Thank you to SunGoldPower! And here is the link for this awesome inverter: shrsl.com/3m1qb. I hope you enjoy the video, and have a great weekend everybody!
John, Loved your review on the inverter. I am jealous of your property and setup of all your buildings. The size of your land is fantastic, the open fields surrounded by trees, and that pond is to die for !! You have the perfect setup !!!! Your knowledge base of so many things is almost intimidating !!! Plus, you have the skills to put your hands on any project and get it completed ! My hat is off to you !
I also noticed the circuit boards seem to have conformal coating on them, which helps minimize corrosion and reduce environmental effects. So yeah, looks like they aren’t taking short cuts on that build.
in my limited experience, sample review pieces always have top notch quality. its retail sale pieces where corner cutting takes place especially for Chinese manufacturers
For anyone looking to add/improve waterproofing on circuit boards for devices that are outside often, CorrosionX and especially CorrosionX HD work really well for preventing water damage to electronics
At first I was like "Oh boy, another gimmick." Actually, I am damned impressed. Just be careful with the suicide cable. Always plug into your load and then into the power source. You holding onto that live plug with bare ends before you plugged into the barn had me squeamish!! Unless the inverters output was in the off-state. Couldn't tell. Honestly, the inverter in the UTV being powered with the LiPO has so much utility. Dead quiet, light weight, no fuel cans, etc. Super awesome actually!!!! There is something to be said about working on a job site without the drone of a genset for hours on end!! Generator is still cheaper in the long run but, its a lot more to deal with and it can be cumbersome. This is a lot easier to work with. Both have pro's and con's but I am liking this none the less!!!
You are correct. It would have been safer to do connect them in the opposite order. I often work with live wires and breakers, so I'm fairly comfortable with it. Maybe too comfortable? ;-) Honestly, I wish I had done it the other way for the video. I was already doing something sketchy, at least I could have done it in the least sketchy way possible!
That double plug "suicide" cable is against most codes and regulations. As you mentioned, it can be very useful for specific people under very specific circumstances. If you find yourself asking out of the blue: "Do I need this?" you are not those people! This is for specific purposes only and needs to be safely stored after use, the exposed prongs will electrocute.
Those specific people with specific circumstances are more specific than some people might think. Most of the people that *think* they have such a special case can better solve their problem using a generator transfer switch and a regular cable. That, or hardwire your temporary solution without using plugs. Long story short: If you have a generator, install a transfer switch instead of creating a suicide cable. And should I ever find myself in need of one, I'm sure to disassemble it as soon as I'm done using it.
I gotta say it again: Best channel on TH-cam!!! Definitely my favourite channel. The variety of content / projects is always fascinating. Never a dull moment. 😎👍
I came across your channel about a month ago. You do great work. You're an innovative and intelligent problem solver. Your videos are organized and contain excellent content. With regard to the soft spot in your driveway. You may be able to completely solve the problem of the sinking substrate without having to use any concrete. If you were to dig the area out 10-12 inches deep, removing the dirt and small debris, then start filling the hole back by adding a layer of stones 6-8 inches deep, 4-6 inches in diameter. Pack that down then put 2-4 inch stones in, fill the hole to within an inch of your top level. Then top it all off with 3/4 inch crush and run (3/4 inch stone mixed with finer stone dust) before doing your final tamping. The technique has worked well for me on my farm in the mountains of WV, where I have a half dozen seeps all over the property. These little spring often make the ground a messy quagmire that you can hardly walk through, much less drive a vehicle. The large stones at the bottom make a sturdy base that spreads the loads out without sinking... and the progressively smaller stones will fill in and lock the larger ones below in place. The Crush & Run packs down flat and hard preventing surface erosion. I hope it was helpful. Keep the excellent videos coming!
You might wanna rename the video title to something like 'SunGoldPower inverter review - teardown, setup and testing'. Might get a lot more views from people comparing different brands and options. I remember when I was building my off-grid system I would've killed for an in-depth video like this. Well done man ^^
Damn man I haven't been watching your channel but for about 3 days now and I've watched a bunch of your videos and I'm totally impressed with your knowledge and I'm even more impressed with the fact that you have all the tools and cabinet shop machine shop, and all the equipment. You rock dude.
It's always fun to see what you are up to around the farm. I don't understand power and wattage. But I do trust your opinion after watching your channel and getting to know you. Great video as usual!
Awesome review. This thing is a beast !! Thanks for explaining things in a way that I can totally understand. I’m sure I’ll see more of this rig in future videos.
FYI, I have a Miller 211 investor mig welder. It will run on 120 or 240. I bought a HF 3500 generator to run it on 120v to work on some shipping containers. The inrush would overwhelm the HF generator. I was using .030 wire. Done a little digging and Miller says a min of 7k to run the 211 on a generator. I ended up with the HF 9500. It runs it with no problem. It is over 250lbs so I move it with my tractor. That inverter running your welder is impressive! Thanks for taking the time to make these videos. I’m like you in another state. I get into equipment repair and restoration. I enjoy watching your videos way better than the depressing stuff on TV thanks again!
Jon, you are a lucky man. You have a large beautiful farm and are able to afford the many tools and machines needed for upkeep and improvements. I love your large pond too. Your channel is one of my very favorites on you tube. Keep up the great videos.
21:08 in the video, put the connecters on your leads the right way round , the one on your inverter should be on the battery leads, that way very little shorting potential. Great video, thanks
I have the SunGoldPower 3KW Inverter charger for my offgrid cabin. It's a real beast. I can run my 12" chop saw no problem and the vacuum cleaner works a treat. I also love that when I fire up the backup generator it detects the power and auto switches to a batter charge and auto switches it's output from inverter to what the generator is sending. No more flipping switches when going between power sources! Now about the suicide cable.... I'd strongly recommend a proper cutover switch (the kind that switches the fuse box between either grid or inverter/generator) that way you could have a male NEMA plug on the wall and use a conventional cable. Right now you are 1 mistake from a 230V heart-stopping experience.
We need a video of you building this thing out with a long roofrack, a good truck bed in the back. The whole thing! I love this thing ao much Im jelous!
