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December 18, 2019 Morning

Good morning! Happy Save the Pine Bush Dinner Day! πŸ˜‹ It should as always be a good dinner at the Westminster Presbyterian Church downtown at 6 PM. It’s also Bake Cookies Day πŸͺ! Cookies are good but I don’t believe in having them at home because they’re unhealthy and unnecessary expense. I do sometimes have them at camp or at parties, they’re great when they’re fresh out of a camp oven. Next Wednesday is Christmas πŸŽ…. I do find that a bit hard to believe, but honestly I’m more excited about the following Saturday and heading out to the Finger Lakes to camp.πŸ• Clear and sunny, bright around 27 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌞 There is a west-southwest breeze at 6 mph. πŸƒ. There are 4 inches of fresh and very white snow on the ground. β˜ƒ Made for a rather bright walk down to the express bus, almost wish I had sunglasses. 😎 Going to be a cold one the next few days — tThings will start to thaw out at Sunday around noontime but I’m hoping the sun and wind will help melt things away even when its below freezing. 🌑️

It was a bit of an icy walk down to the express bus 🚍 but I left in plenty of time to get there in time ⌚. The sidewalks weren’t bad but they were a bit slippery in parts. I ended up walking on the shoulder the last bit so I wasn’t slip sliding my way all the way down there, as I wouldn’t want to slip and walking in the snow is annoying. So bright though with the sun and gleaming sun — it seems dark in contrast on the bus.β˜€ While it’s going to be cold today, I’m hoping with the sun and the wind, and some salt the sidewalks will be good by tomorrow although it might be too cold to walk down to the express tomorrow. That said, they’re have been negative 15 days when I’ve walked down to the express bus int he past. Winter is here, for a little while, but I expect a warm up by next week with the latest forecast.♨

Today will have a chance of snow showers, mainly after noon. Some of the snow squalls could be heavy at times, leading to white out conditions and very dangerous travel conditions. Weatherman says check the radar before you get on the expressway. Clear going this morning into work, and hopefully it won’t impact my commute home after the Pine Bush Dinner. Mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 31 degrees at 12pm. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical Southwest wind 6 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 30 degrees. The record high of 60 was set in 1921. 17 inches of snow fell back in 1887.❄

The sun will set at 4:23 pm with dusk around 4:55 pm, which is 20 seconds later than yesterday. πŸŒ‡ At sunset, watch out for snow squallsΒ  🌨 and falling temperatures around 27 degrees. The wind chill around sunset will be 15. β˜ƒοΈ There will be a west-northwest breeze at 15 mph with gusts up to 25mph. Today will have 9 hours and 3 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 18 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of snow showers, mainly before 11pm. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 5 degrees at 5am. 15 degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around -8 at 2am; Northwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chilly night ahead, I left the heat turned up a bit so it won’t be too cold. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 16 degrees. The record low of -13 occurred back in 1973.

Project SCORE, the world’s first communications satellite, is launched today in 1958. πŸ“‘ Still an important communication technology, although the lag between sending and receiving, and the limits on bandwidth mean that for most communications people use fiber optics these days. I guess some rural households use satellite dishes for television reception and internet, but from what I’ve heard it’s hardly ideal due to the long lags in the signal. πŸ“Ά

It looks like the weekend has improved somewhat in recent forecasts, especially on the second half of the weekend. 🌀 Saturday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 28. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 37. Typical average high for the weekend is 34 degrees.

So as I noted last night, I’m planning on staying in town this weekend. I want to get that voltage switch set up, and I don’t know how busy I will be Saturday after the Pine Bush Hike 🚢🌲🌲🌳 for some filming for the Reszin Adams.πŸ“½ It’s going to still be fairly cold, and the following weekend looks increasingly nice, if it’s not too cloudy and muddy. Might actually have some rain a week from Friday, followed by several days above freezing, which could be problematic, in the sense that the woods might turn all to mud.

