Base camp established -- Doldrums and routine 5/9/17. (Page 3 of 7)
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Originally Posted By GSL:
You should already be somewhat settled in by the time the Freezefest Shoot happens. Hope to see you there and thanks for the updates, I like this thread a lot. Where can I find info on Freezefest? I'll be adding a lot more to this thread when I get HOME to AZ. There's lots of work to do before the first hard freeze. I need to get an insulated skirt around the trailer and get the rest of my solar panels up and running, at least. |
The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
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Originally Posted By JC10311:
Where can I find info on Freezefest? I'll be adding a lot more to this thread when I get HOME to AZ. There's lots of work to do before the first hard freeze. I need to get an insulated skirt around the trailer and get the rest of my solar panels up and running, at least. Originally Posted By JC10311:
Originally Posted By GSL:
You should already be somewhat settled in by the time the Freezefest Shoot happens. Hope to see you there and thanks for the updates, I like this thread a lot. Where can I find info on Freezefest? I'll be adding a lot more to this thread when I get HOME to AZ. There's lots of work to do before the first hard freeze. I need to get an insulated skirt around the trailer and get the rest of my solar panels up and running, at least. 
Location is in central AZ, gets pretty cold at 5,368 feet above sea level to those south of here that have the AC on all the time  and is generally during the end of or middle to the end of winter. Camping happens with some folk, most stay until the campfire goes out, and the folks that attend are good people.
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RIP Grin! 10/09/2015
NorCal_LEO issued nickname: Tombstone
NorCal_LEO issued nickname: Tombstone
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Originally Posted By GSL:
When one of us starts the thread for it
Location is in central AZ, gets pretty cold at 5,368 feet above sea level to those south of here that have the AC on all the time and is generally during the end of or middle to the end of winter. Camping happens with some folk, most stay until the campfire goes out, and the folks that attend are good people.
Originally Posted By GSL:
Originally Posted By JC10311:
Originally Posted By GSL:
You should already be somewhat settled in by the time the Freezefest Shoot happens. Hope to see you there and thanks for the updates, I like this thread a lot. Where can I find info on Freezefest? I'll be adding a lot more to this thread when I get HOME to AZ. There's lots of work to do before the first hard freeze. I need to get an insulated skirt around the trailer and get the rest of my solar panels up and running, at least.
Location is in central AZ, gets pretty cold at 5,368 feet above sea level to those south of here that have the AC on all the time and is generally during the end of or middle to the end of winter. Camping happens with some folk, most stay until the campfire goes out, and the folks that attend are good people.
So.. for where the OP lives.. he would basically be going to the freeze fest to defrost LOL. |
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Originally Posted By freeride21a:
So.. for where the OP lives.. he would basically be going to the freeze fest to defrost LOL. Originally Posted By freeride21a:
Originally Posted By GSL:
Originally Posted By JC10311:
Originally Posted By GSL:
You should already be somewhat settled in by the time the Freezefest Shoot happens. Hope to see you there and thanks for the updates, I like this thread a lot. Where can I find info on Freezefest? I'll be adding a lot more to this thread when I get HOME to AZ. There's lots of work to do before the first hard freeze. I need to get an insulated skirt around the trailer and get the rest of my solar panels up and running, at least.
Location is in central AZ, gets pretty cold at 5,368 feet above sea level to those south of here that have the AC on all the time and is generally during the end of or middle to the end of winter. Camping happens with some folk, most stay until the campfire goes out, and the folks that attend are good people.
So.. for where the OP lives.. he would basically be going to the freeze fest to defrost LOL. I'll at least have to get re-acclimated to the low altitude. 
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The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
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HERE I COME!!!
Packing the truck tomorrow morning and heading west. I can't wait to get out of here! I should be HOME late Sunday or Monday depending on weather and how tiring the drive is. |
The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
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IT'S DONE! We got to the property at 10:00 PM last night. Today was spent unloading and doing some setup. My bother drove the U-Haul with the box trailer behind it and I drove the Nissan with the Hyundai on a dolly behind it. 20 hours of windy driving, But it's over.
