RE: Thinking of fulltime RVing to stretch retirement funds
Got the water heater fixed today, and tomorrow the RV garage puts in a new solenoid valve.
The big expense (I'm supposed to get a quote tonight) is the front suspension, but I think that's the only big hit I'll see.
RE: Clever ways to save electricity?
One of the guys reported about picking up left-over and highly discounted LED white christmas lights from Walgreens. You can string them around the interior and run off 110 vac or cut them up into groups of 3 (apparently, each led runs off 3.8 vdc) with a small bias resistor and then gang them together into a sort of ladder. Ultra cheap low power lights.
RE: Fuel Issues & Prices - Post 'Em Here!
topflie51 asks:
"So just exactly what is this treaty called that says the US government cannot own its very own oil company? Drill for its own oil? I haven't heard of it."
What are you, a socialist?
We, the USA, fought long and hard to get rid of the nationalized socialized oil companies that dominated the world 50-60 years ago. remember when the USA went up against Britain in Suez?
Socialized oil companies, such as you're thinking of, are unfair competition in Free International Markets! They can be subsidized by forced subsidization of the taxpayers in a country. They are unfair competition to capitalist oil companies that must struggle to survive in free competitive markets.
RE: Fuel Issues & Prices - Post 'Em Here!
We invented these things 60 years ago and we've spent 60 years exploiting the advantages we got from them, so we can't renege on the deal now and say "we changed our minds because it doesn't work out right for us anymore".
What we have to do is obsolete all that crap! We did it, we used it, we squeezed the profit and gain out of it, now let's move on to the future!
The USA is STILL the most innovative, ingenious, resourceful and most capital effective country in the world. Let's use it to OUR ADVANTAGE by developing the energy technology and the business techniques and the POLITICAL WILL to do it!
Anything less is disloyalty to the USA, because if we don't lead we shall certainly fall behind.
RE: Clever ways to save electricity?
I confess I've been running my little 1000i all morning, 4 hours now, and it's just sortof a distant rumble. charged a few computer batteries, cellphone, versapaks, power tools, etc.
I've got to get more house batterys in here.
RE: Fuel Issues & Prices - Post 'Em Here!
Well, you know, I'd agree that we shouldn't allow exportation of our Oil, BUT the time has passed. We no longer have control over our own oil!
We made a deal with the devil, years ago, to get cheap saudi oil we created open international markets and so lost control of our own oil.
WE did it! No foreign country imposed that on us. WE did it! We went all around the world and bludgeoned other countries into joining our "free international markets" (which we knew were tilted in our favor) and so we were able to import cheap saudi oil for decades. We financed the highway system, growth of suburbs, and the auto and truck industry with that cheap foreign oil.
But we made a pact with the devil!
And, as far as I know, we were all awake during that time and the arguments every-which-way were spoken and the evidence presented and we all agreed. Didn't we?
So we have to make the best of these inmternational markets. And what people have to realize is that BRAINS beats BRUTE FORCE every time. We can THINK our way out of the "energy crisis" by inventing better energy sources and better (i.e., more efficient) energy users.
But we can't drill our way out. And we can't 'believe' our way out by continuing to try to believe things that are NO LONGER TRUE!
Anyway, the "energy crisis" is a propaganda fiction. All the energy we need in the USA falls on an area 100 miles on a side EVERY DAY. Free, gratis, courtesy of the sun. All we have to do is figure out how best to use that free energy to our advantage.
RE: Clever ways to save electricity?
Kendas reminds me what it was like when I worked on the farm as a kid:
1. Get up when the sun comes up.
2. Go to bed when the sun goes down.
Long nights during the winter.
My buddy Arnie lived on a farm and studied his Engineering textbooks by the light of a kerosene lantern.
RE: Portable Generators
Duro-power cannot ship to CA because of the pollution and oise.
I have a little Yamaha 1000i that I got on Craigslist for $600 (too much, I should have held out, another came on craigs the next day for $300!) and it's a sweetheart! Runs quiet, starts fast, and in Economy mode 1/4 gallon lasts me 4 hours!
RE: Clever ways to save electricity?
My little Yamaha 1000i is using about 1/4 gallon (that's right, one quarter gallon) per 4 hours on a light load (like 2 small laptops).
I'm not as concerned about the price of LEDs as I am about conserving electricity and staying more independent.
Clever ways to save electricity?
Have you guys got some clever ways to save electricity?
For example, I'm replacing all the old incadescent 1141 (auto) bulbs with LED low-power multi-bulb units (some 18 LEDs and some 24).
Instead of a TV I have a USB tuner plugin (Hauppage WinTV 950) that plugs into my Thinkpad T60. Provides good HDTV on a widescreen at low cost.
My genset is a Yamaha 1000i, which has an economy mode which allows it to throttle down under low load and save gas while maintaining 110vac 60hz sine power.
