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Was it something I said?
Picture of John Stickland
John Stickland
Hi Guys.
Well was it?
Possibly you've all got a bet on to see who is going to be first to break the silence in the New Year. Why didn't someone tell me?
May be that you've all made resolutions not to type anything here until someone else does, eh?
What......what.........what?
Regards to all.
Sticky.
Jan. 4, 2010  (Edited Jan. 9, 2010)
 
What? .. what`s that noise ? ... oh, It`s you John .. sorry about that, I must have dozed off. A-ho .. creaking a bit this morning, what time is it anyway ... o.m.g.!!. No magic fairy to wake me up, I`m home alone .. Carole has gone off to register herself as unemployed, and I`m left looking after the bread maker. It`s whirring and clucking away to itself out in the kitchen.
 
Minus 4.5 degrees Celcius outside, no wonder nobody is up and about. I`ve looked around on here John, I guess it`s just you and me .. shall I put the kettler on? My amorphous solar panels have arrived from Maplin and they are adding an extra 40w or so into the batteries in this low angle foggy sunshine. The controller box is about 6in by 6in by 3 in. It is quite sophisticated, lots of outputs for Invertor, USB charger, 3,6,and 12v jack plugs too. The 4 panels are bolted to a uPVC sectional tube frame about 4ft by 3 ft, this makes it quite heavy, but with the supplied legs and straps it will stand up too a massive amount of wind.
 
I guess that you may well find it a bit big for popping on the roof of the caravan, maybe the smaller 20w panel would suit better. Hope all is well in Stroud. I expect a few more may come out of hibernation soon, Anth was awake yesterday for a little while ..Ha Ha. Catch you all later on .....
Jan. 4, 2010 
 
Picture of Stuart Stickler
Stuart Stickler
OK for you guys tucked up there at home, or in parts foreign basking in the sunshine, me? I was auditioning for the part of a brass monkey, I had so many layers of clothes on I felt like the Michelin Man, or was it the Elephant Man? Went away to Essex for the New Year, No! don't ask, and it was so cold the car was very reluctant to start to come home yesterday, unfortunately it did and so it was back to work at dawn this morning to freeze me n*** off, still other than that it has been a beautiful day. I've decided that seeing as alcohol usually has a very low freezing point it would be a good idea to drink as much as possible, I might freeze to death but at least I won't notice it, Ah! roll on spring and summer so as we can get back to some proper English weather - wet!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Stu
Jan. 4, 2010 
 
Picture of John Stickland
John Stickland
Hi both.
Sorry to awaken the slumbers Bill. 
Sounds as though you are still having fun Stu.
Fancy spending New Year in Essex, do people still live there? Many years ago I used to visit Greys or is it Grays, whichever, I can guess why it was called Greys!
Question. What do Essex girls use for protection?
Answer. Bus shelter.
Bill I guess you missed one of my earlier postings, 'cos I also have the same solar panel set as yourself.
Not too much of a problem for the caravan though. The plan is to rig up a frame to mount the frame supplied on a two inch dia aluminium pole then attach same to towbar of caravan by the jockey wheel clamp, having removed the jockey wheel once the van feet are down. I reckon to elevate the array to a height of about five feet from bottom to the ground, just enough to keep it out of harms way.
Luvley Jubley! 
Regards to all.
Sticky.  
 
Jan. 5, 2010  (Edited Jan. 5, 2010)
 
Picture of Rich Lanham
Rich Lanham
Happy New Year guys.
 
I know nowt about solar panels but I do know Stu, that it was -5 at 4am yesterday when I left for the Cornwall run. Brass Monkeys wasn't the word. I could have done with the alcohol you mentioned but I've decided to go on the wagon for a while. Need to shift some weight etc. Probably won't last but you never know. Heavy snow forecast for tonight so with any luck I won't be able to get the car out tomorrow and I sure as hell won't be walking Avonmouth for the van!!We'll see.
 
Take Care all.

