More fiddling on the solar side

I do an awful lot of thinking and testing. I test everything at least 5 times and think it over several days beforehand too.

I never get much done on a Saturday as I'm still recovering from the week. This is the crowning glory of what I did today though. I put my battery saver plus two switches into a used aluminium box I bought on eBay for $6. I'll have to rivet a bracket to each side in order to bolt it to the bus but that's absolutely doable. It's purple because that's all the paint I had.

The two switches are...

• Top switch is for the solar panel. This works mostly off the rear external plugin solar panel. With the switch to the left the power from the solar panel input on the side of the bus goes into the unit. With the other switch in the up position, solar power feeds through the control unit (shown) and directly into two extraction fans. That allows me to have constant ventilation without bothering with my battery or even touching the rest of my solar setup.
• The top switch in the off (central) position means the external input is disconnected. Nothing will happen if some moron decides to put 25,000 volts through the solar input. 
• The top switch turned to the right, power from the external solar panel will be put straight into the onboard house batteries. 
• The bottom switch in the down position means the fans will run straigh from the timer and the batteries as currently they do.
• The controller just stops the fans when the battery gets below 12v. My solar charge controller is set for a slightly lower power level. This means the ventilation will cut off before the power to my shower, my handbasin or my lighting.

While I was at it, I made up an extension lead for my solar panels since I cut the cords short. I could do a second extension cord too. That would enable me to position my solar panels much further from the bus if required. 

Tomorrow I want to test the functioning of the control unit in my box in combination with the fans and solar panels. Placing the panels in full sun I should get 60W. That's 5A. We've already established those fans actually use 3.7A between them despite claims that they're 2.5A each. I'm hoping that the charge controller on my panel will be able to stop the fans when the panels get obscured and restart them when the sun is back.

One of the things I bought on eBay was a panel-mount ATO fuse holder. I'd had the idea of including it on my purple box. Since then though I looked at the wiring and found it would be way easier just to insert an ordinary inline ATO fuse holder. 

Today they're holding a work dinner for all the drivers where I work. The idea of heading to work on a day off to meet people I work with is just not very appealing. My work colleague isn't going either. I would love to be a fly on that wall to see just how few drivers actually turned up. I mean, honestly - I see enough of my workmates at work. They're fine people but two things area against it - keeping it professional (IE No social functions) and I just don't do crowds - not after Ligo (but that's another story).

I haven't actually completed a bus project for a while. I have several nearing completion though. I'll have to see which gets completed first. I have a feeling that if I plug on with what I did today, tomorrow then that will be completed first.

The CPU fan I ordered has a heck of a long delivery period. I might just use the battery-powered desktop fan I bought together with the voltage reducer I bought on eBay. That would work quite well though it makes more noise. Whether it shifts more air is debatable. I have very much the feeling that the CPU fan is another one of those orders that will not arrive. Speaking of which, I ordered a surveillance camera which never arrived and where the seller is now listed as not a registered account. I filed a dispute so it'll probably be another week before I get a refund.

I paid for a new turn signal switch for my bus. That's not yet arrived. Thank the Lord I was not in a rush! I know I've been charged but when it will arrive is anybody's guess. I don't want to bug the fellow because I'm sure he's legit and it's all above board.

One of the things I looked for this week was epoxy putty. I didn't find any, sadly. I'll have to look again. I have an idea that since I replaced the cigarette lighter inlet outside, I'll do the same inside. As there are no inlets for Anderson connectors, I might get a couple of Anderson connectors and set them in a big chunk of epoxy putty so they can be used as if they were inlets. 

I tested my rear solar inlet today and it worked just fine. I put my brand new extension cord made up of some leftover dual cable and the two ends of an Anderson 1 foot long extender into the inlet I installed. Then I connected a solar panel to the other end, placing it in direct sunshine. Then I tested where the power came out of my rectifier and it was fine. I even checked it with my new power control box and read 18.7 volts coming in from the panel.

Remaining to do on the current plan...

• Test the twin solar panels on the new control box before installing the control box. 
• Complete the wiring to the bathroom sink.
• Complete installation of my shower fan.
• Install the new roof vent.
• Install the new fuse box inside the control console in order to tidy things inside. Then add a switch for my front USB panel.

If the solar panels and the control box don't work out then my last resort will be to install a 3rd battery. That will go in the battery compartment in a box made up to contain also the free-floating power switch. 

I have to install the turn signal switch when it arrives. Other than that I'm considering the bus once again complete when all the above have been taken care of. I can't realistically think of any further additions other than perhaps a GPS tracker in case somebody steals the bus.