I've got that same welder. Had it since 2007, still going strong. I love it! I've ran several hundred pounds of wire through it. I've had to rebuild the microswitch in the trigger twice now, but its so easy, and it's the only problem I've had with it. That inverter is extremely useful! I would love to be able to weld anywhere. One thing I'm looking to build eventually is a mobile skid with my welder, plasma cutter, and air compressor on it. Load it into the back of my truck and fix offroad rigs when we're out in the middle of nowhere beating the wheels off our trucks haha! I have a 6.5kw generator, but im unsure if it will be able to run my plasma cutter... that thing is a beast.
That looks like a really nice bit of kit. I was nearly killed by a back fed consumer unit (fuse box) so please take care. If you're looking for video content I'd really enjoy a video looking around the farm.
You have probably gotten this suggestion elsewhere in the comments, but as an added precaution, I would try and further isolate the inverter from vibratory loads (of driving around the farm) in the back of your cart by mounting it to that white board on rubber feet that give additional shock absorption to further prolong its lifespan.
That would have been nice to have had when I had my RV. Actually it had a fairly nice inverter that I became very familiar with the first year I used the RV. I was heading to Cape Charles in late April in 2015 and charged the series of coach batteries by first disconnecting each and individually charging.. The charge went well and I was being very careful by labeling all the wires so that when reinstalled all went well. Things did not go well. Somehow I swapped ground with positive. I spent the next week pulling everything out from fridge to heater to range hood so that I could rewire everything that had melted in the few minutes it was incorrectly connected. The only good thing is I really new the systems by the time I was done and the truck part of the RV was on a separate system and suffered no Ill effect. I do remember being impressed by the fridge. Until then I had never seen a cooling device that ran on propane complete with a pilot light. I kind of remember the fridge ran on some principle involving ammonia but it sure cooled well and I remember being impressed by the full details plus they are very expensive were I to have had to replace it.
It helps to put De-ox in the cable lugs before crimping them, cuts down quite a bit on future corrosion. Some heat shrink over top and it should last about forever.
I would highly recommend looking into DC Generators since you already have Solar system. I had a Kohler standby for 3 years brand new and had so many issues with it killing sensitive electronics and multiple parts failing so I got rid of it, then tried portable generator routes with reliability issues... so I decided to build one with the intent of it being more reliable. I initially tried to use a over the shelf car alternator, just with the regulator circuit gutted from it, but on a 100amp alternator I was only seeing 7-8 amps output @ 90v DC with the pulley I was testing it with. So I bought a wind turbine generator motor from ebay that was designed to output 4800watts @ 96v DC, i had an old VW Jetta w/1.9TDI that ran well, but was damaged from accident, so i had the differential welded so the output of the transmission was locked like a locker, then mounted the wind turbine motor to the wheel hub assembly after modifying it some and ran the electric motor directly off the drive axle from the transmission. This gave me the option to start the motor in neutral and use the different gears of the transmission. Wired the output of the electric motor to the input of a Victron solar charge controller setup that charges my 48v batteries for my solar system. After i got it all running i bought a 2nd of the same wind turbine motor for backup, but ended up mounting it to the other side to the other axle as a pair and use both now to split the load. Ive run this setup for 11 years now without an issue using the old car cooling and fuel system. An alternate idea to a higher quality mobile generator, one of my neighbors down the street from me bought a salvage title Ford F150 from CoParts that was totaled because of hail damage for 7k, because it had the 7200 watt pro power onboard system and turned it into his farm truck around the property and his mobile generator since he can put it in generator mode and power the house. Ive seen him power his house for 20+ days off it without an issue..
This is such a good idea, Have a massive battery in the golf cart that can be used instead of hanging in the wall that are rarely used, You are onto a winner here,
If you think the carb. Is empty think twice. Remove the bowl and you will be surprised how much fuel is left. Once fuel level drops below pick up, engine will turn off. Check the bowl!!!! I have to do the bowl empty every year as I only use mine for hurricane season here in Florida. You have a good show, keep it up. Thanks Gary
I'm Very Glad the Wife did not go along with grabbing those wires. Your wife Jen is a Very Smart and Pretty Lady, 🤩John. Your one of my favorite channel's always something new and you learn things.
"Oh a horse is a horse of course, of course, unless of course that horse is Mister Ed." I could have helped it, but didn't want to.😄 Might I make a suggestion on cement mixing, get a gas mask to prevent any of the cement ingredients from getting into your lungs. A dust mask is alright, but can allow some particles to go around the mask. Fantastic review, gave me several ideas for some around the farm work I should get done. Thanks for the video.
Adding a Frequency drive to the sander may could enable it to run on that Inverter since it could provide a soft-start. And having a battery on wheels is a nice idea! Just please get rid of the suicide cord. Saving the cost of a lockout and proper socket isn't worth accidentally hurting oneself or a linemen. Especially since by modifying the lockout already present in your breaker panel and moving the solar inverter breaker to the bottom left corner is most of what you'd need. (At least for that panel)
Here in the UK I found an old PTO driven concrete mixer - put it on my Agrotron 85 - 3pt.... Thing can make huge batches of concrete and I reverse the tractor to where I need it. NOTE - You might need to add front weights 😂😂
Dude! How big is that farm? Those drone shots are awesome! Love that you dug the hole in advance but the wife wasn’t having it. Not today at least. The inverter review seems objective and honest. The tests were great. It does seem like a very large device. More meant to be pad mounted or mounted to a wall. Nonetheless, it seems to have done the job around your farm. All those tools you tested were actually very appropriate because those are good for practical and common use. Say hi to Jen from the 301,000 of us. Keep up the good content!
suggestion for the farm, first get an old plastic truck bed liner- cut off the sides, bolt an angle across the front and attach chains to make a sled for dragging behind the golf cart. Roll that mixer on it and go. No lifting. Rake leaves on it, dirt, or mulch. My wife’s favorite tool behind the golf cart, even the wheel barrow goes on it.
I just found out about these things called tarp straps. Made of rubber with a hook on each end. I'll bet you could use some to keep that mixer from tumping out of your trailer.
Electrician here: With lithium batteries, you want to get a large resistor to use as a precharge resistor when connecting the inverter in order to charge up the capacitors. This will prevent the batteries from damage with the initial draw from the capacitors. For a 6 k inverter you want to use 4/0 cable to lower the resistance for the surge capacity, and also try and keep the positive and negative conductors as close as possible for as much as the length as possible. Taping or zipties is fine. The farther apart the conductors, the higher the resistance. Keeping them as short as possible helps too.
