Off-grid post, 6-3-22

The final solar panel of this particular project has arrived, and is installed. It is testing phase today. The bigger battery is finally on its way. The bms is also here. Everything is here but the battery, and it is on its way.

It was a chore to wire together, as it is somewhat complex. It is a 400 watt, 2s2p arrangement. What this means is that there are two pairs--each pair is wired up as a series of two panels, while these two pairs of two panels each are wired together in parallel. Phew! Altogether, this is a system with 4-100 watt panels thusly arranged.

In order to do this correctly, it was necessary to sketch out a schematic of how the layout was to look. It had to be detailed, so as to obviate any possible confusion of which panel's connections go where. Believe me, it would have been easy to get this screwed up. I'd rather avoid having to do everything all over again because I fried up everything.

The testing phase is going to go slowly, because I need to open the power tote again, and check a few things. While I am at it, I'll do some adjustments that might be the answer to the mysterious shutdowns that I've been experiencing.

As to the shutdowns, the latest theory is that it is too much to handle for the bms. That's what I need to check. I've been looking for some info on that. It seems that the range I seek is not that aggressive. Instead of that problem, I am thinking that it cannot handle charge/discharge functions simultaneously. Either you charge it, or discharge it. But that is a limitation that would make the system impractical to use. To get around any bms issues, the discharge function will be separated out from the charge function. The bms will keep it charged properly, but the inverter will shut down before it can be discharged too deeply. The system is set up to only use 500 watts at any one time. It cannot over-discharge, because the inverter will shut off before it can do that.

The 4 panels thusly described, will generate upwards of 15 amps. The bms should handle that, but I'm not 100% sure yet. It was in February when I bought it, and the dox given didn't specify exactly what it could handle in terms of amps. That would apply to charging AND discharging. Perhaps BOTH. If it's too hot to handle, it could do something like shutting down. At least, that is the theory.

If that theory isn't correct, then perhaps it's still got a loose connection. But it sure acts like it is shutting down due to some other factor-such as heat or load.

So that's where it stands now. Still figuring things out.

2000 Mules

2000 Mules ( Video excerpt)

The entire video is being suppressed. There's absolutely no excuse for that. This one on Rumble can still be watched.

Anyway, those who are interested can watch this excerpt. Or you can spend the money and watch the whole thing.

Once upon a time, I said that the truth isn't respected anymore in this country. The fact that they have a serious film here, and it is being suppressed, is plenty reason to believe such a thing. The real story is a lot bigger than just this one event. It runs the full spectrum of events on everything. The truth is an endangered species. We are in a war against a ruthless and unprincipled adversary.

Is there hope for this country? Sure looks grim right now.

Off-grid post, 5-29-22

Update on recent off-grid post

I found a way around the problem with the controller not charging up after shutting down. Here's the problem, briefly stated. The controller is designed to stop charging after the battery is charged. The battery comes with a preset voltage, but is adjustable. I decided to adjust it because it was too low. That part of it works. The higher voltage will be reached, and then it shuts off. Good, so far. The trouble comes when it is time to charge again. As the battery is being used during the day, it discharges. If the controller won't come back on, the battery will be drained until it has to shut off.

So why doesn't it come back on? That one I cannot answer. What I do know is that I can switch off the panels with the switch I have, and then switch them back on, and then it works as it should. That's the workaround. However, it is not optimal. The optimal thing would be for it to come back on automatically like it is supposed to do.

So much for the controller. There is still a problem with the inverter shutting off for no apparent reason. I've checked for connections, and heat issues, but it doesn't seem to change anything. Since the controller is a bit squirelly, I am suspecting that the inverter is also a bit squirelly. Nevertheless, I will continue to look for possible issues and try to find a workaround. But it gets tiresome to have to monitor it all the time to see that it works properly. This is not an optimal situation.

The shakedown continues, and here I am thinking that I've ironed out all the bugs. More stuff will be arriving before too long, and these issues just won't get resolved.

I'm not an electrician nor a carpenter. But sometimes I like banging on nails more than trying to figure out these squirrelly machines.

When you try stuff like this off-grid project, you have to wear many hats. If you are off-grid, there may not be any repairmen handy. It's all up to you. That might be a bit sobering once you consider all the implications of it. Your butt could be on the line, and there's nobody but you to deal with it.

