Grumpy 24 Hours

This post is partly to explain where I was yesterday, partly dealing with burning plastic and such, partly dealing with being remotely grumpy with someone in Thailand and partly because I sometimes like being grumpy.

First, why was I not on-line yesterday? Well, I didn't have an Internet connection. I was working on other things and by the time I realized I was really broken, I just didn't want to deal with it. So, I pretended I wasn't supposed to have a connection on Sunday.

As everything local (meaning the router and wireless link radio at my end) were OK, it was clear a trip to the VSAT was needed. When I got there the problem was pretty obvious. A temporary 120VAC power line runs from the bodega (where the batteries and inverter are) to the "outhouse" where the VSAT modem and link radio are). The white wire was in two pieces. (Yes, colors and even a ground wire.) There was a piece of conduit to protect the wires where they run over a concrete wall. The tube had worked its way down the wires and the white wire had abraded away. Actually, prior to fixing the wire, I went to repair the generator. This is a 30KW generator that I just start and run for an hour once a month. When I started it a week ago it ate its fan belt. The apparent cause was that the water pump was sticking. The generator came with a spare parts kit including a fan belt so, today, I went to do the repair. I was not successful.

First, the water pump has a grease fitting. A couple of shots of grease and it seems happy. Success ended there. While the generator is huge, the fan cowling is 1/2" too close to the crankshaft pulley and the alternator pulley to allow you to put the belt on. So, the cowling got taken off as well as the alternator. I slipped the belt into place and it is the wrong belt—it's a bit too short.

While I was working on the generator, the CPF decided to clean up the leaves in the fenced area around the generator. Thus, I got to work in a cloud of dust. He took the leaves away and burned them. Unfortunately, he burned them along with other trash including a few plastic bags—upwind from where I was working on the wire.

Now, one thing I like about living "in the middle of nowhere" is there are no plastic bags burning. Well, except for yesterday when Ana's mother used one to start a fire to toast some coffee. :-(

Now, about that person in Thailand. I have been putting together a new PV controller/voltmeter/control box for the solar panels on the caretaker's house (which got disconnected by an ex-employee for no apparent reason). The controller is a kit. I spent a couple of hours trying to figure what mistake I must have made as it didn't work.

Eventually I stopped looking for my mistake and, instead, analyzed how the circuit worked. The values of the resistors in the voltage sensing network made no sense. I eventually found that the values of two resistors in the parts list were switched. Still not working (because I didn't get back to it) but as the kit came from Thailand, I get to be remotely made at someone.

OK, while there was more, that is enough to make me feel ok. On to my new day.