On Mon, 5 Feb 2018 20:09:08 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 03 Feb 2018 23:48:24 -0500, Clare Snyder

wrote:


Ah dinna know that. What was the actual resistance, or did you
measure it?

How would you measure a very low resistance? It isn't easy.

My assumption was that you knew what it was since you used it. Isn't
that the way we do things? Find out everything we can about a subject
then build what we can using the knowledge gained? It's less
expensive than trial-and-error, and Buddha knows I'm che...frugal.

So, how did clare know to use it? Similar to nichrome, but why was
nichrome used, etc? Copying other equipment without specs can lead to
that kind of experimentation, but I was curious. About everything.
Coulda called me George, ah reckon.

And very low resistances are measured with very-low-resistance meters,
of course. :-) I've never seen a Kelvin bridge and haven't had a need
to measure anything with a super low resistance before. I read about
them at Coleman decades ago. Voltage drop calculations are hard with
tiny resistances, too. How would you do it, Jim?

--
Stoop and you'll be stepped on;
stand tall and you'll be shot at.
-- Carlos A. Urbizo

On Tue, 06 Feb 2018 01:34:57 -0500, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On 6 Feb 2018 04:18:59 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:

On 2018-02-06, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
news On Sat, 03 Feb 2018 23:48:24 -0500, Clare Snyder

wrote:


Ah dinna know that. What was the actual resistance, or did you
measure it?

How would you measure a very low resistance? It isn't easy.
-jsw

Put a known current through it -- either with a bench power
supply with a current limit adjustment, or an adjustable voltage across
a known resistance in series with the unknown one. In the second case,
measure the voltage across the known resistance to calculate the
current, and measure the voltage drop between the two ends of the SS
resistor using a low voltage digital multimeter. Divide measured
voltage by the current and you have the resistance. (Or, if you have a
lab multimeter with four-wire resistance measurement (as I do), simply
run two wires to each end of the SS resistor. One pair feeds a known
current from the multimeter, and the other pair measures the voltage
across the SS resistor, eliminating the resistance of the test leads
from the equation. (Known current through one pair, but almost zero
current through the other, for measuring the voltage across the
SS resistance.

Enjoy,
DoN.

I calculated, then cut, and then verified by applying a low voltage
and measuring the current - then checking motor current under load
through the resistor to make sure it was limited to close to the
current I desired.

OK.

And grok the airshocks. I remember guys screaming about the $150 set
of tires that got eaten up every time an exhaust melted a loose air
line to a pair of those.

--
Stoop and you'll be stepped on;
stand tall and you'll be shot at.
-- Carlos A. Urbizo

On Tue, 06 Feb 2018 09:57:04 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Tue, 06 Feb 2018 01:34:57 -0500, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On 6 Feb 2018 04:18:59 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:

On 2018-02-06, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
news On Sat, 03 Feb 2018 23:48:24 -0500, Clare Snyder

wrote:


Ah dinna know that. What was the actual resistance, or did you
measure it?

How would you measure a very low resistance? It isn't easy.
-jsw

Put a known current through it -- either with a bench power
supply with a current limit adjustment, or an adjustable voltage across
a known resistance in series with the unknown one. In the second case,
measure the voltage across the known resistance to calculate the
current, and measure the voltage drop between the two ends of the SS
resistor using a low voltage digital multimeter. Divide measured
voltage by the current and you have the resistance. (Or, if you have a
lab multimeter with four-wire resistance measurement (as I do), simply
run two wires to each end of the SS resistor. One pair feeds a known
current from the multimeter, and the other pair measures the voltage
across the SS resistor, eliminating the resistance of the test leads
from the equation. (Known current through one pair, but almost zero
current through the other, for measuring the voltage across the
SS resistance.

Enjoy,
DoN.

I calculated, then cut, and then verified by applying a low voltage
and measuring the current - then checking motor current under load
through the resistor to make sure it was limited to close to the
current I desired.

OK.

