My Escape To Reality.

[danny_galaga]

Haven't read the whole thread, but on your car engine generator idea, instead of another car alternator, you can fit a truck alternator. Get a Leece-Neville or simiilar for 200 AMP goodness (",)

 

Note, just loooked at 200 AMp alternator prices and they are pretty steep. But there is an aftermarket type available:

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-Replacement-200-Amp-Alternator-For-Leece-Neville-4836AAH-4846AAH-A160208-/331429821492?hash=item4d2ac1bc34:g:-3UAAOSwg3FUoYJy

 

Or go with a 160 amp. I guess because they've been around longer, they can be had cheaper...

[Autosteve]

Haven't read the whole thread, but on your car engine generator idea, instead of another car alternator, you can fit a truck alternator. Get a Leece-Neville or simiilar for 200 AMP goodness (",)

 

Note, just loooked at 200 AMp alternator prices and they are pretty steep. But there is an aftermarket type available:

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-Replacement-200-Amp-Alternator-For-Leece-Neville-4836AAH-4846AAH-A160208-/331429821492?hash=item4d2ac1bc34:g:-3UAAOSwg3FUoYJy

 

Or go with a 160 amp. I guess because they've been around longer, they can be had cheaper...

 

The problem with big alternators is the horse power they pull from the motor to spin them to create the power. The bigger the power demand from the alternator, the bigger the braking effect on the motor.

 

If I was to go the car motor approach, ( I'm sure I will one day), the motor will only be going at idle speed and alternators don't produce high current till they are spinning at high rpm so the solution is to run the alternator pulley about 3-4 times larger than the motor pulley.

 

This will make the alternator spin up to 4 times the rpm of the motor so idle rpm of the motor, about 850rpm, will drive the alternator at 3400rpm. Problem is most alternators require spinning at over 6000rpm to develop there max output.

 

Unfortunately, this will increase the load on the motor at idle by 4 times as well.

 

Hopefully, the engine control electronics will increase the fuel to the motor to maintain this load at low idle speed and also the motor RPMs.

 

I actually have a couple of car alternators to bolt onto a car motor. It just requires me to make the brackets to suit what ever motor I finally get.

 

This again creates another issue. 2 alternators as well as the original car motor alternator will first attempt to stall the motor if the load is to high and if the motor doesn't stall, the alternator drive belt may start to slip on the pulley.

 

The alternator is just to be a backup for when the solar fails but I need to sort something out before winter.

 

Isn't it interesting to see the issues when you try to create your our power for a house.

 

Having a mate that's an auto electrician I can run these stupid ideas I think of past really helps but it's also good to have a knowledge base like on this forum for ideas as well.

 

Thanks guys.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Where do you get the energy & motivation from to do all the work. I have many things to do here & I go out to do it, then think Nah! I'll do it tomorrow.:boring:.

 

I had to project manage a lot of work when I was doing automation as my job. While I was hands on, I was in charge of a couple of guys and I learnt real quick to pre-think the job though.

 

My mentor's favourite saying was "Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance"

 

Him saying that when I stuffed up and all the JSAs I had to write out prior to starting a job had me thinking the job out in the head first right down to what tools I needed for the job.

 

The time factor as in "Nah! I'll do it tomorrow" starts backup up the jobs and when the job list is huge, all you can do on a farm is chip away at them.

 

The satisfaction comes at the end of the day when you think you have knocked off a couple of them.

 

That quite honestly is my only motivation.

[getaway]

With respect to power generation maybe try one of the Indian copies of the classic Lister CS diesel coupled with a generator - a lot of hippies and the like use them - reliable, cheap, quiet, made for the job, you can't go wrong. http://www.ozlisteroids.com/

[Railways]

That makes sense. Get a low rev chugging diesel engine with lots of torque and a bigish flywheel and you could run a good 160 - 200 amp alternator off it with a minimum of fuss and less moving parts.

Couple to that some VSR's for the batteries and I guess job done. VSR's are Voltage sensitive relays. The VSR when hooked up properly will monitor which battery is low and then give it priority to charge when the engine is running.

I work in the marine side of things and bigger boats run gensets to provide their power requirements, anything from 3KVA to 15 KVA. They also run on diesel.