"The farther apart the conductors, the higher the resistance." -- Don't you mean impedance? I assume the problem is the magnetics from a large loop of cabling, or am I misunderstanding?
@@chuuni6924 Depending on how the conductors are laid out, you'd have to be concerned with both reactance and resistance....... so, yeah. I guess impedance would be a better "blanket" term for the issues.
That said, I'd just run 2 welding cables (#4 cable, like GoCoyote said - they aught to be fine). Stick them in a wire loom or maybe a long piece of heat shrink and call it good. Edit: I would NOT however use jumper cables. A lot of them, even the big, high amp ones are copper plated aluminum conductors.
@@chuuni6924 In DC circuits, it will actually be self inductance that causes the resistance. Here is a fairly cogent explanation from an old Trace engineering manual. When current passes through a conductor a magnetic field is set up around the conductor. As this magnetic field builds, it induces voltage in any conductor that is close by, and it induces a voltage in the original conductor. The voltage induced into the original conductor is called self-inductance, and tends to oppose the current that produced it. The magnitude of the self-induced voltage is proportional to the size of the loop formed by a wire. The larger the loop, the larger the self-induced voltage. The positive and negative battery cables in a system are in reality only a single circuit (wire), and so the inductance of the battery circuit depends on how the cables are physically positioned or arranged with respect to one another. If battery cables are separated by a distance, they have much more inductance than if they are close together. If the two battery cables were coaxial there would be virtually no induced current flow since the magnetic fields would cancel one another. However, we don’t have coaxial battery cables, but we can approximate them by taping the cables together every four to six inches. When the cables are taped together, the magnetic fields around each battery cable tend to cancel each other. When cables are separated the magnetic fields add together and increase the inductance of the battery cables. If you aren’t convinced that taping battery cables together helps reduce inductance, consider the following table of information collected by Trace Engineering. We tested two sixteen foot long #4/0 AWG battery cables connected together at one end and parallel to one another. Table 8, Battery Cable Inductance Distance Between Battery Cables Inductance in micro-Henries Taped Together 3.3 12” Separation 6.0 48”+ Separation 8-9 The above table shows that with only a foot of distance between the battery cables the inductance almost doubles, and at four feet between cables the inductance is almost three times the inductance of cables taped together. Since the induced voltage in a conductor varies as the inductance times the rate of change of current in the inductor, the induced voltage may be three times greater than it would be if cables were not taped together. For more advanced readers, consider flyback effects and the induced voltage spikes can get into the thousands of volts range if the battery were suddenly removed from the circuit (worst case). These induced voltage changes cause ripple in the battery cables and must be absorbed or filtered by the filter capacitors in the inverter. This ripple will lead to eventual premature breakdown of the filter capacitors and performance loss in the inverter. In addition to the problems mentioned, the induced current opposes the applied current (battery current) which directly causes a loss of inverter performance as greatly reduced efficiency. To avoid this problem, route your positive and negative DC cables in parallel, as close together as possible. Secure the cables against movement with clamps or straps every 18 inches. Avoid routing conductors near heat sources such as dry exhaust or furnace piping. Avoid chafing sources such as steering cables, engine shafts, and throttle connections. Hopefully this information gives a much more realistic and clear idea of why battery cables should be kept short and close together. Maximum performance is the goal of any well designed power system and the details such as this will help achieve the goal.
Greetings from Pakistan! I thought you are Diresta’s brother🤓، I love watching your videos with great interest. Your commentary is awesome and very clear to understand. Please keep posting videos though these are very technical and of high level.
You are the type of man who could be dropped off at a junk yard with proper tools and you would end up driving home in a amazing self made tank put together from a variety of cars, trucks, water heaters etc lol. You have mad skills bro.
Love your channel, stumbled on it from your video installing the Generac gen set. BTW, your clamp-on meter is not designed to measure around the extension cord like you had it. You have to break out the hot and neutral and clamp around a single conductor.
Might not be a bad idea to get a Pelican type case to store and transport the inverter it, it would keep it protected from accidental drops and vibration during transport. When you get to where you're using power just pull it out and hook it up, could even make a hanging bracket to mount on the ROPS under cover and above dust kicked up from tools and the ground.
@aullik You cannot touch the high voltage from outside the case. Not sure what you mean. The battery voltage is 48V and it will not shock you. Even so, I did tape those ends and they also can't be touched from outside.
More for a corrosion stand point on big cables,it starts there and spreads up the wire.I assemble with silicone electrical paste too.Awsome video's, thanks for showing us your beautiful farm.
I don't mean to disparage the battery/inverter system, but it is far cheaper to just buy a generator of equal wattage & throw it in the back of the golf cart. I made some brackets & permanently mounted mine in the back of my (good size) garden tractor, giving me additional traction in the winter when pushing snow. I've also had to use my welder in the field and it was very handy. In addition, batteries run down in a few hours, generator is good for weeks if you have enough fuel.
Just discovered your channel this morning from this video. I'd say thanks, except I now see too many hours I'm going to get sucked into going over a lot of your older content. I love the inverter tied to the cart idea. Yes, others have pointed out that a generator is going to be the most economic investment for the same portable power. But if you are like me and have begun investing in a solar powered property, each item that requires only the sun to run quietly is a step away from being dependent on volatile fuel prices. I also get it, there is a large capital investment, and it takes years of use to make up the cost of a fossil fueled appliance + fuel used. But I can't make my own fossil fuel and each step that I can get away from importing power sources gives me more independence from the politics of bringing power of any kind to my property. Plus, once set up, the convenience of power from the cart that brings you to the worksite is just awesome.
Could you do a video on the finance of everything you do? What are your main sources of income, excluding Patreon/YT. What would a similar person without YT/Patreon mostly be doing and how would they earn money. How long are the payback periods for some of the expensive tools you own? Also, where exactly did you learn about each tool. A lot of videos you buy and fix a vehicle but seem to already know a lot about them.
I have several friend who have converted electric golf carts into portable power stations. They have replaced the sun roofs with solar panels to top up the charge. Although one friend who lives in Florida on Soace Coast has 3, 650 Watt panels on his 4 seat with a dump bed cart. Those panels keep his 6 8v batteries charged as he rarely has to plug it in.