And grok the airshocks. I remember guys screaming about the $150 set
of tires that got eaten up every time an exhaust melted a loose air
line to a pair of those.


And remember, for the resistors this was WELL before the days of
"instant information" and the internet.
It involved going to the library and digging up technical texts.

Stainless steel "ribbon resistors" have been used for motor
accelleration and braking applications for years - Powerohm being one
current major supplier.

Stainless steel is also commonly used for the elements of immersion
heaters.

For exposed low temperature use, it was just a slam-dunk to use
stainless ribbon, as it was easily sourced, low cost, and did the job
in commercial applications.

I used copper sheet (ribbons) as battery interconnects as well,
because they were flexible, required no additional terminations, and
were easy to fabricate from readilly available materials. Calculating
the resistance etc from tables allowed me to determine how many
"leaves" of copper to use for the links. I used wel;ding cable from
the batteries to the controller and controller to the motor terminals.

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 5 Feb 2018 20:09:08 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 03 Feb 2018 23:48:24 -0500, Clare Snyder

wrote:


Ah dinna know that. What was the actual resistance, or did you
measure it?

How would you measure a very low resistance? It isn't easy.

My assumption was that you knew what it was since you used it.
Isn't
that the way we do things? Find out everything we can about a
subject
then build what we can using the knowledge gained? It's less
expensive than trial-and-error, and Buddha knows I'm che...frugal.

So, how did clare know to use it? Similar to nichrome, but why was
nichrome used, etc? Copying other equipment without specs can lead
to
that kind of experimentation, but I was curious. About everything.
Coulda called me George, ah reckon.

And very low resistances are measured with very-low-resistance
meters,
of course. :-) I've never seen a Kelvin bridge and haven't had a
need
to measure anything with a super low resistance before. I read
about
them at Coleman decades ago. Voltage drop calculations are hard
with
tiny resistances, too. How would you do it, Jim?


I have more lab test gear than most people, so my exact methods may
not help others. Usually I force 1.000A and read the voltage drop in
milliVolts as milliOhms. This is good enough to find connections that
need cleaning in my TV antenna or solar panel wiring.

The hard part is forcing a stable constant DC current without special
equipment. If you use a battery the voltage keeps decreasing. Car
headlights works fairly well as the current limiter if you don't need
much accuracy. A battery, headlight and HF DVMs for current and
voltage would be enough to measure the motor speed control resistance
but not to make and calibrate a meter shunt.

-jsw

On Tue, 6 Feb 2018 08:53:06 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 4 Feb 2018 11:24:18 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:


Yeah, precisely tailored chargers for known battery and cell types.
...
Yeah. It appears that almost none of the battery chargers are very
smart, despite having microcomputers inside.

When the smart charger is built into the battery it knows the
battery's capacity and can measure its temperature. Consumers often
don't know either.

Meaning BMS? And you're right.


If you want set-and-forget I don't see why pulse desulfators
wouldn't
work. However you won't know the result until your vehicle fails to
start.

Luckily (?) the vast majority of my car batteries had cells go out,
so
batteries usually didn't give me much trouble until the day they
died.
While that's a bummer for that day, it wasn't causing me to call tow
trucks all over town for weeks, as some people I knew were wont to
do.
g

The HF Carbon Pile seems to indicate a battery's remaining starting
current pretty well. Autozone measured the warm-engine starting
current for me, confirming what I had measured at home. When the truck
finally became hard to start in cold weather the carbon pile showed
the large voltage drop at the starting current value. I used my
chargers and the carbon pile to extend the life of the battery by
several years and knew when to replace it before getting stuck.

I guess that if I took the time to periodically check my battery, I
might see a trend. With the Tundra battery last year, it was hard
starting once in real cold weather (4 seconds to start instead of 1/2)
so I bought a new battery. When it did fail 2 weeks later, I had it
swapped in half an hour. Only then did I realize that it was nearly
10 years old. It has long been my experience that most automotive
batteries, regardless of brand or cost, start failing at 4 years. At
that age, when I get the slightest inkling of doubt about it, I just
replace it. It beats getting caught out in the sticks in a rainstorm
even once. The new truck batteries were the exceptions: 6 years on the
'90 Ford and 9+ on the Toyota.