I have some chargers that are on the shore power 110vac circuits so they only charge when I have shore power or hookup the Yamaha 1000i genset to the shore plug. So they always go to work when I have plenty power. I have a separate circuit for the 1200w Pure Sine inverter, so that I can ration out battery power.
RE: Fuel Issues & Prices - Post 'Em Here!
If you're going to make it a morals problem, then you have to define what is the right moral position.
For example, is it more moral to deprive US citizens of cheap foreign oil in order to use only USA oil in order to not become dependent on that cheap foreign oil?
Or is it more moral to use up foreign oil while it is cheap and reserve US oil in the ground until we absolutely need it or we are at war, and then sell it to the highest bidder for a big profit?
For the past 60 years we decided that the second was most moral. That it would be immoral to deprive Americans of cheap Saudi, etc., oil, while we used up our own oil and weakened our international position.
RE: Fuel Issues & Prices - Post 'Em Here!
Environmental Laws are very weak: they stop almost nothing, contrary to the opinions of some, and the propaganda of the (international) oil companies, who, of course, would prefer no limits on their activities, and can use Environment as a scapegoat for their own failings and predations.
Politicians do what they are paid to do. It's not a morals problem it's a paycheck problem. That's the way we made them, so that must be the way we want them. Most of us would do the same. For example, Newt Gingrich is an admirable person, but he's bought and paid for by foreign oil owners. That's why he started the "Drill now, Drill here, reduce prices" slogan. The result would be to send about 3/4 of drilled USA oil to foreigners, that's why they want to do it.
RE: Fuel Issues & Prices - Post 'Em Here!
All the oil companies have an international ownership, anyone can buy and sell their stock. 60% of all oil company ownership is held by foreigners. There's no such thing as an American oil company.
Ownership of oil companies is international. Ownership of oil is bid for on open international markets.
It's all part of International Free Trade Agreements. Most of those exist because of constant USA pressure on other countries for the past 60 years to create Open International Markets. It's the dream of the Chicago (Strauss) School of Economics. It was put forth strongly 200 years ago by David Ricardo. Almost every modern Economics thinker is a Ricardist. Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan, Brad de Long, Paul Krugman, they all agree on the efficiency of open international markets and Ricardos Relative Economic Advantage.
All of our Presidents for many years agree on the efficiency of open international markets. The USA has been the biggest proponent. We fought diplomatic wars for many years with allies like England, France, Germany Japan, etc., to open their oil markets to competition. Lately, we have struggled with new romances, China, India, etc., to open markets.
Open Markets have been the mantra of the USA for many years. And we all (apparently) agreed to it! Anyone who voted for Bush agreed to it. Anyone who voted for Clinton agreed to it. Can you think of any politician who ran against open international markets?
To do what you propose we would have to seize the property of foreign nationals, in a big way, by seizing the oil drilling facilities. It would result in international war.
But we aren't going to do that because it's foolish. Besides that, NO politician would support it, for two reasons: (1) they get plenty bribes ("campaign contributions") from the (international) oil companies, and (2) it actually works to the benefit of the USA citizens. We get open market access to cheap oil from foreign lands. We need it. We cannot sustain the current level of USA consumption with our own oil resources.
Thus, the best solution is to reduce consumption: conservation. Alternate energy.
Accept it. It's not so hard. In the USA we have excellent technical minds, and we have a large capital base for investment. That's why we prospered so much. We showed other nations The Way. The Dao of Capitalism, if you will. We can do the same thing with energy. Why risk International Warfare? Some of those international cats even have ABombs!
RE: Fuel Issues & Prices - Post 'Em Here!
"If we just started to attempt at drilling for our own gas and oil prices would plummet."
"we", the USA, don't drill any oil. Drilling is done by Internationally owned private companies. Are you proposing that the USA form a Nationalized Oil Company in order to drill? That we buy drilling equipment and oil workers for that company? Or that we seize by force the oil produced by oil companies?
"The oil producing nations need us to survive and would do all they could to get us to stop our own production. I just don't understand why we don't use our own supply."
Once we let an oil lease "we" no longer own the oil under that lease, it is owned by the International Oil Company. They can sell it to whomever they wish. The oil market is a Free International Trade Market.
How do you propose to drill the oil and then to constrain it to use in the USA?
RE: Thinking of fulltime RVing to stretch retirement funds
I fixed the loose solar panels with GOOP!
You' ve probably seen that stuff at the hardware store, and may be scoffed at it, but I fixed a nuisance drain leak a couple years ago with that stuff, and then I ran across some forums somewhere that said it was the Hot Item for holding down PVs. Seems to work. Many guys recommended 3M VHB tape (which looks really good), but I couldn't find any around here and I wanted to repair, not wait. Besides, I could push the GOOP into the cracks. GOOP seems to be a flexible epoxy, according to some, so it bonds good and then gives a little instead of breaking.
