Author: methods

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The Baby Birds Hatched!

While fishing out the 1/2″ conduit I came across 2 new baby birds! Just yesterday I saw mamma up there… But her feathers were looking ruffled. I know realize… I was seeing Mama next to babies.

Those are no more than a couple days old. Huge already (all feathers)

Anyhow, here is the pack-out I will use for installing the auto transformer today. Remember when we “sorted” all the AC bits into bins???

This is the Why, after the How

Remember to Live the Dream.

Some days you will wake up hopeless. That feeling will pass once you get busy being productive.

-Schindler

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Task 1 of 8 (the 0420 Report)

“Install the Auto-Transformer so off-grid 420V-Array #003 can resume powering the well pump”

Previously the well pump was a 420′ head, 240V unit ($$$). That was replaced with a 120′ head 120V unit (order of Magnitude cheaper).

The SPF 5000 ES offers only 230/240V natively. It requires a 50lb spool of wire (effectively) to generate a 5KW capabile Neutral. From that neutral we can tap 120V 1ph, as is normally found in US.

Note that I am working from a Phone in Alaska (cough) so I hyperlinked the text only and not the pictures. It only takes a second on a PC but on an Android it is “too many clicks”.

The links provided are the sources I down-selected on and NOT paid advertising. Signature Solar and Amazon.

…..

Where I left the project it has been validated to perform using SOOW 10AWG cable. You really want 8awg in conduit for install into infrastructure, 10AWG rated for 90C or 105C will suffice, but significant heat is generated If you encroach on the 2,500W maximum load imbalance.

Auto Transformer Manual Download

You can run it all day on 10AWG THWN on 20A Homeline breakers but IF you start loading it down you WILL generate significantly more heat and the cables WILL come into the heat sinking calculations.

So LESSON 1

  • Cables are heat sinks
  • Modern Chinese Engineering includes this in the power rating / derating
  • You need to actually load test to thermal soak on a 125F day to appreciate

O N W A R D

The dilemma is that the hardware is on site already and my “fixings” are here. My kit of AC is about a cubic yard, so what we call “a pallet”….

Lets start by getting the unit installed on the wall (over cement board) and then we can assess the required conduit size. 1/2″ or 3/4″ will work but unless we want to get out the hydraulic knockout…..

-Schindler

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Lets flip the Schedule Again

Ok, that was the hardest part. Now I have 6hrs that someone waking up at 9:30 does not have.

Cost

  • Pain
  • Fatigue
  • Confusion

Reward

  • 6 hours off the books
  • Watching the Sun Rise
  • Hearing the World turn on

-Schindler

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Helpful…. (as I fail at life)

Learning way more then I ever thought I would need to know….

Who knew that chainsaws didn’t just throw ribbon 24/7, after you run your new one into the rocks, mud, and rubber tree, battery after battery

-Schindler

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Assume Nothing about CCi Primers

Below I have dismantled some factory Blazer Ammo and compared the primers to standard #500 CCi small pistol. Blazer is owned by CCi, the box says “CCi” primers, so I was surprised to find that the aftermarket primers are nothing like those found in Factory ammo.

These were struck with a Bersa Firestorm (aka California Thunder, California Blunder, Thunder Blunder, the Soft-hit monkey…..). No powder or projectile. Testing purposes only.

The two on the left are straight out of a box of Blazer, knocked down, resized, pressed, and struck. The two on the right are the same range brass, but packed with no. 500 aftermarket CCI primers, using the same process.

There is a true night and day difference! The factory-loaded CCi primers totally deformed, they much be must softer or thinner material! …. The aftermarket primers show no sign of deformation… but they DID light off, that is NOT a soft hit. Wow.

  • The aftermarket primers are probably harder/thicker to be less likely to light off in a DIY press eh?
  • No doubt the robots at CCi can press much more sensitive primers without freckling their face

The video above shows that the CCi (or WHATEVER) primers shipping in Blazer (a CCi company) are 112mils tall while the aftermarket are 118mils tall. 5 or 6 thousandths seems like a lot to me. Turns out it was!

Totally different primer in every way. I suppose other people already knew this (I have been told), but I am just proving it for myself now. I never really took the time to observe the difference.

Well…. There you go. PRIMERS ARE NOT PRIMERS ARE NOT PRIMERS….

When you shoot a piece of shit, unreliable gun.

  • It shoots very straight
  • It fits my hand very well
  • It is very light
  • I feel very little recoil
  • It racks easy enough
  • Its small
  • It comes back on target FAST
  • ….

I like everything about the Bersa Firestrom except:

  • It is totally and completely unreliable (at least mine)
  • It can only shoot CCi primers (for WHATEVER reason…)
  • The double action / single action transition throws you WAY off
  • The decocker makes me nervous as hell – claptrap
  • The magazine interlock is obnoxious (you can remove it*)
  • My hammer pin was set so tight that I had to BEAT it out
  • There is not even a manual posted for it (that I could find)
  • Parts fly everywhere when you disassemble the slide

WHICH YOU HAVE TO DO, ELSE IT WONT FIRE, LOL

… Meh, no sense complaining anymore. The gun will be used for teaching kids and blind ladies how to shoot. Its a perfect training gun for all ages.

  • Shoots as easy and accurate as can be
  • Breaks often enough to be interesting

-Schindler

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CODIAC GODIAG J2534 vs Ford Th!nk City

(Temp reading incorrectly FYI)

Factory PCAN dongle is like $400 and extinct. This GODIAG had a driver pack that will drive your antivirus absolutely insane…

… If you can actually get it installed (I did), the next step is to hi-jack the pointer in the existing XML to reference your new resource…

… To get that you have to fight back Windows10 to allow file edit WITHOUT reverting (in program files), got that.

… Then you start getting scripting errors

lol – it’s like this every time. It will probably take about 3 days to just:

  • Get the dongle drivers installed & tested
  • Find those in the registry
  • Get the XML writable from read/execute
  • *CORRECTLY* redirect the XML pointers
  • test
  • ….

Step 1 is just shoving the driver you want down windows throat. To do that you have to know what the software expects (VCP, other)

SSDD

  • Same Shit Different Day

-Schindler