My 15.75 x 30 Jemez Cabin

Started by MountainDon, December 20, 2006, 02:03:09 AM

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diyfrank

Keeping more room around you is always a plus. How much land did you have before buying the 1&1/2 next to you?
Were you intending to hunt or just photo the wildlife?
It's interesting to see what all comes around at night or when your gone.
Home is where you make it

MountainDon

Quote from: diyfrank on July 12, 2009, 10:56:57 PM
How much land did you have before buying the 1&1/2 next to you?

We doubled our holding; had 1.503 acres and now have an additional 1.502.


If I ever get a draw I want to try the muzzleloader hunt.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.


diyfrank

Is it draw for bull tags or any elk? I was thinking your over run with elk where your at.

Either way I hope you get a draw. I never tried muzzle for elk but it sounds like a lot fun.
Home is where you make it

MountainDon

As many Elk as there are, Elk hunts require a draw here, unless you have a large enough holding of land and apply for landowner permits. Somehow I don't believe our acreage would qualify us, but I've never checked. Maybe I should.  ??? Too late for this year though.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

Redoverfarm

You would think that landowners would be exempt.  Although set up differently here the landowner can hunt anything anyone else does w/o a license or extra stamps on his own land.  He is actually exempt from the blaze orange clothing.  But I do take advantage of this as we abupt National Forrest.  One thing here that would prevent hunting on small tracks is that you can not shoot within 500 feet of any dwelling.  So if you have neighbors you might be hard pressed to shoot in that small of a track.


MountainDon

We had a lot of visitors this past week. Plus we took some time off for a little 4Wd trip.

I hauled the water cistern up but all I got done was to secure and seal the manhole extension.



I hope to have it buried in the next week or two.

I gave the long neglected shower / toilet bathroom some attention.



Even though that photo does not show it I did drill a hole through the subfloor and install the shower drain. The porta-potti is temporary for middle of night or rainy day use. Sooner or later the Sun-Mar composting toilet will be dragged in from the shed and placed on the built up floor.

The bathroom is based on the RV all-in-one idea. The floor and walls will receive Hardie cement board backer board panels with a membrane. The toilet platform will be tiled, the walls will be FRP panels.

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MountainDon

One of our diversions was a trip to the local forest service lookout tower.



Some of my 4WD club members...

... and the view from the tower, looking NW.



The trip is scenic and not very technical. It is rocky in many places though, necessitating at the very least high ground clearance.

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MountainDon

We also got more exterior painting completed.

The Energy Center is down to the final details. Just the roofing and the locks need to be completed.





The metal roofing will be installed as soon as the ceiling insulation is upgraded with the blown in cellulose. Hopefully that will be done in the first part of next week. Once the insulation is upgraded I can finish the gable end siding. Then I'll do the Energy center roof.

I built the doors from 2x4 framing with 1/2 inch plywood corner gussets glued and screwed in place. The doors are paneled with T1-11  3/8" plywood (also glued and screwed). I selected T1-11 because I did not like the weight of cement board material.

The vents are there to provide cooling air for the charge controller and the inverter. The roof section above the charge controller and the inverter will also have a roof vent installed. The battery section will have a roof hydrogen vent as well.



I am so glad I did not use T1-11 for the cabin siding. That stuff soaks up paint like a sponge.

We are getting down to a short list of things to do.  :o  
Insulate ceiling.
Complete gable end siding
Build Porch roof
Complete bathroom
Complete PV power system: install hardware and wires/conduit from panels to Energy Center.
Complete the water cistern hookup

Of course I've also got a new list of things to do started.   ;D

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

NM_Shooter

I like the energy center.  I have plans to do something similar, and to put my water tank / pump in there too. 

I've always had a tough time getting my RV water heater to drain completely.  Even with turning on the hot water at the sinks to vent, it does not seem to drain.  Is there a trick to that?
"Officium Vacuus Auctorita"


MountainDon

Quote from: NM_Shooter on July 23, 2009, 10:24:13 AM

I've always had a tough time getting my RV water heater to drain completely.  Even with turning on the hot water at the sinks to vent, it does not seem to drain.  Is there a trick to that?

I remove the anode and drain the tank from there as well as blowing the pipes out with air. That also forces me to inspect the anode rod at least once per year.

I also use a tank bypass for freezing weather use. That removes the tank from the active plumbing loop.

The bypass saves having to drain the tank but of course there's no hot water either.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

poppy

Making good progress there Don.

