Electrical Resurrection - Friday 01/10/10

The battery is dead. The remedy, electrical resurrection. Drove it over to plug it in to the mains. What I didn't take into account, was how long it would take to charge a 110 amp hour battery. A 'fast' charge puts in 6 amps an hour, taking 18 hours. Preferable to a normal charge that would only put in 2 amps and therefore take 55 hours!A pain as it means not only relying solely on our two cheap hurricane lanterns, but also Fran will have to go without her usual 'movie night' tonight.
Rang the mechanic, Lawrence, to book the car in for a service. Due to the fact i haven't a clue when it was last done, everything needs doing. The minimum damage - £400! Have arranged to drop it to him Tuesday morning. The justification in my mind is a) this should lower the risk of breaking down in the middle of nowhere b) once done, most areas won't need replacing for two years or so, i hope.

Our celestial power station just ain't juicing the panels like it did...

M Jones

That Autumnal Feel - Wednesday 22/09/10

This week being a volunteer week at Lammas, we have 2 extra pairs of hands. Ayres has been making use of them with a variety of tasks being set. Alot is needing doing. Bales need moving, trees need staking, beds need resurrecting, as well as poles needing stripping (by hand!). With today being the first day of autumn, there was certainly an autumnal feel i.e the weather was shit. Whilst i agree with the saying "There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing" I still prefer to keep dry. Water proofs are ok, but with hot work they soon lose their benefit as you overheat and become drenched in sweat. Am becoming concerned about our battery. The controller is now reading between 12 and 11.3 volts. Not sure how to gauge the state of the battery from that, but i guess its low as up until now its rarely dipped below 12 volts. I now have a choice. Spend my earning on a service on the car, ensuring mobility, or purchase an auxiliary form of electricity generation in the form of a 50w wind turbine.

Being that i could just charge the battery in the barn off mains, i guess logic would dictate i opt for a service. But a service is so boring...

M Jones