Al F

I don't know of anyone with a background in science who is standing up and shouting to the world:  "Putting more Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere is a good thing.  We need to burn more fossil fuels.  We need to warm the world even more, melt the ice caps, raise the level of the oceans." 

I would think that people would WANT to find ways to reduce the amount of CO2 being produced.  

I would think that finding ways to reduce the use of fossil fuel would be a good thing. 

Wind, Solar and Nuclear are ways to do that.  Geothermal is another potential source. 

4 hours ago, NamMedevac 70 said:

Thanks noteven for BBC link.  After Nam I flew for many years in Asia and ME with the Brits and they constantly reminded me that USA is still their serf colony to the rest of the world.  Wonderful people those Brits.  Capt. Cheers here.

DJohns good point you make about natural gas.  It is cleaner than coal, safer than nuclear and more reliable than wind or solar IMHO.  Happy Trails.

I guess I don't understand the need to talk bad about the Brits.  Is it to downplay the credibility of the people making the podcast or what? 

This is a conversation about energy, not about who looks down on others.  

Not that I disagree that many of the Brits do look down on the USA.  People in most countries think their people and country is somewhat better or above other countries.  Heck, cities, states, neighborhoods, and even neighbors think they are better than others.  Kind of human nature. 

Just wondering how it pertains to topic of energy.

Yep, as a 12 year old, one year was 1/12th of my life.  Now one year is just a tiny part, less than 1/70th of my life.  

22 hours ago, NamMedevac 70 said:

Japan Races to build new Coal Fire Plants In Spite of Global Warming.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/03/climate/japan-coal-fukushima.html

https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/coal-king-india

Here you go Bruce T.  The above post from NYT for all the wokes.  Other large nations still using coal plants for energy.  Easy google search is your friend.

Thanks RV for another detailed report.  Cheers

https://www.facebook.com/CaptBillPerkinsUNRescuePilot

Thanks for the links.  Interesting reading.

What are yours and Bruce T's thoughts about what is happening in both Japan and India and how it pertains to this thread?

Also what should be done in both countries as alternatives to the use of coal.  

18 minutes ago, Chalkie said:

Pardon me, but what exactly does this have to do with XCEL Energy in Colorado??

Excellent question.

In Japan the hysteria about nuclear energy is causing shut down of a major source of Japan's electric.  

It seems to me that so many so called environmentalists seem to ignore that quickest way to slow down carbon emissions is to increase nuclear power electric generation.  

Yes there are problems with nuclear power, but there are problems and trade offs with all the ways to make electricity.   

This is a little late, but what kind of info were you looking for?  

The Ford Chassis, is just a Ford chassis same as all Ford chassis, a well proven chassis. 

Floor plan is a very personal decision.

If you are still looking at Tiffin products you might post over on the Tiffin Owners forum:  http://www.tiffinrvnetwork.com/index.php  It is independent from the mfg and was a friendly group when I owned a Tiffin some years ago. 

2 hours ago, Jaydrvr said:

"isn't bad at all."  

That's funny!! The current state of lithium has progressed to the point where I'm not quite sure why one would even consider lead acid anymore, especially as my back muscles get older and weaker. Jay

 

Yep.  8 AGM golf cart batteries at around $175 each is $1400 with a weight of about 560 pounds and you only have about 50%-60% of the capacity of lithium.  

But OH NO, the lithium will blow up on you, you can't use them in cold weather, etc. 😬

On 3/15/2021 at 8:19 PM, Jaydrvr said:

Seven times the 100 a/h Battleborn which is something of an industry standard is about $7000. Three "roll your own" Eve/Lishen 280 a/h cell sets are roughly $1500 for about 840 a/h. Jay

Sounds like a pretty good package:

--  Four 280AH cells at $86 each is $344 for a 280AH 12V battery

--  A Dely Battery Monitor Systems at $166 each.

--  Total for each battery $510

--  A set of 3 batteries $1530 for a total of 840 Amp Hours.  

Plus shipping of $350 for a set of 12 cells to make up the 3 batteries.  

Still less than $1900 for 840AH of battery isn't bad at all. 

Batteries:  https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/3-2V-280Ah-Batteries-Cell-prismatic_62556226025.html

BMS:  https://www.amazon.com/DALY-LiFePO4-Battery-Protection-Balance/dp/B08KD66M54/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1L2B2UM6RH61Z&dchild=1&keywords=daly+bms+4s+12v+250a+lifepo4&qid=1616066250&sprefix=dely+bms%2Caps%2C365&sr=8-3 

It took me forever to complete the course and build the TV.  Placing and soldering every small component was a pain.  I remember doing the convergence was a pain as well.  