I realize that most people don't want to add batteries to the list of
techie stuff they have to fuss with (plumbing etc) but if you do, it
does the trick.

I've always felt that batteries were like fuses. Once you have a
problem with them (unless it was a charging or corrosion problem) they
are no longer absolutely reliable, and that's something I demand from
both.

I bought the drain rooter last year, but still haven't invested in a
carbon pile. Now I can keep the sequoia sempervirens roots trimmed
inside my septic line, unless I want to rip up both my rising patio
and the tree which was planted 14' away from the house. sigh ($3k
to take down) I'll leave you to deal with old batts.


I've never had the patience to put up with cranky batteries.

I neglected batteries until they became my job.

Yeah, that would change your outlook, wouldn't it?


My 2002 18-cube fridge takes 135w max according to the Kill-a-watt.
What do your fridge, TV, and laptops pull?

The fridge starts at 100W and slowly decreases to 80W. The 22"
HDTV/monitor takes ~30W with the backlight at zero, 65W with it at the
default setting. The laptops draw 30W at idle, up to 45W when busy
such as recording a show. They are older, thicker ones with SSD boot
drives plus Terabyte spinning storage for recordings. The power
consumption is low enough to ignore on grid AC even at our $0.19/KWH
rate, but it costs a lot to get from batteries. Although I'm not in
the TEOTWAWKI group I do expect future shortages and brownouts

I'm in both. I've run UPSes since the early '90s, when the grid
started getting really noisy and started experiencing half-second
dropouts which would reboot the computer upon which I had been in the
middle of doing half a page of typesetting and graphics. And it has
only gotten worse since then. I had one for the TV and DVR way back
when, too.


I've been tossing around the idea of replacing my 1970's fridge with
this. Are chest-type refrigerators practical? I think it's easier to
find and remove something from a crowded cooler than a crowded
refrigerator shelf.

I so seldom use coolers any more, I can't remember. How often do you
use your fridge? Being a bachelor, I cook up full family sized meals,
separate it into storables, and put some in the fridge and some into
the freezer for later. That way, I only cook once/nuke thrice. Fresh
veggies take up a lot of space, 8 different beverages, condiments,
huge jars of pickles, etc take up every bit of the space most often. I
use the hell out of my fridge, so a cooler style wouldn't suit me, at
least while the power is on.

Other folks don't use their fridges much, so it depends on how much
space you take up on a regular basis. I've heard bad things about the
college fridges (novelty, as Whynter calls them) for decades, and the
reviews reflect that, but the price difference here is just gagging.
A brand new 18c/f Kenmore is $499. Niche market price?


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008VX01P2...d_rd_w=pU 4Jp
It doesn't need a separate pure sine inverter because it automatically
switches to DC if grid power fails.

They don't give that away, do they? thud At 8F, the high side is
55F? My wallet just started sweating. Dual voltage is good, but $700
for three 5-gal buckets worth of cool space? Ouch. I've never heard
of Whynter, not that it means much. Oh, they're ten years old and are
sold at Overstock.com and Fry's Electronics. ??? Perhaps their fame
is in the cigar humidor sector.


http://ncph.org/history-at-work/reth...-refrigerator/
"But when I hooked my refrigerator up to an electricity meter, I
discovered something surprising. It was drawing only about as much
electricity as a modern-day refrigerator."

Well, the National Council on Public History has been quite
effectively taken over by Leftist Millennials, it appears. (if the
word "effectively" could ever be used in conjunction with them) He
sounded quite savvy saying "an electricity meter", didn't he? In
looking at other pages, a header caught my eye "The Changing Past" on
their Historian page. OMFG. This guy teaches a "studies" class.
(Y'know, like Lesbian Feminist Dance Theory Studies?) Just wow.

