustained peak (few seconds on some units) can cut the unit out.

I'm using a Photonic Universe unit similar to this:
because their surge supply is good, they support UPS mode (how I'm using it) and the unit has been solid.
Which 24V battery are you using? It seems an expensive option than 12V's...
 
Having looked around a little bit, I may be better served by just adding a car battery (or two!) to my existing run-of-the-mill APC UPS.
I mean, just to power a couple of PCs and laptop, mobile phones etc, it should be enough for a few hours.
 
Having looked around a little bit, I may be better served by just adding a car battery (or two!) to my existing run-of-the-mill APC UPS.
I mean, just to power a couple of PCs and laptop, mobile phones etc, it should be enough for a few hours.
Not sure about that one mate. The APCs often use lead acid (newer/more expensive ones AGM) but they're only meant to shut down a PC/NAS during a cut not sustain them. I have an APC, and a Cyberpower Powerwalker. I wouldn't rely on either to keep stuff up for more than a few minutes. If you want to run stuff for extended periods (and when we're talking about UPS 'extended' = more than 5 or 10 mins) I think you're better off getting a cheap lithium battery and a proper inverter. If the cost of the lithium is too much then look at a 'leisure battery' commonly used by caravan people/HGV drivers/motorhome users. These are designed for long term current draw for appliances. Car batteries are designed to give a huge jolt of current to start a car, but not run stuff for any period of time.

Of course, it will work. It's just not ideal. But it's also cheap so gotta figure out which one means the most to you. Personally if I didn't have the setups I have, I'd grab a 100A leisure battery from somewhere like halfords or go outdoor and a cheap inverter. Maybe a battery charger too if you haven't got one.

This is where having an EV would be cool. Especially if it supported V2L (Vehicle to load) i.e. using the car battery to power the house. Of course all of us can use our regular car batteries too, if you have an inverter. You just aren't going to be running your cooker or something on it.
 
@dabigm yes, I had actually read a bit about batteries and it is generally recommended to use marine or the batteries for solar setups.
It's good to go for AGM, to avoid any nasty gases.

An EV would be fantastic, but for now it's just the stuff of dreams.

And yes, this is for PCs and stuff, not cookers. If s*it hits the fan I'll cook on fire/stove, like my grandma. :)
 
@dabigm yes, I had actually read a bit about batteries and it is generally recommended to use marine or the batteries for solar setups.
It's good to go for AGM, to avoid any nasty gases.

An EV would be fantastic, but for now it's just the stuff of dreams.

And yes, this is for PCs and stuff, not cookers. If s*it hits the fan I'll cook on fire/stove, like my grandma. :)
Yeah exactly. And yeah we also like camping and have a wood / log burner stove etc. So we can always chop some of our trees down and cook with that hahaha. Big forest nearby too ;) I've also got a 40kg propane tank for our BBQ which has absolutely shot up in value (can't even get propane now unless you've already got the tank to refill) that should last a good few months of cooking.
 
I've got a little Campingaz stove and a few cans of propane, meant for camping, but can be used in emergencies. :))

Don't think we'll have to use any of these things btw, but this apocalyptic atmosphere definitely triggers my inner "prepper". 😂
 
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