[Gemini2544]

This is my back-up generator. It's electric start, diesel & runs the whole house including Air conditioners, Spa & the gameroom. It's rated at 7kva & cost $1200 delivered from Qld when I bought it 4 years ago. Has been fantastic when we get blackouts out here, some have been 17 hours at a time.

[kkb]

Just found this thread - a good read. You have done great job on your property Autosteve.

It might motivate me to pull my finger out and do some work on my property . Unfortunately my son sport keeps me busy or maybe I am just using this as a excuse. I have 100 acres at marulan which has a large shed fitted out but certainly needs more work . But the main thing we have is a 2.7km full size motocross track built with a 20t excavator and a d5 dozer .

[Autosteve]

Just found this thread - a good read. You have done great job on your property Autosteve.

It might motivate me to pull my finger out and do some work on my property . Unfortunately my son sport keeps me busy or maybe I am just using this as a excuse. I have 100 acres at marulan which has a large shed fitted out but certainly needs more work . But the main thing we have is a 2.7km full size motocross track built with a 20t excavator and a d5 dozer .

 

Gee, we are near neighbours in Sydney and down there. I live near Mossey if you are into the motocross riding down there. His tracks are legendary.

 

The only bike I have down the property is the "Mule". A modded posty bike with knobbys. I used to be right into the off road riding myself till my 1st kid was born then the XR500R had to go for the safety of a cage and 4 wheels. I made a sidewinder buggy and put a 660cc Yamaha in it.

 

This is it here and yes, it is on that angle..

 

 

I targeted a posty as a bike because I did like riding but, "How much trouble can you get into on a 110cc postie bike" was the thinking.

 

When we bought the property it was apparent with pine trees and pine cones laying on the ground, bikes just aren't going to work so quads and buggys it is.

 

They aren't for racing but more the tool to get things done on the place and for getting around it rather than spending hours walking which they do a fine job of.

[kkb]

Love the sidewinder . A mate got into a lot of trouble riding a postie but alcohol was involved haha .

I know the mossey boys but they have been forced into retirement - has something to do with both of them failing a certain test . I think there dad is still doing coaching clinics out of there.

[outbreak]

Great thread and an interesting read. Makes me feel ashamed that I'm too lazy to mow the grass in my little backyard in suburban melbourne...

[danny_galaga]

The problem with big alternators is the horse power they pull from the motor to spin them to create the power. The bigger the power demand from the alternator, the bigger the braking effect on the motor.

 

If I was to go the car motor approach, ( I'm sure I will one day), the motor will only be going at idle speed and alternators don't produce high current till they are spinning at high rpm so the solution is to run the alternator pulley about 3-4 times larger than the motor pulley.

 

This will make the alternator spin up to 4 times the rpm of the motor so idle rpm of the motor, about 850rpm, will drive the alternator at 3400rpm. Problem is most alternators require spinning at over 6000rpm to develop there max output.

 

Unfortunately, this will increase the load on the motor at idle by 4 times as well.

 

Hopefully, the engine control electronics will increase the fuel to the motor to maintain this load at low idle speed and also the motor RPMs.

 

I actually have a couple of car alternators to bolt onto a car motor. It just requires me to make the brackets to suit what ever motor I finally get.

 

This again creates another issue. 2 alternators as well as the original car motor alternator will first attempt to stall the motor if the load is to high and if the motor doesn't stall, the alternator drive belt may start to slip on the pulley.

 

The alternator is just to be a backup for when the solar fails but I need to sort something out before winter.

 

Isn't it interesting to see the issues when you try to create your our power for a house.

 

Having a mate that's an auto electrician I can run these stupid ideas I think of past really helps but it's also good to have a knowledge base like on this forum for ideas as well.

 

Thanks guys.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

 

 

I had to project manage a lot of work when I was doing automation as my job. While I was hands on, I was in charge of a couple of guys and I learnt real quick to pre-think the job though.

 

My mentor's favourite saying was "Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance"

 

Him saying that when I stuffed up and all the JSAs I had to write out prior to starting a job had me thinking the job out in the head first right down to what tools I needed for the job.

 

The time factor as in "Nah! I'll do it tomorrow" starts backup up the jobs and when the job list is huge, all you can do on a farm is chip away at them.