For more fun, watch this quick vid. It's just 3:24, and it's a doozy.
Can millennials change a light bulb? - YouTube https://is.gd/qlujC9

--
Stoop and you'll be stepped on;
stand tall and you'll be shot at.
-- Carlos A. Urbizo

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 6 Feb 2018 08:53:06 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

I've been tossing around the idea of replacing my 1970's fridge with
this.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008VX01P2...d_rd_w=pU 4Jp

Are chest-type refrigerators practical? I think it's easier to
find and remove something from a crowded cooler than a crowded
refrigerator shelf.

I so seldom use coolers any more, I can't remember. How often do
you
use your fridge? Being a bachelor, I cook up full family sized
meals,
separate it into storables, and put some in the fridge and some
into
the freezer for later. That way, I only cook once/nuke thrice.
Fresh
veggies take up a lot of space, 8 different beverages, condiments,
huge jars of pickles, etc take up every bit of the space most often.
I
use the hell out of my fridge, so a cooler style wouldn't suit me,
at
least while the power is on.

Other folks don't use their fridges much, so it depends on how much
space you take up on a regular basis. I've heard bad things about
the
college fridges (novelty, as Whynter calls them) for decades, and
the
reviews reflect that, but the price difference here is just gagging.
A brand new 18c/f Kenmore is $499. Niche market price?

They don't give that away, do they? thud At 8F, the high side is
55F? My wallet just started sweating. Dual voltage is good, but
$700
for three 5-gal buckets worth of cool space? Ouch. I've never heard
of Whynter, not that it means much. Oh, they're ten years old and
are
sold at Overstock.com and Fry's Electronics. ??? Perhaps their
fame
is in the cigar humidor sector.


I bought an 18"x18" Summit dorm fridge at a yard sale in the early
80's for beer in the shop. When the house's original 1970ish fridge
acted up I moved the necessities into the small one and found I could
live with only it, and store 6-7 days of food if I kept larger, less
perishable containers like wine and meat marinade outdoors in a cooler
in winter. I set it (with a thermocouple meter) slightly below
freezing where frozen food stays frosted but liquids other than pure
water don't freeze.

There are several other brands of DC-powered compressor refrigerator
similar in price and size to the Whynter. I think they are meant to go
in the Land Rover when roaming the Kalahari.
https://www.amazon.com/Dometic-CFX-6.../dp/B00SZ7XJ8K

I haven't found a cheaper well-rated trucker or RV alternative.
Thermoelectric coolers are too feeble and inefficient to consider for
extended battery operation although I use one when defrosting the
Summit.

If/when mine dies a compact refrigerator double the size of it is an
inexpensive possibility, if my inverter can start it. This Summit's
12A starting surge is at the limit of my APC1400's rating. Having to
buy a larger pure-sine inverter kills the cost advantage.

So again, does anyone have something good or bad to say about chest
type camping refrigerators?
-jsw

"Clare Snyder" wrote in message
...

And remember, for the resistors this was WELL before the days of
"instant information" and the internet.
It involved going to the library and digging up technical texts.


Could you still get Transite (asbestos board) for the insulating
supports? After it was pulled from the market here there wasn't a good
substitute high temperature structurally strong insulating material.

On Tue, 6 Feb 2018 09:38:04 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 4 Feb 2018 13:36:13 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
news On Fri, 2 Feb 2018 20:11:26 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

My neighbor found out that Medicare won't allow things to be
recycled.
They will fund new items only. 2-month old hospital beds, 6 month
old
3-wheeled electric scooters, etc. which are perfectly serviceable
are
just tossed. That sickens me. Penny wise, pound foolish, as the
saying goes.

The firms I worked for restored used medical equipment to a
condition
Medicare would accept, as long as the customers' paperwork was fully
in order. And that was a major issue for many of the elderly. I know
some fell through the cracks but not why. Just doing my job here,
Ma'am.

