Interesting clouds in the sky west of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Cancun, Mexico on November 1st.

Friday, August 16, 2024

Another RV renovation update

I completed the solar installation, and moved on to the DC-DC charger. This is a piece of electronic equipment that enables the lithium batteries to be charged at a high rate of current while the vehicle is being driven. 

But to handle that high current, and the distance between the engine battery and the house batteries, I had to use fairly heavy 6 gauge cable. And run it the distance between the two.

There really hasn't been much going on besides Igor. Ruth goes for walks with Lindsey and Chester. And yesterday she drove into Halifax with Lindsey to do some Costco shopping. They also stop at a discount grocery place where they got frozen gluten free bread for $0.97 a loaf. That alone made the trip worthwhile!

And, we do spend time with the family in the evenings. Cameron, at age 13 spends a lot of time with his friends, and Sadie (11 at the end of this month) has been at a drama camp for the week.

Granddaughter Sadie, trying to beat Grandpa at backgammon.
She's caught on quite quickly, and doing well. 

Chester the dog, and Scarlet the foster cat.

Chester got a big bone from the butcher yesterday.

Ruth and Lindsey took the boys fishing while they went for a walk along the Gaspereau River.

It was a calm afternoon.

Cameron and his friend Julian.

So, yesterday I installed the DC-DC charger. I got the job done, but had to run to the Napa Auto Parts store to get some specialty battery terminals connectors.

Three cables running to each of the engine battery terminals.

The house batteries and DC-DC charger are in the compartment that used to hold a generator.

The red spool of wire needs to be run to a switch and then a connection under the dash to a wire that is live only when the engine is running. That wire senses when the engine is running and allows the connection to the engine battery. The switch will be so that I have control over when it is operational and when it s not.

I forgot to buy the switch, so will need to go out and get that to finish the job.

Meanwhile, our Amazon delivery driver has been a regular visitor, showing up approximately every second day! Yesterday he brought us another Maxxair roof vent fan, and some 12V LED light fixtures.

Why another roof vent fan? I had changed the one in the front and we are really happy with it. Igor has roof air conditioning, but we would rarely use it because we are rarely plugged in. So we decided to remove it completely, and have a second vent fan instead. That will be today's job!

Out with the old florescent light fixture over the sink.

And in with the new LED one!

Much brighter! And the lights came as a 2 pack, so I also did the one over the stove. Again, a big improvement.

There is also a big florescent light fixture on the ceiling over the living area. I'd rather replace it with LED, but I haven't been able to find a fixture that I'm happy with. Otherwise, all of Igor's lights have now been converted to LED.

Yesterday was a sunny day, and I was able to test the solar install. Igor's batteries were completely charged by 1:00pm, and that's even up here in the north where the angle of the sun isn't the best.

Looks like another nice day... better get to work!

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Good price on this 10' x 10' Pop Up Shade Canopy.

And in Canada...

2 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Things are definitely coming along but a little more slowly than what Kevin had hoped for. The list is certainly getting shorter though and Igor is starting to look pretty good now. We will have him all ready for the middle of October though when he will start the first leg of his journey south.

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