Where's Hazel? Pet Hazel. Hazel-Rah's dreadlocks are almost gone!.There Outta Be A Law!I've narrowly averted disaster once again by coming to the rescue of my own stupidity. Always turn off the power before you attempt to disassemble a machine that bites. Should be a rule. But I found the flapping tape--inside the overhead housing of the roof-mounted a/c, a length of mylar double sided soft foam sound and heat insulation tape. The foam had deteriorated into a black gritty dust so the outer layer of tape was indeed flapping in the breeze. I have all the pieces of the housing glued together and I've added fender washers to reinforce the holes. Prob'ly not as efficient without that insulation but should be good for another few thousand hours.Regarding the failed Red Leg:Tried searching for the break with a phoneline troubleshooting device: Fox and Hound thingy. But cannot hear the tone more than a few inches away from the wire and not hardly at all through the conduit. Working on another idea for next test. Mike and I have been fantasizing all sorts of scenarios as to how a length of #4 wire can break open. Razor-toothed Rattlesnakes? Saber-toothed Squirrels? I'm beginning to have a better understanding as to why the power companies like to string their wires on poles.Friday 26th Derma-Doc for a Nitrogen ShowerHad a few more spots burned off and a sample sent for further analysis. Gives me pause to question my sensibilities. Is all this worth the cost of living in a state that doesn't play the Spring-Ahead-Fall-Back game?Fridge Cooling Unit Failed After 19 Years of Service![]() After considerable researching and soul searching I decided to replace the absorption unit with a compressor unit. Three major factors in this choice were: cooling recovery time (very fast with the compressor compared to rather slow with absorption), cooling function at all when ambient temperatures are above 100f (absorption process stops altogether around 110f), and power consumption (propane aside, the electric heater in the absorption unit draws 300 watts, the compressor in the new unit draws 96 watts). And then there are the safety and levelling issues. Granted, I lose the ability to operate through several cloudy days if the solar system receives insufficient charge but if necessary I'll have to run a generator. New cooling unit from JC Refrigeration in Shipshewana Indiana. The movie has already been made so I didn't do any photography. Converting my Norcold from the absorption cooling unit to a compressor cooling unit is shown in this video, only keep in mind that these actors are way over dressed. The rational here is that the 96w compressor load supported by solar should allow me to save a lot of propane when boondocking. But too many cloudy days are going to mean running the main engine or the APU. We'll see. 2020vii7 Fire and Smoke![]() Four new 15a circuit breakers are now in place in the distribution panel replacing the 30a breakers that contributed to the fire and smoke. I have also replaced the ruined plug strip with a new length of official Wiremold: three outlets which includes an internal 15a breaker. So... do circuit breakers in series add like resistors or subtract like capacitors? Then The Black Leg FailedOccurs to me I left the Red Leg dangling back there. A few months ago in my Winter Solstice Letter I mentioned trenching in the water and propane service. At that same time, in a different direction, we laid in the power line which went between the electric service panel under the water tower to the well pump and photo-voltaic array. These wires, three lengths of #4 aluminium, had been on poles for longer than I've been around here; we dropped them from the cross-arms and threaded them into PVC conduit. On the west side of the driveway crossing a junction/pull box was placed and then the conduit continued on to the service panel. Everything worked, the view was much improved, and the trench closed.One fine day a few weeks ago I discovered there was no water. Shower, ice maker, irrigation, no water. Didn't take long to find that the well pump was not pumping. The pressure switch was on but there was no power. Troubleshooting indicated that 240vAC was present at the circuit breaker but not at that first pull-box on the far side of the drive. The Black Leg was hot but the Red Leg was not. Quick fix was to scrounge around, find three lengths of #4Al and a few split bolts to make up the 111 feet necessary to get from the service panel breaker to the pull-box, lay the wire out on the ground, and bypass the failed Red Leg. Dandy! The pump is on. We have water. A few days later, just a few minutes before sunset, the whole scenario replayed—the Black Leg had failed. This time there were no scraps of #4Al so we pressed a few old extension cords into emergency service to get the well pump running and had water for the night. Next day after a hasty excursion to Lowe's for more #4 wire, and a reopening of the trench across the driveway, the Black Leg was replaced. So now there are two heavy black wires on the ground waiting for Winter to be properly buried. But we still have to learn why/how the two wires, in the PVC conduit, in the trench, failed in the first place. That Brings Me To Today—12 July![]() Ohm's Law and Galvanic Action are the culprits. The insulation of the #4 wire must have cracks. Minerals in the well