Off-grid post, 4-6-22

 

Small ball again

Seems there's a slight snag in the big-boy plans for the solar project. So, I'm back to the bush leagues. The snag involves my being somewhat tight-fisted and risk-averse. The panels that I thought I'd be able to get for a reasonable price are not brand new, and the cost for delivery is sky high. There might be a way to get it here, but that will take some ground work. In the meantime, I ordered a couple smaller 100 watt panels to upgrade my 12 volt system already in place. It is a nice easy upgrade. The controller can take on the extra amps, and all that is necessary is to find a place for them.

While I am waiting for the panels to arrive, I've been preparing the ground ahead of the small construction project that will acommodate them. The basic idea is to shield the trailer from the sun while providing solar power to aid in climate control. A two-fer that's worth it for this lazy dude to take on. I'll get some shade and some watts, yippee!

The wiring needs to be beefed up a bit too. I've been doing a bit of that also.

There's been a lot of rearranging in here. I've got to juggle a few things, and it would sure be nice if I can get the layout the way I want it. It's going to get even more complicated if I follow through with the big-boy plan. As of now, I have a 12 volt system, an anticipated 24 volt system, and the big-boy might be all the way up to 36 volts. The 36 volt job is going to cost the big-bucks, so I think I need to stay very, very conservative for the time being. It's already more complex than it should be.

The complexity occurred because the piece-meal approach is ad-hoc. There was no grand plan. I had to learn as I went along, piecing the thing together along the way. The result won't be pretty, which is par for the course around here. But I don't care as long as it works right.

I think that brings it up to date.

Chickens coming home to roost

Market Ticker website has some info for those who may wish to see what is ahead. It isn't pretty.

There's no link, but it should be easy to find. I think the author's name is Denninger.

Putting it a little differently than Denninger, I'd say that the goal of the Russians and Chinese was to end the petrodollar. This is what is going to happen, and that will pull the rug out from under the western economies. Western policies are in lock step with that exact result. Almost like they want it that way.

Blaming Putin for this is absurd. It is a result of the so-called "Green New Deal" policies that the Democrats wouldn't even vote on when it could have been debated. Of course, the GOP didn't help any. They did their usual pretend game of being a useful opposition party. Nobody is minding the store. Knock on their heads, and ask if there's "anyone home", like the character Biff in the Back To The Future movies. The Democrats have no character in terms of honesty, and the GOP has no character in terms of guts.

As a result, Biden is pushing this Green New Deal, and the rest of it is more in line with collapsing the economy. It is almost as if it was their plan. ( Which is what I believe, by the way.)

They'll blame it everybody else but themselves. It is never THEIR fault. It is always the other guys.

They own this, but of course, they'll blame anyone they think they can get away with the shifting of blame.

That's the gist of it. All that is left is the crying.

Off-grid post, 3-31-22

The last few days were spent on the power-tote, mainly. This was to shake-down the thing, looking for weak spots in the install, and ways to upgrade.

So far, efforts at improving the utilization rate of the solar-panel system, already existing, have proven to be elusive. I got the idea to run the 24 volt charger off the RV battery, while charging it at the same time with the solar panel. This is an alteration of sorts, as the inside battery was providing the primary power. Now the panel's output will go to the outside battery, which will provide power for the charger for the 24 volt system on the inside. It may dump any excess to the inside 12v battery.

For this alteration, there was a need for an order for more parts. Hopefully this new batch of parts will be all that is needed for this upgrade. If the upgrade is successful, the system will be fully solar-powered. There is potentially 600 watt-hours of power that the panel can deliver on a daily basis. This can almost supply the power tote with enough electricity to run the swamper for six hours.

There's going to have to be more shade to help out with this if the goal is to virtually eliminate the wall unit air conditioner. But that is looking ahead a bit too far. Right now, the goal is to optimize this thing and see what it is capable of. By the way, I put the watt-meter on the dehumidifier today, while collecting some of the water that it made. It showed far less power than I thought. Now the idea is to use this in combination with the swamper to dry out all the humidity it produces, while making the swamper more efficient, and providing water in the bargain.