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The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
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Originally Posted By JC10311:
IT'S DONE! We got to the property at 10:00 PM last night. Today was spent unloading and doing some setup. My bother drove the U-Haul with the box trailer behind it and I drove the Nissan with the Hyundai on a dolly behind it. 20 hours of windy driving, But it's over. welcome home. |
asking GD for advice on cops is like asking a pedophile advice on raising children
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Day one lesson learned . . . critters like the taste of solar wiring.
Day two lesson learned . . . check the hose clamps on the black water tote BEFORE filling it. Enough said. Day one discovery . . . cows scare the crap out of unsuspecting cats. Day two discovery . . . there's a small, but well stocked alternative energy shop just east of Show Low. Bad news for my debit card. First sunset at Camp Nowhere: 
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The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
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Originally Posted By JC10311:
Day one lesson learned . . . critters like the taste of solar wiring. Day two lesson learned . . . check the hose clamps on the black water tote BEFORE filling it. Enough said. Day one discovery . . . cows scare the crap out of unsuspecting cats. Day two discovery . . . there's a small, but well stocked alternative energy shop just east of Show Low. Bad news for my debit card. First sunset at Camp Nowhere: http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=92959 http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=92960 Living the dream man! |
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Originally Posted By JC10311:
Day one lesson learned . . . critters like the taste of solar wiring. Day two lesson learned . . . check the hose clamps on the black water tote BEFORE filling it. Enough said. Day one discovery . . . cows scare the crap out of unsuspecting cats. Day two discovery . . . there's a small, but well stocked alternative energy shop just east of Show Low. Bad news for my debit card. First sunset at Camp Nowhere: http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=92959 http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=92960 Is that at the "Y" (intersection of rt 60 and 61)? |
...behind every blade of grass...
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Originally Posted By JC10311:
Day one lesson learned . . . critters like the taste of solar wiring. Day two lesson learned . . . check the hose clamps on the black water tote BEFORE filling it. Enough said. Day one discovery . . . cows scare the crap out of unsuspecting cats. Day two discovery . . . there's a small, but well stocked alternative energy shop just east of Show Low. Bad news for my debit card. First sunset at Camp Nowhere: http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=92959 http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=92960 Big Thumbs up on this thread! Please keep the updates coming, I love seeing your pictures of progress. |
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Originally Posted By KB7DX:
Is that at the "Y" (intersection of rt 60 and 61)? Originally Posted By KB7DX:
Originally Posted By JC10311:
Day one lesson learned . . . critters like the taste of solar wiring. Day two lesson learned . . . check the hose clamps on the black water tote BEFORE filling it. Enough said. Day one discovery . . . cows scare the crap out of unsuspecting cats. Day two discovery . . . there's a small, but well stocked alternative energy shop just east of Show Low. Bad news for my debit card. First sunset at Camp Nowhere: http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=92959 http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=92960 Is that at the "Y" (intersection of rt 60 and 61)? Yes, it is. Interesting people. |
The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
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Originally Posted By JC10311:
<snip> Day one lesson learned . . . critters like the taste of solar wiring. <snipe> Day one discovery . . . cows scare the crap out of unsuspecting cats. <snip> The critters are pack rats, and they're incredibly destructive. They get very large out there. 22 worthy targets. Just FYI, having a place that's not too terribly far from you, there are coyotes around -- not as many as below the rim, but they're out there, and they like cats in an unfriendly kind of way. I haven't run into any other major predators besides coyotes. |
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Awesome thread, tagging it to follow along. I just came back to AZ the first of the month, and helped my friend move from Casa Grande TO St. Louis (well MO anyway, her shit is in Arcadia at the moment). |
While the wicked stand confounded, call me with thy saints surrounded.
| Killing the rats won't solve the problem. You'll have to destroy the nests or another will move in. Trim up the bottom of all close juniper trees and rake out, dig out the nests. Our place at Chevelon Retreat by Heber was ruined by them. Exterminate, exterminate! |
| Yeah, packrats hate open ground. Maybe think about clearing an area around the camp. We cleaned out 6 nests in our front yard, all hidden my Palo Verde and Mesquite. The dump fees were for over 4000 lbs of nest material! And they are nocturnal so shooting them is a challenge. |
Thanks for the ideas on ridding my life of packrats, other than myself, of course.  I do have a few cedars within 100' of my trailer and shed that I would happily take out.
