Golf Cart/ Portable Power Plant

[LowGear]

Looks neat but I don't understand the switch layout.  Can you do a switch schematic for me?  Double pole and six wires has me challenged besides spending too much time getting the back of my head bombarded by ultraviolet whilst facing South at noon.   

Casey

[Dualfuel]

[Dualfuel]

Casey,
I better start with old news first, as you still seem to be confused about how the Sun appears to travel across the sky. The image posted above , shows how the Sun crosses the sky. For us, the end of the arcs, where they intersect the Earth travel northward until the summer solstice, and then they begin to travel back to the South until the winter solstice.
If you care to Google weather for Calumet 49913, you will see that our solar noon takes place at 1:50 p.m. so if you were here facing south at 12:00am you would indeed have the sun shining on the back of your head.
   On to new business, I sympathize with your inability to visualize the circuit. That has been the same problem I had while trying to draw a schematic. I had too many lines running too many different places for it to work easily in two dimensions. I discovered it was easier to draw in three dimensions, or visualize the circuit in three dimensions. To do so simply place the dpdt switches in the center of an axis. Place  the batteries , the inverter, and the motor  around the axis, 120 degrees apart. From there it should be fairly easy to visualize 2 leads going from each component to the dp/dt. Truly, the only trick is visualizing the series circuit to the motor.
The next most complicated part, will be installing 6 volt batteries and wiring them to this configuration.
DF

[LowGear]

DF,

Here's a schematic I did for switching my three 12 volt batteries from 12 volts to 36 volts output back and forth with some consideration for balance and battery life.  I have a 12 volt 1500 watt inverter and 36 volt inverters are very expensive.  But then so are three way battery switches.  And switches do attenuate low voltage DC.  I considered using the resistance switch in my cart circuitry to weld with too.  So many ideas (dreams) and so many, many, many "OTHER" chores on a farm.

Forward to the same news - I grew up in Seattle which is not too different from the Calumet latitude (about 47 degrees).  You cannot face South and ever have the Sun strike the back side of your back side.  Obviously, One of us is blinded by the light.   

Casey

[SteveU.]

Mr Casey and DuelFuel what is interesting to me is you both have "farms" with spread out need-power locations and are working toward a mobile battery bank power solution.
Ha! Same needs-power out-and-around, dilemma as me. Over 1600 feet from the one corner of our property's 195 foot deep well to the opposite corner where 200 baby fir tree went in this Spring. Damn late June-type weather in April now early May has had me bucket carrying water now daily to these rain loving DF trees. How 19th century.
This family farm evolved from the 1930's on-Grid making for up to FIVE power-in meter locations in the past. Bad habit taking the cheapest easy way outs. County roads two sides wrapping; and a third side road Grid power touched.
I've got it down to only three meter-in locations now. And since May 1 have been inverter-generating for the one to the freezers/four bay wood/tool shed location. I Grid-lite here to the two houses. But insist now all out locations are DYI off-grid. Good practice. And practicing every day now when needs-must Grid-Downs  (as happens here up to 9 times a year  from 20 minutes to 3 days here) then I know my working solutions WILL WORK immediate-needs, come hell, high water or the second coming.
My point is I too have many urban/suburban around the world living friends now with 2.5-5.0 kW home systems: IC engine, micro-wind, micro-hydro, PV battery banking wonder what all of my fussing is about point making power now instead of trying to central battery bank distribute my DIY out.
Mini-home-Gridding past 300 feet sucks big-time. Efficiency's. And out-of-pocket Bucks

Ha! On your sun shining stuff turns out you are both kinnda correct.
I am 150 miles south of See-Rabble.
10:00 AM to 2:00 PM no-way, no-how is that damn sun gonna ever shine on the back of my male pattern bald spot.
Sun up at 6:00 AM to ~9:00 Am: then 4:00 PM to sundown ME facing south it will. Broad brimmed hat time. Too keep that the low angle glares off the back of my neck.
Take a stand globe. Tilt it correctly. Push pin your location. Set up a focused stand off light source as the sun. Rotate the globe. You will see.

Keep up the good interchanging. And use-proof DO'ings.
Best Regards
Steve Unruh

[LowGear]

Aloha Steve,

One word - "Garden Hoses"! 

The transfer of energy need not be on copper conductors.  Our "Menehune Energy Lab" (MEL in respectful remembrance of HAL) is both a water catchment/storage building and also a solar array / inverter station house. 

Yeah, I noticed the parallel universe stuff too.  You forgot Bull Headed or you're too nice to be a member of the club.  So are we brushing our teeth here or collecting solar energy?

Cheers,

[SteveU.]

Hey Mr Casey
Pump/flowing water or liquids is almost exactly the same a DC distancing electrical power.
Flow-lossXdistance.
175 feet UP from the deep well pump through a 2 inch poly pipe. 1 1/2 inch poly pipe 100 feet to the Folk's small 1959 house. Then another 150 feet in 1 inch poly to our smaller lived in remodeled 1906 house.
From there I was only able to make it out another 300 feet in 3/4" garden hoses from the well corner of property to opposite corner to reach with "caint hardley"  usable flow/pressure with an additional grooud up sloping gain to fruit and nut trees I tried to put in back in 1997.
Deer like them better than I was able to protect them. A five year tussle. They won.
1800 feet across and with a total ~100 foot ground sloping up gain I'd need 3" piping and at least a 3 horsepower pump to get meaningful full flow/pressure.
DC current in 12-32 volts above one kW as Duelfuel well knows too,  and you start needing big 00 and 000 cabling past 100 feet. Gets super 'spensive.
Why aircraft use higher voltages and frequencies. Saves weight.

Past the fun of sun-on-back-of-your-head funning,
what he is trying to say is most flat-plate fixed folks are leaving a lot of solar-hours on the table unharvested.
Even active tracking folks never getting that first three hours and last four hours without enough horizontal and vertical range of sweeping.
So how he can make his little 300 watt array outperform the much larger, more expensive is by active hands-on mobile management.
Plus . . . mobile, smallish come a hail storm, tornado, hurricane winds and you can run for cover and save it. Cheap.

Steve Unruh