Well, I've come this far. Might as well keep on. Anyway, I'm not way out in the desert, so there's still a backup plan. This is all a big rehearsal for a play that won't get played anyway. All the same, I am preparing for it as if it is going to be.

Because there may be no better option.

The original post follows below:

Off-grid post, update on 5-29-22 post

The problems I was having were partly on me. It looks like I got lazy, and I didn't want to look to see if I had the kind of spade-type connectors that had heat-shrinking plastic insulators on them. I thought I was out. But I had enough to replace the ones that I tried to use, which were those I was complaining about. That beef was accurate. I need not have put myself through the annoyance of using something I knew wouldn't work worth a damn.

So now I've got connectors that are securely on the wires, and the wires are surely connected to the charge controller. There are still connectors of the bad type on this project, and that's definitely the number one issue that I'm having right now.

The only way to work with the hard plastic ones that won't heat-shrink may be to put a heat-shrink on top of it. That assumes that the heat-shrink plastic will adhere to the hard plastic. I used some solder on the things too, but that isn't always strong enough either. Perhaps in combination with solder, I will get a reliable connection that won't fall apart. That's a long way down the road to get to this destination.

As for the rest of the complaints, they remain valid until disproven otherwise. One of them is still valid. The display is definitely washed out. It doesn't work for me because I need a good view in order to see the thing. That's because the place I wanted to keep it is out of the way, and therefore hard to see. A poor display makes it darn near impossible. The solution was to bring it out in the open where I can get a better look. The trouble with that is one of tight space. It is now in the way of everything as opposed to being out of the way. I have to be more careful about running into it and so forth. A better display would have eliminated this annoyance.

As for the performance, it hasn't been evaluated yet. No reason to expect what happened yesterday, but the day is just getting started. We'll see.

The original post follows below:

The charge controller came, and is now installed. It is not the same as the other, and that is good, but not all good. In fact, some of the features of the other is better than this one. Can anybody make one of these that work?!

The connectors on the controller side are better. That was a factor in the purchase of this particular controller. It came with spade-type connectors, which attach to the wires. That's a good idea, but that's where the good part of this is not so good. If the plastic insulator over the forked-like "spade" connector was the heat-shrinking kind, it would be perfect. Those can secure solidly with the wire. Crimping down on the wire, and having nothing else to secure it, eventually leads to faulty connections. One definite baddie for this purchase.

Another baddie is one that I'm not sure is a baddie, or it might be a fault that lies elsewhere. The problem is that the charging is not keeping up with the discharging. This is unbelievable, since there are two solar panels, and there's only one thing discharging it. That shouldn't be discharging the battery. But there it is. If a certain amount of discharge is to be expected in all cases, then the thing isn't at fault. It could be the way it is supposed to work. But it is still a fault somewhere, if not the controller itself. A two hundred watt system should be able to power less than 200 watts of load without running down the battery. At least I would think so.

Something has got to be wrong here because I cannot accept such poor performance. It is quite possible that there's a loose connection somewhere. That's what I think has happened with the inverter. I tightened up a connection, and now I'll see if it will work without cutting off. It's been running for several hours now. No problems yet for that issue. Maybe I solved that issue that has been a mystery for awhile now.

Another baddie is the display. It is washed out and hard to read. Add an interface that is pretty sparse, and not very user-friendly, and you've got something that is a lot harder to use than it should be. At least the display should be brighter. If there's a weak connection causing that, then it's on me. Otherwise, it is another fault for this thing.

So it is a very slow slog through this project. It began way back in February. I took delivery on the battery in late February while the weather was still cold. Here it is, almost June, and I'm still screwing around with this thing.

I'm still expecting a battery, bms, and solar panel. If I can get this completed, it will be a 400 watt system. Presumably, it should be able to run a less than 100 watt device without running down the friggin' battery.

If it sounds frustrating, it is. Still discharging. It started at 27 volts and is now at 25.2 volts. It is a sunny day. Something's gotta be wrong here. When, or if, I get it figured out, I'll post on it. That's all for now.

To get answers, ask the right questions

A culture and society that is coming unravelled doesn't really know what is happening to it. An example was the late Roman Empire in the West. There were Emperors until 476 AD. The Senate met well into the 500's. But there was nothing left of its greatness. The people alive then didn't know that the Empire had fallen. They may have guessed that it was in pretty rough shape, but it always pulled out of it before. But by 476, it was definitely over. Yet people kept on with a few of the symbols of Roman rule.

