i have a lincoln sp170t mig/wire feed welder that i have been using for the last 15 years or so.  Its a nice welder and has never given me a problem.

I recently attached a spool gun to do aluminum welding using argon gas.  I now use the Lincoln mainly as a wire feed machine for steel or spool gun for aluminum since i only keep i bottle of gas and it is argon.

For nicer welds i use a TIG welder.

Must be a lot of force being generated in those winds.
Pitty the panels can't be made to rotate so they become a wind generator, might make more than the solar output at the right times, especially at night!   

I had 5 Kw worth of panels on a ground mount last winter that just sat on 1" tube frames.  Never had a problem all winter, even with some I had just leaning against the bushes. Couple blew over a could of times but other than that, nothing.
I suppose the wind up high where it has a clear run si a lost stronger than across the ground. hence the reason to stick turbines up as high as they can get them.

Where are panels mounted is very open and we get some fierce winter winds that get under the back of the array, but with that much concrete and steel and being so deep in the ground its not going anywhere.  Its design spec is 150 mph.  by that time the house is gone already

Quote from: ajaffa1 on January 15, 2019, 12:22:29 AM

 Western Sydney forecast to hit 48 today, that`s going to need a lot of AC to cool down.

I can't see that anywhere but i hope not.
48 is the most I have ever been in in my life, Twice, and it's no fun.

Problem there is when it gets over about 35, most AC starts falling off it's curve pretty rapidly. So do solar panels well before that.

I have a hose on the back of the AC condenser with some garden water mist Nozzles that throw bit of a fog into the coils and cools the intake air.  Makes a HUGE difference to the exhaust air, goes from distinctly hot like a fan heater to quite warm but maybe 20o or more drop.
Allows the machine to do it's job and also not trip out on heat overload.  Nozzles use like .5L water an hour so well worth the benefit.

Nice and cool in here so far and haven't even touched the air.  Will warm up from now on as the sun hits the back of the house.  I'm definitely thinking of getting some shade cloth and clamping it to the gutter all along the exposed back of the house. I think that would make a very big difference to keeping the place cooler.

Of course Mrs would go into orbit about that like every other thing that upsets the look of the place despite the benefit.

I have done my bit for the wildlife this morning.  Got the birdbath I found in the over grown Bushes and put it right next to the grevillia all the native birds are at all day and I can watch from my window.
Might take them a bit to get used to it but if it gets warm enough i'm sure they will soon put their concerns aside for a splash and a drink.  Dad has one and refills it 4 times a day in the hot weather. they know where to find it and make the most of it so hopefully will do the same here.

I suspect in a few short years your  condenser coils will be covered in minerals from the water and become much less efficient  as the air flow becomes restricted and the coils are insulated from the mineral deposits. The coils will begin to corrode in the same time period.   I would not put city or well water over the condenser coils.

I just purchased a new heat pump condenser that i will be installing in april.  It a Bosch Bova 5 ton unit with a seer of 18.  its uses a fully modulating inverter driven Mitsubishi compressor and inverter board with bosch coding.  It only draws about 2 amps on startup and then ramps up via a 85 step program as needed based on load.  It can modulate anywhere from 25% to 110% of its 5 ton capacity. It doesn't use any complicated wiring to control the modulation it sets compressor output based or suction line temperature at the condenser.  it is designed for long low power consumption runs as opposed to a lot of start stops.  with a multi stage stat and variable  speed blower you can get as many or as little BTUs as needed based on outside temps. it can perform anywhere between 1.25 to 5.5 tons depending on load.

They also make a smaller 3 ton model.


I expect with its very soft start amp draw it will be very load friendly.

I always wondered about people like Al Gore and Leo flying all around the world on their private jets to bitch about global warming and the dreaded fossil fuels. Dear Al lives in a huge mansion that eats electricity like candy and Leo is in another part of the world every week or on a diesel guzzling yacht . The Bull*hit "i buy carbon offsets" is just another way of them saying we are better than you and we can burn as much as we want because we are rich. Gore has made a lot of money off his hypocrisy. With today's technology there is no need to fly across the planet in a private jet to have a climate summit why not just teleconference?   
I doubt many of us poor peasants here have ever traveled on a private jet. just my 2 cents.

Glort,

How many Kw of solar do you have now? 

i hope he doesn't get a ticket for not having any headlights

Carlb23 knows his stuff but most of us already knew this.  Pulled the DC switch cover off the Sunny Boy 6000 US and there were the fuses.  This unit can support 4 strings and each string has it's own fuse.  Pulled the first one and continuity was there.  Pulled the second one and continuity was 0.  Pulled the third fuse and continuity was there so I swapped it out with the open fuse and a couple of minutes later both strings were producing.  Not a bad birthday present.  I haven't checked today so there's excitement in the air.

Another pleasant surprise was the fuses are $3 each on eBay - free delivery.

What confused me was I couldn't get any voltage reading off the strings? 

Thanks again to you all and I've applied to carlb23 Hawaii fan club.

Aloha

Thanks for the kind words.  If you are only using 2 strings then you already had two spare fuses.  You wont get any voltage off the strings in the dark  .   Did you check for voltage where the strings connect to the disconnect or where they go to the inverter?