I think that has changed now, according to those two instances I
saw.
Refurbs were just fine with our folks, who grew up with the Crash. I
think most folks today, other than Millennials, would accept them,
too.


The government paid big bucks for me to replace the seat, arm rests
and wheel bearings on a wheelchair at a factory-authorized dealership.
I don't know where the guy who sold refurbs out of an old barn
for -much- less got his parts, maybe China?

In the 21st century, or before?

--
Stoop and you'll be stepped on;
stand tall and you'll be shot at.
-- Carlos A. Urbizo

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 6 Feb 2018 09:38:04 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:


The government paid big bucks for me to replace the seat, arm rests
and wheel bearings on a wheelchair at a factory-authorized
dealership.
I don't know where the guy who sold refurbs out of an old barn
for -much- less got his parts, maybe China?

In the 21st century, or before?

https://www.yellowpages.com/concord-...pment-supplies

On Tue, 6 Feb 2018 14:32:31 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 5 Feb 2018 20:09:08 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
news On Sat, 03 Feb 2018 23:48:24 -0500, Clare Snyder

wrote:


Ah dinna know that. What was the actual resistance, or did you
measure it?

How would you measure a very low resistance? It isn't easy.

My assumption was that you knew what it was since you used it.
Isn't
that the way we do things? Find out everything we can about a
subject
then build what we can using the knowledge gained? It's less
expensive than trial-and-error, and Buddha knows I'm che...frugal.

So, how did clare know to use it? Similar to nichrome, but why was
nichrome used, etc? Copying other equipment without specs can lead
to
that kind of experimentation, but I was curious. About everything.
Coulda called me George, ah reckon.

And very low resistances are measured with very-low-resistance
meters,
of course. :-) I've never seen a Kelvin bridge and haven't had a
need
to measure anything with a super low resistance before. I read
about
them at Coleman decades ago. Voltage drop calculations are hard
with
tiny resistances, too. How would you do it, Jim?


I have more lab test gear than most people, so my exact methods may
not help others. Usually I force 1.000A and read the voltage drop in
milliVolts as milliOhms. This is good enough to find connections that
need cleaning in my TV antenna or solar panel wiring.

OK. Yeah, you probably do.


The hard part is forcing a stable constant DC current without special
equipment. If you use a battery the voltage keeps decreasing. Car
headlights works fairly well as the current limiter if you don't need
much accuracy. A battery, headlight and HF DVMs for current and
voltage would be enough to measure the motor speed control resistance
but not to make and calibrate a meter shunt.

What? Metrology labs don't use HF DVMs?

--
Stoop and you'll be stepped on;
stand tall and you'll be shot at.
-- Carlos A. Urbizo

On Tue, 06 Feb 2018 14:26:54 -0500, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On Tue, 06 Feb 2018 09:57:04 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Tue, 06 Feb 2018 01:34:57 -0500, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On 6 Feb 2018 04:18:59 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:

On 2018-02-06, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
news On Sat, 03 Feb 2018 23:48:24 -0500, Clare Snyder

wrote:


Ah dinna know that. What was the actual resistance, or did you
measure it?

How would you measure a very low resistance? It isn't easy.
-jsw

Put a known current through it -- either with a bench power
supply with a current limit adjustment, or an adjustable voltage across
a known resistance in series with the unknown one. In the second case,
measure the voltage across the known resistance to calculate the
current, and measure the voltage drop between the two ends of the SS
resistor using a low voltage digital multimeter. Divide measured
voltage by the current and you have the resistance. (Or, if you have a
lab multimeter with four-wire resistance measurement (as I do), simply
run two wires to each end of the SS resistor. One pair feeds a known
current from the multimeter, and the other pair measures the voltage
across the SS resistor, eliminating the resistance of the test leads
from the equation. (Known current through one pair, but almost zero
current through the other, for measuring the voltage across the
SS resistance.