The lookout tower trip reminded me of going to visit what we called the fire tower as a kid.  It was on a high point of course, but the tower house was elevated on a steel structure that was at least 100' tall.

In those days, one could foot it up to the top and visit with the ranger.  I don't even know what they do today.

Thanks for posting all the detail on all your systems.  Will look forward to the cistern system.  I will have on-grid electric, but not water and no septic; so will keep an eye on what you do. ;)

MountainDon

Quote from: poppy on July 23, 2009, 11:20:59 AM
.... but the tower house was elevated on a steel structure that was at least 100' tall.

There are some stilted lookouts around NM, but close by here we have mainly 2 story ones like the Cerro Pelado lookout. It would be a whole lot more work manning one of the stilt towers, hauling up everything including water.

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MountainDon

More things done. It seems that everything is going slower lately.   ??? ???

We got the water cistern burried with the help o James and his skidsteer. He has a simple backhoe attachment. It's not as versatile as a full size backhoe, but it did the job.





Here's the "light bulb" in the ground and level.



I neglected to take a photo of the buried unit. Maybe next time.   :D
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MountainDon

#863
I worked on the porch roof and completed the gable siding and vent.





I also completed some of the porch railing, but once again, no photos this time. I'll do a set once the roof sheathing is on.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.


MountainDon

At long last I spooled out the #2 AWG wire to the PV panels. I made a fancy spool holder.  ;D



Here's the first wire run. I didn't get a shot of the second wire run.  d*




The second wire included a splice, and yes I forgot to take a photo. I used a splice block and shrink tube that was meant for direct burial cable. It's about 2/3 the way down the hill and in the negative cable, only because that's what I decided. No technical reason.


Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MountainDon

No, I did not leave the wires simply laying there on the surface. The wires went inside some 1" PVC electrical conduit. We slid the conduit, 20 feet at a time, over the spooled out wires. Rather than pull 300+ feet of wires through the assembled conduit we reversed the process as it seemed easier in this case. I did get my exercise going up and down the hill, that's for sure.  :o

Here's the conduit looking up the hill from 100+ feet down...




And looking down from the same spot. From here on down most of the slope is a bit steep.





At this point all I did was rake pine needles and twigs aside.


I rented a trencher from the HD. It's not a Ditch Witch and is not self propelled, but cost less.



It did the job asked of it. I trenched about 120 feet, up to where the slope gets rather steep for a hand controlled machine. From there down to the PV array the conduit is on the surface. Not code, but no inspectors.

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MountainDon

#866
A note on the conduit in case anyone was wondering why I chose 1" conduit. I could have used smaller for the needed capacity of two #2 AWG wires. One important factor other than the pure number of wires allowed per conduit size, was the presence of a splice.

The splice was necessary as purchasing two continuous 325 foot lengths of wire was much more expensive than purchasing a complete 500 foot spool plus an additional 150 feet. (The supplier priced the 150 cut length at the same per foot rate of the 500 foot spool; IIRC, the spool per foot price was something like 40% off the cut length per foot price. Not buying a spool placed the entire order at the cut length price. Funny rules, but there they were.)

The splice with the shrink wrap would just barely fit inside the 1" conduit. That was another reason, and a main one, that we did not try to drag the spliced wire through the assembled conduit. I wiggled the bell end of the conduit over the splice point as far as I could to obtain a full length glue joint.



There are conduit sizing tools available...
http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=4844.msg60097#msg60097
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

jdhen

MD, How difficult is it to pull/push that trencher?  I'm going to need to do some trenching myself.  It looks like you pulled it down the slope?  If it is level ground is it hard to move it or does the actual trenching mechanism provide some push?
Jesse

MountainDon

#868
Yes, I pulled it down the slope. Once it was in the proper start position it was not much work. There is a ratchet mechanism that allows the wheels to turn only in the trenching direction when the trenching bar is lowered. You can pull it back raising the bar slightly and the machine weight applies downward force to dig. The wheel ratchets keep it from rolling in the wrong direction.

If I had gone much further down though, I would have had to switch direction and pull up and I do not know how easy that would be. I believe I would need an extra set of muscles and hands. The machine is easy enough to manuver on level ground, but more difficult on sloping ground.

The oil level sensor in the (Honda) engine does not allow much downward slope as I was doing. That's why I stated that if I had wanted to trench further down the hill it would have been necessary to turn around and pull it uphill. The engine is not as tilt sensitive in the other direction.