I just bought my quick disconnects like yours offline from Amazon and they came with caps... I take it yours didn't?? Nice ending to your video and a nice looking family you have there sir. My wife and I had 5 children ourselves and now we have 6 grand children. God Bless. HOOAH!!!
Actually I really don't plan to run the shop in that manner. I should have been more clear about that. The main reason I did that was to be able to test the inverter against my big shop tools. It is nice to have as an option in a pinch, but really, if the power is out, I don't think I'm going to be woodworking with my golf cart batteries!
i would love to see a guy like you with such a well thought through site seek out and promote more " MADE IN THE USA " products. Your channel is the best. This is what is needed today, more common sense DIY'ers. We need to find away to keep the American designed and developed ideas here in our country. Thanks for doing such a great job with your site, Lou
Now you need about 400watts of solar on the roof, to help keep the battery charged!! Maybe get 4x 30-50 amp hour, 4s batteries to go with it, to give more run time, maybe a lean-to made with solar panels to park it under, maybe a receptacle to use the power when not in use, keep a fridge or freezer running for free!
Hi I think you may consider making a vertical shockproof mount for the inverter behind the seat so that the cooling works as designed, possibly make an intake air filter if you use it in a dusty environment. An important suggestion is to try and use air-powered tools whenever possible... running a compressor from the powerstation and using air-tools is ALWAYS SAFEST. MANY PEOPLE DIE EACH YEAR from electrical tools - Usually in a confined space, but please just don't risk it, convert to air-tools and be safer! You NEVER need to use a suicide cable... You can buy a socket (receptacle) fitting for one end of the cable and mount a fixed plug on the wall. The simple principle is that the exposed Male is NEVER live, only the exposed female should be live. Your Johnson should always be 0 volts! IN EVERY INSTALLATION the fixed male plug is interlocked off at the panel so that it cannot be made live from the electricity companies supply! ------------------------ Going back to some time ago regarding your boiler... does the chimney (I cannot really see a proper extension outside) have a spark arrestor on it, otherwise I wondered if that was how the fire started. Maybe fit a braced chimney above the boiler-house, preferably with a spark arrestor or a few offset bends that would allow embers to cool before exiting. My other safety comment is about eggs and baskets really. Maybe don't put too much wood in the woodstore, build another store somewhere further from the house for the bulk of your wood and just keep less stock in the boiler woodhouse, restocking occasionally from your bulk store.
Nice looking inverter. The real test these days is how clean the output 60hz is. Meeting high wattage specs isn't too difficult with current standard components, but how much they bothered with the output filtering is what separates the good from the bad. Most electronics are much happier without the interference on their power supply, and even the power grid wants cleaner than the average cheap inverter will put out. Dirty inverter output is polluting the grid, cheap solar systems are messing with the grid so much as to dirty the power on the whole neighborhood. The trick is most don't know about this, and don't have the tools to measure what they have. Minimum required is an O'scope and knowing how to use it. Due to this there are many manufacturers putting out 'value priced' inverters that don't bother with providing quality filtering.
Id put in a second set of batteries one to use thd cart and one as a power station, the roof also lookes like you can put a solar panel on it to trickle charge the batteries. Actually one of these and a solar panel set up on the barn with batteries could be an off grid station to keep tools and machines powered up and ready. It can always be connected to the house as well.
You should wire each receptacle to different 120v circuit. That would allow you to use multiple tools at the same time. There might have been a large capacitor in the inverter, so you could have been killed. Leather or rubber gloves next time.
I think this may be the answer for powering my house water pump during a power outage. I only need power enough to pull from my storage tank to fill the pressure tank, so like 60 seconds every so often. Bluetti and others are $$$$$$ because you have to buy 2 to get 240V. Where did you get your lithium batteries from? I'll have to get that and build something to keep them charged up.
Thank you to SunGoldPower! And here is the link for this awesome inverter: shrsl.com/3m1qb. I hope you enjoy the video, and have a great weekend everybody!
Great job testing the inverter! Decent price for what you get too!
God Bless our Farmers. Big Thumbs up.
“I got the hole dug and everything!” 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
John,
Loved your review on the inverter. I am jealous of your property and setup of all your buildings. The size of your land is fantastic, the open fields surrounded by trees, and that pond is to die for !!
You have the perfect setup !!!! Your knowledge base of so many things is almost intimidating !!! Plus, you have the skills to put your hands on any project and get it completed ! My hat is off to you !
I also noticed the circuit boards seem to have conformal coating on them, which helps minimize corrosion and reduce environmental effects. So yeah, looks like they aren’t taking short cuts on that build.
in my limited experience, sample review pieces always have top notch quality. its retail sale pieces where corner cutting takes place especially for Chinese manufacturers
@@lordjaashin I could see that. Question is if they expect you to open something like this
For anyone looking to add/improve waterproofing on circuit boards for devices that are outside often, CorrosionX and especially CorrosionX HD work really well for preventing water damage to electronics
The Arial view of that last is just stunning all that gorgeous green @FarmCraft101
At first I was like "Oh boy, another gimmick." Actually, I am damned impressed. Just be careful with the suicide cable. Always plug into your load and then into the power source. You holding onto that live plug with bare ends before you plugged into the barn had me squeamish!! Unless the inverters output was in the off-state. Couldn't tell.
Honestly, the inverter in the UTV being powered with the LiPO has so much utility. Dead quiet, light weight, no fuel cans, etc. Super awesome actually!!!! There is something to be said about working on a job site without the drone of a genset for hours on end!!
Generator is still cheaper in the long run but, its a lot more to deal with and it can be cumbersome. This is a lot easier to work with.
Both have pro's and con's but I am liking this none the less!!!
You are correct. It would have been safer to do connect them in the opposite order. I often work with live wires and breakers, so I'm fairly comfortable with it. Maybe too comfortable? ;-) Honestly, I wish I had done it the other way for the video. I was already doing something sketchy, at least I could have done it in the least sketchy way possible!
That double plug "suicide" cable is against most codes and regulations.
As you mentioned, it can be very useful for specific people under very specific circumstances.
If you find yourself asking out of the blue: "Do I need this?" you are not those people!
