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Joined 5 months ago
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Cake day: April 23rd, 2026

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  • I’d say a cheap charger-inverter like a Sungold or SRNE would clean this up quite a bit. You’d also not have to size a surge suppressor to withstand the inrush current since the inverter would be supplying the load. It would have a generator input on top of all that. And IDK what sort of inverter you have there, but a lot of those style are modified sinewave and not very good on motors. You’d also get a good data feed off the CI for monitoring, and a dry contact for an alarm siren if the battery hit critical.

    But I like the DIY route, those purpose built backups seem ridiculously expensive to me.




  • Having used LA batteries for years on watering and fencing, the day I discovered LFP batteries was a glorious day.

    They last forever, they discharge down to nothing with no damage, you don’t get corrosion on the terminals. You can’t boil them, you don’t need to check water level, they weigh half as much for the capacity.

    Even though initially expensive, I calculated they’re about a quarter of the cost over the long term than LA because of the cycle count and amount I need for the extended capacity. I get about 30-40% of a LA battery’s capacity without doing lasting harm to it, with LFP I can abuse that thing all the way down until it’s completely exhausted and it charges right back up again.

    Only thing I have to watch is charging them below freezing, so I have to run them in an insulated and heated box in the winter.