I have been silent for far too long on my blog, dealing with many complications of life, and honestly I just needed a LOT of time to recover me.
You see since my second to most recent post, back in March 2018, I went through the year of h*ll, which was 2018. Between my wife and I, we lost 20 close friends and family members, including my Dad, her Dad, her brother Eddy, our niece Lisa, the second friend I ever introduced her to while we were dating. I had to support my wife as she ended up hospitalized twice during 2018, to which her company followed up by laying her off shortly thereafter like the two were unrelated...
We worked to recover from that, which was difficult but we made it, then COVID hit.
And in July of 2022, Debi got sick, a Telehealth visit after hours said it looked like COVID and get to a testing center the following day.
The following day was July 19 2022. Debi passed away at the ICU that afternoon and NOT from COVID.
The story is long, and I am still angry, angry that at the time health care providers were calling every symptom COVID. That test meters failed to show high blood sugar, and angry that neither of us thought it was serious enough to take her to the ER sooner.
I have since as part of my recovery process, gotten myself an old Ford E250 Sportsmobile camper conversion van that I have been fixing up and camping in.
I have spent considerable time and effort fixing this old van, replacing pretty much everything on the front of the engine that spins, replacing the exhuast, tires, brakes, radiator etc... and updating the RV systems with a new fridge, Lithium Iron Phosphate RV battery, a BIG one, and compatible charging,
My electrical setup here that has been changed and integrated into the existing Sportsmobile system or replaces parts of it are...
- CHINS Bluetooth LiFePO4 Battery Smart 12V 400Ah Lithium Battery - Built-in 200A BMS Amazon Affiliate Link.
- ATEM POWER 40A DC to DC Battery Charger with Anderson Plug Reverse Charge Solar Input MPPT for AGM, Gel, Calcium, Lead Acid, LiFePO4 Batteries of 4WDs, RVs, Campers, Trailers On-Board Charger. I wish I had bought the 60 amp model although this works well enough. Amazon Affiliate Link
- Bussmann CB285-60 Surface-Mount Circuit Breakers, 60 Amps. I tried the Chinese breakers at first. Do yourself a favor... don't bother. Awful experience of repeated failure. Amazon Affiliate Link.
- Powermax PM3-55 RV Power Converter. 110V AC to 12V DC Converter Charger to support Lithium batteries and replaced OEM 45 amp lead acid only converter charger. Amazon Affiliate Link.
- Dokio 300w 18v Portable Solar Panel Kit. I have 2 of these giving me 600w of solar charging. Amazon Affiliate Link.
- Dokio Solar Panel Mounting Bracket. Basically kick stands for the portable panels, you need these to keep the panels aimed at the sun. They come in a 2 pack and I have 2 sets so 4 to support my panels. Amazon Affiliate Link.
- 2 50ft SAE 12awg extension cables. These allow me to park my van in the shade, and put the solar panels in full sunlight. Amazon Affiliate Link.
- 25' 8awg black / red bonded hookup wire. This allow connection of the panels to the charger via 50 amp Anderson connectors. Amazon Affiliate Link.
- 50 amp Anderson Connectors. This allows me to create the parallel cable to connect the solar panels to the van and in turn to the MPPT controller. Amazon Affiliate Link.
Adding a fully modern CB radio with AM, Sideband, and the newly authorized FM modes.
I am still working on the woodworking shop and DIY stuff, but most of this is to serve the function of supporting my off road and camping addictions... So the Youtube channel has been spun away from Daves Workshop and into Wildersport.
I am committing now to diving into Wildersport full force, so look forward to seeing more posts, and more videos. I will be improving as I go along, I hope... and with any luck I will be able to provide you with some good information and entertainment along the way.
Thank you for joining me on this journey!
No comments:
Post a Comment