Rich.
Jan. 5, 2010 
 
Picture of Anthony Eccles
Anthony Eccles
Hi Rich, I don,t think you made it to the depot today if the snow in Frome is anything to go by, last night it was clear at 1 am and looking out of the window at 6 am it was covered, no post, no buses, four inches deep and still snowing, better get out and brush the car down, then connect the leccy to the motorhome to keep the batteries charged, looks nice though and they say there is more to come, keep warm everyone, not including Ken ,Steve and Rodger who may be thinking of how to keep cool.
Jan. 6, 2010 
 
Picture of John Stickland
John Stickland
Hi all.
Yes, Anth, good fun this snow innit?
Not at work today, unable to get out of the village for abandoned cars. We are on a steepish hill though.
Been doing a bit from home by E Mail and phone, already cleared a fault on a machine at Burnley, over the phone!
Was at Weston - S - Mare yesterday morning, weather was super then down on the Somerset levels, but back at the office by lunch time and that's when it all turned belly up. Had a job to get back home!
I have pasted some piccies in 'Odds and ends' in a new album, 'Our village in the snow' if anyone has any more, stick 'em in the same album, I'm sure our overseas friends would love to see them for a bit of a laugh!
May have some more to add yet.
Have fun.
Sticky.
Jan. 6, 2010 
 
Picture of Anthony Eccles
Anthony Eccles
Hi John, the weather in Frome today is great, nice and bright and plenty of sunshine but still cold in the shade, no sign of any gritting on any of the side roads though and it is now compressed to an inch thick slab, must get out and brush some of the snow off the motorhome as it is still about six inches deep on the roof, off to put the trickle charger on the battery now as the PSU on the van wont get up high enough to fully charge the batteries, keep warm.
Anth
Jan. 7, 2010 
 
Picture of david hough
david hough
Dunno why, but we got left behind in this part of Dorset. We thought we'd got away with it completely and then yesterday we had our first snowfall. Didn't last though. Until yesterday morning, the BBC weather people showed an inverted horseshoe of snow cloud right around us, north, west and east, covering Wiltshire and Somerset but with us sitting pretty well clear of it. Like John said, must be something we said. Watching the telly news took me back to those days in the fifties when Old Nick had to close the school after snowfalls because we only had buses to get home on and they couldn't get up the steep hills around Bath when things got really icy. Oh happy days.
Jan. 7, 2010 
 
Picture of John Stickland
John Stickland
Hi Anth and David,
Brings back memories David, your comments about Old Nick closing the school at the frst sign of any significant snow.
I lived at Corsham during those halcyon days and once or twice we only got home by the skin of our teeth. I seem to recall that the trouble always seemed to be around the Hawthorn area with the bus slipping and sliding all over the road, but eventually we always got through. Looked forward to being sent home 'cos it meant that we could spend the next few days tabogganing.
We seem to be having the same weather as you Anth, beautiful sunny day today so took some more piccies. I have posted some more in the 'Our village in the snow' album as per my earlier posting. You really must get on with the motor home attention. The caravan is all snuggled up for the winter, but I did remove the battery the other day and brought it indoors. May rig up the solar panels when the snow clears, just to give it a bit of a charge. 
Got to go now, tea calls.
Sticky.
Jan. 7, 2010 
 
Hello John and all,
John .. The solar panels .. may I suggest a modification to the assembly instructions suppiled ... instead of attaching the 4 panels to the frame with the output leads to the top, reverse them to prevent ingress of water over time. The problem is that the original flexible cable unions will harden, water will seep in along the wire and corrode the cable (where it cannot be accessed). I had this problem a few years ago with one panel of the same design construction.
 
I know that the cable will bend up, but if you encourage it behind the panel when they are stood upright, there will be no chance of water entering (provided you don`t submerge the panels totally). Mine are in the back garden (with the snow cleared away) parked on gravel leaning against the conservatory wall, tilted at 15deg from the vertical to capture maximum radiation at this time of year. The controller can be connected with the very long lead supplied to the battery indoors. As a precaution I have used 2in wide high grade insulation tape to wrap the five push connectores on the panel cabling just to prevent corrosion, (which has also been experienced over the years with this type of connector)
 
I have been using these amorphous panels for four years now and as long as they remain sloping they usually self clean. Snow is a bit of a problem, but a "squeegie" rubber window blade on one end of a broom handle (and soft handbrush taped on the other end) is a perfect cleaning tool for those "little akward out of the way places".  I have another eight panels low down on the bungalow roof as well as another 10 smaller ones on one edge of the conservatory to clean.
 