Right now I'm fighting a power problem. The solar panels easily charge the batteries fully during the day but they discharge WAY to quickly at night. I've tried disconnecting the inverter from the batteries, and they hold charge over night just fine. I've tried disconnecting the trailer battery so the charger doesn't run, but I'm still getting a 7 to 10 amp continuous draw, as shown on the inverter's control panel, even with everything I can think of turned off. I have 10, group 27 Walmart deep cycle batteries wired as 2S5P to get to 24 volts. Each battery is rated (by Walmart) at 109 AH at a 1 amp rate. I can't get specs at other discharge rates, so I'm blind to what I should actually be getting. Batteries The inverter is a Schneider Conext 4024, and is supposed to draw about 40 watts by itself when there's no load, but I don't have a way to measure that myself. Inverter AH,WAIT! My other neuron just fired! I can put my watt meter between the inverter and the trailer and at least determine the trailer's total draw with various things turned on and off. That should help determine where the load is coming from. Ain't off-grid living fun? ETA: BTW one of my brothers just got a job in Tucson, so he's going to be an Arizonian (?) in a week. He's coming from New Orleans. |
The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
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Some work in progress . . .
The shed is chock-full-o-stuff: 
Inverters are getting mounted and wired. I need to get the ground rod pounded in and finalize the AC side of things. I also need to find the second charge controller and get it installed (see above pic for haystack). 
The permanent solar panel mount is being manufactured and will hold ten,100 watt panels for the 24 volt system. The six panels I have set up are enough for right now if I can resolve the load issue. 
The rack for the evacuated tubes has been assembled, but I need to get the footings for it set and the plumbing done before I put the tubes in it. The solar panels in the background were donated by a neighbor who didn't need them. They'll be on the second charge controller and maintain the eight 6-volt batteries that are wired 2S4P for the 12 volt system. Why? Because I have 12 volt inverters that I plan to use for some of the lighter loads like LED lighting and the ham shack. They're only 80 watts each, but that will give me an additional 480 watts to play with. 
I think I'm repeating myself on some of this, so I'll hold off on another progress post until I get more done. |
The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
| Are you running the trailer's refrigerator on AC setting? Unless you have a yuuuge solar set up, running the compressor in the refrigerator sucks up a yuuuge amount of juice. Also, the breaker for the converter should be flipped to off. I have two 140 watt panels and four 6Volt batteries in my fifth wheel and have way more than I need. The solar guy at the "Y" has great prices on panels! |
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Originally Posted By FRCA_WY:
Are you running the trailer's refrigerator on AC setting? Unless you have a yuuuge solar set up, running the compressor in the refrigerator sucks up a yuuuge amount of juice. Also, the breaker for the converter should be flipped to off. I have two 140 watt panels and four 6Volt batteries in my fifth wheel and have way more than I need. The solar guy at the "Y" has great prices on panels! The fridge is running on propane. It runs a LONG time on very little gas. I've just turned off the converter breaker, and there's no apparent immediate change. I'll keep monitoring. ETA: There's one issue with turning off the converter breaker. When it's off, the trailer battery does not get charged from shore power (the inverter). Last night I left the inverter running and the batteries didn't drain much at all, but the trailer battery dropped to about 75%. As soon as I turned the converter back on this morning, the load on the inverter jumped to about 200 watts, or about 17 amps. I'm guessing that's going back into the trailer battery. |
The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
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Construction day! I got the 420 gallon water tank set and filled. That should last mea few months. No, wait, It's almost November. Time to shower again.
The first task was to lay out some cinder blocks for support. The bottom outlet on the tank is too low to allow it to set directly on the ground. 
It took a wile to get them all in the right place and level. 
