Well the rewiring of the solar panels did make a little more power during twilight but it cost me too much during daylight operations, so I went back to the higher voltage setup. I was able to make over 600 watts continuous during the midday sun. In fact, I was able to make more than 3KWH yesterday. The batteries were able to retuned to a full status after several days of complete cloud cover and over 3 inches of rain with several hours of sunshine to spare!
Also, I had time to try a new airlift setup. It worked better and is now moving more water using less air.
What I did: I took the 2 inch up pipes and added four 1/8 inch hose barbs to each one and then added the air lines. I am now moving about 25% more water on 20% less air. I will work on a newer up pipe over the next few weeks and see if I can do even better.
All in all, this week was a substantial improvement for T3. With the extra heater running for 3 hours, I added three degrees to the entire body of water. I then turned off the extra heater and flushed out the poo tank. After the refill, I was right back at 80.5 degrees F. So with just a little planning, I think we are in a very good place for this winter.
The fish are eating well and the system seems to be in great shape. When we get our first few really cold nights, we should have more data points to add to our knowledge base.
The one thing I do need to find are robust DC switches. I would like 200VDC 15 AMP switches to turn the heaters on and off with. Anyone know of a good place to find them?
Thanks for any ideas!!