Enjoy,
DoN.

I calculated, then cut, and then verified by applying a low voltage
and measuring the current - then checking motor current under load
through the resistor to make sure it was limited to close to the
current I desired.

OK.

And grok the airshocks. I remember guys screaming about the $150 set
of tires that got eaten up every time an exhaust melted a loose air
line to a pair of those.


And remember, for the resistors this was WELL before the days of
"instant information" and the internet.
It involved going to the library and digging up technical texts.

Yeah, technical texts, Library Only (no take-out) reference manuals,
and old magazine copies. Searching the newspapers on microfiche was
another source. And don't forget community college libraries.

I've been both places and prefer the Internet, though the quality is
often hard to find on many things. And with all the copycats, you can
find 10,000 sources for the exact same bad info if you're not careful.


Stainless steel "ribbon resistors" have been used for motor
accelleration and braking applications for years - Powerohm being one
current major supplier.

Stainless steel is also commonly used for the elements of immersion
heaters.

For exposed low temperature use, it was just a slam-dunk to use
stainless ribbon, as it was easily sourced, low cost, and did the job
in commercial applications.

This is the first I've heard of it, as nichrome was the locally
sourced stuff here.


I used copper sheet (ribbons) as battery interconnects as well,
because they were flexible, required no additional terminations, and
were easy to fabricate from readilly available materials. Calculating
the resistance etc from tables allowed me to determine how many
"leaves" of copper to use for the links. I used wel;ding cable from
the batteries to the controller and controller to the motor terminals.

You're not referring to the flat, tinned, braided, copper cables, are
you? (Wow, they still make 'em!) https://is.gd/4wdAMu

--
Stoop and you'll be stepped on;
stand tall and you'll be shot at.
-- Carlos A. Urbizo

On Thu, 08 Feb 2018 18:31:44 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Tue, 06 Feb 2018 14:26:54 -0500, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On Tue, 06 Feb 2018 09:57:04 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Tue, 06 Feb 2018 01:34:57 -0500, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On 6 Feb 2018 04:18:59 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:

On 2018-02-06, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
news On Sat, 03 Feb 2018 23:48:24 -0500, Clare Snyder

wrote:


Ah dinna know that. What was the actual resistance, or did you
measure it?

How would you measure a very low resistance? It isn't easy.
-jsw

Put a known current through it -- either with a bench power
supply with a current limit adjustment, or an adjustable voltage across
a known resistance in series with the unknown one. In the second case,
measure the voltage across the known resistance to calculate the
current, and measure the voltage drop between the two ends of the SS
resistor using a low voltage digital multimeter. Divide measured
voltage by the current and you have the resistance. (Or, if you have a
lab multimeter with four-wire resistance measurement (as I do), simply
run two wires to each end of the SS resistor. One pair feeds a known
current from the multimeter, and the other pair measures the voltage
across the SS resistor, eliminating the resistance of the test leads
from the equation. (Known current through one pair, but almost zero
current through the other, for measuring the voltage across the
SS resistance.

Enjoy,
DoN.

I calculated, then cut, and then verified by applying a low voltage
and measuring the current - then checking motor current under load
through the resistor to make sure it was limited to close to the
current I desired.

OK.

And grok the airshocks. I remember guys screaming about the $150 set
of tires that got eaten up every time an exhaust melted a loose air
line to a pair of those.


And remember, for the resistors this was WELL before the days of
"instant information" and the internet.
It involved going to the library and digging up technical texts.

Yeah, technical texts, Library Only (no take-out) reference manuals,
and old magazine copies. Searching the newspapers on microfiche was
another source. And don't forget community college libraries.

I've been both places and prefer the Internet, though the quality is
often hard to find on many things. And with all the copycats, you can
find 10,000 sources for the exact same bad info if you're not careful.


Stainless steel "ribbon resistors" have been used for motor
accelleration and braking applications for years - Powerohm being one
current major supplier.

