One year ago today: July 2, 2017, on the mother/daugher thing.
Five years ago today: July 2, 2013, listening to Internet music.
Nine years ago today: July 2, 2009, playing lead notes on bass, hmmm.
Random years ago today: July 2, 2012, my pay scale proposal.
Time to step up the vehicle inspection frequency. Once a month has just let me down. The first Monday is normally check the vitals, and on the new Taurus, all four tires were low, clockwise they were 29, 28, 27, and 29, where 35PSI is the norm. Also low were the radiator fluid, and the washer fluid. (Although the washer pump never did work, the fluid is maintained. Because that’s an order.) The bit of good news is that the oil was still clear, although a touch turning brown.
Shown here are the two marine batteries that have been recycled. That is, flushed with baking soda and refilled with a solution of magnesium sulfate. I don’t suggest you try this at home until after you’ve gotten good at trying this at home, nomsayn. And wear old clothes whenever working on batteries. I’ve got several pairs of cutoffs that will testify to this wisdom. What, you want the newsletter report on the testing here? Okay, this shows that both batteries have “perked”.
These were stone cold dead batteries that would not hold a charge. What causes this is some small drainage over a long time, like an overhead light that doesn’t go out. This weakens the battery, even though it is continually topped up by the alternator. One the battery falls below 10.7 volts, normally you can recharge them (always trickle charge unless under duress), but they will continue to go dead in every shortening periods of time. Nearby is a photo of the scooter battery installation when new, back on July X, 2015.
[Photo delayed]
The top photo is the “Colorado” marine battery. It fell over and drained when the scooter tipped in soggy ground while I was away in 2017. The lower photo is the massive marine battery under the scooter seat. This is the one powerful enough to jumpstart a police cruiser, but that is another story. In each case, the batteries took a charge, but that is where the load tester (also shown here) comes into play. You can never be sure unless you test them under load, which in this case is a coil of wire inside the vent holes. Here, I am not load testing, because if I was, I would not be grasping the unit by the vent holes in the upper photo. That sucker gets hot.
Alas, these batteries failed the load test. They are both marginal, at around 100 Amps, where they should be 600+ cold cranking Amps. The batteries are still useful for storage, but cannot be relied upon to start any vehicles. Get yourself one of these load testers. Once a battery has gone dead, unless you can revive them, they will let you down. My success rate with refurbishing such batteries is 3 out of 4. With my luck recently, both of these failed.
[Author’s note: the blue object in the upper photo is a pan that fits over the battery charger because it is used outdoors. Experience with the robot batteries show these charges, while they plunged in price, are intolerant of rain. When you throw out the damaged ones, save the wiring clips and keep the meter if it still works. Then come back another day and I’ll show you a neat trick with those parts. And how to make it look like an accident.]
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Those of you who’ve been around a few years will recognize the electronics going into the new camper. There’s the old controller, still in perfect condition. We know from experience that 30 days is absolutely no problem in a camper like this, so that is the benchmark for testing and supplies. This camper is roomier, but storage space is always at a premium, so the single shelf inside the unit will quickly fill up with electronics. I’ve decide that only two solar panels are needed to keep the single battery topped up and during the day, enough extra juice to run a ceiling fan.
Metal, you either freeze or fry and plastic sweats enough to make your bedclothes clammy. This also means when I finish the conversion to electricity, there will be more visible wiring, but I’m certain everyone agrees that times have changed. Even the most basic and rugged camping still improves with good communication and wise use of resources. Wood is the natural environment for a man, and the fan during the day is a further insurance against interior dampness. It’s the same fan arrangement from the cPod Mk I, and that unit was bone dry through everything from the Eisenhower Pass in a winter storm through the Mojave.
Except I no longer have that fan. It was a Cadillac, too. Utterly silent at full blast. But when I removed it to redo the internal wiring, Agt. R grabbed it and installed it in his Lexus. What could I say? He’s the Vice-President. What, you say he’s only that because I appointed him? Listen, rules are rules. Why did I redo the wiring? Ah, some of you already know the answer. That is the wagon kit that was recalled for defective wiring. The signal lights were on-off instead of off-on, see, now you remember this. But I disregarded the recall because by then, then being 2013, I had completely redone the wiring with that famous box of relays that everybody thought was so neat. You know, I should put that police guy from Indian River on the mailing list. The one who asked where he could learn to do such things and because of the tribulations I had getting through all the crap out there, I had no answer for him.
The camper, based on the exact same wagon frame as my original, fits the solar panels perfectly. They will be secured to the roof on either side of the peak to average out daily sunlight. In addition to the strip lighting, which is a little too bright (so it is recessed), I’m installing a regular 12V bulb, the Harbor Freight brand they never sell separately. I’ve got the entire control panel sketched out but have not begun to build it. This included self-checking and feedback circuits with pilot lights and/or alarms for all the vitals. It is amazingly like the circuit planned for the hotdog cart, or shall we say, “the degree of commonality is striking”.
Refinements to the PamCamper (that’s the nickname for the cPod Mk III) will include a small bin on the exterior near the door. You see, the builder, most sadly, did not have the chance to take this unit on a trip, so he would not have known you need a place to keep your shoes. And it should be outside, near the access hatch, some would call it the door. Don’t leave your shoes on the ground, you done been told. And make the bin closeable as nothing tells strangers you are home like a visible pair of shoes. Inside your camper, you do not want to be disturbed. Exception: if Taylor Swift wants in. (Isn’t it neat how I’ve cause future historians to ‘analyze’ that I’m obsessed with that woman? What can I say, she’s pretty and I hate historians that jump to conclusions.)
As for a completion date on this camper, there isn’t any. We have priorities that arose after the unit was purchased. Note that it is also now standardized to be towed by any company vehicle or the batbike. What an amazing train that will be once we get that unit back in commission. However, do expect some minor news and progress on the camper interior, as I also found it wise to rig up the fans to operate all the time, even while the camper is stored. You cannot keep the interior dry enough.
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