This is for specific purposes only and needs to be safely stored after use, the exposed prongs will electrocute.
Those specific people with specific circumstances are more specific than some people might think. Most of the people that *think* they have such a special case can better solve their problem using a generator transfer switch and a regular cable. That, or hardwire your temporary solution without using plugs.
Long story short: If you have a generator, install a transfer switch instead of creating a suicide cable. And should I ever find myself in need of one, I'm sure to disassemble it as soon as I'm done using it.
I gotta say it again: Best channel on TH-cam!!! Definitely my favourite channel. The variety of content / projects is always fascinating. Never a dull moment. 😎👍
I came across your channel about a month ago. You do great work. You're an innovative and intelligent problem solver. Your videos are organized and contain excellent content.
With regard to the soft spot in your driveway. You may be able to completely solve the problem of the sinking substrate without having to use any concrete.
If you were to dig the area out 10-12 inches deep, removing the dirt and small debris, then start filling the hole back by adding a layer of stones 6-8 inches deep, 4-6 inches in diameter. Pack that down then put 2-4 inch stones in, fill the hole to within an inch of your top level. Then top it all off with 3/4 inch crush and run (3/4 inch stone mixed with finer stone dust) before doing your final tamping.
The technique has worked well for me on my farm in the mountains of WV, where I have a half dozen seeps all over the property. These little spring often make the ground a messy quagmire that you can hardly walk through, much less drive a vehicle.
The large stones at the bottom make a sturdy base that spreads the loads out without sinking... and the progressively smaller stones will fill in and lock the larger ones below in place. The Crush & Run packs down flat and hard preventing surface erosion.
I hope it was helpful.
Keep the excellent videos coming!
What a fantastic view at the end. Forest and fields for miles. You live in a beautiful part of the country.
You might wanna rename the video title to something like 'SunGoldPower inverter review - teardown, setup and testing'. Might get a lot more views from people comparing different brands and options. I remember when I was building my off-grid system I would've killed for an in-depth video like this. Well done man ^^
Damn man I haven't been watching your channel but for about 3 days now and I've watched a bunch of your videos and I'm totally impressed with your knowledge and I'm even more impressed with the fact that you have all the tools and cabinet shop machine shop, and all the equipment. You rock dude.
Agree100% I thought my shop was bad-ass his put's mine to shame!!
That last shot made it all worthwhile. The best of America. The land, the people and the natural beauty. Amen.
I don't know much about inverters but that looks like a nice piece of equipment. Your videos are always informative and entertaining
It's always fun to see what you are up to around the farm. I don't understand power and wattage. But I do trust your opinion after watching your channel and getting to know you. Great video as usual!
Thanks for reading my mind.
@@johnhamilton9229 lol
Awesome review. This thing is a beast !! Thanks for explaining things in a way that I can totally understand. I’m sure I’ll see more of this rig in future videos.
The weak link isn't the batteries, it is the fan that draws saw dust, bits of grass, fuzzy tree stuff, etc, into the heat sinks and plugs them up.
That can be mitigated with some worn out scotch brite pads and some double sided tape though.
Not if the fans blow out and or you filter the air intakes.
Hello from Moosomin, Saskatchewan, Canada great videos thanks for sharing
FYI, I have a Miller 211 investor mig welder. It will run on 120 or 240. I bought a HF 3500 generator to run it on 120v to work on some shipping containers. The inrush would overwhelm the HF generator. I was using .030 wire. Done a little digging and Miller says a min of 7k to run the 211 on a generator. I ended up with the HF 9500. It runs it with no problem. It is over 250lbs so I move it with my tractor. That inverter running your welder is impressive! Thanks for taking the time to make these videos. I’m like you in another state. I get into equipment repair and restoration. I enjoy watching your videos way better than the depressing stuff on TV thanks again!
Jon, you are a lucky man. You have a large beautiful farm and are able to afford the many tools and machines needed for upkeep and improvements. I love your large pond too. Your channel is one of my very favorites on you tube. Keep up the great videos.
for farm craft you have some pretty good professional tools
What a great place you have 😊 Started following you a while ago, Now I'm working my way backwards in the archive 😅👍 Nice channel 👍👍🤠
I have the same battery cable crimper and it has saved me a boatload being able to make up my own cables
Impressed it ran that evolution chop saw
21:08 in the video, put the connecters on your leads the right way round , the one on your inverter should be on the battery leads, that way very little shorting potential. Great video, thanks
I have the SunGoldPower 3KW Inverter charger for my offgrid cabin. It's a real beast. I can run my 12" chop saw no problem and the vacuum cleaner works a treat.
I also love that when I fire up the backup generator it detects the power and auto switches to a batter charge and auto switches it's output from inverter to what the generator is sending. No more flipping switches when going between power sources!
Now about the suicide cable.... I'd strongly recommend a proper cutover switch (the kind that switches the fuse box between either grid or inverter/generator) that way you could have a male NEMA plug on the wall and use a conventional cable. Right now you are 1 mistake from a 230V heart-stopping experience.
We need a video of you building this thing out with a long roofrack, a good truck bed in the back. The whole thing! I love this thing ao much Im jelous!
Thanks for another vid. Like them a lot. And the drone footage of the farm was awesome. You've got a beautiful place. Cheers. 🍻😁👍
I've got that same welder. Had it since 2007, still going strong. I love it! I've ran several hundred pounds of wire through it. I've had to rebuild the microswitch in the trigger twice now, but its so easy, and it's the only problem I've had with it. That inverter is extremely useful! I would love to be able to weld anywhere. One thing I'm looking to build eventually is a mobile skid with my welder, plasma cutter, and air compressor on it. Load it into the back of my truck and fix offroad rigs when we're out in the middle of nowhere beating the wheels off our trucks haha! I have a 6.5kw generator, but im unsure if it will be able to run my plasma cutter... that thing is a beast.
I am going Lipo on my buggy/ trailer combo. Very good content, enjoyed. Thanks from the UK.
That looks like a really nice bit of kit. I was nearly killed by a back fed consumer unit (fuse box) so please take care. If you're looking for video content I'd really enjoy a video looking around the farm.
You have probably gotten this suggestion elsewhere in the comments, but as an added precaution, I would try and further isolate the inverter from vibratory loads (of driving around the farm) in the back of your cart by mounting it to that white board on rubber feet that give additional shock absorption to further prolong its lifespan.
