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Dakota's Dad · 06-18-2009, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cursh

so here I am wondering if pluging into a closed system through what would normally be used as a power OUTLET would power all of the other outlets without dire consequences.

muchos gracias

No matter HOW the power gets into a system, it goes everywhere it is not stopped by a circuit breaker. Make sure that you are not feeding more AMPS into that outlet then it's wire is rated to handle.

newroswell · 06-18-2009, 08:46 AM

I gotta say, I've had so much fun reading this thread. I've been afraid (from the first sight of the hitch setup), I've laughed, I've cried (well not really, but sad all the same when reading Cursh broke his Scapula). Honestly I don't know who is more entertaining, Cursh or everyone he winds up. One of my favorite moments was when 62overlander accused Cursh of smoking weed and vowed to unsubscribe.

Kevin

Gene · 06-18-2009, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newroswell

One of my favorite moments was when 62overlander accused Cursh of smoking weed and vowed to unsubscribe.

Kevin

Maybe Cursh should've smoked some before his last post.

Gene

newroswell · 06-18-2009, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Maybe Cursh should've smoked some before his last post.

Gene

He does seem a little up-tight about not being able to put power on the grid. I used to work for a fortune 50 company that operates several power plants. I was in the computer, networking and database side, but I am vaguely familiar with how a power plant works and the power is distributed.

It's hard enough to maintain a stable power grid without lots of people on the other end trying to put their .5 amp of 110v into the system. It's not completely based on big business monopolizing a commodity.

I'm not saying we shouldn't move in that direction though.

Cursh · 06-19-2009, 02:51 PM

I'm just mad because ohio let me do it ='(

Roberts - you are crushing my soul (but in a positive, informative way) I will just have to find an intelligent, funny, warm southern belle to keep me warm in the winter to keep my power usage down.

Father of Dakota - thanks. Thats what I was thinking. as long as I don't get too large an inverter I should be alright then =)

Dakota's Dad · 06-19-2009, 03:05 PM

I am sure Alabama will let you do it, but MY guess is they won't let you do it the way you want. Big difference. There is a WHOLE lot more involved in "back feeding" your "extra" power onto the grid it's not funny. The biggest problem most "small producers" is that their power is not clean enough to put on the grid. So it has to be "conditioned", It also has to be syncronized with a digital controller, because 60 cycles means just that, and well, there is a timing issue to those cycles. If the power you put "on" the grid is out of time.. well, bad things happen to inocent refridgerators down the block. There is also the fact that you need a special meter, most standard meters will actually "charge" you for power going in OR out, they don't know the difference. Then there is a need for a safety interlock, (transfer switch) so your system can't put power into the grid if it's down, endangering any line men etc. working on repairs...

If you are going to use an inverter to change 12v to 120v.. and you are going to run a computer, or any appliance with digital controls, make sue you get a "pure/true sine wave" inverter. plain ones will run lots of handy things like lights and tools, but anything that can't won't except a square wave, it's going to kill it.

Cursh · 06-21-2009, 01:43 PM

you are all so smart with knowledge.

I will stop bama bashing then, and look into this True Sine Wave inverter of which you speak.

I'm almost out of money so maybe I will just have to do something sneaky like run a second 110v system for the big sexy things that need shore power (like computers and large format plotters and electric pianos.)

Cursh · 06-21-2009, 02:09 PM

better yet - this is what I want

I would like for my shore power to not kick in until I actually needed it. I would like to wait until my batteries are drained for it to start charging them.

Is my best bet just staying unplugged until I need it? (or maybe even throwing an inline switch in the shore power cable?)

muchos grasias

Gene · 06-21-2009, 02:57 PM

The batteries should not be discharged below 50% or you will shorten their life. Some things run on 120 v. and some on 12 v. and some on both, or maybe even propane. It's hard to come up with a combination that is the most environmentally responsible. For example, what if the 120 v. comes from a coal fired power plant? Or, a hydroelectric plant? But a hydroelectric plant may cause serious environmental problems downstream. Some power companies allow you to pay a little more to buy power from wind farms. In Alabama you may be getting power from a TVA hydroelectric plant, but I think they also have coal plants and maybe a nuclear plant.

Insulation and other weather proofing helps by keeping heat inside in the winter, outside in the summer. Using as little as possible also helps. Those are the simplest and cheapest ways to save power. Using PV to keep batteries charged certainly helps, but when you are plugged into shore power, does the converter draw from the batteries first or the solar system for 12 v. appliances and lights? I have no idea how it works in our trailer. You can watch the monitor(s) for the batteries to make sure you are not discharging them too much because dead batteries get expensive and disposing of batteries is another environmental problem.

I'm sure there are electronic switches and other sophisticated toys that can help you manage electricity very efficiently, but the price may not be worth it. A switch that changes the source of power when the batteries reach 50% would be useful. Good luck—you have the chance to educate us.

Gene

Zeppelinium · 06-23-2009, 05:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

The batteries should not be discharged below 50% or you will shorten their life. ...

Gene, 50% is a little restrictive. Lead-acid batteries are pretty resilient down to about 20% of remaining charge--below that, you are definitely eating away at battery life. If you limit yourself to 50% discharge, you're hauling around a lot of battery weight for not much available stored energy.

