New Solar Panel Mod

Okay - I finally made a decision on what to do with my solar/generator/battery issues.  One of the campers parked near me when I was in La Posa South highly recommended this guy named Brian, who I ran into while filling my fresh water tank last week.

I told him one of my neighbors had recommended his solar work, and he asked what I needed, so we exchanged phone numbers and made an appointment for him to come out and see that I had, test my batteries to see if they were still good, and to check the amps on all my electrical gadgets.  Generally see what was going on, and how we could make it better.

Checking out the batteries

He ended up coming out three times, twice to check things out and then finally to do the job.  I have two Interstate 6V 225 AH batteries, wired in series, and Brian said they were fine.  He checked the amps on my electrical gadgets and they were good, all low amp hours.  Everyone says the wall controllers don't show correct readings, but mine measured correctly.

Changing the Catastrophe Fuse to the correct terminal.

This is what I run, as measured by Brian with his meter:

Amp draws per hour for electrical items in The Palms:
1.      Go-Power 1750 Inverter    1.2 amps
2.      Laptop computer                3.8 amps when not charging, up to 5 amps when charging
3.      Cell phone charging            minimal draw
4.      Coffee warmer                    1.3 amps
5.      TV and antenna                  2 amps
6.      200 W small inverter          minimal draw

I'm not running anything with a huge draw. If I run my A/C, coffee maker, microwave, toaster oven or hair dryer, I turn on the generator.



Brian said my batteries were fine, but there was a loose terminal wire that could make a difference - and he tightened it.  My T-fuse, or catastrophe fuse, was wired to a negative terminal instead of a  positive terminal, and he changed that. 

 He said I have exactly what I need, except this time of the year when the days are shorter and the sun is lower in the sky, it would help to tilt my solar panels.  So that's what we decided to do.  I was lucky, it was far easier and cheaper than replacing or adding batteries, or adding another solar panel. 

During the summer when we have longer days and the sun is high in the sky - traveling overhead - my batteries do a great job.  There are probably four months of the year that I'd need to tilt the panels, during the months with the shortest days while I'm here at Quartzsite.

Checking Amps

I got the tilt kits in town and Brian came out and installed them for me on Thursday, and boy, do I see a difference.

Removing the solar panels
 

Checking the wire - I think?
 

Attaching the tilt kits.
 

And they are tilted!
 

JOB DONE.
 

Both Friday and Saturday, when I rolled out of bed around 10:00 a.m. (yes, that's 10:00 a.m.)  my controller readout was 14.3 or 14.4.  That's a full battery bank, folks!
 
Beautiful job!  Don't they look great?



Brian Boone – (406) 270-4820  If you're going to call Brian, make it as early as possible in the season, because he's getting busy.  Right now he also has a full time job, so he's doing solar installs, consults, etc. after work and on his days off.  He's young and energetic, super knowledgeable, and honest, and he charges a very fair (low) rate for his expert work.

I highly recommend him and his work.  I'm expecting him to have his own full time business next year and if he does, he'll be a star in the solar industry.  I'm really happy he's here at Quartzsite so I can call him during the winter months if needed.
 
While Katie and I were walking this afternoon we met up with one of our readers, Linda, and her friend, Mel.  Their motor homes are parked near the Dingbats and as we walked by, her dog walked toward us on his lead.  He's a Deer Chihuahua like Katie.  I don't see many of this breed, so we stopped and talked.  Sunny is one year older than Katie and they are about the same size and color and seemed to get along well.

I'm going to bring my camera tomorrow when we're walking over near her campsite so I can get a photo of the two dogs.  It was nice meeting you, Linda, thanks for reading Me and My Dog  ...and My RV, and Mel - he doesn't have a computer, so he's not reading this - but it was nice meeting him, too!  :)

From me and Katie, have a great Sunday, everybody!

Oh, oh, Help!

Yesterday I was driving out of the campground area and when I got onto the exit road, I heard thump, thump, thump coming from my right rear wheels.  Oh, oh, that didn't sound good.  I thought I probably had a flat tire. 

I stopped on the side of the road and got out.  I checked the rear tires with my eyes and hands, all around, and didn't see a flat tire or rocks stuck in the treads.  I got back in and drove on.  Thump, thump, thump.

I stopped again and pulled over by the Visitor's/Registration Office.  I got out and checked the right rear tires again, and this time they were in the right position to see this:

I tried and tried to get it out, tried to leverage it out with a crow bar, but it wouldn't budge at all.  Just then a young couple stopped and I asked him if he could pull the rock out.  They were so nice to try to help, but even though he got some tools out and tried until his face was RED, he was unable to dislodge the rock.

I could have called Good Sam Emergency Road Service and had the outer tire loosened, but instead I made a call to the Dingbats.  Hazel checked to see who was in camp, and soon Don and Gary drove down to see what the problem was.  Gary, shown below, brought a box of tools with him and using his super power strength, was able to get the rock out from between the tires. As I said to him, "Gary, you're the MAN!"

See the rock on the ground to his right? 

Here is is again, on my kitchen counter, see how it's a little curved on the sides - that's how it was lodges in between the tires.  It had to be sitting just like this to be squeezed into the space when I drove over it:

Bad Rock!

Just a few minutes ago I figured out where I picked up the rock.  It was on the end of the line of rocks I put out around my site.  When I left my site before, I was going out toward the left but I have a new neighbor who is parked in the place I drove through, so yesterday I turned in the other direction and drove over that last rock.  I didn't even see it.  I put it back at the end of the line of rocks - but a little further in.  Next time I'll give myself a little more room for the right hand turn.