 

The satisfaction comes at the end of the day when you think you have knocked off a couple of them.

 

That quite honestly is my only motivation.

 

When it's charging, there will be load. A 200 amp alternator isn't putting out 200 amps constantly, if you have a 50 amp alternator and a 200 alternator but all that you are drawing is 20 amps, either will do, and either will have about the same load. But the larger alternator gives you scope for faster charging if you need it, not to mention it will be under a lower load. IN fact you could gear the larger alternator a bit lower so that at idle the load is negligible with the alt only being able to produce say 100 amps at top revs. I din't really understand the concern though. Even a 200 amp alternator is a lot less load on your car engine than the car it was supposed to drag around :D

[toads]

Been on the solar for a couple of years now. I have a bank of up to 10 batteries all 120 amps each. Problems I find is in summer no issue.

 

About 30 maps coming from the MPPT solar regulators for about 7-8 hours a day so batteries get a decent charge but nothing is as good as taking them back to suburbia and using my 10 amp mains charger on them one battery at a time.

 

A couple of things about solar panels I have found out. Mine are 100 watt panels and in summer those panels will produce up to 25 volts each.

 

This is not good because you only want 14.5 volts to charge the batteries. That is all you get coming out of the solar regulators to charge the batteries anyway however when the panel is outputting

25 volts and the panels are only 100 watts a piece that means you only get 4 amps per panel.

 

My solution is on stinking hot sunny days, throw a piece of shade cloth over the panels and this drops the voltage to about 17 volts and the amperage goes up. !00 watts means maximum voltage times amperage equals 100 watts.

 

The panels will only output 100 watts. MPPT solar regulators are supposed to convert some of the excess voltage to amps but I beg to differ. Maybe mine are cheap MPPTs , who knows.

 

I'm hoping adding another 3 panels will help in winter and relocating the 6 panels that are shaded for a couple of hours a day will help.

 

I'm now looking at a generator to charge the batteries properly in winter. A couple of amps during winter just isn't going to charge 1200amps of battery bank.

 

That is like expecting a phone charger to charge a car battery if the voltages were correct.

 

Unfortunately, the only generators I have found are all mainly 230vAC with only 8-10 amps at 14.5 volts DC for battery charging.

 

My solution to this is either get a car motor and fit another alternator to it. One alternator for the running of the car engine and one solely for charging the battery bank so there is no chance of the house solar from blowing up the car engine electronics but I need a car engine for that. Car alternators can output up to 90 amps for a good one and 90 amps will charge 1200 amps of batteries quite well and quick.

 

My other solution is use the 8000watt 230 volt AC generator I have to spin a 230 volt AC washing machine motor I have and use a belt from the shaft to spin a car alternator I also have and that alternator can charge the battery bank.

 

It's an arse about way to get 14.5vDC with high amps to charge batteries but it should work.

 

The car engine would be the better solution but this is what I have. The car engine idea had merits. I was going to fit the radiator into duct work into the house and using an electric fan on the radiator, that heat could be pumped into the house to warm it up in winter when I arrive in the middle of the night as is usually the case in winter.

 

The duct work could have a flap in the duct to divert the hot air outside the house when heating isn't required or reverse the electric fan on the radiator to pull heat out of the house like in summer.

 

If you have any ideas on how I could work with solar better, I'm happy to hear. Hell, I'm scratching my head. However they expect the country to run on solar and wind is way beyond me unless I fill the roof with panels and use masses of batteries.

 

I'm not expecting a full house running on solar, just lighting and 12vDC devices with reliability in winter and something that doesn't have me watching every amp I use when it rains for a couple of days.

 

What about 12v solar panels?

[Autosteve]

.

I know the mossey boys but they have been forced into retirement - has something to do with both of them failing a certain test . I think there dad is still doing coaching clinics out of there.

 

Yer it is the father's property a couple of farms away and last I spoke to him he was still doing the coaching.

 

Funny guy. He had about 5 empty schooners at his table at the pub hooking in on the 6th saying he had been notified by the fireys earlier of a fire they had spotted from there chopper at the back of his farm and the terrain didn't allow them to access it any time soon.

 

His solution was drink up big and go piss on it and it looked to me he was serious.

[morgo]

just picked up on this thread. Jealous as.