A well cared for battery can be routinely discharged to 20% and still give you 5 years of life. This is particularly true for the kinds of use a battery sees in an RV, that is, relatively slow discharge rates (we're not starting a cold V-8 here). For lead-acid, you never want to discharge at a rate higher than using 80% of the charge in 2 hours. In the electric vehicle world of the 90s this was a real problem, so battery life was a major concern.

Zep

Cursh · 07-16-2009, 11:57 AM

new fun on the homefront - Welcome to a small town in alabama where a young boy goes to open the door to his home (airstream) and the hinge pulls from the body of the airstream.

Without the weight and leverage of the door it becomes apparent that the hinge is not working properly - its impossible to swing without the use of tools. The hinge pin (axle) appears to be bent.

The young boy dilligently repairs the hinge dutifully placing the door back in its door hole during heavy downpours to keep the wet out.

But now he has a question. He is concerned that his Olympic Rivets will not be strong enough to keep the door hinge in place.

so . . . do I need to use the original rivets to put a door hinge back on? or will 8 or so Olympic rivets be enough? I'm really tired of heafting my door on and off (its been about a week) and would like to go ahead and reattach it, but I'm not interested in doing this more than once.

Much Love.

P.S. - I have a 1500 Watt True Sine Wave Inverter and will be replacing the fuses (couldn't find replacements for the life of me) with a 40apm Breaker Box.

I also found some sweet grey moulding to cover my solar wires up top (the stuff you put down in an office over extention chords so that people don't trip and sue you)

Cursh · 07-26-2009, 10:19 AM

So No one has a word of advice for me on reattaching the door hinge with olympic rivets?

soldiermedic · 07-26-2009, 10:29 AM

Cursh,

I would say it is possible. Many folks are out camping right now and not available to answer. The worst that could happen would be to do it, and change it later if it doesn't work.

Steve

Sugarfoot · 07-26-2009, 10:29 AM

Hey, that same thing happened to my door! Except the hinge pin wasn't bent.

I replaced my hinges with pop rivets and it's been fine. Olympics aren't any less stable than pops, are they?

A-Merry-Can · 07-26-2009, 08:03 PM

make sure you catch the steel backing plate. Mine had one, at least. it stiffens the hinge attach point.

Cursh · 08-31-2009, 08:14 AM

the olympic rivets don't appear to be long enough, and I'm guessing that they don't get any longer.

They weren't nearly strong enough to hold up the weight of the door (probably because very few of them actually reached through the thick hinge and the aluminum wall.

Does anyone work with solid rivets? i've been reading up on it and it seems like a lot of investment and skill is involved. I'm wondering if anyone does aircraft repairs in my area, as it looks like I might have to just pull that interior wall again and have someone do it the right way (i'm terrified of moving the trailer without a door hinge as well.)

Any tips or pointers would be much appreciated.

I'm going to the local hardware store to pick up some 5/32 long rivets and hope that works (probably just put a dab of vulkem in the exposed holes.)

malconium · 09-03-2009, 07:24 PM

If you can roll back the wall paneling a bit in that area you could probably consider using bolts instead of rivets. I would think you could find some stainless steel ones. You could use self locking nuts on the inside so that they would not vibrate loose.

If you can verify that there is a steel backing plate maybe you could drill out the holes in the hinges just a bit and use some self taping screws threaded into the steel backer plate.

Malcolm

minamyna · 09-11-2009, 04:35 PM

Man I was hoping to get to the end of this and see the trailer was done! I wanted to do the ooh ahh and drool thing. NSL. Where the done photos?

My door is funny on my airstream the pin is coming out of it. My husband hammered it back in last time but it is mostly out again. I m afraid to haul it lest it fall out and the door fall off. He let for Iraq yesterday so the responsibility is left to me to deal with. The whole thing is headed for timeless travel trailers if I can scrap together enough money......

Cursh · 09-12-2009, 10:04 AM

I have been really bad about taking pictures (someone snagged my camera when I was at bonneroo, and I haven't had the $ to replace it)

At this point I'm doing all of this on the leftovers from two part time service industry jobs (most week I can scrape together 40 hour) so the going is slow. (living in it doesn't help either. I can't just leave a project half done without cleaning up, I have to sleep there at night)

As far as your Door Pin problem - My door pin has a hole drilled right through the center of it and a small pin through it to keep the hinge pin from traveling too far.

I'll try to take pictures today and tomorrow. and get one that better describes this pin and hole I'm talking about. (the closest thing I can think of is a hitch pin clip on a trailer hitch)

Cursh · 09-12-2009, 10:11 AM

Oh - And my door is back on (i ended up using bolts and nylock, I can't imagine it ever falling off again) - I made a ton of keys for the new lock and I'm able to lock her up again.

Also put half of the third wall in the other day. I can't say I'm happy with the tolerances I've settled with so I might pull both of the bed side walls out and try again (I think that by constantly documenting the gap between the wall and the wood I might be able to get really close next time. I just want to make sure I can still use my rough draft walls for something else.

I also fell asleep with the light on the other night and it killed my battery (not completely, but my charge controller is refusing power to my inverter (which is a good thing) so I might have to plug back in to the grid (i've been off for 3 months now) and I for sure think A third and possibly fourth deep cycle would be a good idea (and a less shaded parking place)

Anyway. I have a renewed motivation to work on her with football season in full swing. Almost any weekend of the season I can get away with obnoxiously parking my Airstream in downtown auburn under the guise of being a tailgater. With the solar set up that could be a lot of fun.