Glenn's Underground Cabin Update

Sassy · October 28, 2011, 09:08:58 PM

My son & his daughters came by again today - he wanted to hunt for quail... they walked down to the spring & found a friend on the way back up

Amya taking the tarantula off of Daddy

Big sis Angelina isn't having any part of it but still quite fascinated w/the horror of it

Look Grandma!

I did finally get brave enough to let it crawl up on my arm

glenn kangiser · October 29, 2011, 09:33:42 PM

I bet everybody wishes they lived in a place where the cool pets dropped in for free...

I checked my other banks of batteries and found 2 with low voltage in them. These batteries are from 2004 and 2005. I swapped one of the three good ones into the set with a bad one and took another one of the good ones to replace the one bad newer one until I get to the battery supplier in Fresno.

I have a meter that checks capacity as CCA so I checked it - around 250 CCA. The newer batteries have around 800 CCA so a much higher capacity, but it will get me some use out of that bank until I get a new one.

Here is my equalizer charger.

A 575 amp DC Lincoln welder. Works for welding too. [ouch]

I monitor with a meter and try to keep a good watch on it when I am equalizing. I had to repair both welding cables due to heating before I got a good start. Problem areas make resistance... and resistance under power makes heat. Enough for fire if it gets too bad. A scan with the non-contact thermometer from Harbor Freight quickly tells if there are problems. One problem was only that the cable had been run over and damaged. It heated up enough to burn off the insulation. Kind of unusual to see that happen inline rather than at a termination.

I had kept it under 32 volts for a while with little results, so I eased it up to 33. Batteries must be full of water to do this otherwise internal arcing will damage the plates. When it hit 33 it did not stay for long. I was running about 90 amps and in a little while the voltage started dropping indicating that the internal resistance of the batteries was dropping, and capacity of the batteries were increasing. I ran it for about an hour that way monitoring battery heat and voltage. You can watch it increase in capacity as the voltage continues to drop and amp intake is increasing.

I will probably add some EDTA to the old battery and see how that effects it's load capacity also. A bit of time to experiment again now.

October 30, 2011, 06:37:51 AM

Looks like all you need Glenn is some garlic bread and some Spaghetti sauce.

glenn kangiser · October 30, 2011, 10:13:29 AM

That is the picture of the good side of my battery bank, John.... look at those nice buss bars.

Power seemed better last night.... moving in the right direction.

Windpower · October 31, 2011, 09:00:51 AM

These are expensive but many people have had great success with rejuvenating 'dead' batteries that won't hold a charge
Over time the claim is that the actual capacity of the battery will increase

http://www.r-charge.com/Battery-Chargers_c_16.html

the technology has worked for me with this small Bedini charger kit I built

http://www.r-charge.com/New-Bedini-3-Pole-Monopole-Kit-molded-frame_p_122.html

October 31, 2011, 09:47:08 AM

Thanks, Windpower. I think those are similar to the pulse rejuvenator chargers I have. I think they are effective to a point also.

http://www.xtremechargers.com/pages/xtreme-charges-renew-it-pulse-technology

I didn't see their big 20A rejuvenator listed this time - maybe there somewhere.

EDTA is also supposed to be one of the few additive chemicals (considered a food - we eat it)

I haven't read this stuff but here is a link to EDTA info

http://leadacidbatterydesulfation.yuku.com/forums/7#.Tq60xrKwVic

glenn kangiser · October 31, 2011, 11:47:55 PM

Made the trip to get new batteries today. Tested the real old one with my load checker - voltage had dropped since equalizing it and load was at about 320 CCA. The new one and the rest of the 2 year old ones ranged near 800 CCA + or -.

I realize that Cold Cranking Amps is not normally used for deep cycle batteries but it does give me a standard to check the batteries by with a high end battery checker.

I pulled out the real old battery and put the new one in its place. 9PM tonight I was showing 25 volts in the batteries. That is better.

I also picked up 4 new batteries so that will give me 12 new to 2 year old L16 batteries. I will do some testing on the rest and see if they will be of value.

Hmmmmm - this could be a good time to do a complete system upgrade in the battery room. I have some ideas for switching and equalizing using 3/4 copper pipe for my buss bar. Lets see if I get motivated enough to do that one. I only bought the parts to do it a year or so ago.....

MountainDon · November 01, 2011, 12:01:51 AM

Quote from: glenn kangiser on October 31, 2011, 11:47:55 PM

I only bought the parts to do it a year or so ago.....

You can still find them? !!! I might have a problem if that was me... $:-\$

glenn kangiser · November 01, 2011, 12:41:55 AM

One of the few storage devices I have in my shop is a pipe rack where I have jammed several pipes that I have been tripping over on the floor. I think there is a good chance that one of them is the copper one I bought for this project..... [ouch]

Some of the stuff is piled around the battery area and in nearby drawers, under boxes and detectors and testers so it is very hard to lose....

So YES.... Of Course.... I think I can find it....maybe...... I will look tomorrow......