Like your thorough review and uses for the inverter... BUT no suicide cord!
That would have been nice to have had when I had my RV. Actually it had a fairly nice inverter that I became very familiar with the first year I used the RV.
I was heading to Cape Charles in late April in 2015 and charged the series of coach batteries by first disconnecting each and individually charging..
The charge went well and I was being very careful by labeling all the wires so that when reinstalled all went well. Things did not go well. Somehow I swapped ground with positive.
I spent the next week pulling everything out from fridge to heater to range hood so that I could rewire everything that had melted in the few minutes it was incorrectly connected.
The only good thing is I really new the systems by the time I was done and the truck part of the RV was on a separate system and suffered no Ill effect.
I do remember being impressed by the fridge. Until then I had never seen a cooling device that ran on propane complete with a pilot light. I kind of remember the fridge ran on some principle involving ammonia but it sure cooled well and I remember being impressed by the full details plus they are very expensive were I to have had to replace it.
Looks like the inverter would fit nicely in a cabinet, might be worth building one to shield it from the elements. Great video as always
Oh sweet I could use this inverter for welding on 240 that is impressive 👏 wow and that massive compression well over 7000 watts
It helps to put De-ox in the cable lugs before crimping them, cuts down quite a bit on future corrosion. Some heat shrink over top and it should last about forever.
Would need to heatshrink those things. That stuff is a "grease", right? If it is that stuff can be messy.
I would highly recommend looking into DC Generators since you already have Solar system. I had a Kohler standby for 3 years brand new and had so many issues with it killing sensitive electronics and multiple parts failing so I got rid of it, then tried portable generator routes with reliability issues... so I decided to build one with the intent of it being more reliable. I initially tried to use a over the shelf car alternator, just with the regulator circuit gutted from it, but on a 100amp alternator I was only seeing 7-8 amps output @ 90v DC with the pulley I was testing it with. So I bought a wind turbine generator motor from ebay that was designed to output 4800watts @ 96v DC, i had an old VW Jetta w/1.9TDI that ran well, but was damaged from accident, so i had the differential welded so the output of the transmission was locked like a locker, then mounted the wind turbine motor to the wheel hub assembly after modifying it some and ran the electric motor directly off the drive axle from the transmission. This gave me the option to start the motor in neutral and use the different gears of the transmission. Wired the output of the electric motor to the input of a Victron solar charge controller setup that charges my 48v batteries for my solar system. After i got it all running i bought a 2nd of the same wind turbine motor for backup, but ended up mounting it to the other side to the other axle as a pair and use both now to split the load. Ive run this setup for 11 years now without an issue using the old car cooling and fuel system. An alternate idea to a higher quality mobile generator, one of my neighbors down the street from me bought a salvage title Ford F150 from CoParts that was totaled because of hail damage for 7k, because it had the 7200 watt pro power onboard system and turned it into his farm truck around the property and his mobile generator since he can put it in generator mode and power the house. Ive seen him power his house for 20+ days off it without an issue..
This is such a good idea, Have a massive battery in the golf cart that can be used instead of hanging in the wall that are rarely used, You are onto a winner here,
Thanks for your review, assessment, and insights, Jon. 👍
If you think the carb. Is empty think twice. Remove the bowl and you will be surprised how much fuel is left. Once fuel level drops below pick up, engine will turn off. Check the bowl!!!! I have to do the bowl empty every year as I only use mine for hurricane season here in Florida. You have a good show, keep it up. Thanks Gary
10:05 Ultimate NeverEverEVerMakeThatCable! Nice build for real.
I'm Very Glad the Wife did not go along with grabbing those wires. Your wife Jen is a Very Smart and Pretty Lady, 🤩John. Your one of my favorite channel's always something new and you learn things.
Nice, setup, now you need a large solar panel, with charge control on the cart roof!
Cool! Love the outro, Jon. Quite a slice of heaven you’ve got there. Awesome!
Nicely done. That thing works great!
"Oh a horse is a horse of course, of course, unless of course that horse is Mister Ed." I could have helped it, but didn't want to.😄
Might I make a suggestion on cement mixing, get a gas mask to prevent any of the cement ingredients from getting into your lungs. A dust mask is alright, but can allow some particles to go around the mask. Fantastic review, gave me several ideas for some around the farm work I should get done. Thanks for the video.
Adding a Frequency drive to the sander may could enable it to run on that Inverter since it could provide a soft-start. And having a battery on wheels is a nice idea!
Just please get rid of the suicide cord. Saving the cost of a lockout and proper socket isn't worth accidentally hurting oneself or a linemen. Especially since by modifying the lockout already present in your breaker panel and moving the solar inverter breaker to the bottom left corner is most of what you'd need. (At least for that panel)
The suicide cord is the least of his problems ! The inverter is for indoor use only and wont last long at all ! what a shame.
Great drone shot at the end. Beautiful and well done
I started watching your channel yesterday and with that old Jonson and and this video today this is amazing to run a welder like that I'm sold
Ha ha “I got the hole already dug and everything dang it”! That was funny!
Here in the UK I found an old PTO driven concrete mixer - put it on my Agrotron 85 - 3pt.... Thing can make huge batches of concrete and I reverse the tractor to where I need it. NOTE - You might need to add front weights 😂😂
Dude! How big is that farm? Those drone shots are awesome! Love that you dug the hole in advance but the wife wasn’t having it. Not today at least. The inverter review seems objective and honest. The tests were great. It does seem like a very large device. More meant to be pad mounted or mounted to a wall. Nonetheless, it seems to have done the job around your farm. All those tools you tested were actually very appropriate because those are good for practical and common use. Say hi to Jen from the 301,000 of us. Keep up the good content!
Been interested in solar n inverters for off grid areas. This video did help
suggestion for the farm, first get an old plastic truck bed liner- cut off the sides, bolt an angle across the front and attach chains to make a sled for dragging behind the golf cart. Roll that mixer on it and go. No lifting. Rake leaves on it, dirt, or mulch. My wife’s favorite tool behind the golf cart, even the wheel barrow goes on it.
I just found out about these things called tarp straps. Made of rubber with a hook on each end. I'll bet you could use some to keep that mixer from tumping out of your trailer.
