What have done towards your prep?

[CharlesHarris]

To run a refrigerator-freezer off battery with solar charging requires a bank of four L16 flooded gold cart batteries
https://www.trojanbattery.com/product/reliant-l16-agm/ Reliant L16-AGM Deep-Cycle Reliant™ AGM
Capacity Minutes_____Capacity Amp-Hours Energy (kWh)
@25 Amps 817_______5-Hr Rate 290
@75 Amps 215_______10-Hr Rate 323
___________________20-Hr Rate 370
__________________100-Hr Rate 392
Length11.66in (296mm)
Width6.94in (176mm)
Height16.41in (417mm)
Weight 114lb. (52kg)

Eight 100-watt solar panels:
https://www.renogy.com/renogy-100-watt-1...lar-panel/
With this size battery bank and charge rate not exceeding C/20 no charge controller would be needed.

[Mortblanc]

Easier to duct tape that sucker shut and turn on the gen-set once every 5-6 hours!

Cheaper too! My 1k gen-set cost less than my 200 amp hour battery.

[MaryN]

I acquired another galvanised water tank today; a nice big one with a hinged lid and a tap. I'm very pleased. That's three tanks I have now. They are all about 1 cubic metre capacity. I think this means I have water security for my garden if the promised drought materializes. It never fails to surprise me how water I do actually use.

[Straight Shooter]

All logging is completed and half of it is split and stacked....bought a grow your own mushrooms pack today £2.99 does four productions .... box size is A4 .....pound stretcher store ...worth a shot ! bought six 47 k bottles of lpg gas ...we are sorted for next winter and beyond ....the wood shed is full and we are stacking outside where there is spare room again we are sorted for next winter ....the aim is to be in front by one full year by October this year ....bought six new chains for chainsaw £37.57 off ebay ....excellent value and quality is good ........since being retired is giving me plenty of time to get things done allbeit at a slower pace ....i am surprised by what gets done ,just by chipping away each day ....and looking around at the end of each week ....seeing the end results ...its amazing what one can achieve from a simple lifestyle ...dedicated to nothing more than a kind of style from a past age .....which i seem to hanker after .......but there again am glad to enjoy modern tech and medications too ( put that bit in for MB ) to head him off at the pass ! lol

[Mortblanc]

If not for the modern med-tech and meds we would both have been pushing up daises for some time now!

I have a big shipment arriving on the big brown truck tomorrow so I have to stick close to the house. Seems like a good excuse to run the long water hose down to the corner of the lot and burn the big brush pile. I can watch the bun and wait for the truck.

After the truck arrives I will switch over to shooting pellets and watching the burn pile, since the shipment is a batch of assorted pellets to discover which type my rifle likes best. The local source only keeps one brand and weight and I am certain my gun will shoot better than that particular type performs.

[Stewart]

finished off a new run for my indian game bird meat experiment

[Mortblanc]

Experimental meat? Never had experimental meat.

How much experimental meat is in a "run"?

Is it going to be meat?

Is it close to being meat?

Was it meat once and since the "experiment" you are not sure what it is?

Is it meat from the lab that they used during experiments?

Did the experiment kill it or was it already dead?

My work for today was sabotaged. I woke up to a 20-30 mph wind blowing steady and there was no burn pile work today.

My pellet shipment even arrived and the wind is too strong for any testing.

[Straight Shooter]

What game bird is it Stewart ?

[LAC]

[quote='CharlesHarris' pid='102291' dateline='1527459532']
To run a refrigerator-freezer off battery with solar charging requires a bank of four L16 flooded gold cart batteries
https://www.trojanbattery.com/product/reliant-l16-agm/ Reliant L16-AGM Deep-Cycle Reliant™ AGM
Capacity Minutes_____Capacity Amp-Hours Energy (kWh)
@25 Amps 817_______5-Hr Rate 290
@75 Amps 215_______10-Hr Rate 323
___________________20-Hr Rate 370
__________________100-Hr Rate 392
Length11.66in (296mm)
Width6.94in (176mm)
Height16.41in (417mm)
Weight 114lb. (52kg)

Eight 100-watt solar panels:
https://www.renogy.com/renogy-100-watt-1...lar-panel/
With this size battery bank and charge rate not exceeding C/20 no charge controller would be needed.

CH

Is there really ever a time when you would not need a charge controller?

Ok I can understand that C20 is a large factor if that is the maximum charge rate but the charge controller not only ensures the batteries do not overcharge but also regulates the voltage down to around 13-14.5 Volts. Most solar panels put out between 18-20 volts in peak conditions so that amount of voltage going directly in could damage the battery cells.

The charge controller also ensures that no voltage can leak back into the solar panels and risk damaging them. Though maybe there is something I'm missing or not aware of here?

[Straight Shooter]

Been keeping a close eye on the raised beds which contain the straw bales...as i have stated in previous posts ....stuff i planted is doing badly ...enough is enough .....so today i changed tack ...i have planted potatoes (as MB suggested ) and he had good success .....so we will see if this works , and gain something from the the space, time and effort put in .....everything else is just fine and dandy , going to sow some beetroot tomorrow to replace what failed ....transplanting some swede also .

Now the garden is under control , i will turn my attention to some jams,jellies, and brewing some wine and beer (not that i can drink that much these days ) but visitors seem to enjoy my company more and more these days ..........especially the ones that walk down the drive.......and sort of crawl out smiling as they go ...Ben my latest victim ....stated ....SS you'r a bad bastard ! .....as he struggled up the drive...."nice garden boyo....she is going to f..king kill me ! " .