Day: August 12, 2012

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Wonderful Post-Sales Service by AM Solar

I had one question mark for my battery bank project: what to do with the temperature sensor for the solar panel system. I had no idea who to ask and then I realised I was an idiot. AM Solar has stellar staff; surely they would welcome feedback on one of their installations and be willing to answer a quick question.

I sent this email last night (Saturday):

You installed my 150W panel in March of 2011. The system has been working wonderfully and beyond my expectations. I am in the process of modifying my battery bank, starting with the addition new batteries that have more amp hours than my old ones. I believe I have everything figured out except the temperature sensor. I am including a photograph for clarity. It’s the wire held by silver tape. If I move to another battery, do I need to replace this sensor or can I just carefully cut it off this battery and tape it onto a new one? If I need a new one, do you sell them?

Since AM Solar is closed on weekends, I didn’t expect a reply till Monday at the absolute earliest. But, no. I got one late this morning (Sunday) their time!

I’m glad the solar has proven its worth!  The quick answer to your Temperature Sensor question is yes, you can carefully remove the foil tape and release the sensor.  You’ll need another piece of the foil tape, which we can send if needed, to re-attach the sensor to one of the new batteries.

Another important consideration to keep in mind is that if you upgrade to an Absorbed Glass Mat battery, you’ll want to re-set the Charge Controller for the appropriate charging strategy.   If you’re replacing Flooded Lead Acid batteries with the same, no changes to the Charge Controller set-points are necessary.

Let me know when I can be of further assistance.

What a perfect response: answers my question and provides extra information that I might need. I am once again thrilled that I fulfilled my dream of having a solar set up installed by AM Solar!

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The Highly Technical French-Canadian Method For Securing Furniture (some assembly required)

The filing cabinet really vexed my mother. She felt that it was just about impossible to secure it to the rig without risking that a misadventure would rip out the floor or, worse, a wall. I witnessed this summer just how much it can move, and how much damage it can make, when an idiot with no respect for his clients’ RVs parks one.

The conclusion she reached was one I had toyed with: not securing the filing cabinet, but rather wedging it in place during travel.

The end result has a horizontal piece linking the desk and the top of the cabinet, a horizontal piece linking the wall behind the desk and the bottom of the cabinet, and a vertical piece blocking the drawers. There is also some trim on the bottom of the cabinet to further discourage it from moving.

I think it’s time for a picture. 🙂

Everything that touches the desk, cabinet, or printer drawer has padding to hopefully prevent scratches.

Here’s a closeup of the vertical section with the drawer pieces:

My mother wanted the whole thing to be dismantleable and easy to store and she wanted to make sure everything was wedged in super tight, hence the use of the cedar shingle wedges.

I’ll know in a few days if this works or not!

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Sneak Peek of the New Dresser

The ‘secure the filing cabinet’ project took longer than expected today, so the new dresser isn’t done yet. But there’s enough done for a decent sneak peek. My mother ordered me to only show what’s done and to not reveal the interior ever. Ha ha ha.

The new dresser offers about as much cubic storage space as did the cloth dresser, but in a more compact package. It goes floor to ceiling and fits in the space next to the shower with no overage. The extra three inches or so of clearance space through the dressing room might not sound like much, but it makes such a difference!

We built the dresser out of plywood. When it came time to secure the drawers, my mother’s initial idea of just putting a stopper in front of them didn’t work so well. We squeezed in a ninth drawer and there just wasn’t enough vertical room any more to lift a drawer over the stopper. So we both concluded that a door would be best.

My mother isn’t the kind of person to slap a door together with plywood, some trim, and 50 billion screws. Instead, she used pine 1″x2″s, some thin press board paneling, part of the leftover vinyl from the desk, stain, and wax to make this gorgeous Shaker-style door:

I can’t show the whole thing because we have to finish the top of the dresser for reasons I’ll get into when I do the proper reveal of the dresser that will show off some of the little construction details.

The door is held with a hook:

(I still need to stain and wax the front of the plywood casing. Don’t tell my mother I showed you that picture! 😀 )

Finally, the inside:

And there’s the starting point for the dresser. Originally, I was going to have a very simple structure to hold some plastic baskets. But my mother got inspired to use some empty wine crates as the drawers. They were of a perfect dimension for the space, so the dresser got built around them.

The dresser is secured to the rig with two toggle bolts. Obstructions in the ceiling wouldn’t let it go very far, so they are more insurance than anything.

Even though I haven’t gained any storage space, the new dresser’s dimensions and aesthetics make a huge difference. I also like having nine small drawers rather than six big drawers.

I’ve also finally figured out how to make the wardrobe work for me, so as soon as we complete that project, the dressing room will be done.

I don’t get any credit whatsoever for the dresser or any other jobs, btw. All I do is fetch tools, hold the wood for sawing, and help with the staining and waxing. My job involves a lot of stairs. 😀