Batteries down to 41%

The batteries measured 41% earlier today. I'd left the MPPT charge controller with the default settings so it should have identified the batteries as AGM. I have a feeling that one battery went bad and dragged the other one down with it. Like as not I'll have to get a pair of batteries.

On the plus side, I ran my extraction fans for a few seconds and found that they use exactly 3.75A as I had previously calculated. So my amperage consumed including the door lock was 3.8A. Two 35AH batteries giving a combined 70AH should in theory be able to provide that with no problems. Using C/20 that would give 70/20 or 3.5A. That's close enough for me!

I'm not surprised one or both batteries has died. I'll hazard a guess that the Harbor Freight battery that I just don't think is a good battery is probably fine. The expensive Duracell that cost twice as much is probably the dead one. As I usually get a bad tummy from the bacteria swilling around under the bus, I'll probably have to wait until I get 4 days off in a row.

Right now I am working two days on and two days off. That means earlier this week I worked Monday and Tuesday having been off since school got cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak. I work tomorrow too, which is Friday. Next week it's Monday, Thursday, Friday. Then I get the weekend plus Monday and Tuesday off. Saturday or even Friday of that week is when I can get under the bus to pull the batteries to test them.

In terms of replacement, if I have to replace one battery or two, I'll probably just order from Walmart. I really don't feel like going all the way to Harbor Freight for more of their Thunderbolt Magnum batteries. I have heard good things of Walmart's Mighty Max batteries. The best thing is they're even cheaper that Harbor Freight's batteries.

Today I pulled out a piece of aluminium angle to work on a project several years in the making. I have a small wind turbine generator that I bought online from China several years ago. I've never used it before. I had some thick aluminium left over from the hillbilly bus conversion so I cut a block to fit the end of the "generator". Actually, it was two blocks because the shaft on the generator was quite long.

I had to drill three holes - one for the shaft and two for bolts. The shaft had a pin running horizontally through it so on one block I cut a groove that the pin could fit into. That will mean the turbine arm will not slip.

Needless to say, at one point the drill snagged and twisted itself out of my hand. It landed on the floor and bent the drill bit so now I can drill curved holes.

That's what the core of it all looks like. The plan is to have two blade ends made from something simple and light weight. I did think about using guttering but that would involve buying guttering. I have some steel sheet and a couple of fridge doors I can make blades from. Ideally the blades would be plastic. I don't want to put too much weight on what looks like a flimsy Chinese generator.

The point of this is just to make use of odds and ends and make something to generate electricity. I can combine this with one of my cheap Chinese PWM charge controllers plus a 10AH gel battery pack. That will allow me to install low-power lighting in the house for time when and if the power goes out.

I was going to use this in the bus conversion for extra power generation but I decided in the end not to. That was purely because the thing just looked so flimsy. Since I won't be ordering anything more from Coronavirus-country, these things have to last. If the thing keels over, I have surplus solar panels that I can use.

I'm going to have to see how many amps a CPAP unit uses and whether I can run it if I get an inverter and a bigger battery. That plus my surplus solar panels might help somebody I know out in the event the power goes out. I'd have to work out how much I'd need. Cooking can always be done over an open fire or on gas. Maybe I should invest in a propane cooker and some propane bottles. I really wouldn't need much propane to cook for 3 months.

Maybe also like the neighbor next door, it's a good idea to plow the yard to plant veggies. The big problem is if the power goes out, there's no power for the well. I suppose a hand pump could do the job but getting a hand pump for a deep well might be a challenge.

Meanwhile I'm going to do my best to get the wind turbine to function.