It must be great to get out in the bush and do your own thing , on YOUR own place.

Your lucky that your wife loves it too, this is a hurdle I cant get across.

I worry about security but read that you have a good neighbour to keep an eye on it for you. nice.

 

my only message is tractor/quad safety. I lost a workmate of 20 yrs last year when he rolled his tractor chasing firewood on his weekender.managed to throw his grandson clear , but not himself. A tragic loss for his family. old tractor with no real ROPS . same with quads - wear a helmet always.

 

looking forward to future posts.

[Autosteve]

just picked up on this thread. Jealous as.

It must be great to get out in the bush and do your own thing , on YOUR own place.

Your lucky that your wife loves it too, this is a hurdle I cant get across.

 

Who said the wife loves it.:o No seriously she has surprised me at times by what she has done like going with my boys and picking up boxes of tiles for the showers etc and meeting me out the farm.

 

Driving into Nowra with the trailer and she can't reverse for her life with it on and picked up furniture for the place.

 

Fired a shotgun that jumped out her hands and then come back for another shot.

I worry about security but read that you have a good neighbour to keep an eye on it for you. nice.

 

Yes, a lot of places do get robbed, that is a fact. The police are over an hour away and most law is conducted by locals as a result.

 

We all look after each other's farms and what looks like no one is around is often not the case. My neighbours can see my driveway and are well aware of the vehicles we own.

 

An unusual vehicle at the gate will just be watched but if tools come out to gain access or the vehicle goes onto the place and the neighbour is over with a shotgun and his bull mastiff.

 

He was out one day and a couple of his vehicles had batteries stolen. I wasn't there that day but gives you some idea what does happen. Another neighbour got the vehicle plate and the car was pulled over before getting to the main road by the police. It was a serial robber they had been after for a number of breakins.

my only message is tractor/quad safety. I lost a workmate of 20 yrs last year when he rolled his tractor chasing firewood on his weekender.managed to throw his grandson clear , but not himself. A tragic loss for his family. old tractor with no real ROPS . same with quads - wear a helmet always.

 

My tractor has ROPS and about two months ago I bounced it at super low speed nearly on it's side. I was pulling out a tree in low/low gear and it nearly pulled itself on it's roof. They are incredibly useful but equally deadly.

 

Tractor deaths, neighbour just told me 3 farms away the new owner was squashed to death between his tractor and a barn just 3 months ago in front of his wife and kids.

 

Seems he got out of it while it was running and it jumped into gear and crushed him. We were both saying, "never get out of the tractor while it is running".

 

Sad part was he was squashed but alive and maybe would have lived only his wife had no idea how to turn the tractor off. She did turn the key off but that doesn't kill the motor on a diesel tractor.

 

Since then I have shown my wife how to kill the tractor's motor. You never think it can happen but she knows now just in case.

 

looking forward to future posts.

 

As long as people like to read it, it's a pleasure to write it.

[Gemini2544]

The property I own was purchased with the advance knowledge that the former owner was killed in the old shed when he was run over by his own tractor. The shed is long gone now as it had structural damage from that incident.

 

My wife loves it out here & she will jump on the tractor, shoot the 223, shotgun or the 22 without blinking. As far as security goes, well the dog is very scary & the sign states-

 

"Due to the high cost of ammunition, there will be NO Warning Shot". seems to do the trick!.. :lol

[Autosteve]

The property I own was purchased with the advance knowledge that the former owner was killed in the old shed when he was run over by his own tractor. The shed is long gone now as it had structural damage from that incident.

 

My wife loves it out here & she will jump on the tractor, shoot the 223, shotgun or the 22 without blinking. As far as security goes, well the dog is very scary & the sign states-

 

"Due to the high cost of ammunition, there will be NO Warning Shot". seems to do the trick!.. :lol

 

No way known my wife will go near my tractor. Actually very few people want to go inside it. 16 gears and a heap of levers sticking up from the floor.

 

Hell, you get it wrong sitting in the seat and you will quickly get analised.

 

The wife was firing my 12 gauge, that was the shotty she near dropped. I actually bought her a 410 for the snakes but that thing kicks like a mule.

 

I'm glad I fired it before her. If she fired that she would never fire a gun again.