Hope everyone has survived the bad weather, and I look forward to this year (and its summer) with anticipation. Best Regards ...
 
Jan. 8, 2010 
 
Picture of Rich Lanham
Rich Lanham
Hi all,
 
I managed to get to work and do all the routes all week and apart from broadsiding the van in Newport and being stuck for 45 minutes, all was reasonable really. After I'd changed my brown trousers and got the van out I went on to Cardiff. I think it's been lovely really with all this clear sky and sunshine, but the white stuff I do without I think !!
 
I hope you're all coping OK, I said to my wife that you just have to get on with it ,don't you. Was it '63 or '64 when we had bad snow in Bath? I remember walking into school from the Twerton estate for quite a while. None of your softie Helath and Safety issues then was there! They can't go to school in case they fall in the snow and hurt themselves, but they can charge around in it at home for 12 hours though.
 
End of rant !! Regards to all.
 
Rich
Jan. 8, 2010 
 
Picture of Stuart Stickler
Stuart Stickler
Hi Rich, close 62 /  63 was the really bad one, I was talking to a courier yesterday he said all white van drivers were mad, (his was black), but I suppose yours is yellow so it doesn't count, glad your OK, probably enough to start you drinking again eh?
 
Stu
Jan. 8, 2010 
 
Picture of John Stickland
John Stickland
Hi all.
Real proud of you Rich, got to keep the flag flying for the van drivers.
Tuesday night got within a quarter of a mile from home and then couldn't get through due to a couple of abandoned vans and really treacherous roads, so left my little Astravan to its own recources for a bit, went and had a cuppa, then returned with son and shovel and managed to get by. Drove it home and parked it up! Wed couldn't do much 'cos 'twas still snowing. Thursday spent digging and thawing out vehicles and today drove the Discovery to work. Had more snow tonight! See piccies.
Thanks for the hints and tips regarding solar panels, Bill, sounds like good ideas to me, will carry out assembly just as you suggest.
Interesting that you were getting 40 Watts from yours on a dull overcast day, if mine perform half as well I shall be delighted.
Have a good week end.
Sticky. 
Jan. 8, 2010 
 
Correction regards the panels John, I`m getting 40 watts with low angle sunshine and aabout 10 watts when the sun is scattered by clouds. I can get about 40 watts from the whole solar array when overcast .. not just the latest 4 panel add-on. Sorry if I did not explain it very clearly before.
 
I am using the laptop on a 12v to 19v invertor (as I write) from my gel batteries indoors. I have just aquired a 200a gel battery for the workroom, and am busy taking 20amps out of it when I run the 3ghz tower p.c. with the 24in LCD screen. I have wired it up to a 800w sinewave computer UPS unit (which had a single 12v gel battery inside originally). This is the cheapest and cleanest way to generate 240v, about £50 or so from places Like C.P.C. and Maplins. No cooler fan to make a noise either.
 
So, now all year round solar driven computers etc. Even the oil fired boiler is now able to be powered from 12v, we do have power cuts here you know, (some overhead power lines through trees), and the best boiler needs electricity for the compressor and pump. Bring it on ...
Jan. 9, 2010  (Edited Jan. 9, 2010)
 
Picture of John Stickland
John Stickland
Hi Bill
Thanks for the update, I think I have taken it all on board, sounds ample good enough to me.
Like your cheap way of inverting using a UPS innards, but I guess that the output current is fairly limited, Ok to run a computer though. In any case one has to take battery life into consideration. More strength to your arm I say, the less we rely on the national grid as a power source the better!
Have fun.
Sticky.
PS Have you ever investigated fuel cells? I haven't but could bear looking into.
Jan. 9, 2010  (Edited Jan. 9, 2010)
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