WOW, that was 50 some odd years ago, where did the time go?

On 3/13/2021 at 8:27 PM, RV_ said:

 

Yep, I did the Devry Institute Basic electronics course in 1972 and built the Heathkit GR 2000 25" TV that had electronic tuning before you could get electronic tuning TVs in the stores, and built my digital Multimeter, and O-Scope.

I built the pretty much the same Heathkit TV set along with the electronics coruse.  Mine had remote electronic tuning, if you can call it "electronic".  It had a remote and the TV would change the channels by stepping the tuning dial though the 12 or 13 channels you could select.  But, hey, we didn't have to get up to change the channel. 

A friend and her sister received the stimulus in their bank accounts yesterday, 3/12/2021

On 3/11/2021 at 7:40 PM, JeffreyPMC said:

Do you know anywhere (preferably Texas)to rent a truck large enough to tow a 45' 5th Wheel (about 5,800 lb pin weight)  Currently using a RAM 5500, but need a replacement for a month or two.

I have checked everything I could find on google (Enterprise, PV, HERC, others), an no luck finding anything with payload/drive train combo available to rent.

Thanks

If you are just going to move once or maybe twice, then think about hiring someone to move the trailer for you.  I don't know where to find someone, but start another topic with that question and I'm sure someone has info about that. 

4 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

I watched the link again in the first post.  She was driving. He was asleep barefooted. 

If they had toys in the RV then they, most likely, were also hauling gas cans which probably added a lot to the fire.

Good thought about gas for the "toys".  I believe some Toy Haulers have a built in gas tank just for the "toys".  Maybe the tank was damaged and started leaking.  

1 hour ago, DJohns said:

Sir,

I don't want to argue  BUT last month midwest electric lemoyne,NE I paid 41.52 plus tax for 155 KWH. Now this includes their monthly service but they can keep the rate lower by charging a service fee like most do. In Hastings,Ne I paid .12 per KWH and no service fee on coal fire electricity.  So when reporting the KWH price you really need to ask if there is a monthly service fee.

Again, just from my bill not off the internet.

 

 

A service fee on top of the price of electric sure seems different than a comment about the cost of electric from coal in the eastern part of the state and whatever the sources of electric are in the western part of the state.  

5 hours ago, DJohns said:

In central Nebraska my coal fired power plant electricity is .12 per KWH. In western Nebraska where wind and hydro prevail the cost is .24 per KWH.  Fact! 

I guess the quotes below, taken from the internet are just more fake news.  About 1.4 cents higher in western NE than in eastern NE.   Also in North Platte electric is a little cheaper than Omaha.  

Quote

 

The average residential electricity rate in Omaha is 10.12¢/kWh. This average (residential) electricity rate in Omaha is 0.8% greater than the Nebraska average rate of 10.04¢/kWh. The average (residential) electricity rate in Omaha is 14.81% less than the national average rate of 11.88¢/kWh.

 

Omaha, NE Electricity Rates | Electricity Local

 

11 hours ago, bruce t said:

Yes RV pick the sites that suit your argument. The Victoria government closed their biggest coal  fired power plant. Said it would cost no more than 30 cents per customer. Power prices doubled. Now find a site that contradicts that fact. RV some may be too polite to call you an internet know all. I'm not that polite. You claim to be an expert on the subject. But you are only a leftie pushing your leftie ideology. I'll repeat. we are living the experiment. Self interest web sites are all driven by their own agenda. I suggest you look at bigger picture than your tunnel vision of the world.

Speaking of know-it-all's, tunnel vision and "expert".  All with no links to support a point of view. 

2 hours ago, bruce t said:

Any person can find suitable web sites to support their case. It's not hard. RV is doing it all the time. But I'm not going to play the game. Intelligent people can find the information on the web. Yeah and we know everything we read on the web is true dont we? Remember I'm living in the experiment. You folks are only just beginning. 

Cute!  😁

9 hours ago, bruce t said:

How about using Google to look at both sides of the story? Easy to find the ones that suit your agreement. If you only Googled Japan's new coal power stations I wouldn't have to do it for you.

None so blind as those who can't see!

 

That seems to be just what RV is doing.  However you are just throwing out one line simplistic statements.  Basically just trolling.

How about you giving a link, copying the relevant points and providing your insights.   That takes "work" and provides credibility to your side of the discussion. 