Once that was done, I filled everything with sand, wetted it down to pack it and filled again. Side story: when I went to pick up the cinder blocks, I thought to myself, "I'll need some sand to fill them." Then I remembered, I live on a 75 acre SAND BOX. 
Then the tank was rolled and walked up onto the blocks and the filling began. 
The small pump I have took almost an hour to empty the tote. Once that was done it was off to town for more water. 
The propane tank is supposed to be set tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. |
The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Ham antennas are up! I finally got a wire in the air for HF (High Frequency) that the cows are leaving alone.
The vertical antenna is for VHF and UHF and has been up since I got here. The base of the mast at the trailer is in a flag pole adapter on the back bumper. 
The far end is on a mast kit from GoVertical.com 
So far the wire is working quite well. The first night I had it up I was making contacts all over Canada and a few in South America. I still need to do some tuning, but at least I'm on the air. ETA: The last bit has been installed . . . a 125 gallon propane tank. Now I should be warm over the winter. I do still need to get a skirt around the trailer. 
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The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
|
Originally Posted By JC10311:
Ham antennas are up! I finally got a wire in the air for HF (High Frequency) that the cows are leaving alone. http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=93289 The vertical antenna is for VHF and UHF and has been up since I got here. The base of the mast at the trailer is in a flag pole adapter on the back bumper. http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=93284 The far end is on a mast kit from GoVertical.com http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=93285 So far the wire is working quite well. The first night I had it up I was making contacts all over Canada and a few in South America. I still need to do some tuning, but at least I'm on the air. ETA: The last bit has been installed . . . a 125 gallon propane tank. Now I should be warm over the winter. I do still need to get a skirt around the trailer. http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=93321 What are you doing for internet out there? Sorry if I missed it but obviously cable and DSL are out. Also youre probably going to want a quartz electric heater for winter. I spent a winter in a camper and heated it that way which ended up being cheaper and did not have the humidity problem that the LP furnace creates. |
And lo unto them did Kek sayeth 'I have become death, destroyer of normies."
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Originally Posted By Fidel_Cashflow:
LP connection on the front of the camper. Originally Posted By Fidel_Cashflow:
Originally Posted By PHOENIX13:
Why block the trailer with the tank? LP connection on the front of the camper. Yeah just figured it would be extended to not block it |
asking GD for advice on cops is like asking a pedophile advice on raising children
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Originally Posted By Fidel_Cashflow:
What are you doing for internet out there? Sorry if I missed it but obviously cable and DSL are out. Also youre probably going to want a quartz electric heater for winter. I spent a winter in a camper and heated it that way which ended up being cheaper and did not have the humidity problem that the LP furnace creates. Originally Posted By Fidel_Cashflow:
Originally Posted By JC10311:
Ham antennas are up! I finally got a wire in the air for HF (High Frequency) that the cows are leaving alone. http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=93289 The vertical antenna is for VHF and UHF and has been up since I got here. The base of the mast at the trailer is in a flag pole adapter on the back bumper. http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=93284 The far end is on a mast kit from GoVertical.com http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=93285 So far the wire is working quite well. The first night I had it up I was making contacts all over Canada and a few in South America. I still need to do some tuning, but at least I'm on the air. ETA: The last bit has been installed . . . a 125 gallon propane tank. Now I should be warm over the winter. I do still need to get a skirt around the trailer. http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=93321 What are you doing for internet out there? Sorry if I missed it but obviously cable and DSL are out. Also youre probably going to want a quartz electric heater for winter. I spent a winter in a camper and heated it that way which ended up being cheaper and did not have the humidity problem that the LP furnace creates. I'm using a Verizon Jetpack and my phone's hot spot. Heat is from the propane heater. Since I'm totally off grid, using electricity for heat gets REALLY expensive due to the additional panels and batteries. Humidity hasn't been an issue so far. It's SO dry out here that a little moisture is welcome. In fact, the flame is not open to the indoors, so combustion moisture doesn't get into the trailer. I generally open the door and windows for a while to get some fresh air every day. |
The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
|
Originally Posted By PHOENIX13:
Yeah just figured it would be extended to not block it Originally Posted By PHOENIX13:
Originally Posted By Fidel_Cashflow:
Originally Posted By PHOENIX13:
Why block the trailer with the tank? LP connection on the front of the camper. Yeah just figured it would be extended to not block it The tank is temporary until the house gets built, and the trailer won't move until that's done. Since this is my home now, I have nowhere to go that's better than here. The way the tank is set I could, if really necessary, pull the trailer out on an angle. |
The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
|
Another construction day.