The power tote will run the TV, which means there's nothing it cannot run provided that it is small. Yep, playing small ball here.

There are still plans to go bigger, but these are in flux as I play around in the bush leagues for awhile longer.

That's all for now.

Tweedly Dee v Tweedly Dumb

 

Tweedly Dee v Tweedly Dumb--Abbot v. Costello, or is it Beta Max?

Tweedly Dee v Tweedly Dumb--Abbot v. Costello, or is it Beta Max

Comment:

Texas Governor Abbot dodged the question about the Great Reset. According to the linked story above, Abbot is linked with the WEF-- World Economic Forum. This organization is not one that an American Firster- Texan Firster should be a part of.

I'd say most voters don't know about this. Maybe I'm just ignorant myself, but I didn't know about it. I did not vote for Abbot in the Primary. It could well be that the guy I did vote for is also in favor of The Great Reset. We all all supposed to believe what these guys say. But it is all a big fake.

That all sounds very depressing. If one of the candidates was against The Great Reset, and it might have been Huffines, but who the hell is HE? Huffines ran, but outside of Dallas, I'd bet nobody knew him at all. I sure didn't.

There was plenty of reasons to vote against Abbot. Now this revelation may help Beta Max become Governor. Abbot isn't worth a damn, but "Beto" would be even worse.

That's why it is depressing. We don't get much of a choice. All of the choices are bad.

Petraeus: Mariupol will fall...

... to Putin-Becoming a Ukrainian "Alamo"

comment:

So Petraeus is comparing the Ukrainians to the defenders of the Alamo. That's unfortunate. There is no comparison, in my opinion. The defenders of the Alamo were men. Nobody seems to know anymore what a man is supposed to be. Nor a woman, for that matter. What are the Ukrainians defending? What are they fighting? To be like us? Please. Not the way we are, but maybe the way were once were...

If you are accused of criticizing the rush to war with Russia, you are said to be "rootin' for Putin'. It should be said to these types that-- we don't swear allegiance to the current set of leaders. The allegiance we owe are to our laws as set forth by the Constitution. If obedience is required, it is also set forth by the same set of laws coming from the same. Obedience is demanded without the requisite effort at demonstration of their fitness for such a demand.

If there's to be a "democracy", then the people have a right to change their leaders. The current set of leaders want to rig the process so that there is no way to change the leadership. That's not democracy no matter how you spin it. It cannot be law, because the law is set up so that the truth can emerge. These set of leaders attempt to prevent the truth from emerging with their attempts at censorship. The censorship is not lawful, as the Bill of Rights says "Congress shall make no law". Indeed, if there is to be a Republic at all, there has to be some unifying principle rule that underlies it. That would be the rule of law. These present leaders are not in accord with those laws, and having made that plain time and again, how can they be for that either? They are not for anything but themselves.

Consequently, if being against the current leadership somehow makes a person a traitor, then it is time for a whole lot of it! For these people are not worthy of leadership. If there were to be an honest election, they would have no power, and that would happen in short order.

Their current situation is temporary unless they can rig it to being permanent. That's the bottom line. For them, and for everyone else. That's true no matter which side you come down on.

If it takes "treason" to fix that, then we need a whole lot of treason. A scene from the movie Braveheart should illustrate the point.

Never in my whole life did i swear allegiance to ...[replace him with them]

We don't owe these current leaders anything at all. Since they violate the law with impunity because of a rigged system, their removal may well promote freedom, the rule of law, and democracy. Hopefully we will have an honest election, and this can happen. Otherwise, they can claim "democracy" and "rule of law", but those will be empty words.

Off-grid post, 3-28-22

The power-tote project is just about complete. The only thing left is the "shake-down cruise". As I write this, the swamper is on, and is being powered by the tote. Experiments and measurements shows that this can run for most, if not all of the afternoon. That is, if I pace it, and it doesn't get too hot out. The swamper uses a bit too much power to run all out for a really hot day-if it is powered only by this power-tote.

