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Sunday, April 1, 2012

Whoa There Big Fella

I don't know what happen, but I went from overdrive to first gear in one week.
This weekend I absolutely did nothing to write home about. It seemed like everything was in slow motion when I was trying to do it.

My Boppy
Saturday morning I did get the chance to do a little fishing. Of course I was out fished by my daughters like always but never the less I went. Boppy, my middle girl, caught the biggest and Wee, my youngest, tied with Boppy on how many. I came in last place with catching only one.
It's okay, at least I went. I could have sat out there all day and it didn't matter if I got a bite or not as long as I was with them.
The rest of the day I spent with the girls just being there.



Sunday, today, was a different story. I got up chomping at the bits to get something done.
I tried, but the harder I worked the less was getting done so I just slowed down and went at a nice slow pace.

After getting some odds and ends done I decided to turn my focus on the Rain Water Solar System. I mounted the solar panel on the housing box and plumbed in the "on demand pump". I also went ahead and wired in all the DC electrical stuff to go with it.
Everything runs off a switch. Flip that switch over at the bath house and the pump comes on to 45 psi and shuts off. Every time you turn the water on either in the bathhouse or the gardens the pump kicks back on.
The one thing I should have done was plumbed in two union fittings so when the pump has to be replaced it will not be such an ordeal to do it. I just got antsy and went with what I had.
I plan to add two more solar panels and two more batteries in the future.

This is just a quick set up to see if everything was wired right. The leads from the battery (Not shown here) plug into the outlet, energizing the switch to turn the pump on.
Very simple design I thought of here.


If you have not been reading, all this is for the rain water harvesting system. This will pump the water out of the two 1500 gallon tanks and into the gardens and bath house.
Oh, I almost forgot. The Verde River Citizens Alliance is using my Rain Water Harvesting System design for their Back Yard Garden Expo. I am pretty excited about that.  

I got bored today and decided to also go ahead and start on the Solar Laundry Room.
I got the floor completed and now I am thinking on how exactly I am going to do this.
My question is, do I want to try and run everything off of DC solar power or run everything like the old days where it was all manual labor. I have not figured it out yet.  

17 comments:

  1. S.L.R. DC, Always DC, save your arms and back.

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    1. I am leaning to the DC power but it might be too costly. I still need to do some checking.
      thanks for the comment Rob.

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  2. Holy Cow looks like y'all have been busy. I'm jealous :/ I think I may run out there Saturday morning and see what i can't snag.

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    1. Would love for you to be there. I'll bring the rods and tackle. See you there.

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  3. Nice, nice, nice...you've some real talent, my friend. Well done.

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    1. Thank you my friend. Sorry I have not been visiting your blog lately. I can barley keep this one going right now.

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  4. dude...i thought you liked jambaloney and i thought he was your friend??? oh well...what can i do except add more jobs to his already long list??? kudos, MDR buddy - even when yer slackin' yer puttin' out some great efforts!!!

    but i thought that you liked jambaloney???

    your friend,
    kymber
    bahahahah

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    1. Oh Kymber, you know the only reason I do this stuff is to keep my good buddy Jambaloney busy.
      I pictured you standing over him, whip in hand yelling, "Git'er Done Jambaloney!"
      That is why you make him go around naked isn't it? So you can have more area to whip him. LOL
      Poor, poor guy. I might need to come rescue him.

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  5. Ok there big guy. I read your blog faithfully and this is the first time I have seen a mention of a laundry room. The only thing close to it was when Mrs. Redneck found that wringer for cheap. So what's the plan?

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    1. Sista, this was the first time I put the words Solar Laundry Room together at one time, but I have been hinting around about it.
      I usually called it my wash area.
      The water will come from the Rain Water collection system and be tapped from the solar bathhouse. I am undecided if it will have a roof or not, but it will be a complete wash room with all the bells and whistles. Like I said, I want to stay with the old pioneer way of doing things like hand washing the cloths in a homemade hand powdered plunger washing machine but again, not sure if I want all the work to go with it.

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  6. Congrats on the Backyard Garden Expo, nicely done! One thing I really like about blogging, and putting down your plans, you really need to stick to them. You have followers counting on you. It's great motivation.

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    1. Thank you Izzy, I was kinda excited about it. It makes what I am doing worth something I guess.
      I am sure you know, there are many times I want to just drop all this because I really don't have the time but then I get to thinking that I do have an obligation to the good folks who read this thing. I have dropped back to blogging only a couple times a week now because there is just so much going on.
      Thanks for the comment.

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  7. All I got to ask regarding the laundry is what does Mrs. MDR have to say? Solar or Manual? I personally may go for solar. Btw, our solar dryer works like a charm. ;)

    Way to go on all the projects and the bit of fun. I am still catching up on blogs as I am still trying to get stuff done around here. I just keep saying over and over again how good it is to get some things done finally.

    - Genevieve

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    1. Genevieve, I hate to say that it really doesn't matter what she thinks. I will be the only one using the outdoor laundry area. She has already said no to it.
      Of course this is only a fair weathered activity but intend on using it every Sunday for my clothes.

      I had to throw in a little fun because I was getting a little testy some would say.

      I am so far behind on reading everyone's blogs it has turned into a hopeless cause now. I can barley keep this one going right now.

      Thanks for stopping by.

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    2. I understand. I can't keep up either.

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  8. I remember fishing with my dad. I always out-fished him too. I think it's a girl thing. lol

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    1. SFG- Or it could be a Dad thing. I enjoy them out catching me.

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