 

Made the same mistake with my eldest son. I thought a small coach gun would be ideal but that thing is brutal as well. Him and I both use 5 shot Adlers now.

 

I bought a 357 magnum for the pigs and put a scope on it. Nice and powerful but not much more kick than your 223. (I used to have a M14 223 till they were banned).

 

Because of all the pig in my area, the best signs are "10 80 in use in this area". That stops the piggers with the dogs going through. Heaps of piggers dogs get lost in the area.

 

They quickly become feral and travel around in packs. My youngest son was 7 when we first bought the place and we were warmed not to let him wander around by himself because of the feral dogs.

 

I haven't caught any on the trail cams yet or seen any but my sons and I swear we saw a black panther.

 

I'd of said it was a large black pig, we see them quite often, but this one had a one meter long, black tail. Make what you think of that. I have asked many locals and they suggest a large quoll.

 

Nice try but about 1/3 the size...

 

 

Two locals did call me aside and asked about the panther. They both claim to have seen something like that themselves. To this day I just say it was a pig with a long straight tail.

[steptoe]

No way known my wife will go near my tractor. Actually very few people want to go inside it. 16 gears and a heap of levers sticking up from the floor.

 

Hell, you get it wrong sitting in the seat and you will quickly get analised.

 

The wife was firing my 12 gauge, that was the shotty she near dropped. I actually bought her a 410 for the snakes but that thing kicks like a mule.

 

I'm glad I fired it before her. If she fired that she would never fire a gun again.

 

Made the same mistake with my eldest son. I thought a small coach gun would be ideal but that thing is brutal as well. Him and I both use 5 shot Adlers now.

 

I bought a 357 magnum for the pigs and put a scope on it. Nice and powerful but not much more kick than your 223. (I used to have a M14 223 till they were banned).

 

Because of all the pig in my area, the best signs are "10 80 in use in this area". That stops the piggers with the dogs going through. Heaps of piggers dogs get lost in the area.

 

They quickly become feral and travel around in packs. My youngest son was 7 when we first bought the place and we were warmed not to let him wander around by himself because of the feral dogs.

 

I haven't caught any on the trail cams yet or seen any but my sons and I swear we saw a black panther.

 

I'd of said it was a large black pig, we see them quite often, but this one had a one meter long, black tail. Make what you think of that. I have asked many locals and they suggest a large quoll.

 

Nice try but about 1/3 the size...

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]106485[/ATTACH]

 

Two locals did call me aside and asked about the panther. They both claim to have seen something like that themselves. To this day I just say it was a pig with a long straight tail.

 

Plenty of black panthers west of Sydney.

 

https://www.google.com.au/#safe=strict&q=lithgow+%2B+black+panther&*

[Gemini2544]

Your black panthers are feral cats, They grow really big in the wild. I killed one here about 5 years ago and it was as big as a Labrador dog. You can tell their from a feral generation due to the big bull face they have, their big & it scares people into thinking the circus lost one of there big cats.

 

Trying to chase up my son who might still have pix's of the dead beast.

Edited March 3, 2017 by Gemini2544

[Autosteve]

Just been away for the last 6 days down the farm. The Black Pyramid pinball seems to be happy running on the generator however when I first powered it up, it looked as I hadn't done the resistor hack to any of the LEDs and all the switched illumination LEDs were all strobing very noticeably.

 

However, I turned it off and back on and all the strobing was gone. I'm thinking maybe a frequency issue but I really am only guessing. The machine and generator were started many times during the week and the issue of the strobing didn't return again so maybe just an initial hiccup?.

 

God I hate hiccups. Usually a sign of problems to come but so far so good.

 

The machine coped a flogging with over 200 games played and no further issues so I guess it was worth the investment.

 

It looks cool in the corner of the pool room however I think it will get lonely and seeing as pinballs are a social beast, I'm thinking just one more pinball to keep it company aye.

 

Another 80s Williams or Bally so there is no age gap I'm thinking.

 

About the farm, I have heaps of pictures of the pinball and just shit we did down the farm I'll post when I clean out my PhotoBucket account so it can host the pictures.

[JOKERPOKER]

"as pinballs are a social beast" :lol

 

If ever I've heard an excuse for more!!

[Autosteve]

Well finally got around to cleaning out my PhotoBucket account so now I can post up pictures again.:).