I got the evacuated tube rack set up this morning. It took about an hour. DANG those things heat up fast. Just after I installed the last tube, I wondered if the first ones had generated any heat yet. Like an idiot, I touched the copper outlet tube on the header. F#^$& OW!!!! So I dripped a little water on it and it instantly boiled! I’m going to have to cover the tubes and let things cool off before I can do the plumbing hookups. This is the working end of the collectors. The copper bulb is what gets REALLY hot. It, in turn, heats the copper manifold inside the top box. In operation, water (or in my case propylene glycol) circulates through the header and a heat exchanger in a water tank. 
Here’s the rack with the first tube installed. You can just see the copper outlet port on the left side of the header. 
The bottom of each tube is cradled in a plastic cup. I have NO IDEA what the reflection is, but it looks obscene. 
Before installing each tube the bulb gets coated with a heat transfer grease. I’m not sure, but I think it loosely translates to “boiled yak snot.” 
And it’s done! All 15 tubes are in place. Now the plumbing. Gotta go to town for pipe, pipe insulation, fittings, burn cream, and who knows what else. 
Of course, The Beast was totally unimpressed with all my hard work. 
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The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
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Originally Posted By PHOENIX13:
What's that thing for? Water heater? Yup. It's just a different technology than the flat-plate collectors that people are familiar with. I may have over built it, though. Within 90 minutes of having it set up the water in the manifold was at 200 degrees. I got the panels covered before the system exploded, but I need to do some rethinking. I was planning on a 40 gallon hot water tank, but I may need a heat sink on the tubes if they get too hot, or take some out of the rack. 
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The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
|
Originally Posted By DuneShoot:
Been reading this thread since the beginning and love it! Keep the updates coming! Thanks. This sure has been an adventure. Over the next couple of weeks I need to get some important stuff done, then take a break for a while over the winter. I've been on the property for just under four weeks, so it's still new and interesting. We'll see how I feel when I can't leave for days at a time and can't really do a lot outside. |
The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Sunrise / moonset on the ranch.
I got the basic plumbing for the evacuated tube system done yesterday. I'm going to run it today and monitor temps every 30 minutes. I kind of feel like the dog that chased the car and caught it. Now what? It would be really difficult to plumb this system into the trailer to provide hot water or heat. My plan right now is to run a bunch of PEX under the trailer to keep some heat under there. Once the house is built the tubes will be used for domestic hot water, and maybe radiant space heating. It was a BIG car. The test rig: 
I'm using 4 gallons of RV antifreeze in a high-tech bucket. The 3 gpm pump is run by the deep cycle battery. 
I have one thermometer at the inlet side of the manifold [DUMB]. I will reverse the flow shortly so that I'm measuring the outlet temp instead. 
I'll post the spreadsheet of performance numbers after sundown. Oh well, It's a work day, so I better go pretend to be busy. Quick ETA: It's 8:15 and the bucket temp is already up to 74 degrees! OAT is 43 degrees. Not bad considering the bucket is uninsulated. ETA 2: I checked at 10:15 and the temp was up to: 
I have covered up 2/3 of the tubes for the rest of the day. 
ETA3: It's about noon and the system temp has stabilized at about 150 degrees. I'll leave it the way it is and see how the afternoon goes. |
The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Day one is done. Here's the performance of the tubes. I ended up having six of the fifteen tubes exposed, and that seemed to be the right number for the small amount of water (glycol) I was heating.
Tomorrow or by the weekend I'll get the solar panel connected so I don't have to use the battery. |
The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]
Karl Marx [Sound like anyone you know???]