17 hours ago, bruce t said:

RV you certainly have an obsession with this subject. I give you credit for that. But the above doesn't tell the full story does it? And you know it. Tell the readers what is replacing Japan's nuclear stations. No? Ok I will. Coal. Yup coal. Japan is renewing it's coal base. They use Australian coal. They are now buying Australian coal in record quantities. Hundreds of new coal power stations are being built in Asia. Inclouding China and Japan.

Keep cherry picking the information. But remember other folks are not dumb enough to fall for political ideology dressed up as power policy.

Now back to the river bank to check my fishing pole.

 

 

Any links to provide so we can read and learn about what you have to say?

If you have the money to buy the batteries for several megawatts of power that is a good investment in Texas.  

Charge them only when you are able to buy cheap electric for a few cents a kilowatt hour and then sell it back when the grid will pay you several dollars or at times, many, many dollars a kilowatt hour.

On 3/1/2021 at 11:49 AM, Rick and Michele said:

Yeah I just do not like flooded cell batteries off gassing hydrogen in my living quarters. I would like to simply change them to AGM just not sure if the charger is capable of doing that. This unit has a WFCO WF-5110RS 1000W Pure Sine Wave inverter but I cannot seem to locate any information on the charger.

 

It is highly unlikely that your flooded cell batteries are inside your living quarters.  Most likely they are located in an area exposed to the outside air.  The batteries don't gas off a lot of hydrogen gas.  It is only a problem if the gas is allowed to escape into an unvented enclosure.  

Since you will not be dry camping or boondocking I see very little reason to change out flooded cell batteries.  The exception would be is if they are located in a spot that is hard to access to check the water level every month or so and refill them with distilled water every 2-3 months.  

Here is a link to the owners manual for your converter I found on the Coachmen website.  

https://forestriverinc.help/#/coachmenrv/guide/2021/1340-leprechaun/browse/component-manuals/Electrical/content/publication-16-en_us-multiple-709437

I looks like you have a 3 stage charger, which is very good. 

20 hours ago, Sir Traveller said:

I appreciate all the replies, it really help... I will try to give as much information as possible, I am not savvy when it comes to electrical systems and batteries, overall I am still new when it comes to RVs... I did not maintain the batteries well in the first 2 years for the lack of my knowledge about what I needed to do, thus IU am trying to catch up now ... again many thanks to everyone 

Here is a link to lots of info about the batteries we use in an RV and should answer a lot of your questions.  At the bottom of the webpage, be sure to click on the "continue to part 2" for more info about RV batteries, solar, etc. 

http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm

Leaving the batteries sitting w/o a trickle charge allows them to self discharge.  In 6 months time they probably have discharged enough and sat long enough to "sulfate" and loose capacity.  Sulfating  happens when batteries are not kept at 100% charge and then left at a charge level of less than about 80-85% repeatedly for more than about 5-7 days, or just continuously for weeks or months. 

What is the reason you are checking your batteries?  I asked that question earlier.  The replies you have received just tell you what to check to see if you batteries are fully charged.  Not how to check for problems.

For the battery that was at 12.83V, the surface charge from charging had not bled off yet.  Let it rest another hour or so and check again.

For the battery at 12.65.  Is that a typo for the hydrometer reading and should be 1.265?  If it is voltage then that is showing a fully charged battery.  If it is hydrometer reading then, just as the first battery, the surface charge has not bled off yet.  

As far as the hydrometer reading, what are the readings for every cell?  If you have two 12V batteries you will have 12 cells to check.  If you have a pair of 6V batteries you will have 6 cells to check.

With the hydrometer readings what you are looking for is a significant difference in one or more of the cells.  Such as if the the cells you check are reading 1.265 and you find one or more lower such as 1.120 (25% SOC) or even at 1.210 (75% SOC) then you have a weak cell then that is a bad battery.  

So far is seems like you have batteries that are charged.  

You need to recheck the batteries after a few days and see if they are holding a charge.  If they are holding a charge then reconnect them to the RV and turn all the lights on in the RV and after 30 minutes to an hour check the battery voltages (while the lights are on) again to see if they have dropped way down. Be sure that nothing else is pulling power from the batteries, such as an inverter powering something. 

To estimate the load on your batteries, each incandescent bulb pulls about 1.5 amp, florescent light fixtures pull around 3-4amps depending on the size of the light fixture. You want a load of around 10amps or so. 

10 hours ago, Rich&Sylvia said:

In a pinch, the outside shower can be used to put hot water into the fresh water tank.
Short term, emergency use only.

 

Is that IF the shower hose reaches the gravity fill, or do you attach a hose to the shower and run it to the gravity fill?