Santa and some of  his helpers are again parked in Quartzsite, resting up from their very busy Christmas Eve travels.  Katie and I asked for a photo, and here we are:

I'm the one who is squinting - as you can tell, the sun was very bright! Notice I'm on the "Nice Side." Santa is on the "Naughty Side."  I wonder what he did?

I wanted to get more photos of Santa's Vacation Home, but the next day he traveled to Mexico, so these are photos from a previous year:

The little red car above fits into the lower blue door of his rig, and he just drives away with no toad.

See ya next year, Santa.

WELCOME to our newest Follower, Karla Ledtje!  Karla you don't have anything listed about yourself, so I can't share any info, but if you have a blog let me know and I'll share it with our readers.  Thank you for following along with me and Katie.  Welcome aboard to you!  :)

Look at this beautiful moon from Saturday night:

From me and Katie, have a great Thursday, everyone!  :)

Wordless Wednesday - Carved crayons

Click on the photos and then click again for close-up details, and click HERE for link to The Pleasure of Tiny Things: Artwork.

Crayon carving key:

A is for Aquilegia (Columbine)
B is for Bald Eagle
C is for Cougar
D is for Dogwood
E is for Elk
F is for Fox
G is for Grizzly Bear
H is for Heron
I is for Iris
J is for Juniper
K is for Killer Whale
L is for Lynx
M is for Mountain Goat
N is for Northern Spotted Owl
O is for Otter
P is for Painted Turtle
Q is for Quinault Tribe
R is for Rhododendron
S is for Salmon
T is for Timberwolf
U is for Urchin
V is for Viola
W is for Wolf Eel
X is for Xanthogrammica (Giant Green Anemone)
Y is for Yuma myotis (Vesper Bat)
Z is for Zapus princeps (Western Jumping Mouse)

From me and Katie, have a great Wednesday, everyone!  :)

Have you seen this helicopter in the trailer?

There's an interesting story behind this photo.  A few weeks ago Bill, the owner of the above Class A and trailer, pulled into the Dingbat area and joined our group for a week or so.  When I walked down to the campfire and saw his trailer with the helicopter, I told him I've seen him on the road.  And also parked in an RV park.  He said it probably wasn't him, and we talked about where exactly I saw it.

Turns out, his rig and trailer were stolen for about 8 months.  I finally remembered that I saw the RV and trailer at Distant Drums RV Resort in Camp Verde two years ago, and he said that was during the time it was stolen, and yes, it was in that area at that time.

One day in April, 2012, while I was camped at Distant Drums a woman just pulled into the resort and parked the rig near the office.  Katie and I walked by on our way to the dog park and I stopped and commented on the helicopter and asked if she was checking in.  She said no, she just stopped to have a kind of "garage sale."  I asked her what she was selling, and she said, "Just about anything you'd want."  I didn't want to take any more of her time, she was busy and I didn't want to buy anything, so Katie and I continued on with our walk.  Later they were gone.  

Turns out, according to Bill, she stole the motor home and trailer and was selling everything inside both, and then tried to sell both the trailer and the motor home.  That's when she was caught, and Bill ended up getting them back, minus quite a few things.  There was more to the story, but it's his story to tell, not mine, and I'll leave it there.

Really strange that he and I would be parked in the same place two years later having this discussion.  I think his trailer is pretty cool looking.  Of course, it's not really a helicopter inside his trailer, but it looks pretty realistic in person  - he explained how the graphic on the door was created and applied.  He was a helicopter pilot in Viet Nam, hence the helicopter on the trailer.  :)

Mello Mike is having a giveaway contest.  Click on this link to find out how to enter.  This is what Mike is giving away to the lucky winner:

Very nice - and I've entered!  If I don't win, I hope you do.  ;-)

We're still having the best weather here at Quartzsite.  I keep talking about how great the weather is, but it's by far the most enjoyable so far in my three years of camping at Quartzite.  Cold nights and mornings, but nice warm days, not hot, mostly clear skies for my solar panels and very little wind this year.  So far.  I think the clear skies and lack of wind are what make it so nice for me, even more than the temps.

I've finally re-installed my Adobe Photoshop Elements program.  In case you don't know about Elements, it's like a little sister of Adobe Photoshop.  Cheaper and far easier to learn and use, more for someone like me who is not a professional graphics person.  I would definitely need lessons to learn Photoshop.  So, yesterday I was playing around with the different options in the software, many of which are pretty neat.

I took one of my House Finch photos and added one of the options to it and this is what I ended up with.  Original photo:

"Hey, get your beak out of my seeds!"      "Sorry, baby, what was I thinking?"

This looks like it was created using colored pencils:

I haven't had this program installed in quite a while, and it's going to be fun trying to learn it. Again.

WELCOME to our newest Follower, Karen!  Her blog, Karen in the Woods, is one of the most interesting blogs I follow.  She and her husband, Steve, are camp hosts, boon dockers, have a large Sheltie, Duke, and just adopted a new rescue Sheltie pup, Finnegan.  They are doing all sorts of wonderful upgrades to their new house in Wisconsin.  Karen is also a fabric artist and Steve seems to be able to make, fix or restore ANYTHING.  I love reading about their house and grand kids, and everything else they do.  Check out her blog, trust me, you'll find something to love there, too! Welcome Karen, thanks for following along with me and Katie!

From me and Katie, have a great Saturday, everyone!  :)

Wordless Wednesday - Welcome to 2014!

From Me and Katie, Happy New Year's Day, everyone!  :)