Electrician here: With lithium batteries, you want to get a large resistor to use as a precharge resistor when connecting the inverter in order to charge up the capacitors. This will prevent the batteries from damage with the initial draw from the capacitors. For a 6 k inverter you want to use 4/0 cable to lower the resistance for the surge capacity, and also try and keep the positive and negative conductors as close as possible for as much as the length as possible. Taping or zipties is fine. The farther apart the conductors, the higher the resistance. Keeping them as short as possible helps too.
"The farther apart the conductors, the higher the resistance." -- Don't you mean impedance? I assume the problem is the magnetics from a large loop of cabling, or am I misunderstanding?
@@chuuni6924 Depending on how the conductors are laid out, you'd have to be concerned with both reactance and resistance....... so, yeah. I guess impedance would be a better "blanket" term for the issues.
That said, I'd just run 2 welding cables (#4 cable, like GoCoyote said - they aught to be fine). Stick them in a wire loom or maybe a long piece of heat shrink and call it good.
Edit: I would NOT however use jumper cables. A lot of them, even the big, high amp ones are copper plated aluminum conductors.
@@chuuni6924
In DC circuits, it will actually be self inductance that causes the resistance. Here is a fairly cogent explanation from an old Trace engineering manual.
When current passes through a conductor a magnetic field is set up around the conductor. As this magnetic field builds, it induces voltage in any conductor that is close by, and it induces a voltage in the original conductor. The voltage induced into the original conductor is called self-inductance, and tends to oppose the current that produced it.
The magnitude of the self-induced voltage is proportional to the size of the loop formed by a wire. The larger the loop, the larger the self-induced voltage. The positive and negative battery cables in a system are in reality only a single circuit (wire), and so the inductance of the battery circuit depends on how the cables are physically positioned or arranged with respect to one another.
If battery cables are separated by a distance, they have much more inductance than if they are close together. If the two battery cables were coaxial there would be virtually no induced current flow since the magnetic fields would cancel one another. However, we don’t have coaxial battery cables, but we can approximate them by taping the cables together every four to six inches. When the cables are taped together, the magnetic fields around each battery cable tend to cancel each other. When cables are separated the magnetic fields add together and increase the inductance of the battery cables. If you aren’t convinced that taping battery cables together helps reduce inductance, consider the following table of information collected by Trace Engineering. We tested two sixteen foot long #4/0 AWG battery cables connected together at one end and parallel to one another.
Table 8, Battery Cable Inductance
Distance Between Battery Cables
Inductance
in micro-Henries
Taped Together
3.3
12” Separation
6.0
48”+ Separation
8-9
The above table shows that with only a foot of distance between the battery cables the inductance almost doubles, and at four feet between cables the inductance is almost three times the inductance of cables taped together.
Since the induced voltage in a conductor varies as the inductance times the rate of change of current in the inductor, the induced voltage may be three times greater than it would be if cables were not taped together. For more advanced readers, consider flyback effects and the induced voltage spikes can get into the thousands of volts range if the battery were suddenly removed from the circuit (worst case).
These induced voltage changes cause ripple in the battery cables and must be absorbed or filtered by the filter capacitors in the inverter. This ripple will lead to eventual premature breakdown of the filter capacitors and performance loss in the inverter.
In addition to the problems mentioned, the induced current opposes the applied current (battery current) which directly causes a loss of inverter performance as greatly reduced efficiency.
To avoid this problem, route your positive and negative DC cables in parallel, as close together as possible. Secure the cables against movement with clamps or straps every 18 inches. Avoid routing conductors near heat sources such as dry exhaust or furnace piping. Avoid chafing sources such as steering cables, engine shafts, and throttle connections.
Hopefully this information gives a much more realistic and clear idea of why battery cables should be kept short and close together. Maximum performance is the goal of any well designed power system and the details such as this will help achieve the goal.
@@GoCoyote A Flyback Diode could be used in case of battery removal.
Wow it ran the planer that is impressive at 8200 watts
Greetings from Pakistan! I thought you are Diresta’s brother🤓، I love watching your videos with great interest. Your commentary is awesome and very clear to understand. Please keep posting videos though these are very technical and of high level.
Yes I watched all three installments.
9:29 this socket look like a face 😂😂
Hahah the you and jen parts lately are golden. That badly cramped cable make me a bit nervous tho. Keep it up!
Your wife seams like a nice lady for putting up with your antics.
Sweet inverter. I was squinting with the compressor. The inrush current must have been crazy. Most generators struggle
Excellent combo.
You are the type of man who could be dropped off at a junk yard with proper tools and you would end up driving home in a amazing self made tank put together from a variety of cars, trucks, water heaters etc lol. You have mad skills bro.
Love your channel, stumbled on it from your video installing the Generac gen set. BTW, your clamp-on meter is not designed to measure around the extension cord like you had it. You have to break out the hot and neutral and clamp around a single conductor.
You've got a slice of paradise there
You look like breaking bad teacher 😅
Might not be a bad idea to get a Pelican type case to store and transport the inverter it, it would keep it protected from accidental drops and vibration during transport. When you get to where you're using power just pull it out and hook it up, could even make a hanging bracket to mount on the ROPS under cover and above dust kicked up from tools and the ground.
FYI Block heaters can run off DC directly.
Hi,could use some shrink tubeing on those cables.Nice set up,but to pricy for me.
thought the same. I really dont like exposed wire and you can touch the high voltage from outside the case. That should really not the.
Agreed. I think, he just slapped it together for the video. He's a smart guy and am sure would normally do it.
@aullik You cannot touch the high voltage from outside the case. Not sure what you mean. The battery voltage is 48V and it will not shock you. Even so, I did tape those ends and they also can't be touched from outside.
More for a corrosion stand point on big cables,it starts there and spreads up the wire.I assemble with silicone electrical paste too.Awsome video's, thanks for showing us your beautiful farm.
super system and delightful koi too !
Can’t stop watching and the content is random (love it) just curious: You work anywhere? Or does the farm life support your efforts
I don't mean to disparage the battery/inverter system, but it is far cheaper to just buy a generator of equal wattage & throw it in the back of the golf cart. I made some brackets & permanently mounted mine in the back of my (good size) garden tractor, giving me additional traction in the winter when pushing snow. I've also had to use my welder in the field and it was very handy. In addition, batteries run down in a few hours, generator is good for weeks if you have enough fuel.