I think I will mount the voltage switch in the back next to the inverter and tap power off the the line that goes up to the USB charging ports I have back there, as I have both positive and negative there to tap into easily. πŸ”˜ From there I will run the positive output of the voltage switch to a diode to protect the voltage switch from any induced current spikes when the relay closes. πŸ”„ While I’m not sure if this is totally necessary, a few years back I tried to build a relay position indicator with LEDs, and I kept blowing LEDs out when I would switch it on and off a few times due to current spikes (any magnet will create a reverse electrical spike when current is broken, e.g. inductance). 🧲From the diode, I’ll run an “exciter” line to the switch that currently turns on when the engine is on, and hook another diode between the engine input and output so I don’t back-feed current and accidentally turn on the CB radio and dash cam when the solar panel comes on.

Looking ahead, there are 3 weeks until Bubble Bath Day 🧼 when the sun will be setting at 4:38 pm with dusk at 5:10 pm. On that day in 2019, we had cloudy, mild, rain showers and temperatures between 41 and 29 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 30 degrees. We hit a record high of 60 back in 2008.

Northwood Club Road near Huntley Pond

Low Voltage Disconnect – Key to Maintaining A Happy Battery

I’ve discovered that adding the low voltage battery disconnect (LVD) is key for maintaining a happy and healthy accessory battery in my truck. Previously, the accessory battery was electrically isolated from the starting battery, which allowed me to run down the battery without worrying about getting started, but nothing protected the accessory battery from overdischarge. Dropping a rechargeable battery’s levels down too low means the chemistry is irreversibly changed and the plates have sulfur collecting on them, which limits the ability to recharge. The alternator also has work much harder and longer to recharge a totally dead battery compared to one that is discharged to a safe level of only 50% charge. Battery life is much longer when you don’t overdischarge the battery, so that 50% consumed, actually can be longer then 80-90% consumed after a few deep discharges. A good deep cycle battery should be able to go into the 75% range safely, but why risk damage when one can disconnect it at a higher voltage? Moreover, you have to leave a bit of battery voltage above the danger range, to keep the low voltage disconnect powered, even though it only uses about 70 milliamp (which can add up over time).

 Low Voltage Disconnect

A low voltage disconnect is a combination of a electronic device and electro-mechanical relay that monitors system voltage, and if voltage drops below a certain level for a period of time, the relay opens to disconnect the load from the battery. This keeps the battery from overdischarging. On my truck, I use a BlueSeas 60-amp LVDΒ ($50 on Amazon), which was a nice integrated unit that has both the voltage monitoring circuitry and a 60-amp relay built into the unit, and come with a wired remote for overriding the system or changing the targeted voltage. Read the instructions carefully on wiring the remote – they are a bit confusing. I have the remote hooked up, but I have yet to use it. There are other models out there, but most of them have a separate disconnect controller and relay, and aren’t as elegant.

The low voltage disconnect on my truck is always monitoring the voltage of the accessory battery. As long as the voltage is at 12.1 volts or higher, the relay (switch) inside it remains closed and supplies power to my truck cap lights, inverter, CB radio, dash camera, and all other accessory loads I have connected to it. When the voltage drops to 12.0 volts for more then 30 seconds (a delay to avoid disconnects on temporary high start-up loads of inductive loads like electric motors or the starting of the inverter), the relay opens, disconnecting the load. This means that the lights in the truck cap, inverter and all accessory loads are disconnected. That can plunge you in the darkness, but it also spares the accessory battery. You can always hit the door unlock button, or hop in the truck, and have interior light to get the truck started again.

Second (Inverter) Battery, Battery Isolator (Relay), Second Fuse Tap

The low voltage disconnect is constantly polling the battery voltage. When you start the truck up, after 30 seconds of voltage over 13.5 volts, the load is automatically reconnected to the battery, automatically reseting the inverter, turning back on the lights, and other load you have connected. The delay in reconnecting the load is good for the alternator, because it gives it a chance to start recharging the low voltage – a high amperage drain – before you put even more load on it from the accessories.