As it turned out the unit I rented must have a lot of hours on it. It was blowing oil badly (constant steam of blue smoke) and stopped running twice until I added oil. It also quit dead on me just as I started a small extra trench I wanted for a TV cable lead. I have no idea what the problem was as I gave up on it. HD gave me a reduced price, after I asked and complained.

Overall it did the job asked of it well enough.   On level ground I believe it would be easy enough to operate.

Manufacturer's link
://www.groundhoginc.com/productview.php?iProductID=7
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

poppy

Nice update Don.  I will be on the grid starting out, but am trying to plan for future solar panels or wind turbines or both.  I was worrying about the cabin location being about 200' from a good spot for energy production, but it looks like your system is strung out farther than that, so I should be OK.

How did that trencher do with roots?  Conventional wisdom says to hire out trenching, but it looks like you did OK.


MountainDon

Quote from: poppy on August 07, 2009, 11:57:10 AM
How did that trencher do with roots?  

It did quite well with the roots. Most were small size, under an inch, and it waltzed right through those. There was one larger one and it took a few minutes but it did cut through it. In another area close to some trees I pulled the bar up and went shallower. This was within 5 - 6  feet of the point where the conduit comes back above ground, so the line had to come up anyway.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MountainDon

Quote from: poppy on August 07, 2009, 11:57:10 AM
I was worrying about the cabin location being about 200' from a good spot for energy production, but it looks like your system is strung out farther than that, so I should be OK.


The key is to size the wires from the source properly to keep the voltage drop as low as possible. Aim for no more than 2% loss. Our system calculates out to 1 to 1.25% drop at maximum power values. I can live with that.

That was one of the main reasons I chose to go with a high voltage DC setup.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MountainDon

#872
Back again after a wonderful week in the mountains. Tuesday it's back to the regular 4 day work week. There's a mixture of emotions on that.

I got the energy center roofing all completed. I used steel, a mixture of materials left over from other projects (the flat steel material and some of the edge pices) and new, bought for the job items. I'm short on the wall to roof flashing, but I'll get that when I get the materials for the porch roof. It slips up under the siding.

Completed unit...



For anyone interested in how I lock the chambers that make up the energy center, here's a close up set of the charge controller section. The battery chamber uses the same method, just a longer rod.



The rod is 1/2 inch black pipe with a 5/8" steel rod inserted and extending out the ends, then welded in place. The angle iron is 2 x 2 x 1/8 and 1.5 x 1.5 x 1/4.



The brackets on the wall are carriage bolted through the 2x4 and 4x4 framing. The additional screw is covered by the movable bracket on the rod when locked. It is mainly there just to keep the bracket from rotating.



The fasteners for the bracket on the right end are hidden behind the edge of the closed door.

To lock the door the right end of the rod is inserted to the right. The rod is then slid back to the left and the lock put in place.

The double doors to the batteries are done much the same, just a longer bar. I placed a couple of large 'cup' hooks on the fascia above the battery doors to store the rod when the doors are to be opened.



The remaining door to the inverter section makes use of an ordinary hinged lock hasp. All locks are keyed the same for convenience.

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MountainDon

#873
Here's the partially connected charge controller. The negative wires have white tape applied to differentiate them from the positive. FYI, the NEC does not allow black for the negative conductor, as in using red for positive and black for negative as in automotive applications.



The lines from the PV array enter through the 1" conduit through the floor. The positive lead is first connected to a DC rated 125 volt 15 amp circuit breaker on the left.  The breaker on the right side is from the same Airpax series but is 60 amp, the maximum rated output for the charge controller.

The breakers are also used as disconnects for servicing and setup/programming.

The "grommets" through the cement board wall are 1/2" electrical PVC conduit, secured in place with silicone sealant.

The skinny lead entering from top left is the battery temperature sensor lead.

That #2 AWG wire is tough to work with when you are faced with making bends.

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MountainDon

#874
The inverter section; again it's not completely wired.



Once again the skinny lead is for a battery temperature sensor. There's also the bare copper ground lead connected to the right. On the wall behind the inverter is an Airpax 160 volt DC rated 250 amp circuit breaker that also serves as a power disconnect for the inverter supply power. The small box and circuit breaker to its left is a Square D QO series unit for the 24 VDC supply to the cabin interior, mainly for the ceiling fan and a couple of DC fluorescent lights above the kitchen counter. I placed it here as when we leave the cabin we'll pull both these to shut off all internal cabin power.

I now have the remainder of the required wiring and connectors and plan on getting things all together next weekend. I'll post more pictures then along with the completed battery installation.

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.