November 01, 2011, 12:54:26 AM

Take a video of the search and post it. You can embed now.

(sorry, no direct photobucket

)

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=11405.msg146519#msg146519

glenn kangiser · November 01, 2011, 01:05:23 AM

I am glad you got the video up, Don. I will for sure use it.... I mean.... like... some of my videos have had ....like....26 views..... [ouch]

Now that is what I call interest...... but that will not stop me... I will keep posting.....

....but ...are they really ready to see into my shop.......

glenn kangiser · November 01, 2011, 09:00:24 AM

Alright, Don...

Here is a test of your work on the new video embedding.....

...as we search for the copper pipe for the battery bank improvements....

...a crappy little video...but a video, none the less......

http://youtu.be/I6xWjiFOoEU

Previewed it, Don... looks like you done real good...Lookie there.. An embedded YouTube link that plays right in the forum or will go full screen .....I think it's gonna work. I like it. Thanks again, Don.

ben2go · November 01, 2011, 09:32:57 AM

The elusive copper pipe is finally found.

MountainDon · November 01, 2011, 09:48:53 AM

That mod works well!!

November 01, 2011, 09:53:36 AM

Was that cool or what, Ben? hmm

You got it, Don. It is great. Now if I just add some decent content we've got it made....

ben2go · November 01, 2011, 01:52:39 PM

Quote from: glenn kangiser on November 01, 2011, 09:53:36 AM
Was that cool or what, Ben? hmm

You got it, Don. It is great. Now if I just add some decent content we've got it made....

Cool indeed.Found it in the last place you looked.Or is that the last place you saw it?

glenn kangiser · November 01, 2011, 02:02:33 PM

Last place I saw it I think, Ben. hmm

That works pretty good most of the time but if someone gets tired of waiting for me to clean up and helps..... then all bets are off.

I do have the problem sometimes that I remember where I put it three years ago but forget that I moved it two years ago.... [ouch]

I would like to get it set up so that certain areas will contain certain types of things and I would know to look there and to take those things there when I find them in places they should not be. [idea]

I did that with the digging tools by the garden and it is working pretty well. Sometimes we find something.

...but that would be a lot like organizing and I am not sure if I am ready for that...

Windpower · November 01, 2011, 02:16:47 PM

I have an inverter just like that --- been running for 11 years (except for the time lightning blew a few components off the main board -- $214 to repair)

I can't believe you went into that place on Holloween -- scary

glenn kangiser · November 01, 2011, 08:47:37 PM

... You're telling me..... Don't try this at home, kids......

The Trace 4024's are great inverters in my opinion. I had one and decided I wanted to do 240v so had to find another one of the same model and the phasing cable for it. I found one on Ebay, and checked out the refs of the seller as good as possible. Turned out great. I run a horse and a half pump off of them daily.

.

Redoverfarm · November 01, 2011, 09:17:45 PM

Glenn that was a deciding factor in the Magnum that I got was that it had 240 and didn't need to stack for a lack of words with another one.

November 01, 2011, 09:38:38 PM

Sounds like a good reason, John and for me, I think it is worth it to have 240 available, one way or another.

I was making mine work with a transformer, but pulling all it had when the pump kicked on. Power to spare now with the two of them available.

tedryder · November 02, 2011, 04:38:48 AM

Where can you get posts like these? Also, where is a good online store or storefront to order EPDM? Will I need any thing else with the EPDM, some kind of sealant to put the pieces together? I saw a video where someone was doing that for a roofing job. Thanks a lot. I'm sure I'm going to badger you to death with questions.

glenn kangiser · November 02, 2011, 10:17:46 AM

to the forum, tedryder.

Many build where they can harvest the logs from their property or get them from other nearby locations.

The link below has the EPDM available though local suppliers may be able to order it too. There is a priming liquid and tape that will seam the pieces together.
Also available from the link.

http://www.direct2usales.com/

Tell us more about your project if you can - area - natural resources - etc. Thanks for the questions.

ben2go · November 02, 2011, 12:22:41 PM

Quote from: tedryder on November 02, 2011, 04:38:48 AM
Where can you get posts like these? Also, where is a good online store or storefront to order EPDM? Will I need any thing else with the EPDM, some kind of sealant to put the pieces together? I saw a video where someone was doing that for a roofing job. Thanks a lot. I'm sure I'm going to badger you to death with questions.

Welcome.I too would like to hear more about your project.Have you purchased Mike Oehler's underground house books and DVDs?

tedryder · November 02, 2011, 04:20:32 PM

Thanks a ton for the help guys. It would probably be best if I bought the logs because I am not confident I can trim them, treat them etc. I do have Oehler's book and DVDs. I have not finished them though. If you go to maps.google.com and type in 36.418762,-78.196971 this is almost the exact location I want to build. I'm trying to find out if the water table is too high but I'm not having any luck. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I am not a carpenter, nor am I skilled in any of this whatsoever. I use to work in the IT field so I pretty much only know my way around a keyboard and I'm forgetting that quickly.