Remember he got it for free, we have to pay for it if we want it, changes everything
Hell that jump lead is foookin dangerous!
Nice set up. Is your koi named Johnson? You know, things look bigger under water.
Great report.
Read his comments before making comments that he has already covered…… Greetings from Tasmania Australia 🇦🇺
Nice setup, maybe make a rack to get the inverter off the EZ goès bed so you have the full use of the bed again.
Glad that worked out for you!
Just discovered your channel this morning from this video. I'd say thanks, except I now see too many hours I'm going to get sucked into going over a lot of your older content.
I love the inverter tied to the cart idea. Yes, others have pointed out that a generator is going to be the most economic investment for the same portable power. But if you are like me and have begun investing in a solar powered property, each item that requires only the sun to run quietly is a step away from being dependent on volatile fuel prices. I also get it, there is a large capital investment, and it takes years of use to make up the cost of a fossil fueled appliance + fuel used. But I can't make my own fossil fuel and each step that I can get away from importing power sources gives me more independence from the politics of bringing power of any kind to my property. Plus, once set up, the convenience of power from the cart that brings you to the worksite is just awesome.
Good work brother thanks much.
Nice thumbnail :-) And Video of cause.
Thanks for sharing.
Weekend Stuff
Looks very good as I would expect for a free item sent for review.
Could you do a video on the finance of everything you do? What are your main sources of income, excluding Patreon/YT. What would a similar person without YT/Patreon mostly be doing and how would they earn money. How long are the payback periods for some of the expensive tools you own? Also, where exactly did you learn about each tool. A lot of videos you buy and fix a vehicle but seem to already know a lot about them.
I have several friend who have converted electric golf carts into portable power stations. They have replaced the sun roofs with solar panels to top up the charge. Although one friend who lives in Florida on Soace Coast has 3, 650 Watt panels on his 4 seat with a dump bed cart. Those panels keep his 6 8v batteries charged as he rarely has to plug it in.
I just bought my quick disconnects like yours offline from Amazon and they came with caps... I take it yours didn't?? Nice ending to your video and a nice looking family you have there sir. My wife and I had 5 children ourselves and now we have 6 grand children. God Bless. HOOAH!!!
Your shop was already set up with lockout... Wouldn't hurt to throw an extra circuit in there if you plan to run the shop off the cart often.
Actually I really don't plan to run the shop in that manner. I should have been more clear about that. The main reason I did that was to be able to test the inverter against my big shop tools. It is nice to have as an option in a pinch, but really, if the power is out, I don't think I'm going to be woodworking with my golf cart batteries!
So very useful a piece of equipment
i would love to see a guy like you with such a well thought through site seek out and promote more " MADE IN THE USA " products. Your channel is the best. This is what is needed today, more common sense DIY'ers. We need to find away to keep the American designed and developed ideas here in our country. Thanks for doing such a great job with your site, Lou
Now you need about 400watts of solar on the roof, to help keep the battery charged!! Maybe get 4x 30-50 amp hour, 4s batteries to go with it, to give more run time, maybe a lean-to made with solar panels to park it under, maybe a receptacle to use the power when not in use, keep a fridge or freezer running for free!
Hi
I think you may consider making a vertical shockproof mount for the inverter behind the seat so that the cooling works as designed, possibly make an intake air filter if you use it in a dusty environment.
An important suggestion is to try and use air-powered tools whenever possible... running a compressor from the powerstation and using air-tools is ALWAYS SAFEST.
MANY PEOPLE DIE EACH YEAR from electrical tools - Usually in a confined space, but please just don't risk it, convert to air-tools and be safer!
You NEVER need to use a suicide cable...
You can buy a socket (receptacle) fitting for one end of the cable and mount a fixed plug on the wall. The simple principle is that the exposed Male is NEVER live, only the exposed female should be live. Your Johnson should always be 0 volts!
IN EVERY INSTALLATION the fixed male plug is interlocked off at the panel so that it cannot be made live from the electricity companies supply!
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Going back to some time ago regarding your boiler... does the chimney (I cannot really see a proper extension outside) have a spark arrestor on it, otherwise I wondered if that was how the fire started. Maybe fit a braced chimney above the boiler-house, preferably with a spark arrestor or a few offset bends that would allow embers to cool before exiting.
My other safety comment is about eggs and baskets really. Maybe don't put too much wood in the woodstore, build another store somewhere further from the house for the bulk of your wood and just keep less stock in the boiler woodhouse, restocking occasionally from your bulk store.
Nice looking inverter. The real test these days is how clean the output 60hz is. Meeting high wattage specs isn't too difficult with current standard components, but how much they bothered with the output filtering is what separates the good from the bad. Most electronics are much happier without the interference on their power supply, and even the power grid wants cleaner than the average cheap inverter will put out. Dirty inverter output is polluting the grid, cheap solar systems are messing with the grid so much as to dirty the power on the whole neighborhood.
The trick is most don't know about this, and don't have the tools to measure what they have. Minimum required is an O'scope and knowing how to use it. Due to this there are many manufacturers putting out 'value priced' inverters that don't bother with providing quality filtering.
Not the video i searched for but exactly what I needed
Johnson! I hear it every day!!
Id put in a second set of batteries one to use thd cart and one as a power station, the roof also lookes like you can put a solar panel on it to trickle charge the batteries.
Actually one of these and a solar panel set up on the barn with batteries could be an off grid station to keep tools and machines powered up and ready. It can always be connected to the house as well.
You should wire each receptacle to different 120v circuit. That would allow you to use multiple tools at the same time.
There might have been a large capacitor in the inverter, so you could have been killed. Leather or rubber gloves next time.
Agreed on the capacitor, I noticed I was hoping he did a double take after already safely uncharging it because I felt stressed
I think this may be the answer for powering my house water pump during a power outage. I only need power enough to pull from my storage tank to fill the pressure tank, so like 60 seconds every so often. Bluetti and others are $$$$$$ because you have to buy 2 to get 240V.
Where did you get your lithium batteries from? I'll have to get that and build something to keep them charged up.
Elsewhere he stated this: Allied lithium, 48v.
Good morning from Southeast South Dakota