The Empire was in failure mode for quite a long time before the last Emperor was deposed, and the last Senate met. So the question for our times is this: is it over? Are we really just mourning over a corpse that will never rise again? Or is there still some life in this society?

The best way to determine that is if there's enough people willing to do it what it takes to set things right. From where I stand, that is a pretty tough call. There are signs of life, but they are weak.

The "leadership" keep dangling the bright, shiny objects in front of us, and we all willing obey the compulsion to pay attention to their false narratives.

The latest is gun control. That is why I refused to discuss it here. I knew immediately what was going to happen as soon as the news hit. Until people take away the bright, shiny object, there can be no rational discussion about the causes.

This for the record: The availability of guns did not cause Uvalde. Gun control will not solve it. It isn't about gun control. It is about power and money, which is at odds with freedom. Those who wish to control us are shining this latest bright, shiny object in front of us. The answer should be a resounding NO to gun control. NO to more restrictions to our freedom. YES to those who wish to protect our freedoms. That is in protecting us in the right way. Not through more stringent regulations upon the people, but returning government to its proper place in a free republic. Uvalde is a local issue. Let them handle it. It is where it belongs. DC is interfering much, too much, in our affairs.

If we cannot do that, we cannot keep our republic. Something else will take its place. From there, things are likely to continue downward. Perhaps at a greater clip.

The government in DC is way the hell out of control. The question is this: will we get that under control, or will it continue down the road to hell?

Prostate issues

This is kind of a "old man" disease. For the last several days, I've been concentrating my attention on this problem. Yes, I have it. Unfortunately, the solutions to this won't come easy. That is, if the videos are correct in what they say.

Everybody is different, so no cookie-cutter solutions are offered here. I'll concentrate on my own situation. If anyone reading this can get something useful from it, then all to the good.

There are a number of doctors on youtube who discuss prostate issues. Given the power of the internet, I won't bother giving links. Sure, it might help if I did. But I noticed that the same themes seem to be coming up. The number one theme is TOO MUCH SUGAR. There are others, sadly enough.

This can also be expanded into TOO MANY CARBS. The thing that happens is that you'll develop insulin resistance over time. It's an "old man" disease because it affects the urinary tract, which is different from the way it works in women. They might want to tell Bruce Jenner that. Er, it is interesting to note that castrates don't seem to get BPH. (BPH: not to get fancy here, just say its a swollen prostate)

A swollen prostate blocks the urinary tract in men. I've seen that insulin can be a cause for a swollen prostate. It appears that too much sugar can cause a host of problems that you won't like when you get older. Best to get control over that while you're still young. In America, we consume WAY TOO MUCH SUGAR. I know I did. I'm trying to cut back, but I'm finding that it is a far worse problem that even I thought.

That's because of HIGH CARBS. Incidentally, I've known about this for several years now. I thought I did a few things to help with that, but it is far worse than I thought. Carbs get easily converted to glucose, which gets the body to produce way too much insulin, which causes insulin resistance. That chain of events is going to lead to BIG PROBLEMS. One of these is a swollen prostate. There are other problems, sadly enough. Not to get anybody depressed. It's bad enough as is.

I figured that following the USDA labels on food ( or is it FDA labels?), would be the answer. But it isn't. Even those labels show TOO MUCH CARBS AND SUGAR.

The all caps is not flaming. It is emphasis. If there's anything I'm getting out of this is that I need to cut back on CARBS and SUGAR. That means even from where I am at now. Where I am at now I thought was good. But nope. I've got a ways to go. And so it goes.

Off-grid post, 5-26-22

It has been awhile since the last one of these, so here we go again...

The charge controller doesn't satisfy me, so I ordered another. In addition, the mysterious shutting-off of the inverter hasn't been solved. Perhaps a new controller will solve that. Perhaps it won't. But it does seem to have better connectors. We'll see.

While I was at it, I ordered another solar panel. This will give me a set of four, at 100 watts apiece. These will be wired in pairs of two ( what else), with 2 being in series; which in turn is connected to the other two in series. It isn't 48 volts because the two pairs will be in parallel. All the wiring I need for this job should be here already. It should be easy to wire up, but you know how that goes.