One upgrade is already on my mind. I want to run an electrical connection from the lead acid battery, which runs the travel trailer's 12 volt system- to the 12 volt inverter. From there, I can run it from the back of the trailer to where the power-tote is, which is also where the 24 volt charger is. Since the 100 watt solar panel keeps the battery charged, the 12 volt battery can keep the 24 volt battery charged. If all that works, I will be solar-powered in fact.

The charger will run that way. However, if I charge with the small battery's current inside, it just gets overwhelmed. The bigger battery outside can handle the current. The small batt can handle the solar panel along with the charge controller. The discharge on the big battery will drain the small battery, and the solar panel will fill in the gap (or so I think.) Don't know how all that will go just yet, but it should be a lot of fun trying.

This project seemed simple in concept. It has been much more than that in practice. But that's because it is the first of its type for me. It has been an education.

Don't know if I'll go big, or stay home. Going big is to go all out on a completely off grid type system that will furnish virtually all my electricity. That will take bucks, which there aren't quite as many of those as I would like. But it is within range, if I am not mistaken. The thing about this little jobbie is that it took more buckos than I figured on.

Just a few details about the set-up. It has a wired remote controller. All I have to do is to push a button to start the swamper. A button push turns it off again. There is a switch on the power tote too, which shuts off current to the inverter. That takes more bodily effort to bend over and flip the switch. (lol) I like convenience as well as comfort.

The swamper blows cool air directly on me from about 5 feet away. Even in really hot weather, that is a welcome relief. I am in a recliner, so it is all comfortable. But you have to watch that humidity. The area needs to be constantly refreshed with dry air. Now a basement type arrangement can get some cooler, dryer air to mix with the humid air from the swamper. That will keep the humidity from getting out of hand.

Last summer, I used a dehumidifier to grab back some of the water. I recycled it back into the swamper. This techique uses a little less water, but a lot more power. But you get mostly clean water in the bargain. Running the swamper on rainwater allows you to get some clean water ( not drinkable!) along with some comfort. A big system will help with the power end. Well, that's all for now.

Off=grid post, 3-26-22

It has been a busy day. First thing out of the gate, I got my swamper out. The forecast was for 90 degrees or higher, so that is hot enough for the swamper. Tomorrow will be hot too, by the way. The swamper needed some cleaning up. So that took up some time.

Meanwhile, I have my power tote project nearly finished. I wanted to add a couple finishing touches, and so I have. I haven't added up the costs of this project, but it is much more than I bargained for.

The full charge/discharge cycle test determined the capacity. It was a bit disappointing. More than a bit, actually. It won't be able to run the swamper for a full day without some recharging, drat it.

But not to worry. If I were to add a solar panel of sufficient capacity, it will keep this thing charged up. But that wasn't the plan before. It may be the plan now, and for now. The thing is, if this stuff is going to cost so much and deliver so little, I may have to reconsider what's next.

It would help to have shade. This location is murder during the late afternoon. It faces west. Yikes. The idea was to put up some shade, and use that as a mounting place for the panels as well. This would make running the a/c a thing of the past. As well as the swamper works, the a/c still needs to cool down the bedroom. It gets mighty hot in there. That where a shade would help a lot, I would think.

Out on the property, the plan is to dig a basement. This would help for all seasons. Cooler in the summer, and warmer in the winter. Some passive solar could help in the winter. The idea there is to heat up some water, and store the water for warmth in the cooler evenings. Some warm water delivered to the basement could make it nice and cozy. But that is another project for another day.

The big idea overall is to minimize the amount of energy needed, and make use of advantages there are to be had. By digging a basement, you escape the extremes of temperature without having to use a lot of energy to make it comfortable. That in turn, requires less energy to run the household. Which means a lot less equipment needs to be brought to bear in order to do the job.

The bigger goal still is to be able to step outside of the grid, which is being abused in order to oppress people. Too bad there are so many today who seem to be okay with that.