water conduct, coulombs law induces galvanic corrosion and after a few days the aluminium of the wire has disappeared. Where the water came from in this AridZona desert is still under investigation. Where is the Odd Squad when we need them? ![]() ![]() Ides of JulioThe past few days have topped out at 119f. Getting risky as my weather instrument thermometer goes only to 120f. I'm thinking I'll move that one inside to store in the fridge for the duration and move my oven thermometer out for weather duty in the Instrument Shelter location. Comet Neowise headed west. Barefoot Mike and Little Jon got pictures, I watched.OutPatience SurgeryDavid the DermaDoc allowed as how he appreciates Naturists and Nudists, they keep him in business, he said. I know how you like for me to take pictures with my phone... I will know in a few days when the lab reports come in if the dermadoc was successful yesterday in his quest to remove all of the pre-cancer skin lesion.2020vii21 WickenburgRelocated The Cat Drag'd Inn to Aztec Village RV Park so I'm just across the Hassayampa River from the Wickenburg Community Center where I'll be working as a clerk for the next fortnight during Early Voting and Election Day for the AridZona Primary. Plenty of time to make Zipper Fobs and Haiku Towels. The bus does not like the heat any more than Hurricane Hazel-Rah but we all made the climb of a thousand feet, the long way round, without getting overly hot.![]() 25th July to Tonopah for the mail. To and fro on the Vulture Mine Road. 29 July, Wenzday of No Food Bank 2nd August 404 About the Hassayampa RiverPrimary Voting DayTinyTruck elects to screech and howl so the polls have to open without me. How embarrassing! Not sure if a loose belt is slipping or some accessory has seized. All the belts seem tight enough but the alternator pulley is hot so I release the tension there and drive off to my work as Printer Clerk. No tension on the alternator also disables the Smog and Water Pumps. No screeching, no charge, no radiator fan. Only a mile to the polls so no problem. Returning to camp after work was no problem. Towing to Tonopah no problem of course but then I spent three days troubleshooting not all of which was on TinyTruck. Paul said I could use his Yellow (spare) Truck to go to my DermaDoc to have the stitches removed. But Yellow Truck had a flat tyre and had to first get that fixed. Getting to the tyre shop meant inflating the flat tyre but the compressor was down. This all reminds me of the time on Black Island when we had to go for water and the loader had Frozen Brakes. See the Washington's Birthday storey at Winter In The Ross Island Dependency. To make a long storey short let me write that I could work only a couple hours each morning before the tools got to hot to handle so finding that the real problem was the Smog Pump took only a week. And now another week waiting on delivery of a new Smog pump. And whilst I'm at it a set of four new belts.One Thing Dogs Are Good ForBesides barking anyhow. Licking. Dogs are great at cleaning up after. In the stash from the food bank this week of The Ides of August there was a six pound pork loin needing to be roasted. Only two-thirds of the roast would fit in my roasting pan. That was more than enough. Paul came to dinner and his dogs did the dishes.Of Clothes Washers and Insulation Eaters![]() Nonsoon, An Ill Wind Blows DustPeak reading on the Gust-O-Meter was 42. Lots of cloud to cloud lightning, little thunder, no rain.19August2020, Record High TemperaturesFood Bank Comestibles. Today, T-Bone, 1", thawed, laying on bonnet of TinyTruck, about nine minutes on a side to medium rare.NONsoon Over!![]() ![]() 9-11... Remembering the TowersHere is a 15 minute Port Authority film made in 1983 that Steven considers the quintessential tribute to the World Trade Center. The music is grand. There have been many polished documentaries over the years that delve deeper into the engineering, at times thick with prescient foreboding, but this 1983 film has something the others lack, a simple "can-do" attitude of human spirit that existed as they were built. If you are young, revel in that sense of triumph for everything you will some day build.Remembering the MayhemThe original Naudet film is becoming hard to find, now of the original only a French language version is available. Here is a CBS Special that encapsulates most of the Naudet film. And in case the above is taken down here is a copy you can download.What The Walrus SaidNow we are into the Month of The Autumnal Equinox so the time has come, as The Walrus said, to get this letter in the mail before I have to start another paragraph. New Smog Pump has arrived for TinyTruck so I have that R&R to do. Appointment with chiropractor. Cloudy day. Water heating for dish washing. Breky cooking. We have lost an hour of daylight since June and all of a sudden the weather has turned to Autumn. I ain't been nowhere yet. |
Love, ajo
I do not know what I may appear to the world;
but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on
the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a
smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the
great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.
—Sir Isaac Newton
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Copyright © 2019, A.J.Oxton, The Cat Drag'd Inn
, Tonopah AridZona 85354-0313.