Prior to the installation of the low voltage disconnect, I relied on both the inverter faulting out for low voltage, and keeping an eye on the battery voltage to know when I should recharge things. But that was a hardly a perfect solution. The inverter wouldn’t raise a fault until 11.8 volts or so, which is closer to 75-80% discharge, and would beep but allow the battery voltage to fall well into the danger range for low voltage, before finally disconnecting. Other loads wouldn’t be disconnected at all. The inverter would chirp and beep when the battery voltage was low – a rather annoying alarm – and require a full reset by reaching down and turning the power switch on an off. Left parked for an extended period of time, sometimes predatory loads from the various USB ports and other minor electronics would discharge the accessory battery below a safe level. It was far from an ideal situation.

Ithaca

The low voltage disconnect does it’s job, silently. It disconnects the load when the battery voltage is low, without any further prompting or annoying beeps or alarms. It reconnects the load when the engine is powered back up and the battery charge is at a safe level once again. It works without fiddling with it or monitoring the voltage yourself. It’s a good safety measure that I would recommend for any rechargable battery-powered application.

Upgrades I’m Planning for My Truck This Springtime

Accessory Battery Low Voltage Disconnect

The big new electrical upgrade I am going to get for my truck is the low voltage disconnect for the accessory battery. At times I leave a load on the accessory battery which drains it too low and causes premature failure. I am replacing the accessory battery every two years because of the excessive drain damaging the chemistry in the battery, and I believe that a proper low-voltage battery disconnect would maintain battery life much longer, and also reduce wear and tear on the alternator.

When installed, the battery would be disconnected from any of the accessory loads when the voltage dropped below 12.1 volts for more the 30 seconds. The battery would remain disconnected from the accessory load until the system voltage reached 13.5 volts for 30 seconds, e.g. when the alternator was running. This way if I left the CB Radio on, the inverter on, or just left the truck parked for multiple days with the load of USB chargers and other slight drainers, there would be zero discharge of the battery beyond a safe point. This would ensure that I get the maximum capacity out of the accessory battery for as long as possible.

Replace the Accessory Battery (Again)

This will be the third accessory battery on my truck, after replacing the first one after three years and replacing the second one after two years. It’s not a big deal as marine batteries are cheap – about $90 – and it provides a lot of light and enjoyment for camping. Remember when gas prices were $4 a gallon, it was a $90 fill up in truck. Lead acid batteries are almost fully recycled into new batteries. But I’m getting tired of having to replace the battery. I’m hopeful – actually quite certain – that the low voltage cut-off, along with improvements I’ve made to the charging system over the years will mean much longer lifes for the batteries going forward.

Ithaca

Hook Up Dash Camera to CB Radio Switch

One important project that I got done over the weekend – required no additional supplies is to connect the USB ports adapter I have to the CB radio power switch I installed in the truck last summer. This way the dash camera can be easily switched on an off, and won’t get left on draining down the battery. Unlike the current system I have that uses an extension cord, hooked to a USB port, this connection should be tighter, and less prone to disconnecting when driving over bumpy back roads.

Better switches in the truck cap

I have this inexpensive switch box that I got from Walmart a few years back but the switches are crap. They don’t always work reliabilty and the wires are always pulling loose. I am reaching a better switch box for this purpose and with eventually replace the switch box with it come spring. I want to easily be able to control the many different lights in the truck cap, without having to fiddle around with switches that are unreliable and constantly being tightening up wires. 4-6 10 watt switches in one unit are ideal. I am going to look on Ebay or Amazon to figure out which switch box to buy.

Big Red

Install Dimmer Switch for Truck Cap

I also want to install a low-voltage dimmer switch for the truck cap. LED lights work decently with widely available low-voltage pulse modulation dimmer switches, assuming that the pulse modulation is quick enough to not be visible to the human eye (e.g. more then 30 cycles per second). Most modern dimmers designed to work with LED lamps work decently for this purpose. Some older dimmers don’t work, but for the most part they aren’t designed for 12 volt lighting.

More LED Lighting?

I already have a lot of LED lighting for the truck cap. But I am always keeping my mind open to new possibilities, especially as prices come down, and efficiency improves. I like having lighting in the cap that illuminates the things that need to be illuminated but don’t waste power.