It also has been awhile since the last good rain. It rained recently, and I am now filtering the rainwater for use in the swamp cooler. As I write this, it is cooling me nicely. It smells a little like a hospital in here, cuz I added a bit too much bleach for disinfectant.

The western wall is in place and it looks sturdy. When it rained, there was plenty of thunderstorm activity, and it didn't fall down. When you talk about my carpentry work, not falling down is an achievement. Staying upright while doing this is enough of a challenge for yours truly. I got a little woozy there from time to time. It won't do to fall down. Things that I can afford to break might get broken. The wall didn't fall and neither did I. That's a two-fer.

Finally, there will also be an upgrade on the battery. One has been ordered that is over one kilowatt hour of power. Four panels should put out about twice that. Between the other one and this one, and the heavy use of it that I anticipate, it should be sufficient for this system. As before, we will see.

That brings me up to date on this project.

Texas Primary Runoff in my area

Update: 10:55 AM

Does anyone notice how little information is easily available with regard to the primaries yesterday? My antenna has gone up. There is so much written on the so-called conservative websites, but they don't have this info at the fingertips? Something is wrong here, boss.

If you are writing for conservative audiences, then why isn't that information front row and center on your blog? What reason could it be for NOT having it?

To put it another way, what is the point of your blog but to persuade others to see things your way? If you aren't interested enough in results so as to report on them first hand, then how devoted are you really towards the beliefs you claim to have?

Passing the duty off to the New York Times and Politico just doesn't cut it. There are a lot of results here that I couldn't get from so-called conservative blogs. Why do I have to go to leftist websites to find out what happened in my own damned state?

It's even worse with regards to seeing the races in other states. Hard to imagine that it might even be worse than I suspected. It begins to appear so.

 

The Primary runoff was yesterday, and enough results have come in to discuss this mess a bit. Those who I voted for won all but one. One result was at the state level, and the others were local state offices. The state level involved a name familiar with most people--George "P" Bush. Bush lost by a lot. There is some talk about the end of the Bush dynasty. Chalk that up as a W for my candidates--no pun intended.

The others have names that outsiders aren't likely to know, and a lot in this district may not know them either. It seems that everybody is watching the bright, shiny objects the media dangle in front of us; and so no attention is paid to these races. I'm no better than anyone else on this matter. However, I mean to change that behavior, and to pay a lot more attention to these races.

Turnout was pretty light, which confirms the tendency of little interest in the little "fish" in these local races. The one taking over Bush's old spot has a name that may become more familiar--Dawn Buckingham. She is the State Senator for these parts, and she just got a promotion to state-wide office. Land commissioner, I think. Bush wanted to be AG, but he failed miserably. These state-wide offices are jumping off platforms for higher offices. So Buckingham may have a future, as Bush's is over. Or maybe not on both. You can never tell on these things. I voted for her, but don't really know her. It's another win, but not an enthusiastic one.

The race for Buckingham's old seat was a loss. Pete Flores will win that one, as he was Trump's endorsed candidate. You see? I don't follow Trump like he is some sort of pied-piper. In fact, a LOT of Trump's endorsed candidates were not mine. My guy didn't win this one. Too bad. I'm pretty sure that Flores is just another globalist chump.

All-in-all, it was a loser kind of day. The trends aren't really changing. For all I know ( because of the lack of attention), Buckingham will be a globalist. Flores is a globalist, most likely. The only one who lost is a guy who should be recognized as a loser anyway, and that would be Bush. There was one candidate I haven't mentioned, as he may be a permanent little fish. In other words, the locals who might be worth something are the ones who don't win, or never advance. That's what makes it a loser kind of day.

Therefore, there's nothing to get excited about. The fanboys and girls are talking up the big, red wave coming. From where I am standing---BIG DEAL. The new ones will be a lot like the old ones. Just more of the same garbage that is choking us all.

If there's an increasing tendency to pay attention to local races, then that could be the silver lining. But will it last? Also, will it matter if it cannot stop the different kind of "red tide" that is killing this country? Whatever can be said about this election, it won't be said to be changing much. It will be business-as-usual in this state, and the same goes with the nation. That is, if we are lucky.

There is a saying about it being darkest before it goes pitch black.