I also bonded a couple junction boxes on the roof with GOOP, making the boxes out of blue shallow junction boxes from Home Depot with plain tops, and I put binding posts on top of the boxes for easy connection. I haven't even waterproofed the boxes because at low voltage PV voltages water leakage and shorting (lots of Kohms) isn't going to matter. I'm going to bring the PV line down the driver side of the house (inside a flush mount conduit as is used for inside decorative wiring: I'll leave the bottom open to drain rainwater)and into a hole low near the kitchen where the old converter is and there is a lead coming from the house battery. I figure to plant my MPPT and my Pure Sine 1200w inverter there, as well as, maybe, an additional battery.
That's the plan, but I may change it to ddrop the PV lead down inside the driver side windshield post and right into the engine compartment.
I'm using cheap mass-produced booster cables from HarborfREIGHT AND THE AUTOSTORE FOR MY WIRING. Just cut off the clamps and use the wires. Cheaper than buying wire. Home Depot has a nice assortment of ring connectors, even ones that have a wire nut so you can just twist it on. I started off tinning my leads and sweating on connectors, but that gets old after a few.
Longing to get out of here and headed for Mexico.
RE: How to attach things to RV top?
I'll order some VHB from McMaster.
In the meantime, I used some "GOOP", which is easily available and I'd had good luck with it on some other projects. Also, it was recommended by some other RV guys who said it was tenacious like epoxy, but also flexible so it would give before breaking. So I re-adhered some panels that came loose and it seems OK. But I'll get VHB, too.
RE: Thinking of fulltime RVing to stretch retirement funds
My ex is on her way back from LA so I moved into the RV: partly because I want to concentrate on getting the RV ready. I could camp out at somebody elses house but I want to quit screwing around and get down to it!
I hated to leave that house because it's so cozy and beautiful: because I made it that way! Overlooking the bay, with a beautiful Ipe deck, 3 patios I put in, 3 decks, 3 big sliders, trellises and arbors everywhere with honeysuckle, bougainvillea, morning glories growing up and over. Even wisteria. But all that's over!
So I'm sitting here 6PM on monday night and I feel GOOD. Enough stuff is ready so that I can survive here, even though I don't have everything ready. But here's what's going on:
The weather warmed up enough so I don't have to worry about heat. I can disregard the furnace until I have more time and leaisure, like in the summer. I still have to get the hot water heater going, but meanwhile I could even heat water on the stove, which IS working.
I only have 90 watts of Harborfreight solar panels (2 kits for $180 each) on the top, but they charge the single (new from walmart for $75) 12v. house battery easily even during the short winter days here in the SF Bayarea. I do have an MPPT that I bought on eBay for $200, and it's worth it.
So I've been sitting here for a couple hours just diddling around on the internet, watching HDTV (about $100 for this Hauppage WinTV HVR950)in a window on the thinkpad T60 (widescreen, which I only paid $700 for a couple years ago) and preparing to make phone calls on Skype.
I've got what I need and it costs almost nothing! Very useful as the USA economy collapses!
I cut everything close. Most of peoples RV living problems revolve around electricity scarcity, and I'm an actual EE and I have a LOT of experince. So I decided to take a low energy course: no microwave, no heating appliances, no motors, etc.
But I'm NOT a monk, for crying out loud! I WANT my internet. I WANT my HDTV. I WANT my radio and my CD or DVD fix! And I want my international phone service, too!
I also want to be able to prepare the simple meals that I developed as a bachelor over many years, and during my marriage to a French Person. And I want my good wine, and my decent beer, and my Roquefort cheese.
So here I sit, with the lighting in the RV over the dinette table set by a pucklight from Harborfreight ($18 for 3) and an LED replacement bulb for the old 1141 incadescent original equipment, watching HDTV and typing on the internet.
Even with the really low power I have (a single house battery recharged by 90watts of PV) I feel I'm in good shape. And it'll get better as I move up to 180watts and at least one additional bettery.
Meanwhile, when the battery on the T60 runs low I can swap in an extra battery I have, or I can plugin the 12vdc-18vdc adapter I have that runs the computer off either the house or chassis battery. And, of course, the Yamaha 1000i genset will charge everything up for very little gas.
I can feel cold coming in thru the thin little house door at my left. I'll pickup some 1/2" foam insulation at Lowes for that in a day or two.
I think this is going to work!
RE: Fuel Issues & Prices - Post 'Em Here!
Sometimes funny things happen.
Down on Whipple road the Shell station, suurounded on all sides by guys discounting to $1.75 and below, gave up and in exasperation posted prices a dollar higher than anybody else, like $2.75!
And a few months ago while prices were high, the Rancho station in Los Altos posted a price of $9.99 (self-serve, cash only!) for premium. Then he sold the station.
RE: How to attach things to RV top?
There's no McMaster up here, but I'll check WW Grainger and some others tomorrow (monday) morning.
Looks like that VHB is good stuff.
