Solar powered WiFi relay tower

[Boss]

Happy days for the kid.

Posing with my homemade {antique PV} solar powered WiFi relay high on the ridge between our family property and town.

Please bear with me as I work out the idiosyncrasies of posting here.

Good morning

Finally it looks like Winter outside our window. Not more than a couple of inches fell. It isn't frozen under the snow, but it is white and we'll take it and love it. I spent more time at the Mora Dental Clinic than I expected. I needed to understand the billing and they helped with that. I'm sorry, but this health care system we have in this country is ridiculous, over priced and unbelievably convoluted in the pricing. No wonder it took the bean counters over an hour to explain it to me. Why do we stand for this people? Robert says they are treating him okay in Santa Fe at the cancer clinic, but they want $300.00 for a single dose anti-nausea medication. It's nuts. They are holding us hostage with our grief and pain, while demanding ransom to alleviate our suffering. At one point I asked if I could go back over to the dentist while the administration did their paperwork, because I heard that dentist treated tardy patients unkindly. No. With a broad smile the woman chimes, "You need my approval first." I noticed a hand written message on her desk organizer, which read," Looking busy and accomplishing tasks are two different things." The note was almost obscured by doodles.

I'm sayin.

Forget about it.

Once I was in the dentist chair, everything went rather quickly. They squirt plastic goop into a mold and put it in my mouth until it sets up. Nothing to it. I guess I'll get used to plastic in my mouth. Anyway, when I didn't have my mouth full of purple goop, we chatted about everything including the big beautiful snowflakes falling outside the office window. It turns out the dental assistant who made my molds is from Las Vegas, Nevada. For a time I was forced to bite my tongue since I had a mouthful of plastic goo, but I thought about telling her about my newsletter and in specific the article by James Kunstler I posted yesterday where he lambasted Las Vegas. Five minutes later when my oral abilities were restored and after she had talked about how much she missed Vegas and was going there in a couple of days for the holidays, I had my chance to speak.

I didn't blurt it out like a dike had been broken. I can be tactful, sometimes. She said, yeah that part about Vegas being in the middle of one of the most uninhabitable regions of North America was all true and the casinos owners did attempt to make Vegas more family oriented for a short time, but lately the town is heading back to raunchy. True that.

The rest of the day Kevin and clicked away with Google chat all about wind turbines EVs (electric vehicles) and procuring tools and gear for the workshop at the sustainable energy department at LCC. Currently on the top of the list is a mig welder. These fun little tools are for welding all sorts of metals like mild steel, stainless steel and aluminum . Please if you have any suggestions about welders let us know.

Have a nice day. I know I will, installing WiFi in the snow. Good thing I love my job.

Brian Rodgers

Here is the scoop on the welder from Northern Tools, we are looking at:



FREE SHIPPING -- Hobart Handler 187 MIG Welder -- 230 Volt, 180 Amp, Model# 500525 | Buy now for just $639.99!

Powerful and portable, the Handler® 187 operates off 230 Volt power. 7 voltage settings and infinite wire feed control enable fine tuning for the smoothest arc with less spatter. Comes ready to weld with or without shielding gas, no additional kit required. With an amperage output range of 25 - 185, it easily handles a broad selection of solid mild steel or stainless, flux cored and aluminum wires. U.S.A.

[ruddycrazy]

Hiya Boss,

          Just be carefull when selecting a mig welder, look at the spec's of each machine and particularily where it's made. That one you post states it's a 180 amp machine- at what duty cycle?. Over the years I've found with mig welders it's best to go for a full size model that takes the 15 kg spools. At work we needed a mig and I went thru about 8 different models to find a decent one with the avaliable funds. I ended up settling on a Lincoln 180 amp mig where the duty cycle when welding at 180 amps was 75%, @ 150 amps it is 100%. Mig welders are good where you need to weld on a constant basis, but for portablitiy a DC caddy arc welder is my personal choice and I bought a 140 amp Lincoln DC caddy thats designed to run off a genset for the farm. Thats also brings in another point if you do intend to run a welder off a genset MAKE SURE the unit is rated for it.

         A mig/welder is in my opnion a major purchase and the last thing needed is a machine that <pun>won't cut the mustard</pun>.

Cheers Bryan

[Norm]

Once I got in the dentist chair

Ah memories....bad ones one day 35years ago I was

trying to get my overhauled VW engine back in the van

 got a fierce toothache had to go in take

a break relaxed and it would subside out again

a little progress and it would flare up again...

this kept getting repeated in out all day long

finally got the engine in....told the wife make

an appointment for me....I scheduled to get 2 of

 them out each week till they were all gone.most

years I go by without even putting them in unless

I feel like going on a Cashew eating binge.

Never did get used to having plastic in my mouth

but I probably chew my food slower and better

 than most people with teeth....I so enjoy not having toothaches!

BTW, welder looks like a pretty good one, ought

to work out real good for you.

[Boss]

Thanks for the comments

I understand that the duty cycle is very important. With this in mind, is there a way, besides trial and error to determine the amps we'll need to weld these turbine parts. One welder told me he could weld at any power setting, the more the merrier. We have a budget that says as the price nears $999.00 the paperwork becomes impossibly difficult.

I hope this works out with the college, if not I have other options for setting up a shop, possibly here on our property. I was impressed with the Dans' off-grid shop, cozy yet well equipped.  

[jonas302]

do you have access to 220 A used 200 amp or larger welder will make you much happier for the price I have used 3 different 110 welders and a 15 year old miller that gets daily use the 110s only served to upset the user

[Boss]

Yes we are planning on 220volts AC

[pr]

    I have the 110 v hobart 135 which is now the 140. Great rig and works on my inverter. However I know it's limitations. I welded professionaly for 10+ years and had to troubleshoot machines that were deliberatly screwed up. That being said the 110v gives you greater portability. Thicker metal can just be welded in more passes. With a separate whip and Argon gas it does Al well. Wire feeds don't like rust or paint and you need a good ground. The amps and volts settings are just right when your arc sounds like bacon sizzling in a frying pan. Start your arc, back track to the start of your joint and weld over your arc strike. Stop momentarily and lengthen your arc before you release the trigger and you will rarely ever burn out a tip. Bending the stickout wire over will let the wire skid when it starts the arc insteads of blowing thru on thin metal. Use a piece of copper for a heatsink backing on thin metal and you can fill big holes.

    Duty cycle has never been a concern because most times you have to stop, reposition or make some tack welds and the fan is on all the time.

    I only use the larger spools of wire when I know I will be doing more fabricating as the humidity in my shop in the summer will put a rust film on the wire and will contaminate the liner in the whip. You can put a clothes pin with a wipe on the wire on the infeed of the feeder but if you forget about it it will just contribute to contaminating the liner.

pr

[Boss]

Boy, that rings a bell.

My record for installing a VW Beetle engine and driving it out of the shop was 50 minutes. I did it on my lunch hour. No toothache though.