 

I hate posting without pictures, it sort of only tells half the story I believe but now with an empty account, look out. Heaps of pictures in this post to follow.

 

Here is my Black Pyramid sitting all by itself in the corner of the pool room. Yes I know it looks sad all on it's own. I've gotta get another 80's Bally or Williams to sit beside her to keep her company.

 

Maybe a season of firewood as payment on a suitable companion for her aye.

 

I did a couple of noteworthy mods on the Black Pyramid in an effort to add reliability.

 

Anyone that has had a Bally with inline drop targets would be well aware of the "target sticking up to high" syndrome.

 

It's cause by one of these flimsy brackets breaking or bending out of shape like as if Bally weren't well aware this would happen very regularly.

 

http://i1038.photobucket.com/albums/a461/autosteve/Aussie%20Arcade/DSCN1211.jpg

 

And it sits in here and the spring connect to it. The middle bracket is missing in this picture..Note this picture is showing the target bank with the playfield in the vertical position and you can see the top bracket bent as what happens before they break...

 

http://i1038.photobucket.com/albums/a461/autosteve/Aussie%20Arcade/DSCN1214.jpg

 

Well here is the fix I come up with.

 

Weld it up, I used a mig and then weld the tops of the fingers together so now all the up pressure when the bank resets isn't all on just the end finger that breaks off. It is spread over the whole face. Sorry, didn't get a photo of the fingers welded together.:realmad:

 

http://i1038.photobucket.com/albums/a461/autosteve/Aussie%20Arcade/DSCN1216.jpg

 

Not a reliability issue, more cosmetics but as no one seems to have made dressed up score cards or instruction cards for this machine I learnt to do it myself.

Cool, now I can do any machine's cards so if your after something and don't know how to let me know.

 

I think they turned out pretty cool.

 

http://i1038.photobucket.com/albums/a461/autosteve/Aussie%20Arcade/Black%20Pyramid%20Score%20card%206.jpg

 

http://i1038.photobucket.com/albums/a461/autosteve/Aussie%20Arcade/blackpyramid%20play%20instructions7.jpg

 

Now back to the farm.

 

This tree was sitting in the dam and had died last year. The wife hates trees to close to the house that are likely to become "widow makers" so what an ideal tree to knock over for this winter's firewood I thought and so did my mate that absolutely loves using the chainsaws.

 

 

Look at him. Is that the look of excitement or what?.

 

 

And now it's down and he's into it like a vulture. Amazing, my other mate yelling all the wisdom the bottom of a beer bottle can muster.:lol

 

 

How's this for firewood. I think it got knocked over right on time when it was nice and ripe.

 

 

The boys were bring loads of rounds up to the house in the quad's trailer and the wife's buggy for me to run them through the block splitter. I bought the 12 tonne petrol block splitter last year and what an amazing machine although I will say swinging the manual block splitter did keep me fit but it is no way as much fun as using this petrol one.

 

 

I had to fit another window in the kitchen so as to let the light in. Only the wife would think of that but in it went..

 

 

I put it in while the boys cut the tree down actually.

 

 

And back to the inside with the standard timber dressing around the window I use through this house..

 

 

Well that's it till next visit.

Edited July 16, 2017 by Autosteve

[Mikie]

Looking awesome! Does the firewood get stored under cover somewhere?

[ddstoys]

Drooooooolllll

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Davefjedi]

No better firewood then dead standing trees

[Autosteve]

Another visit and I'm all better now.:).

 

Actually I came home aching a bit. The wife, kids and I went down on the Friday and they left on the Saturday afternoon. A mate arrived Saturday morning followed by another mate Saturday night.

 

First mate to arrive left Sunday afternoon and the second one left when I did, Monday afternoon.

 

Only a couple of days but very glad to get down in the cold for a while not to mention the bullshit that goes with living in Sydney that I really enjoy getting away from.

 

Unfortunately, the last time I was there I left the power turned on so the solar, in winter, had not replenished the batteries to there usual near full state and on seeing 10.8volts on the battery bank voltage, I knew I was going to have issues so on went the generator.

 

It kicks out 7KV which is more than what I would use at the farm but I only have a 10 amp battery charger so I had to disconnect 9 of the 10 batteries and concentrate on just one battery to charge and all this 2 hours before the sun was going down.