Stainless steel is also commonly used for the elements of immersion
heaters.

For exposed low temperature use, it was just a slam-dunk to use
stainless ribbon, as it was easily sourced, low cost, and did the job
in commercial applications.

This is the first I've heard of it, as nichrome was the locally
sourced stuff here.


I used copper sheet (ribbons) as battery interconnects as well,
because they were flexible, required no additional terminations, and
were easy to fabricate from readilly available materials. Calculating
the resistance etc from tables allowed me to determine how many
"leaves" of copper to use for the links. I used wel;ding cable from
the batteries to the controller and controller to the motor terminals.

You're not referring to the flat, tinned, braided, copper cables, are
you? (Wow, they still make 'em!) https://is.gd/4wdAMu


Nope. Coper flashing, cut on a shear to 1.25" width, then cut to
length so they fit between batteries with a "wave" in them - 3, 4, or
5 together to handle the current. Drilled on both ends and bolted to
the battery posts.

On the other end of the scale, U-Boats had a free-piston engine
that was the emergency air compressor; if you ran it long enough
you could build up air to restart one of the two Diesels.

--
A host is a host from coast to
& no one will talk to a host that's close..........................
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

On Tue, 6 Feb 2018 15:31:48 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 6 Feb 2018 08:53:06 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

I've been tossing around the idea of replacing my 1970's fridge with
this.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008VX01P2...d_rd_w=pU 4Jp

Are chest-type refrigerators practical? I think it's easier to
find and remove something from a crowded cooler than a crowded
refrigerator shelf.

I so seldom use coolers any more, I can't remember. How often do
you
use your fridge? Being a bachelor, I cook up full family sized
meals,
separate it into storables, and put some in the fridge and some
into
the freezer for later. That way, I only cook once/nuke thrice.
Fresh
veggies take up a lot of space, 8 different beverages, condiments,
huge jars of pickles, etc take up every bit of the space most often.
I
use the hell out of my fridge, so a cooler style wouldn't suit me,
at
least while the power is on.

Other folks don't use their fridges much, so it depends on how much
space you take up on a regular basis. I've heard bad things about
the
college fridges (novelty, as Whynter calls them) for decades, and
the
reviews reflect that, but the price difference here is just gagging.
A brand new 18c/f Kenmore is $499. Niche market price?

They don't give that away, do they? thud At 8F, the high side is
55F? My wallet just started sweating. Dual voltage is good, but
$700
for three 5-gal buckets worth of cool space? Ouch. I've never heard
of Whynter, not that it means much. Oh, they're ten years old and
are
sold at Overstock.com and Fry's Electronics. ??? Perhaps their
fame
is in the cigar humidor sector.


I bought an 18"x18" Summit dorm fridge at a yard sale in the early
80's for beer in the shop. When the house's original 1970ish fridge
acted up I moved the necessities into the small one and found I could
live with only it, and store 6-7 days of food if I kept larger, less
perishable containers like wine and meat marinade outdoors in a cooler
in winter. I set it (with a thermocouple meter) slightly below
freezing where frozen food stays frosted but liquids other than pure
water don't freeze.

There are several other brands of DC-powered compressor refrigerator
similar in price and size to the Whynter. I think they are meant to go
in the Land Rover when roaming the Kalahari.
https://www.amazon.com/Dometic-CFX-6.../dp/B00SZ7XJ8K

Egad! Capacity: 17.666 six-packs of 12oz cans. ?


I haven't found a cheaper well-rated trucker or RV alternative.
Thermoelectric coolers are too feeble and inefficient to consider for
extended battery operation although I use one when defrosting the
Summit.

If/when mine dies a compact refrigerator double the size of it is an
inexpensive possibility, if my inverter can start it. This Summit's
12A starting surge is at the limit of my APC1400's rating. Having to
buy a larger pure-sine inverter kills the cost advantage.

So does a $900 ice chest. g


So again, does anyone have something good or bad to say about chest
type camping refrigerators?

