--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 272 HOME POWER Ref: DDC00010 Date: 09/06/96 From: JIM DUNMYER Time: 07:27am \/To: ROY J. TELLASON (Read 2 times) Subj: STEAM > I'm not that crazy about those ideas either, and frankly I don't > understand how it is that he can warranty stuff like that, not > after seeing all those junks that I had come into my store... Roy, It's easy to warranty those recharged used batteries, you simply DO IT, and expect to eat one now and then. You smile the whole time, knowing that it was nearly pure profit the first time, all you did was cut it in half. :-) --- FLAME v1.1 * Origin: Telnet toltbbs.com or call 313-854-6001, Boardwatch #55 (1:234/2) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 272 HOME POWER Ref: DDC00011 Date: 09/06/96 From: JIM DUNMYER Time: 08:11am \/To: ELVIS HARGROVE (Read 2 times) Subj: PHOTOVOLTAIC AIR CON > Bad news! Swamp coolers don't DO anything around here. I'm surprised at that because you say it's so "dry" in your area. I visited folks in the Denver area in June, and they had a swamp cooler providing cold air to their house, and I saw a LOT of them while driving around. It was unbelievable to me to feel the cold air coming out of that box and knowing that it was provided by a bit of water and a 1/3HP motor. It'd be my guess that the amount of cold air would have required well over a ton of conventional A/C, or a 1 HP motor or more. Howcum a swamp cooler won't work in Southern Texas? --- FLAME v1.1 * Origin: Telnet toltbbs.com or call 313-854-6001, Boardwatch #55 (1:234/2) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 272 HOME POWER Ref: DDC00012 Date: 09/06/96 From: JIM DUNMYER Time: 08:16am \/To: RICH WILLBANKS (Read 2 times) Subj: STRANGE COOLING IDEA > I shut the deep well valve (#2) and pump water from the > shallow well. Then shut the shallow valve (#1) then > open the deep valve (#2) and pump water from it. I > then turn off the pump and open the valve from the > shallow well. > > My thinking is the "outlet" side would be 22 feet lower > then the "inlet" side and siphon action would cause > cool water to flow through the radiator and a fan would > blow air across it and voila! Cheap cooling. Rich, I doubt that there would be enough flow due to only the siphon effect, but a simple pump would be pretty cheap to operate in any event. It bothers me a bit to think of your pumping water INTO an aquafer, but I suppose if you're careful to flush things out when you start or after opening the system for any reason...... --- FLAME v1.1 * Origin: Telnet toltbbs.com or call 313-854-6001, Boardwatch #55 (1:234/2) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 272 HOME POWER Ref: DDC00013 Date: 09/06/96 From: JIM DUNMYER Time: 08:24am \/To: ROY J. TELLASON (Read 2 times) Subj: LOOKING FOR THE SCHE >AC> Smart charger could be designed to evaluate dV/dT ie the time >AC> rate of voltage rise and compare this with the terminal volts >AC> at that moment. > > Shoot, I guess I'm just going to have to take one of the computers > around here and couple it to some sort of interface that'll log both > the terminal voltage and the terminal current, if I can figure out > an easy way to accomplish that... Roy, Radio Shack has a DVM with a computer interface. I bought one of the earlier models, and it came with a BASIC program, both compiled and in source code version so you can re-write it to do whatever you want. There's a cable between the meter and serial port, and it should work with almost anything. One of these days, I'm gonna lash it up to a Model 100 RS laptop just for grins. --- FLAME v1.1 * Origin: Telnet toltbbs.com or call 313-854-6001, Boardwatch #55 (1:234/2) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 272 HOME POWER Ref: DDC00014 Date: 09/06/96 From: JIM DUNMYER Time: 08:36am \/To: CHRIS HARPER (Read 2 times) Subj: STEAM > A 1955 car was expected to last at LEAST 10 years. A 1995 car is > expected to start falling apart in just over five. Some progress, Chris, I don't agree with that statement. Today's cars can easily be driving 200,000 miles without major trouble, and that was quite rare in 1955. Those things were far less reliable, too, requiring frequent tuneups, brake rebuilds, etc. Tires were done at 30,000 miles; my wife's car has 90,000 on it and the tires still look like new. If the old technology was better, we'd still be using it. That holds for our favorite topic, HomePower, too. Many years ago, the farms all had Delco Light Plants, and the farmers couldn't wait to junk them when factory electricity became available. Darn few people with oil or gas available heat with wood. --- FLAME v1.1 * Origin: Telnet toltbbs.com or call 313-854-6001, Boardwatch #55 (1:234/2) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 272 HOME POWER Ref: DDD00000 Date: 09/07/96 From: ELVIS HARGROVE Time: 06:29pm \/To: JIM DUNMYER (Read 2 times) Subj: PHOTOVOLTAIC AIR CON -> my guess that the amount of cold air would have required well over a -> ton of conventional A/C, or a 1 HP motor or more. That's certainly correct! They'll freeze you hald to death out in west Texas where it's dry. -> Howcum a swamp cooler won't work in Southern Texas? Because the breezes off the Gulf give us 90% humility most of the time. All they make down here is mildew. The WEATHER has been dry, not the AIR! ^..