 

Normally I would have had the batteries charged already for 4 nights of lighting with no sun but these batteries were not far of deep cycling so the one battery was being charged at about the rate I would be draining off it at night so the generator had to go till we went to bed, about 3am.

 

Next day again, heavy overcast with no direct sun. Solar is putting out 2-3 amps. Pretty useless when at night I usually chew about 10 amps an hour.

 

Sunday was finally a half decent day for sun and I was getting in 10-12 amps. In summer that is normally about 30-35 amps just to give you some idea between the seasons with solar.

 

Well, that was the power. basically ran the generator and chewed through 30 odd liters of unleaded.

 

The bonus is while the generator is on, so is the pinball.;) My two mates that come down got addicted to pinball as I did in our teens and fortunately man has not found a cure to this debilitating illness so we played heaps of games through what I thought was my bullet proof Black Pyramid pinball.

 

I turned on the microwave for the very first time to heat some pies as a snack for the boys and I and bamm, pinball dies. Was on the 5th ball and it just died.

 

Nothing but the GI light.

 

Grrrrrrr, I think the worst and link the problem to the microwave and what parts on the board has it fried. I have a good look and see nothing, tried rebooting it and 7 flashes then nothing, so as it was about 2AM it stayed off for a better look Sunday morning.

 

Did the obvious although not always for a technician, Check the fuses. Nothing looks bad. Better put the meter on them just to be sure and yes, one has blown.

 

It's the solenoid 43v 5 amp blown. Change it and sweet, it boots straight back up. OK, now to test it. Start a game and hit the right flipper and bang, it's dead again.

 

Hmmmm, another fuse but this time don't touch the flippers on test. All solenoids working, left flipper working and quickly tried the right and see no attempt to pull the plunger in but a fuse that started heating up real quick.

 

Really, a flipper diode?. Yes it was. I had parts in the machine for spares but no diodes so off came the one on the knocker coil. On it goes and the machine lives again.

 

You know there is no way known I would ever change every diode on every coil in an attempt to make a pinball bullet proof like I did with this machine but it goes to show you can never allow for every possible problem.

 

Anyway we were there to work so on the farm front we chopped down and "processed" about 15-20 trees. It takes about 2 minutes to knock a tree over and sometime hours to "process" the mess left on the ground afterwards.

 

As I actually wanted the trunks from these trees, we just cut up the canopy and dragged the trunks behind my truck to form the area I am backfilling to extend the landing behind the house using a chain and snatch strap.

 

These are some of the trunks we dragged and located...

 

http://i1038.photobucket.com/albums/a461/autosteve/20-06-2017/DSCN1302.jpg

 

http://i1038.photobucket.com/albums/a461/autosteve/20-06-2017/DSCN1301.jpg

 

Last thing I really needed this time was more firewood that needs a full year before it's ready to burn. I still had all this to process from the last visit when we took down a monster of a dead tree.

 

http://i1038.photobucket.com/albums/a461/autosteve/20-06-2017/DSCN1285.jpg

 

A couple of one hour stints with the petrol block splitter seen in the above picture and it was done. One hour is about all your back can take at a time using it because you are constainly bent over using it either lifting logs into it or simply using the lever.

 

http://i1038.photobucket.com/albums/a461/autosteve/20-06-2017/DSCN1300.jpg

 

Trees before...

 

http://i1038.photobucket.com/albums/a461/autosteve/20-06-2017/DSCN1298.jpg

 

Trees gone, well this was a few we took down. There were more on the other hill...

 

http://i1038.photobucket.com/albums/a461/autosteve/20-06-2017/DSCN1299.jpg

 

Anyway, a couple of days of productive work and some sore, soft muscles aching and it's time to come home.

 

Truck gets a load of firewood for home and the 20" Taito table so I can mod it to run on 12vDC.

 

http://i1038.photobucket.com/albums/a461/autosteve/20-06-2017/DSCN1304.jpg

 

I'll start another thread regarding that thing being modded if anyone is interested.

 

Anyway, that is this installment of "My Escape To Reality".

 

Sorry it's been a while but I do have a life as well even though I don't really like that life and would much prefer this life full time.