A friend bought one of the early 12v Peltier coolers and it didn't
work worth a sh*t, cooling down to 60F or something. These new ones
are a whole 'nother bag o' noodles. (Nobody I know can afford one.)

My buddy Phil has been in trucking for 40+ years and I don't recall
him ever mentioning anything about them. I'll ask him, though.

--
Stoop and you'll be stepped on;
stand tall and you'll be shot at.
-- Carlos A. Urbizo

On Tue, 6 Feb 2018 20:27:01 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 6 Feb 2018 09:38:04 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:


The government paid big bucks for me to replace the seat, arm rests
and wheel bearings on a wheelchair at a factory-authorized
dealership.
I don't know where the guy who sold refurbs out of an old barn
for -much- less got his parts, maybe China?

In the 21st century, or before?

https://www.yellowpages.com/concord-...pment-supplies

According to my neighbor, Medicare won't pay to rent or buy used items
for Medicare patients. The local rental place confirmed that when we
picked up the walker and wheelchair for her dad 4 years ago. He could
buy anything he wanted, but the gummint would only cover new items.
I'm wondering if this is a new thing.

So, the questions were
1) When were you were paid by the gov't to refurb stuff?
and
2) To whom was rented/sold? (not including the F/A dealer)

--
Stoop and you'll be stepped on;
stand tall and you'll be shot at.
-- Carlos A. Urbizo

"David Lesher" wrote in message
news

On the other end of the scale, U-Boats had a free-piston engine
that was the emergency air compressor; if you ran it long enough
you could build up air to restart one of the two Diesels.


http://www.freikolben.ch/en/compressors

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 6 Feb 2018 20:27:01 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
. ..
On Tue, 6 Feb 2018 09:38:04 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:


The government paid big bucks for me to replace the seat, arm
rests
and wheel bearings on a wheelchair at a factory-authorized
dealership.
I don't know where the guy who sold refurbs out of an old barn
for -much- less got his parts, maybe China?

In the 21st century, or before?

https://www.yellowpages.com/concord-...pment-supplies

According to my neighbor, Medicare won't pay to rent or buy used
items
for Medicare patients. The local rental place confirmed that when
we
picked up the walker and wheelchair for her dad 4 years ago. He
could
buy anything he wanted, but the gummint would only cover new items.
I'm wondering if this is a new thing.

So, the questions were
1) When were you were paid by the gov't to refurb stuff?
and
2) To whom was rented/sold? (not including the F/A dealer)

1) I was never paid directly by the government, though I fixed VA
hospital equipment. The time frame was around 2005.
2) Individuals and facilities who needed it. I knew nothing about
billing beyond the time spent and parts replaced.

On Fri, 9 Feb 2018 07:51:14 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 6 Feb 2018 20:27:01 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 6 Feb 2018 09:38:04 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:


The government paid big bucks for me to replace the seat, arm
rests
and wheel bearings on a wheelchair at a factory-authorized
dealership.
I don't know where the guy who sold refurbs out of an old barn
for -much- less got his parts, maybe China?

In the 21st century, or before?

https://www.yellowpages.com/concord-...pment-supplies

According to my neighbor, Medicare won't pay to rent or buy used
items
for Medicare patients. The local rental place confirmed that when
we
picked up the walker and wheelchair for her dad 4 years ago. He
could
buy anything he wanted, but the gummint would only cover new items.
I'm wondering if this is a new thing.

So, the questions were
1) When were you were paid by the gov't to refurb stuff?
and
2) To whom was rented/sold? (not including the F/A dealer)

1) I was never paid directly by the government, though I fixed VA
hospital equipment. The time frame was around 2005.
2) Individuals and facilities who needed it. I knew nothing about
billing beyond the time spent and parts replaced.

OK, thanks. I wonder if the VA was/is different in usage allowances.

--
Stoop and you'll be stepped on;
stand tall and you'll be shot at.
-- Carlos A. Urbizo