^ --- FidoPCB v1.5 beta-'j' * Origin: BOO! Board Of Occult, Rio Grande Valley Texas (1:397/6) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 272 HOME POWER Ref: DDD00001 Date: 09/07/96 From: ELVIS HARGROVE Time: 06:36pm \/To: JIM DUNMYER (Read 2 times) Subj: STRANGE COOLING IDEA -> It bothers me a bit to think of your pumping water INTO an aquafer, What did y'all do with the groundwater you collected with your drainage projects. We stuff ours down 3-400 foot "Drain Wells". He's likely to find out that his wells aren't perforated properly to ACCEPT very much water. AND, his siphon idea aint gonna move ANY water because the groundwater level in both wells is gonna be the same. The BOTTOM of the well don't count.... The LEVEL does. ^..^ --- FidoPCB v1.5 beta-'j' * Origin: BOO! Board Of Occult, Rio Grande Valley Texas (1:397/6) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 272 HOME POWER Ref: DDD00002 Date: 09/07/96 From: ELVIS HARGROVE Time: 06:41pm \/To: JIM DUNMYER (Read 2 times) Subj: PHOTOVOLTAIC AIR CON -> my guess that the amount of cold air would have required well over a -> ton of conventional A/C, or a 1 HP motor or more. That's certainly correct! They'll freeze you half to death out in west Texas where it's dry. A three horse blower motor on a 6 foot squirrel cage will make a 250 seat movie building too cold to stay in.... I remember watching movies with a sweater on in July! MUCH further west! -> Howcum a swamp cooler won't work in Southern Texas? Because the breezes off the Gulf give us 90% humility most of the time. All they make down here is mildew. The WEATHER has been dry, not the AIR! ^..^ --- FidoPCB v1.5 beta-'j' * Origin: BOO! Board Of Occult, Rio Grande Valley Texas (1:397/6) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 272 HOME POWER Ref: DDD00003 Date: 09/07/96 From: DAVIS ROBINSON Time: 07:07pm \/To: RICH WILLBANKS (Read 2 times) Subj: Strange cooling idea Hi there! -> My thinking is the "outlet" side would be 22 feet lower -> then the "inlet" side and siphon action would cause -> cool water to flow through the radiator and a fan would -> blow air across it and voila! Cheap cooling. The problem here is that while the second well may well be 22 feet deeper than the first, the water table is going to be about the same in both, therefore you would have no drop at all. What might be a better plan, if you wish to use these wells for cooling, is to use the deeper one as a heat sink..... run a loop of pipe down the well, run both ends into the house (being sure to insulate the pipe as well as possible along the length) and to a radiator in the house with a fan behind it. Put a circulating pump in the line and then fill the system with the liquid of your choice. (water is probibly best, I would be leary of putting anything else into a system like this for fear that it might leak someday.... directly into the water supply) I am unsure how to figure the amout of usefull cooling you might get out of this system, but with a large enough volume of water in the well, it seems to me that it would work. later! --- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.12 * Origin: WILDMAIL! v4 - Rewriting the Book on Mail Tossing! (1:14/648.0) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 272 HOME POWER Ref: DDD00004 Date: 09/08/96 From: CLOYCE OSBORN Time: 07:58am \/To: ROY J. TELLASON (Read 2 times) Subj: Delco light plants JD> If the old technology was better, we'd still be using it. That JD> holds for our favorite topic, HomePower, too. Many years ago, JD> the farms all had Delco Light Plants, and the farmers couldn't JD> wait to junk them when factory electricity became available. JD> Darn few people with oil or gas available heat with wood. RJ> What the heck is a "delco light plant"? If my dim old memory serves, it was a windmill driven DC generator. I believe they were rated for 32VDC. They were made by - guess who? That accounts for their popular name ("light plant" used to refer to any generator in this part of the country). They provided better light than kerosine lanterns but not by much. They didn't have enough "oomph" to run any kind of electrical appliance but, then, there weren't that many electrical appliances around back then (1920-1940 era). When I was growing up, one of my great grandfathers still had the remains of one sitting in the yard. I remember it mostly because I got my bottom blistered several times for trying to climb the tower. :-) Regards. Cloyce. --- EZPoint V2.2 * Origin: Res Ipsa Loquitur, Indian Territory (1:147/34.13)